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Dave I don' t think your Omega will shoot patched round balls very well with it' s fast 1:28 twist barrel.You should think about sabots.I am going to shoot mine this week end,am going to try some 220 gr. dead center,250 gr.horady SST,295 gr. powerbelts.Have some loose and pelletize Triple 7 and Pyrodex to try.I,ll let you know how I make out.If anyone else has a load that works,I' d be intrested ,to get a good starting point.

Hate to tell you this, but if you wanted to shoot roundballs you bought the wrong gun. The Omega' s 1-in-28" twist will severely overstabilize a roundball and accuracy will be marginal at best. The fastest twist rate that will accurately shott roundballs is 1-in-48" which is only found in the more traditionally styled guns like the Hawken, and is actually a compromise twist rate to allow the use of lighter conicals as well as roundball. The optimum twist for roundball accuracy is a very slow 1-in-60 to 66" .

The Omega is designed to shoot sabots and heavy (long) conical bullets. For sabot bullets look for the following bullets; for a .40cal bullet with 185grain min. weight, .44/.45 cal bullet 230grain minimun weight, .50cal conical should be at least 300 but more preferably 360gr+. I' ve had good luck with Precision Rifle QT sabots from my Knight DISC .50cal (which is also 1-in-28" ) in the .40cal, 215gr. version. The 300gr .45cal QT' s also shoot really well too. I' ve also had good luck like the Hornady Great Plains lead conicals in both the 385gr FNHP and the bigger 460gr FN. The Hornady conicals are accurate, fairly easy to load, and hit like a freight train and are good out to 100 yards. The PR sabots are even easier to load and more accurate, but don' t hit quite as hard as the big conicals, but will extend the your range to 150 yards easily because they shoot pretty flat for a ML. The trajectory of the big conicals looks more like a mortar round past 100 yards. You could also try the Powerbelt conicals. I' ve never used them, but there are many who say that they are just the ticket for an accurate, easy loading conical bullet. Some have gotten great results, and I' ve heard others say they wouoldn' t group from their rifle.

Also remember that every ML is its own animal. No two " identical" muzzleloaders will shoot exactly alike or like the same bullet/load combo. Some guns will shoot well with anything you stuff down the barrel, others are very picky eaters. Part of the fun, or frustration, is shooting enough to find that one special load that your gun likes the best. Stick with conicals or sabots and have fun. If you' ve heart set on shooting patched roundballs, take the Omega back and get a T/C Hawken with a 1-in-48" or slower twist barrel. If you don' t mind shooting the more " modern" projectiles, then stick with the Omega, as it' s a very good gun.

Mike

Dave,

I commend you for starting with some round ball shooting . Personally, I think shooting ball makes for good practice AND it helps break-in a new barrel - something plastic sabots can' t do.

But the others are right, you won' t get great accuracy out of patched round balls.......the best I would expect is about 2" groups @ 50yds. Your choice of ball, patch, & load is just about right..........you might even work up toward 70gr of RS without sacrificing accuracy.

Once you' re ready to work up a serious hunting load - then you need to look for some 300gr class bullets.......like the PR QTs driftrider mentioned.....or Hornady XTP Mags or even the 348gr PowerBelts. It' ll take around 100gr of RS for the 300gr bullets (give or take up to 10gr) and about 110-115 for the 350gr class bullets.

BTW - You' ll probably find that longer (heavier) rounds are much more forgiving out of these fast twist guns..............with is a big reason why I use the 300gr & up bullets myself. That, and the fact that they tend to knock the living dog-snot out of game [] .

Good Luck - and Happy Smoke-making!!

Try hornady sabot hard balls they work well even in fast twist barrels.

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Dave, I got a Omega .50 last year just before the shotgun season started. worked up to 100gr. Pyrodex RS loose powder with T/C maxi-ball 320gr. and got 3 doe and 6pt. (50 yrd. to 150yrd.)the first week of shotgun season and I don' t believe I' ll take a shotgun out again. It was just great snow storm and ice storm did not make a differance. Hope you enjoy as much as i did and do this gun.

Back from my weekend at the hunting camp,and very please with my Omega 50 cal.Seems to shoot everything well. 2 triple 7 50 grain pellets with 220 Dead centers,250 grain Hornady SST,and 295 hollow point powerbelts all grouped very well.250 gr. hornady SSt loaded a bit harder but 3 shot groups where clover leafs.Its nice to know I have many different choices in bullets.

Shot my omega yesterday with some 240grain powerbelts and the groups were good 2" at 100 yards compared to 4-5" with hornady . My buddy witha knite was shooting great allso . I dont belive the hornadys were designed for T/C Omegas but work better with the knite rifels as their bore is larger .