easy loading bullets
 

looking for some easy loading bullets,.50 for deer hunting, tried the powerbelts, not sure i trust them as i have lost the only deer ever with my muzzleloader.
thanks

RE: easy loading bullets
 

http://huntingnet.com/forum/tm.aspx?...86&mpage=1

They work excellent on deer.

Some over charge them with to much powder.

RE: easy loading bullets
 

One thing the Power Belts do goodis load easily. Sorry you missed a good deer. Are you sure it saw the bullet and not some other condition? They only other bullets that would load easier then most is conicals. They all seem to load nicely, with little effort. No sense mentioningsabots, they are very hard to loadbutaremore accurate I believe.

I likethe TC Maxi Huntersonly because they shootthebest from my inline NEF Sidekick .50 cal. But there is also the TC Maxi Ball, R.E.A.L bullet and Hornday Great Plains bullet.

The best part about this project is going outand getting a box of each and shootingthem tosee which one you like. Have fun! ;)

RE: easy loading bullets
 

Just like every person is different, every bore is different so get some different sabots and load the bullet you want to shot in the sabot for a tight fit and SWAB between shots. Sabots you should buy:

MMP HPH12, HPH24 and 3petal Ezload from here:
http://www.mmpsabots.com/

Then get some Crushed Rib sabots from MidSouth Shooters Supply:

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=00072H15045BR

I would shoot an accurate penetrating bullet, like a Nosler Partition, Barnes MZ or TMZ or Speer Gold Dot:

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=0011545350

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=0003545162

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=000213974

You will not have trouble with these bullets on penetration and expansion with no fragmentation.

Take your breech plug out of your gun and load and with a clean barrel load 1 bullet and 1 sabot combination in your gun, write it down for how much pressure it takes to push the bullet down the gun.

Examples of loading pressure:

very easy---falls down the bore easily, 1 finger can push it down
easy--------push down with little effort
goes easy but effort required--push down with some effort
goes down hard---push downbut hard to start in barrel and you got put your weight into itto get to down
hard-----have to drive itdown the barrel with a hammer, "almost broke my ram rod"

A sabot bullet combination should be tight, like goes down hard, but does not require pounding it down the bore.In my experience the crushed ribs performed well in my inline BP guns--they went down snug, was not a lot of pressue to load them, and they shot accurate. In my Savage shooting smokeless I had to use an MMPHPH12 to get .450 Parker Ballistic Extremes to shoot well i.e. they loaded "just right". So think "I need a Goldilocks Sabot (just right, not too easy or too hard)for a givenbullet in my gun."

Once you find the right combination of sabot for your bore and your bullet, shoot the bullet at the range for accuracy. Shoot hunting load, i.e. 100g of 777 or pyrdex, whatever is your load in your gun. Note very seldom is 150g of powder required for best accuracy---read the gun makers book and find out what bullet they recommend and sabot they recommend in their gun and shoot that first for grouping, then you know what the rifle is capable of, since no rifle maker is going to ship an inaccurate rifle/bullet combination. You may have to go down to 80 or 90g for best accuracy. A 3" group at 100 yards is considered good hunting accuracy.
Chap Gleason

RE: easy loading bullets
 

I have found that with good consistent pressure I can load the first shot with any sabot. The problem IMO usually arises when you try to load the second round.

I han an Omega that was the greatest shooting MZ I have ever seen in my life. The problem was you could not get a second shot down the barrel with a hammer-and I am not joking. The barrel would not take a second shot. Not being able to load a second shot cost me a good buck a few years ago. It did not take me long to get rid of that rifle. Accuracy is great, but depenability is paramount. Tom.

RE: easy loading bullets
 

That is why I said to Greenbay to SWAB between shots. I have an Omega also, and experienced the same problem of difficult loading with a dirty barrel, however I swabed the bore with a lightly spread bore butter batch and that was enough to get the sabot to load easy and shoot accurately. When at the range I swabbed with windshield washer fluid and a dry patch, I didn't dare do that in the field however since the patches dry out so quickly in a sandwich bag, easiest thing for me was to just use the bore butter to swab. It worked for me in my Omega. By the way this is what the Omega manual says on page 37 concerning "field cleaning". Best Wishes.

