K fellas i have a optima inline muzzle loader , i bought it from a local sporting goods and he told me to use thoes black powder pellets i was useing 70 grains and 2 out of 3 shots would not even hit the paper.. but then i switched to 70 gr. powder perfect i can hold a 2'' group at 50 yards i'll have to use the powder 4 good shots but it takes a lil more time than the pellets me i thought 70 grains is 70 grains but i guess i'm a lil off ohh n 250 grain balls with both .. anyone know why this is?

70 grains??? The pellets come in 50 grains a piece. The new muzzleloaders shoot best with 3 of the pellets or 150 grains. Some people shoot 100 grains. With the gun you described I would try 3 of the pellets (150 grains) you will get a much better pattern. You need to be shooting more than 70 grains.

ok i found out i was a lil wrong.. i was shooting 100grains n i could not get it to hold a pattern then i talked to the guy that i bought it from n he told me to use the powder at 70 grains n it worked very well... but thats at 25 yards .. will that still be ok for 50 yards or should i bump up a lil in powder... I'm very new at this and all the help i get will be greatly ap.

Are you shooting round balls in this gun? Is it a 45 cal or a 50 cal? I think most inlines are rifled for sabots. I can hold 1 1/2" groups at 100yds. with my friends 50 cal. Optima using a 250grain sabot and 100grains pyrodex.

I would use 80 - 100 grains of loose powder. What type of bullet are you shooting, conical(fullbore), sabots, powerbelt? hornady XTP or TC shockwaves, and 100 grains of loose powder is a good all around load. If the supplied sabots are loose in your bore, and accuracy is poor, try MMP or some other tighter fitting sabot. A tight sabot is crucial to accuracy. The black powder forum has alot of good info. too.

Ok fellas heres what we got its a optima 45 cal, Hornady 200 GR Sabots bullets with 70g of lose powder, i was shooting lead bullets with the waxy wad.. if you know what i mean so i went to the hornaday beacaue of the plastic wad makes a lil titer fit .. witch i though would make a lil more acc. witch it did inprove a lil it is very good at 25-30 yards but it goes a lil sloppy after that i just want to be able to shoot consistant at 50yrds thanks alot for the help guys..

I'm shooting the Optima Mag. 50 cal. with Hornady 250 gr. sabots and 100 grains of triple seven pellets, and I'm getting great patterns at 25 to 100 yards.

Moved to the BP section...

Two pellet or 100 gr. load in CVA's I have had a bunch of em and the only one that liked heavy 150 gr. loads is my Accura. Save your shoulder and stay around 100grs.

Mike - If your 45 is shooting these 200 gr bullets good with 70 gr of powder that's great . That is a good starting point. My suggestion is to stick with the loose powder and forget the pellets. Try bumping up to 80 grs and see how your group is. If it as good or better that would be great. IMO, 80 gr of loose powder pushing a 200 gr (I assume it is a 40 cal bullet with a 45 cal sabot) bullet will be fine for any whitetail or hog out to 100 yards. I shot my biggest buck yet with this exact combo.