Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

Hey everyone. I just joined the muzzleloader club a few minutes ago. It was hard to find one but I just purchased a Remington Genesis Black. Apparently there's a rumor that Remington is discontinuing this model.... I'm not sure about that but I know that a lot of people are sold out and even Cabelas is not backordering any of them.

I got some Remington Kleanbore Primers and some Pyrodex 50/50 Pellets. I was wondering what everyones favorite slug is? .50 Cal only please since that's what this gun is.

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

I like 300g Nosler Partitions HG, 300g Barnes MZ, 300g Speer Gold Dot hand gun bullets, 300g Barnes Origonals, and 300g Barnes TSX FlatNose part number 45843. I like "strongbullets" that hold together well and penetrate well. I like 300g sincethey shoot thru and 250g have a tendency to be under the skin on off side. I dislike fragmenting bullets, I dislike bullets that don't expand well andpencil thrudeer on close shots.My logic is
accuracy is king
penetration is queen
expansion is prince
and shoot thru is princess. You need the whole court for a "strong bullet", take one factor and without it the bullet is "not good".
Noking, poor bullet in your gun don't shootit
no queen, gotta get into the vitals to kill at least12 inches of penetration
no prince and you got a long training job, and sometime unrecoved deer
no princessand you got poor recovery because of no blood trail, expecially from a tree stand.
Best low cost bullet is Speer Gold Dot 300g
Best ML bullet is Barnes MZ
Best longrange bullet is Barnes Origonal with BC of .291
Best close range bullet and all aound do it all to 175 yards is Nosler partion. These are just my opinions, but been there fulmbled LOTS of times so the these are the school hard knocks speaking (i.e lost deer).
Chap

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

Welcome to the forum.. I have a Genesis Stainless/Black with a 1x scope. The 1x32mm is the only legal scope in Wisconsin for muzzleloader season. Some of the loads I have found my rifle likes (I only got it a couple weeks ago) is 250 grain shockwaves, 300 grain .44 caliber XTP's in a green harvester crushed rib sabot, 300 grain .45 caliber .458 Speer Gold Dot HP with 100 grains of Pyrodex P in an orange MMP sabot.

So far about anything I try in the rifle seems to shoot well. I just wanted a load worked up to shoot whitetail with. That Speer HP is a sweet shooter.

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

Have been using the 240 grain .430 XTP bullet in my CVA Stag Horn since 2000 and my CVA MagHunter since i bought it in 2003. The sabot is either the green Knight one or the short black sabot that is no longer made. Have killed a lot of deer and dozens of hogs with that bullet and either 100 grain of loose Pyrodex RS or two 50 grain Pyrodex pellets. Also killed several deer and quite a few hogs with 90-110 grains of JSG and the 250 grain SST/Shockwave fired from my Encore.

This year i switched to Goex Pinnacle for all my loads.

The vast majority ofthe animals that i have shot with my muzzleloaders have been bang flops.Over 90 percengt ofmy hogs and deer have been killed at ranges of25-75 yards.

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

So you guys are using a smaller than .50 Cal slug in a .50 Cal ML????

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

Are you required to shoot conicals where you live? What we are shooting is sabots with a projectile. If you have to shoot conicals, I would not know at this time what to suggest to you to use. I would probably start with some Great Plains Conicals, and some BullShop Conicals..

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

When shooting my optima elite I use 250gr shock waves bonded,I was shooting the 250gr power belts out of it before. My white shooting system g series whitetail I use tc maxi 370gr and my Remington 700ml likes 250gr barnes expander mz. I get great accuracy out of them.

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

No, there's no specific bullet we have to shoot here.

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

If sabots are allowed, then I would look into some of them. Generally I like conicals and have no problem hunting with them. Especially at shorter ranges, I feel a conical can be a much better projectile. BUT if you have any distance to shoot, a sabot might serve you better.

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

Hey SWT, the caliber thing can confuse someone new to muzzleloaders.

For a .50 caliber gun, you can use .50 caliber bore size "conicals". Take a look at the Hornady Great Plains bullets, CVA Buckslayers,PowerBelts, and Harvester Sabertoothbullets in the link below. They are "conicals".

