nchawkeye

No way are you going to be qualified to shoot at a deer out to 150 yards with a muzzleloader with only one shooting session...

Take what you have, clean between each shot and hopefully you can get a 3 inch group at 100 yards, sight dead on and limit yourself to 100 yards...Start working on a new load in January or February for next year...

catmech_99

Howdy,
My Son(9) just killed His first deer at 175 yards Sunday. He was shooting a CVA Optima Pro 50 cal. with the 29" fluted Bergara barrel & topped with a Tasco 3x12x40 scope. It was loaded with 85 grains of Pyrodex RS & a 250 grain Shockwave.
After checking the yardage on the rangefinder I told Him to aim at the top of it's back & just behind the shoulder on a broadside shot. He turned the heart & lungs to mush with a perfect passthrough shot. The little buck ran about 25 yards & piled up.
We shot many different sabots,roundballs,& conicals before settling on the Shockwaves. We have shot probably 300 shots since spring through this rifle & had full confidence in making this 175 yard shot.
Find what shoots good through Your rifle & get Your routine down on cleaning & swabing between shots. Shoot as much as possible fron a bench or steady rest until Your gun is zeroed in. Then take the gun & hand hold it like You would in a true hunting situation.
Start out at 50 yards & then move out to 75,then 100,then 125,& so on. find out just where Your bullet is going to be at what yardage. After You've done this You can then feel confident of making a clean kill.
Andy

duckdog132

sorry guys i ment to put "two 50 gr sticks) and to nchawkeye. i have been shooting my m/l with the 245 gr power belt for three months now. i just ment this is going to be my first deer season with it.
i have decided to go a different route then p/w i went to a few stores just a minute ago and they had a couple different brands. help me pick one!!
first they have shockwave in only 200gr and 300 gr
they also have hornady in all gr's
and they have two different kinds of SaberTooth.
which should i get out of these brands and at what gr.

Pittsburghunter

I would go with the 300g Shockwaves and a 100yd max range unless you get more range time. Use 75yds as a min for sighting in. With more time you can get the 200g Shockwaves to shoot great but I have seen them keyhole targets when underpowered or with too long a twist. I just plain do not trust Powerbelts with all the bad press they have had but they sure shoot good in some rifles.

Good luck happy hunting.

gleason.chapman

I am in favor of bigger slower moving bullets, they have hight sectional density and higher bC, therefore more penetration, which is what kills (shot placement is #1).
Chap

IndyHunter83

Hate to contradict anyone on here but don't clean your barrel after every shot with powerbelts. The are ment to go 3 or 4 shots with out cleaning. For some reason they were made for dirty barrels.

cayugad

I would take the Shockwaves. Get one of each the 200 & 300 and then hit the range one last time. Sight dead on at 100 yards. Then when you get a good group with 2 or 3 pellets, move out to the 150 yard target. There should be around a 4" drop. I always figured I would aim high top of the shoulder and let the bullet do the rest. Also from what I have been reading about the killing power of these 200 grains, if I had open shooting distance to do, that might be a real good choice.

I just don't trust the powerbelts for long distance. But I have never killed a deer with a powerbelt or shot them long distance. Where I hunt I do not have to shoot long distance...

Good luck out there. I am sure if your rifle shoots those Shockwaves and you can place the shot, they will not let you down.

lemoyne

If you gun groups the 200gr SW good with 150 gr and you sight in 3 inches high at 100 then it will be about 4 inches low at two hundred yds. The BC is .269 and with 3 Pyrodex pellets in mine it chronys 2250 to 2350 min and max on 20 shots most are right about 2300 the SD on a 40 cal 200 gr is about or a little better than a 300 gr 45 if your gun likes it it really is a triffic load. There were some reports by some people on another page of getting moose with them. I have used them my Omega is one of the guns that will shoot tight groups with them at 150 gr and I have take both deer and boar with them. Lee