RE: Good powder to bullet wt. ratio?
 

When you are talking powerbelts and other conicals, expansion is not really as important an issue in my book. We tend to forget, you're already making a 1/2 inch hole through a vital organ. That hole should be equal to the expansion any modern center fire projectile should make. Any further expansion from that conical is a plus.

The same holds true for the simple roundball. It starts out as a .490 for example and with any slight deformation will easily make half an inch. Again, push that through the vital organs of an animal and you will harvest that animal. What a lot of people I think see with muzzleloaders is, the animal might not drop in its track, or take a couple steps and then fall over like with modern rifles. Instead they soak up the hit and take off running. Then the shooter gets upset because there is not blood sprayed all over the snow or landscape.

I think a lot of people that have poor blood trailscan account thisto the tenacity and will to live a wild animal has, and second is shot placement. If you poke them high in the lungs they will die from that but it might take a while for the lungs to fill with blood before they actually spray. Over years of harvesting deer with a muzzleloader I find the lower I hit them the better chance of a blood trail. If I want them planted then I have to do a neck shot or break them down.

RE: Good powder to bullet wt. ratio?
 

90+ grains of pyrodex and a 240gr XTP - specifically, T/C's MagExpress - does the trick nicely. Killed a doe at fifty yards this evening. High shoulder shot, and deer was DRT. No exit.

RE: Good powder to bullet wt. ratio?
 

I would suggest useing the reg xtp's instead of the xtp mag.If that is what you want to shoot.I used the mag one year with 100 grs of pyro shot 2 bucks in one week and lost both of them,one to find a few hours later and one three days later,both had pencil size holes through behind the shoulder hits,no blood at all,went back to the reg xtp's with no problem.
Another bullet to try that works is the sst,shockwave,and barnes in 250 grs.
Some of my buddies use the pb in 295 gr and they work great for them,only time I have used a pb was with a 225 gr 45 caliber in a knight disc,took one with it at 170 yds the deer dropped where it stood.
The sst or sw in 200 grs works great for me in my 50 cal encore,250 sst and 185 gr nosler in my ruger,and 250 sst in my savage

RE: Good powder to bullet wt. ratio?
 

The bullet I'm talking about is a plain-jane XTP, and not the MAG version... it's a 240gr XTP sold by TC. They just call it 'magexpress' for some reason, but it is definitely not the harder XTP MAG that Hornady sells.

It's cheap, but it works. I wish I could find these TC packaged XTPs in 300gr... I think more weight is better.

Doe from last night.. bullet shattered multiple sholder bones, I don't think it made it into chest (gutted deer is hanging, I'll finish today). Did the trick, though. I'll see if I can find the bullet/pieces of it.

RE: Good powder to bullet wt. ratio?
 

Guys, I decided to go with the shockwaves after reading so much about them and after resighting my gun, they are grouping great. I've stayed with the 90 grains of Pyrodex so far but may move up to 100 later. I wasn't lucky enough to try it on a deer this weekend but maybe the upcoming weekend will be better. The only problem I have seen with them is that they are next to impossible to load into my Dad's Tradition and one of my friend's CVA Kodiak Mag. I shoot a CVA Kodiak Mag, identical to my friend's and the bullets load very easy into mine so I'm not sure what is going on there. Maybe they didn't have them as clean as they thought they did.