What is the best conical bullet for elk?
 

Going to colorado this year for elk. never hunted elk with muzzleloader. was thinking of the great plains bullet or buffalo bullet 385gr. .5o cal

RE: What is the best conical bullet for elk?
 

Those are good conicals BUT if you want the Best try the Bullshop 460gr NEX over 75gr to 85gr of powder
www.bullshop.gunloads.com

What type of ML do you have.

Ron

RE: What is the best conical bullet for elk?
 

cva optima pro

RE: What is the best conical bullet for elk?
 

Have you tested any conicals out yet? 385/ 410 great plains would be a good choice along with the 338 platinum, 348 copper,405 copper powerbelts. We usually load up the 348s with 80 grains pyrodex rs. Now if only the elk would show up[:@]

RE: What is the best conical bullet for elk?
 

mostly been shooting 295gr pb but have shot a few bb.im kind of new to muzzleloading but learning fast.ive read alot of bad info on powerbelts and no bad info on the bb or gpb.also why only 80gr. of rs. everything i have read most recommend at least 100gr.now i would try the 405 pb but my book says nothing over 400gr. would it be safe to shoot a 405gr out of an optima pro?

RE: What is the best conical bullet for elk?
 

fxd

I would highly suggest you look at the 460 grain Mt Nex conical. This conicals can will be built to slip fit your barrel - no need for a short starter. Much quicker in the need of a follow-up shot.

Dan uses an excellent lube which I also believe is extremly important in consistent shooting.

The 460 also meets Colorado's length requirements.

The accuracy is outstanding and it is consistently outstanding. Of course you can imagine the energy. I shoot it with 90 grains of T7-3f @ 1500 fps. I use a 6" point blank range projection to site it in. So at 100 yards I am approximately 2" high @ 100 yards and @ 150 I am down 4.87" - all of this allows me to aim dead on all the way through 147 yards...

Probably the most common bullet used in Colorado is the Power Belt - but I think if you get these Bull Shops and shoot them you will find they are superior to any PB.

http://bullshop.gunloads.com/contact.html

RE: What is the best conical bullet for elk?
 

Why only 80 grains? If you like recoil with heavy charges, by all means, feel free to abuse your shoulder.

Also with powerbelts, The less powder, the better bullet performance on game. Even with the 385 grain great plains, 80 grains max is what i used. Anything over 90 and i found that the bullet over expanded.

RE: What is the best conical bullet for elk?
 

+1

Better and for 1/3 the cost

Steve

RE: What is the best conical bullet for elk?
 

I would suggest you get a number of different pure lead conicals. Then see which one of them your rifle shoots best with the strongest powder charge possible. The most accurate, and heavy would be the best. Some ones to look at would be maxiball, great plains, bull shop, no excuse, or you could also consider some powerbelt or saber tooth if they are legal. Just get an accurate one with a good powder charge and let the conical do the work.

RE: What is the best conical bullet for elk?
 

maxiball imo offers poor performance. gp,bs or the no excuse would be good to use. You just have to know what size you'll need them in.

I shot some of the 390ish-400 bullshops sized in .501 or .502 in my winchester but had to use a wad to get them to group good.

RE: What is the best conical bullet for elk?
 

Stick with the Powerbelt. Use the 405's with 80-90 grains of powder. Your manual doesn't want you to use 100 or more grains with a 400 grain bullet.

Most-all regular conicals in a fast twist sabot gun like yours-prefer bullets over 400 grains. Most shoot best with 430-500 grains.... too much leadaccording to your owners manual. As long as you are reducing the powder charge down to around 80-90 grains, you are fine using the 405 gr. Powerbelt.

RE: What is the best conical bullet for elk?
 

Your CVA manual states the the max conical size you can shoot is 400 grains when using 150gr of powder. In my communications with CVA about heavier bullets they have consistantly indicated that heavier bullets up to around 530 grains were safe when a max of 100 grains of powder was used. I have shot several boxes of both No Excuse and Bullshop 460's out of several of my CVA guns with 70 to 90 grains of powder with very good results. If you want verification of these limits I would suggest you contact CVA directly and get the info straight from the company as I did. Also, if you would like a ballistic chart for the 460's I can post it for you.

RE: What is the best conical bullet for elk?
 

No No, 150 grain Pellet charge and a maximum 300 grain sabot.

100 grain loose powder load with 400 grain conical.

Im sure you can easily use a heavier bullet, But what i think cva is worried about is people using tight fitting conicals that may build up to much pressure.

RE: What is the best conical bullet for elk?
 

FG,
You are correct about the 300grsabot and 150 grains of pellets but the same 150 pellets max is for 400 grain conical also. I may have been too vague when I said 150 max before, I meant pellets not powder. Sorrry for any confusion.

Edited for sabot instead of conical, Data based on the manual that came with my rifle and conversations with CVA.

RE: What is the best conical bullet for elk?
 

FXd

Sent You A PM !!!

Ron

RE: What is the best conical bullet for elk?
 

wow lots of good info,just what i was looking for.so now im thinking a 405,444 pb or 460 no excuse or bull shop with less powder say 90gr. would be a better load for elk than a 385gr bullet with 100gr. what ever the gun groups best. what about wads and gas check ive read about with the bull shops. how do you know if you need to use them? im all for the heavier bullet.i just want to make sure if i get a chance the bullet will do the job.

RE: What is the best conical bullet for elk?
 

fxd

I personally do use a .125x.510 shot card with the Bull Shops especially since I am shooting T7 a very hot powder. The card offers some insulation value to the bottom of the bullet to prevent melting and then the subsequent leading of the barrel. It also acts as a bore wipe going down the barrel when loading. The last value for me is it also keeps the bullet lubricant from contacting the powder and contaminating the the top of the powder.

Hunting I use the wad anytime I have time to load it... if i needed that rapid second shot I would just forego the wad.







WAD-510-A
.510" diameter, ideal for .50 caliber rifles, .125" over powder card, 1000
$7.50


http://www.trackofthewolf.com/(S(h3hid045h4utgt45rafgtn45))/categories/tableList.aspx?catId=2&subId=37&styleId=12 1&PageSize=25&Page=2

With your gun you will probably need a .503/460 grain Bull Shop. The Optima normally has a very tight barrel. Before you were to order any let me know and I will send you a few to try in your barrel both .503 and .504 - heck it migh even work out yo need a different size but I doubt it.

mike

RE: What is the best conical bullet for elk?
 

When I had my optima, it liked a 410 gr. Great Plains conical on top of 90 gr. of 777. They went down the barrel pretty easy after you pop them down past the muzzle.

RE: What is the best conical bullet for elk?
 

444 grain powerbelt would not be legal in colorado. We have the 1" law.

RE: What is the best conical bullet for elk?
 

1" law?

RE: What is the best conical bullet for elk?
 

yep, conical length can not exceed twice the bore diameter. 50cal = 1"

RE: What is the best conical bullet for elk?
 

Well dang, if that just ain't anal as all get out. What's the rationale behind that line of thinking?

RE: What is the best conical bullet for elk?
 

The very best conical on earth is the one I cast. It is 525 grains of lead I got from a church. I call it holy lead!!! I have never measured the length, but it might be a bit long for CO.I have used it in CO, but I never got caught. Tom.

RE: What is the best conical bullet for elk?
 

Just tell them your bore is oversized. ;)