Chap

RE: easy loading bullets
 

Swabbing did no good in my Omega. The barrel had to be completely cleand and slightly oiled. Very slightly oiled, but nevertheless slightly oiled. If the barrel was not slightly oiled then the bullet would not load. The amount of pressure it took may have been the reason it shot so well , but if a rifle can not be used properly in the field, then I have no use for it. Regardless of how well it shoots. Tom.

RE: easy loading bullets
 

Agree with you a 1 shot rifle with no reload capability is useless as a hunting rifle. Chap

RE: easy loading bullets
 

With my 'ol X-150, 7-8 sabots before swabbing was optional. Usually started to lose accuracy after the 8th shot with a sabot. Conicals it was 14 shots before the groups opened.

So far my GPR will group really good even after 15 shots and zero swabbing. I was pretty impressed with that.

RE: easy loading bullets
 

trophy hunter, If you want the best combination you can get and you can use sabots where you hunt the way I would go about finding that fit is:
To aquire a set of different thickness sabots
a set of the weight bullets you are interested in , in .451 ,.4515,.452
Take out the breach plug and try all possable combinations, the one that loads just a bit tighter than you would prefer will likly shoot the best.
If you choose to or need to go with the other style try a 300gr Sabortooth from harvestor, if you feel you must use PB's use the heavy ones with no more than 90 gr of RS or the equvilant thereof, most problems with power belts are from loading with more powder than is recommended by the people who make them. Lee

RE: easy loading bullets
 

Yes forgot about those--- SaberTooth are good, my brother uses them and they are stronger/non-fragmenting than the PB and load easy, less costly than PB also, here is the link:

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=773839&t=11082005

Frontier Gander reports that they fall out of the barrel and don't hold sometimes to the plastic, so test them out carefully or glue them or kurl/score the holder to make it grip better. Chap Gleason

RE: easy loading bullets
 

trophy hunter

Easy loading bullets... well, it depends on how easy you want, not much gets anyeasier than a Power Belt, but I really would not want to put my hunting success on of them although they work fine for a lot of people.

But for me to give you any clues I would need to know what rifle you are shooting. As you probably already know there is no standard bore size on a 50 cal barrel. They can vary widely even within the same manufacturer to some degree.

If I knew your rife make and model might be able to steer you right to the right sabot/bullet combination.

Somebody has already identified the different sabots, but I would also add that their are more sabot combinations available for a .451/.452 bullet than a .429/.430 caliber.

The next thing I would like to know is what are you hunting? I, myself, use one bullet for a deer class animal and another for elk, although that really probably is not necessary...

Next what is legal in your hunting area as far as projectiles and ignition systems... inline, sidehammer, rock sparker?

I would almost guarantee you there is an accurate combination out there - even if you are shooting conicals.

Sorry for all the questions....

RE: easy loading bullets
 

This lack of standardization in barrel sizes and some of these wide tolarances is certainly not doing the sport any good, there sould be some way we could start putting some pressure on to standardize things like a 50 cal barrel.
Foe new people that dont understand the problems that can come up because of it it could actually be a safty problem for other ones its very discouraging because if it dont fit right and they have spent their money!
Chapman thanks for mentioning that about them not holding position in the barrel I have not personally had that experance but Iknow it could happened and always check for that particular problem and should have mentioned it.
Lee

RE: easy loading bullets
 

Chap- I keep my patches in an old Skoal tin. Small enough to carry and will keep patches wet for a long time.

RE: easy loading bullets
 

I have not tried that, since I don't chew. Maybe a film canister will work, which I have. Thank for the tip. Chap Gleason

RE: easy loading bullets
 

"I han an Omega that was the greatest shooting MZ I have ever seen in my life. The problem was you could not get a second shot down the barrel with a hammer-and I am not joking. The barrel would not take a second shot."