You can also shoot .45, .44, and other smaller bullets in a .50 caliber rifle by using sabots designed for each specificcaliber. The link also shows a variety of saboted bullets, and sabots.

http://www.midwayusa.com/browse/BrowseProducts.aspx?pageNum=1&tabId=5&cate goryId=7933&categoryString=10635***

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

i shoot the 240gr XTP bullet with mag express sabots in my CVA staghorn. and that is dead on at 100 yards with 100g of pyrodex.

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

Thanks!!! You know, I wish all of the forums on this site were as helpful as this one is. Seriously, you guys are awesome! You guys truely embody what these forums are suppose to be all about. I think I understand about the calibers and sabots now. Why would someone want to use a sabotted bullet over a conical? It seems like the conical would grip and seal better and offer better accuracy. Am I wrong in that assumption?

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

Sabots are also a tight seal. In fact depending on what sabot you use, you can go from easy to load to near impossible to load. Also when you fire a sabot, the bottom expands and engages the rifling on the way up, just like a conical. Because of the large selection in projectile size, sabots can be a good way to go. Especially if you want to shoot long range with a flatter trajectory.

Now I am not by any means trying to talk you out of conicals. If you like conicals, then by all means use them. I shoot conicals out of some of my rifles. BUT with the Genesis so far, I found it is a really good sabot shooter.

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

Most folks are shooting .451, .452 or .458 bullets not slugs and most use sabots that hold the bullet to the rifleing. Unlike a Centerfire Rifle, the bullet does not do the rifleing with sabots, the sabot does the rifling. Chap Gleason

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

Conicals are what use to be shot in flintlocks and percussion rifles, with 209 primers, most are designed to shoot sabots well. Sabots seal just a well if not better than conicals. please see this article for more details:

Are Sabots THAT Much Better than other Muzzleloading Projectiles?

at this site: http://www.chuckhawks.com/index2h.muzzleloader.htm

Chap

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

Awesome article! Thanks!

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

Don't get me wrong, you are getting good advice.

But, I recommend you try Hornady FPBs. These are a full bore, copper jacketed, hollow-based conical that weigh 350 gr. My Genesis shoots them into 1" groups at 50 yds. I did not shoot further than that, but I'm almost 2" high at 50 and will aim dead on at 100. Load is 100 gr Pyrodex RS, T7 209 primer.

They load easily once started in the bore, and that just takes a little practice. I feel confident a load could be worked up for 150 yds if needed, but I'm all set with shooting 100 or less, and this load will perform.

These bullets are supposed to penetrate and perform well through a range of velocities (unlike PowerBelts), and don't require a sabot. Nothing against sabots, but why introduce another variable if you can shoot an accurate and deadly bullet that does not need one?

My $.02.

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

There is always great advice on here.

For me personally I only have 1 in-line gun now... the rest are sidelock percussion and Flintlocks that all shoot roundball.

In my Encore I have tried 6 or 7 different bullets but have always worked my way back to the 250 Shockwave. These things for me are deadly accurate and have always dropped deer within feet of where they were hit. Every gun has a personality and every gun owner does also. Try some stuff others recommend and use what you are comfortable with. You can go cheap and be happy or you can spend a LOT and be unhappy, you just never know... the best thing to do is just try some stuff out to see what will work in your gun and for you. The Shockwaves I use are not that cheap but I dont price shop when it comes to something that works for me.

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

I like using .458 diameter 45-70 government (300 grain sierra pro hunter flat nose hollow points) bullets since 2 pyrodex pellets or 100 grains of loose pyrodex RS mimicks the muzzle velocity of the older 45-70 gov. trapdoor models. Also, thanks to the insightof others on this site, I came to see that measuring loose powder ahead of time and storing it in a speed loader or some other holding device is much more cost effective than using the pellets.

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

Barnes Expander TEZ tighter barrels or Barnes Expander MZ for looser barrels, most stores do not carry them. I order through Midway USA and get them in a couple of days but they are worth the wait.

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

300gr Speer Gold Dots are my my bullet of choice in front of 115 gr of 777 loose powder.

Below is the only one I have ever recovered from a deer - all the rest went in one side and out the other. No deer thus far has made it further than 20 yards.

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

Wow! That looks pretty devestating!

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

WOW!! with that kind of expansion, it must have made a excellent wound channel. No wonder the deer never went anywhere.

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

No kidding. I wonder how far away he was...

