n5638b

Okay Guys, I'm on the hunt for something to shoot into that does not cost twice what I paid for my muzzleloader (ie..ballistic gelatin). Here in Colorado, we have to hunt without sabots, which leaves only about 6 or so choices. My intention is to run all those through my bore to see how they all perform before September 8th. I have tried 14" of wet newspapers in a crate @ 100 yards and the 295 gr PB Aerotips went clear through 3 times out of 3, had to dig them out of the berm behind. But I would like to simulate bone, compare penetration as well as recover the slugs to see weight retention and expansion. What ideas have you?

frontier gander

Use a 385 grain Hornady great plains bullet and dont worry about anything. You hunting elk or deer? What part of colorado? I'll be near Meeker this muzzy season.

greatplains

Interesting results you had with the powerbelt aerotips. I did about the same experiment a couple weeks ago, but added a piece of 3/8" plywood about 2" deep in the newspaper to simulate bone. Shot at 30 yards. The 348g .54 aerotip penetrated 8.5", weighed 211 grains upon recovery. A 430g TC maxi-ball penetrated 18" (That's all the paper I had, just barely stopped it), and weighedabout 426 grains. Both expanded to the same .75" diameter, but the powerbelt came apart somewhat. Both would have killed game if placed correctly.

As far as a poor man's ballistic material, I guess wet newsprint is about as close as one can get of anything I know of.

You didn't say what game your hunting, elk or deer? I'd see what bullet shot most accurately and lean hard toward that, the heavier the better for elk IMO.Bullet performance differencesbetweenthe relatively limited number of bulletchoices we have inCOis secondary to putting them in the right spot to start with.

I'd be curious to see the results as you do more tests. Good luck this fall.

n5638b

fg, we will be east of you, about 20 miles west of Yampa this year. Elk tags all around, 2 muzzy bull tags for myself and buddy, 3 cow tags for 1st rifle for our sons & 2 either sex for the other 2 guys coming 1st rifle. My buddy & I will probably get some leftover cows for 1st rifle as well just to be greedy.
Have tried those Great plains 385's, they shoot fairly nice so far. Tried the Harvester Sabertooth's today. At 50 yards, they are as accurate asAerotips.

n5638b

greatplains, was just curious. What charge were you using when you tested those bullets? Do you think the powerbelt came apart because you were so close? When I shot them, I was using 100 grains of Pyrodex. The one I recovered was completely intact with just a little deformation and no expansion. Of course I did not have the plywood....

frontier gander

I'll take a pic of a 385 great plains i just recovered from shooting today. Its a little bigger than a quarter. It did loose a lot of weight but my goodness! It broke off a big chunk of rock that it hit. Another option is it measure your bore and order some bullets from Bullshop. I'll be doing that in a week or 2.

Edit:

Heres the pic of the 385 great plains. The bullet on the left is a bullet we recovered from last years doe. It went through one shoulder blade and stuck a little into the other. The bullet on the right is what i found today after shooting the x-150 and it made a mess out of the rock it hit. Speaking about the x-150, i must adjust a little to the right lol. But i wouldnt be affraid to use this bullet, its a very good bullet and will easily do the job.

greatplains

I was shooting 82.5 grains of Triple 7. I'm sure impacting the board caused the powerbelt to break up, and the velocity at relatively close range, butmost of the elk I've killed with a muzzleloader have been at around 40 yards, a couple were about 80. Photo of the two bullets is below.

frontier gander

With a 225 grain powerbelt, i was shooting into 3, 2x6's and a log behind them and all came out perfectly mushroomed once i split the log open. I THINK i was using 70 grains triple 7. I made some movies of it too and posted them here a while back.