My Encore is the same way when using the 250 grain SST in the short black sabot along with Pyrodex or 777.When using JSG, the reload goes down the bore hard just like they do with a clean barrel. This gun is hard to load but shoots better than most center fire rifles.It does not like theSuper Glideand crush rib sabots, itputs the bullets all over the place. With the Hornady Low Drag sabots the groups are acceptable but barely so, about 3" at 100 yards.

RE: easy loading bullets
 

falcon

You probably already know this but I'll list it anyway...

The SST's come with a HPH-12 sabot - I am surprised you even get that one down you Omega or Encore...

The TC ShockWaves (same bullet) comes with either the HPH-24 Sabot (black) or the "easy glide" the easy glide is the thinnest sabot the 24 being sligthly thicker.

The Hornady "low drag" is a HPH-3p-EZ and is a thin sabot built along the deminsions of the easy glide....

The "crush rib" is the thinnest sabot on the market - or it can be if you crush the ribs down tightly.

From your description - I would guess the "crush rib" is to loose in your bore(s) the "low drag" "easy glide" & if you have tried the 3p - they are slighly tighter than than the low grag therefor giving you a more acceptible group, but the sabot you need might be either the HPH-24 or Harvester regular sabots. I shoot these from my Omega and I can get the second, & third down with moderate pressure - the fourth is usually a struggle without patching - if I damp patch between shots all will go down correctly.

Just sharing some thoughts... but again it is probably old information to you....

RE: easy loading bullets
 

my rifle is a .50 huntsman, i was shooting 2 50 gr. pellots with a 295 grain powerbelt, they load fine, i just do`nt want to lose an other animal because of them, i have taken 5 good bucks anda few doeswith this rifle using 300 gr. cva deerslayer bullets, the wife just started muzzy hunting and has a hard time loading these, that why the change.
thanks for all the help guys....

RE: easy loading bullets
 

sabotshooter
hunting deer, most muzzys are leagal here, the powerbelts shoot fine, but no blood trail, i knocked the deer down and it got up and trotted off, tracked for a good 400 yrds, no blood..
i hope the deer made it...

RE: easy loading bullets
 

Right, weall hate it when that happens and ithappenswith the PB more than any other bullet, they fragment when you push them too hard or you hit bone. Go to a stronger bullet like I suggested above. Chap Gleason

RE: easy loading bullets
 

Use a 50 grain pellet and a 30 grain pellet for a total of 80 grains. I find a maximum of 80 grains powder works best with powerbelts. I use a 225 grain powerbelt over 80 grains pyrodex and the damage and short blood trail it leaves is amazing.

I also prefer this shot placement thats pictured in the link. Makes them blood out like a SOB.

http://huntingnet.com/forum/tm.aspx?...86&mpage=1

RE: easy loading bullets
 

Me too. the round patches at WalMart fit perfect.

RE: easy loading bullets
 

trophy hunter

If you can afford to shoot the best deer bullet i have found through all ranges to 180+ yards is a .451/260 grain Nosler Partition. This bullet when placed in the vitals cavity it will pass through and it will completely destroy the the lungs - turns them to jello whether you hit or not - most often destroys the heart also... the Hydrostatic damage in the chest turns evrything to jello... If you happen to slip up and get one back behind the diaphragm - well - you have one heck of mess... The only other bullet i would truct to do this damage is a Barnes - but I do not shoot them so I can tell you the results...

The next best bullet I believe is the Speer .452/250 grain Gold Dot or as some people are using and reporting the .452/300 grain Gold Dot. These are much more affordable, they are bonded bullets and they expand as designed - they get very big but because of the bonding and the dot they can only expand to a set level and then theykeep on driving - a poormans Nosler. The 300 grain has a BC of .232 nearing the BC's of some very pointed bullets that everyone talks about.

The key for you is to get the correct sabot for your huntsman, and as much as i hate to say it... I do not know enough about the huntsman to recommend the right sabot. What bullet sabot combinations have you tried in the past? I would imagine the Harvester "crush rib" would be a good place to start if it is not to loose.... What powder do you use? is it Pyro Pellets or T7 pellets?

I am Kennewick right now or I would include a couple of pics....

This is a thread i posted awhile back showing the results of a .458 Nosler and it's contact with a 470# cow elk...

mike