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

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

cva optima pro

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[:@]

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?

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

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.

+1

Better and for 1/3 the cost

Steve

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.

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.