I do not have any pictures of the conical I shoot. But I use the RCBS Adjustable HotchKiss mold. For some reason I landed on the 525 grain set on the mold. I have not tried different settings, the one I have just works perfect. heck out the rCBS catalog. I assume they still make the mold. But mine is probably 15+ years old. Tom.

How does one go about getting into conicals? I will be honest and have never tried conicals. I am a 250 grain Shockwave in 50 caliber loyal shooter so why am I asking? I have the opportunity to hunt an area in which I will only be able to see 50 yards in the heavy timber. The shockwaves are great at long distances but I have had a non pass thru at 20 yards once, the bullet did not expand well and was inside the hide after it broke both ribs, did its job but the deer here are very large. I want a shock and awe and powerful conical for short shooting. I shoot inlines in 50 caliber. Does the conical just fit on top of the powder or does a powder wad go in between the powder and conical? I use 100 grains of pyrodex with the 250 and assume if I shoot a 500 grain conical I need to be around 70-80 grains of loose powder. Can you help me select a good conical? Thanks fellas.

http://muzzleloading-bullets.com/ind...es/Page319.htm

http://bullshop.gunloads.com/tbs_mlbullets.htm

Of the 2 above I prefer Bullshops because Dan sizes the bullets to your specs. Anywhere form .500 up to .5045 in the .50. His prices are also better than the NE bullets. If you order from Dan ask for pure lead and #2 lube. You will have to slug your barrel before you order.

I use a unlubed felt wad over the powder because I get better accuracy. The same is true with lower powder charges. Accuracy falls off when I use more than 80grs of powder and it seems to be at its best at around 65-70grs.

First thing would be having a gun that shoots conicals well. Most will but there are some that because of the design of the crown or some other factor do not. If your gun is a 1 in 28 twist it might shoot better with one of the shorter conicals, like the UC short design. It is a good idea to slug your bore and get a conical that is close to the land to land measurement. If you know someone you can get a few from in the right size that would be a good place to start. Many like an overpowder wad when using one of the hotter powders like 777.

MZ are just like center fire rifles in certain ways. You never really know how a particular bullet is going to shoot in a particular firearm until you try it. Some are finicky, and some are not.

Same thing with bullet weight, bullet length, sabot or not, and with a wad or without a wad. The only way to know is to try them. I have seen slow, deep cut round ball rifled barrels shoot conicals very well. So you have to try it first.

I find it pretty hard to beat pure old 3F BP when shooting conicals. However I will admit I have not tried shooting conicals with BH-209. I can't bring myself around to paying that much for a container of powder that is not even a pound. But I have shot a good bit of T-7, and Pyrodex. They shoot well, but I can still get good performance from plain old BP.

If you are only shooting to 50 yards then supreme accuracy is not your main goal. It is aways a good thing but not paramount.

Buy a good heavy conical. You will soon learn that they are far more dependable and accurate way past 50 yards. And will flat knock the snot out of game.

As suggested above, sized conicals are by far the best choice for hunting. Just remember to slug your rifle at both ends, not just the muzzle. This is where you will see a big difference in the quality of the barrel you have(if you can slug both ends). Tom.

Great advice guys, but I must be stupid what is "slugging your barrel"?

I have 1 in 28 twist and some 1 in 32 twist guns. I really think my 1 in 32 twist gun with a 24" barrel would be a great conical shooter. What is a good conical twist gun?

The old rule of thumb used to be a 1-32 or 1-38 twist was always considered a conical bullet rifle. But the Whites for instance are 1-24 twist. I wonder if it has more to do with the rifling and the way it is in the barrel. Such as depth, etc.

The way I have slugged my barrels may not be the best way but it is how I do it. I take an oversize round ball or conical and tap it to get it started down the bore. Once in I push it back out from the other way and I can measure the land to land distance with a caliper.

That seems good flounder I will try it. I am also an archer and have tubes of wax for bow strings and wonder if I could shove that in the barrel and shove out and measure. I can do both and see, I expect the lead ball to hold true. Thanks fellas I will try and post what happens.

Cayugad, on the Whites do they have a deep rifeling? My 1 in 28" just does not seem "deep" enough to stabilize a conical or is it related to how much powder one uses. Meaning less powder and more time to stabilize, I know it may be a millisecond before it comes out the barrel but I'm thinking the longer it stays in the barrel the more time it can stabilize.