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

80gn t-7ff, 400gn .504 bullshop, out of a knight elite

retained bullet weight 396gn

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

Very nice!

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

So I've been looking for Speer Gold Dots and all I keep coming up with is pistol ammunition. Is that what you guys are using and just buying a .50 cal sabot for it?

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

Correct.

The Gold Dots, 300g:

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

sabot for them:

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

if your bore isloose try the Red harvesters they are thicker, designed for Savage:

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=00072H25045SRR

MMP12s are here:

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=0021150045HPH

the 24s are thinner, but not sold by Mid South.

Chap

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

IMO: One does not need someone's expensive bullet to kill deer and hogs. Been doing it quite wellsince 2000 using the 240 grain .430 HornadyXTP in the short black sabot or the green Knight sabot. 100 sabots and 100 bullets cost me about 30 cents per shot when i stocked upa couple of years ago. Yep, sometimes the bullets exit and sometimes they do not. Not to matter, the animal usually bang flops if hit right.

This sow was running and quartering away when hit with the 240 grain .430 XTP driven by two 50 grain Pyrodex pellets.There was no exit wound. What you see is the entrance wound. The bullet shredded the liver, diaphram, lungs and heart. The hog jumped about four feet into the air when hit and bang flopped. She weighed just over120 pounds field dressed.

Yep, i did go out and buy those expensive FPB bullets to elk hunt with. I still wanna cry over that.

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

Is that the only Speer Gold Dot there is? How accurate are those hollow points?

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

I use Barnes Expander MZ's in 250 and 300gr with Crushed Rib sabots. I fully intend to try some of the Gold Dots after the season and as soon as I can get someplace that carries them. I put this on another post of mine but here's a pic of the 300gr Expander I took my spike with last Saturday afternoon.

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

That is picture perfect, just like the Barnes ads. Chap

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

No, there are several sizes and weights, but I like 300g because they shoot thru a deer. The hollow points have little bearing on accuracy, really it is twist of the rifle and shooting at the right speed to stabalize the bullet. They shoot well out of most MLers with a good tight sabot, that puts some twist/spin to the bullet. I shoot them with 80g of Goex out of my FL and have shot them with 100g of loose out of my Omega with a Crushed rib sabot (my favorite sabot). Chap

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

I switched this year I use to shoot Dead Center bullets they are a very good bullet but a little pricey.
I shoot the 300 gr. gold dots in my Knight they shoot very accurate at 50 yards very tight groups usually touching at 100 yards about 2 inch groups, use 90gr. 777 Harvester crush rib sabot
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Is that the only Speer Gold Dot there is? How accurate are those hollow points?
[/quote]

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

I shoot .45 caliber 240 grain XTP's over 90 grains of BH209 with a crush rib sabot out of my Omega.

Can regularly turn 5 shot groups into one large ragged hole at 50 yards. Some guys don't like the XTP's because of reported jacket separation. I don't concern myself with that too much though since I'm not pushing them super fast. XTP's sometimes get bad mouthed but I'll venture a guessthatthere have been more deer taken with them than any other pistol bullet. It's only a deer. The die pretty easy with a well placed shot. If I was gunning for something larger than a deer, then I'd rethink my bullet and powder combination.

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

I'll buy some Gold Dots and Sabots today and also buy some conicals. I'll be sighting in my ML in a couple weeks and I'll see which bullet it likes best.

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

Lotta folks feel like you do, like the designer of the Savage 10 ML Smokless MLers, Henry Ball. Good read here also on some guys shooting them in the Savage, especially art338wm analysis of the bullet:

http://dougva.proboards34.com/index.cgi?board=Savage&action=display&thre ad=10742

Chap

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

SW

This bullet was recovered from a doe shot facing me with her head down at 80 or so yards. I was ina tree stand and when she dropped her head down to feed I put aimed for the top of her back right where the neck begins and touched it off. The bullet traveled through the neck/spine and entirely through the chest and abdominal cavities. I felt the bullet under the hide on the deer's left flank and cut it out externally

And in reply to your other question, Gold Dots are pistol bullets made by Speer. This is the 300gr, .452 bullet made for the 454 Casull pistol.

RE: Your favorite .50 Cal slugs?
 

Thanks for the info! I don't see a pic though...