Kuhle4224

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone would be kind enough to share what bullets they are currently shooting. I have a T/C Endevor and have tried several brands of bullets and I'm not happy with the blood trails they are leaving.

I've tried T/C's Shockwave, Power Belt, an now Barnes.

I would love to hear any opinions.

Jenks

Kuhle--
I have a slow twist rifle, a 66 inch, so I either have to use RB or short conicals, it is a .50 cal. I have not shot a deer with it, but I like to shoot a Hornady 240 grain "PA". These seem to be about the same as the Buffalo "Ball-ets" that I can't seem to find. I get the Hornady's from Midwayusa. I have shot these into something solid and they flatten out considerably, I use 80 grains of Pyrodex RS behind them. I think they are going appx. 1500-1600 fps and would do a number on a deer within 75 yards or so. I don't like to mess with RB and patches yet, maybe I will learn to like them sometime.

bronko22000

Have you tried Hornady XTPs? They are extremely accurate in all my rifles with a fast twist. What disturbs me is that you are not getting good blood trails with the bullets you've tried. All, especially the Barnes are noted for reliable expansion. Maybe your definition of a good blood trail is different than mine. Not trying to be nasty just observant. Don't forget, a deer hit with a big ML bullet and does not drop right there is covering a lot of ground in very little time. You are not going to have a red carpet trail. Heck, I've shot several deer with a round ball that didn'tleave a blood trail at all. But they died none the less.

Heybo247

I shoot a 300 grain Bloodline out of my .52cal. LRH and have no problem with accuracy and successful take downs. The blood trails are excellent what I have seen of them. Most the time it leaves them laying were they stand. Maybe you should throw them in your selection of bullets.

oldsmellhound

Blood trails also depend a lot on where you hit the deer, and whether or not you get a pass-thru.

A hit higher in the body may leave less of a blood trail than one lower in the body. A hit thru both lungs that exits usually leaves a better blood trail than a heart or liver shot because the deer is often bleeding from the mouth.

Having said that, bullet selection can make a difference. I would stay away from Powerbelts, personally. Barnes bullets have a good reputation for pass-thrus and blood trails, I'm kind of surprised you are not getting good trails with them.

For me, surprisingly the bullet that has provided the best blood trails has been the "little" 200 grain Shockwave. It penetrates very well, so I always get pass-thru's, except once on a frontal shot. Most of the deer shot with this have fallen within sight, and the blood trails with this bullet have been better than other bullets I have used. The 250 grain .452 Deep Curl would be a close second for me....

Buckhunter46755

Believe it or not, the T/C CheapShot non-ballistic tipped hollowpoints group well and expand well out of my Omega .50. I've also had luck with the Hornady SST's but I think they are pretty much the same bullets as the SW's. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I never did like the PowerBelts. I get poor groups with them out of my omega.
I usually use a 240gr .45 sabot with two 50gr 777 pellets.... deadly load for my rifle. I have also used the 200gr. shockwaves but they seem a little too light. The non-ballistic tips seem to expand better on impact, so I get a good blood trail though the deer I've tagged usually drop within 20yrds. I also seem too get better groups with the non-magnum bullets, but they may be an option also. Your gun may like them. Hope this helps....

bubbinator

Very new to the ML game, shoot a T/C Impact. Liked look of inherited Hornady 240gr JHPs in a red box, looked same as the 240 gr 44 Mag bullets I load in Ruger pistols/rifles. Just zeroing the rifle with a couple odd bullets, I got the scope zeroed, shot 2 of the Hornady loads for a final zero on it, not real great, but made a 3rd scope tweak and loaded it! (NO 209). 9 shots total from new gun. A couple weeks later after seeing several bucks and does coming into my small food plot, a nice 8 pt came in one evening just before dark. Waiting for a broad side shot, he finally turned while nibbling turnips and I fired. He disappeared in the T7 smoke. At the poi I found blood/lung tissue and 3 tracks going NW. outside 10 yds from the POI-nothing! Darkness fell within 15 minutes and after searching all I could under the circumstances we gave up. Next morning just after daylight my wife found him, brown side toward our last search less than 50 yds from POI. Shot was a high double lung 50 Cent size hole out 25 cent in. Inside was a mess, just no holes to leak a trail. Your bullets will work, just need to put them where they'll work for you.

Semisane

I'm with Bronko. Hornady XTPs in 250 grain, or (my favorite) 300 grain will do everything that needs doing on a whitetail and generally produces a good blood trail. Regardless of bullet, it's not uncommon for a well hit deer to cover twenty yards before the blood trail starts.

By the way, I've recommended this post be moved from the Reference Forum to the regular Black Powder Forum.

Another by-the-way, welcome to the forum Kuhle. Good stuff here.

Gm54-120

It does not appear the OP has logged on since 5/8/2012

Semisane

Well, DUH!