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T/C 50CAL OMEGA

I'm glad you asked this question. I have been getting very inconsistant groups with 150 grains of Jim Shockey's Gold sticks and 270 gr. Platinum Power Belts. What would anyone recommend as a replacement bullet? or should I just use 100 grains of powder ( more consistant groups) ???

MC2

More than likely not the bullets fault. TC's are not know to shoot a conical very well due to their screwed up QLA.

Sorry to be as ignorant on Muzzleloaders ( very new to me ) but what does conical and OLA mean ??

MC2

QLA. Look down your barrel, See the unbored part of the barrel? Its supposed to be there to help loading sabots. TC is famous for not getting their QLA done right and the rifles have a bad habbit of not shooting all lead conicals or powerbelts very well.

FG

I think you will find in most cases that they (TC's) will shoot the Power Belts just fine but may have big problems with conicals. The plastic skirt on the Power Belt works much like a sabot - so they normally shoot very well out of a QLA.

mathewsconquest2

A conical is a solid lead bullet.... such as these - excluding the last one with a sabot...

Your Omega does have a QLA an overbored area at the end of the barrel on the muzzle to aid in loading bullets....

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What would anyone recommend as a replacement bullet? or should I just use 100 grains of powder ( more consistant groups) ???

I would certainly recommend that you reduce the charge to 100 grains especially shooting PowerBelts....

Further i would recommend that you shoot a different bullet... if you are into spending money then get some TC 250 grain Shock Waves... if your gun is brand new you will probably need the super glide sabots... such as these..

https://secure.tcarms.com/store/index.php/action/item/id/129/prevaction/category/previd/33/prevstart/0/

Personally, and what i do shoot in my Omega for deer, is I would buy a box of .452/250 grain Speer Gold Dots and order some MMP HPH-3p-ez-load sabots with you 100 grains of powder

Just my thoughts - if I can give you any other help give a shout....

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ORIGINAL: mathewsconquest2

T/C 50CAL OMEGA

I'm glad you asked this question. I have been getting very inconsistant groups with 150 grains of Jim Shockey's Gold sticks and 270 gr. Platinum Power Belts. What would anyone recommend as a replacement bullet? or should I just use 100 grains of powder ( more consistant groups) ???

MC2

The past issue of American Hunter or American Riflemanhas some velocity info with150gJSG, it had the largest Velocity difference and the largest Standard Deviation (spread in velocity)of anypowder, a whopping1,679 for a low and a 2163 for a high, no wonderyou can't getveryconsistent groups. As for a bullet, try a Nosler Partition HG, 300g Protected Point with a Crushed Rib sabot. Switch to 100g777 loose or 100g of pellets and your groups will improve. Another good bullet is the Speer GoldDot, which Sabotloader recommended. For plinking and practice use a Hornady XTP 300g. I like the 300g bullets since they have more down range energy and tend to punch thru deer giving good blood trails. Other folks here like 240 or250g, but I find they are usually on the off side of a deer at 100g of charge.You must swab the 777 between shotto get really goodgroups.
Chap Gleason

Thanks for the information and advice. I will try the suggested powder bullet combinations and resight in at my range tomorrow. Wisconsin's deer firearm season opens on 11/17.

MC2

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ORIGINAL: mathewsconquest2

Sorry to be as ignorant on Muzzleloaders ( very new to me ) but what does conical and OLA mean ??

MC2

Wal Mart had the E-Z glide Shockwaves in stock and the 300 grain Hornady XTPs. I would drop the load to 100 grains and start from there. Then work the load up in 10 grain amounts until you get the best group. You might also want to pick up a pound of Pyrodex RS or Triple Se7en 2f and learn to swab if the Jim Shockey gold is not accurate.

Never concern yourself with asking questions. There is no such thing as a dumb question. You'd look more ignorant if what you did caused injury to you or someone else. Besides, we love to answer questions. :D

Good luck this season.

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100g of powder is sufficient, out to 150 yards if you sight in 2" high at 100 yards.I use to use 150g with PB and that drives them too fast and they fragment. Drop down to 100g, same some money, save some recoil pain and gain a lot in accuracy. If you use avery well constructed bullet (Barnes, Nosler Partition, Speer Gold Dot, bonded SW) you will get excellent performance from your rifle. The 150g ismostly marketing hype.
Most sweet spots with rifles are from 80 to 120g ofpowder. The cheapest thing to do to get a bullet performing well is buy several different sabots and try different sabotcombinations at the same 100g load. Makes a huge difference. You want a sabot, tight but not pound it down tight, that is why most of us swab between shots so we get consistent sabot resistence between shot andbetter consistency. I hope this make sense. Best Wisheson your quest for accuracy and performance in your rifle, it is a journey, not a destination for most of us.
Chap

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ORIGINAL: srwshooter

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ORIGINAL: gleason.chapman

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ORIGINAL: srwshooter

the group that i hunt with all shoot 100 grains of either 777 or pyrodex pellets. we have killed over 125 whitetails in the past 8-10 years. most have been killed with 295 powerbelts. i have killed 30 some myself and have yet to see a bullet come apart.

Amen for you, many have the same experience. Do you look for all bullets in the expired deer? Have you lost any animals? Do you only take broadside bow shots? Chap Gleason

chap, yes we always look for the bullets in expired deer,sometimes they pass thru ,sometimes they don't. we have lost only 1-2 animals ,most don't go out of site before dropping. and ,yes we always try to take good broadside shots at reasonable distances.i use PB'S because,yes tthey load easier,they also shoot great in all of our guns. last yr before the season 5 of us shot one time at 100yds with 5 different ML'S and we all shot at a the same 3in dot . we shot a 2in group with 5 guns and 295PB'S. they kill good and they shoot good so what more could you ask for. i just bought 200 295 copper hp last week at 21.30 for 50 thats as cheap as any sabot

Beautiful, that is a perfect mushroom for a PB, since they are so soft. However, I don't believe that picture of a PBis an example of a "perfect expanded bullet". Examplesee theway a Barnes or Nosler Partitions mushroom (see below)----the shank of the bullet is intact (read still driving into the animal), the head if fully expanded to about .75" causing massive tissue disruption and the head of the bullet is flat, causing a large splash or wound channel when it hits the animal and starts to expand. If you order the free DVD on Bullets from Barnes you will get a good intro theory on bullet design:

http://www.barnesbullets.com/products/free-dvds/

also this book has a lot of info in it on bullet design:

http://ramworks.net/estore.html

The title is "Rifle Bullets for the Hunter, a Definitive Study". Ask for one for Christmas, they are about $35. Best Wishes for this season to you and your group of hunting buddies.

Chap