Which gold dots?
 

So I've read of people shooting Gold Dots in their muzzle loaders and that they are fairly reasonably priced. I've been shooting the Federal Fusion bullets, which from what I've read are just rebranded Gold Dots. I've been paying $14 for 12 bullets with sabots. They are the orange sabots that come with them. I'm not sure what size, but they shoot great. Can I get gold dots cheaper? If so where?

For the .452 250 grain Gold Dots and 300 grain Deep Curls (excellent deer bullets) I think Graf & Sons has the best deal, with their $4.95 shipping rate. Look here:
http://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/...yId/559/page/3 They are Item #SP4484 and Item #SP3974, respectively.

I use Harvester short black sabots (H5045SB) for both bullets. They're here at the Graft's site: http://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/...productId/5481

A box each of fifty 250 grainers and fifty 300 grainers, plus two fifty count packs of sabots is going to cost $50.51, including shipping -$0.51 a shot.

If the 300 grain Jacketed Hollow Point Federal Fusion bullets are Speers, they are not the Gold Dot/Deep Curl models, but the standard .458 45-70 bullets. See them here on the Graf site: http://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/...roductId/17307

If you want to use a .458 bullet you'll need MMP Orange Sabots. Look here and scroll down to the HPH series. http://www.mmpsabots.com/ Although I've heard that some guys manage to load .458 bullets in the Harvester sabots for .452 bullets, I haven't tried that myself.

hometheaterman

I think! - Semi pretty much covered that with a blanket.... They are really good bullets.

I'm a big fan of the 300 grain .452 Uni-Cor softpoint:

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.co...?sku=000214485

They expand well and I've yet to recover one on around 10 whitetails. MMP sabot rate them as a large game (elk) bullet.

Always a big exit hole.

Thanks guys. So I'm wondering what bullet this Fusion bullet is now. I'd had a few guys tell me it was a Gold Dot that was rebranded, but now it's got me curious. They shoot really well, which I like, but at $14 for 12 shots they are expensive. I was using PowerBelts and switched to these as the PowerBelts aren't giving me pass throughs on deer. I haven't tried these yet on deer, but I hope to. However, I'm wondering if I should switch to Gold Dots and use those instead.

........Yes........

I think I'm going to hunt with the Fusions I have on hand this year, since the gun is sighted in for them, and I already have them, but I'm going to order some 300 grain Gold Dots and use next year.

Take your pick based on the game and recoil preference.

The GoldDot .452 250gr will perform great at low velocity. Expansion is nearly a guaranty even with only 70grs. The hollow point is rather deep. I really wish they offered this one with the same hp as the 300gr DeepCurl.

These have been very accurate for me in several guns and dont require heavy charges to "get er done".

The 300gr DeepDurl style hollow point expands a bit slower and drives deep. Its made for heavy 45LC +P and 454 perform levels. Its hollow point is much shallower than the 250gr. Nearly a perfect match for ML performance levels IMO.

The 300gr .451 UniCor SP (#4485 i think) is considered a practice bullet by some but might be fine if you can get enough velocity for it to expand. Ive never really compared these on media or game.

The 44cal 270gr GoldDot has got some very good reviews from Ron on the board and if your gun shoots them well it should be an awesome bullet and fly pretty flat too. If it will handle 444 Marlin velocity then it should be a good match for ML performance.

BTW if they are in Orange sabots, there is a chance the Fushions are .458 GoldDots made for 45/70 performance levels. Another good match for MLs. The 300gr HP is jacketed and the 350gr SP is a Hot-Cor aka UniCor according to Speer's website.

Basically its hard to beat any GoldDot for the money.

Okay so I think I'm finally going to order some of these things. My questions is, how do you know what loads are safe with these bullets? Normally when reloading you have a manual to guide you. With these, I see they are handgun bullets, but how do you know if they will be safe with your powder charge or not? I'm planning of shooting 100 grains of Pyrodex. Will this be safe with the 300 grain deep curls? In a muzzle loader, how can you tell signs of too much pressure?

100gr of even Pyro P and a 300gr GoldDot/DeepCurl with a Harvester black Crushrib should be very similar to the 300gr Fushions...and totally safe in nearly any muzzleloader.

You shouldnt see any sign of too much pressure with that load IMO. Ive used much hotter charges with 300gr bullets and the black Crushrib without any signs of failure.

What gun are you using? Different guns react differently and early signs might be more obvious with some of them.