baldman

I'm new at Black Powder hunting. I primarily hunt Deer and Elk. So I thought I'd asked the experienced hunters.

Currently I am shooting a TC Black Diamond, 22". The powder I purchased is 777.

The bullets that came with the rifle are the Hornady 50 cal. 45 240 XTP / Mag. I purchased a box of Maxi-hunter 50 Cal. 350 Grains.

I really like how easy the Maxi-hunters load. The sabot bullets seem harder to load.

My questions are:

Are the two above mentioned bullets good? I want a load and bullet that will punch through and has a low percentage of reflecting off bone, etc.

Have any of you tested other bullets, powder and primers that have worked well with Deer and Elk?

I recently shot a Deer with my old 30-30 after switching to a soft nose from a Silvertip. It reflected off a rib and when back into the guts. (I was up to my elbows in SH*T.) I never had that problem with the Silvertips.

Thanks

cayugad

I have a Black Diamond XR. Mine of course has the longer barrel but should really make no difference since I seldom shoot more then 100 grains of powder out of it.

Some of the pet loads are 80 grains of Triple Se7en or Goexz FFFg and a .503 diameter 460 grain No Excuses Conical. I never had a chance to try this on an animal yet, but I am positive after seeing how it reacts on the range that this is an animal stopper. It loads like a dream and shoots excellent.

A sabot I suggested to another Black Diamond owner was the 375 grain Buffalo Bullet SSB sabot and 100 grains of T-7 or Goex FFg. He took my suggestion and told me about an excellent elk hunt he had where he harvested a nice cow. Perhaps he will read this post and elaborate more on his hunt.

Another very accurate load are the 250 or 300 grain T/C shockwaves and 100 grains of powder. The groups this will shoot at 100 yards are hard to believe.

With the T/C mag express 240 grain XTP I found they shoot excellent but after 75 yards I had the group open a little more then I liked so I went to the Buffalo Bullet Sabots.

You have a great shooting rifle there. If you just got the thing a word to the wise, check that breech plug and give it a turn after every seven shots or so just to break it free. Also, be sure to use a quality breech plug grease on it or it will seize up on you.....

txhunter58

Opinions do vary! You will get a wide variety of opinions on that question. First thing you have to realize is that every rifle is different and what may be very accurate in one gun, may shoot poorly in your gun even if it is the same make and model.

My group uses powder in the 90-110 grain range with powerbelt bullets (some use 348 gr, some 405 gr). I know several guys that like maxiballs (haven't used maxihunters) and Buffalo bullets, and hear some great things about the 460 no excuses.

Does your state allow sabots? Where we hunt (Colorado), you can only use Conicals.

Powerbelts are definately the easiest to load, but are usually the most expensive. They also seem to like lower charges (not magnum 150 grain charges). You do not need anything more than 90-100 grains black powder equivalent for elk out ot 150 yards with the larger conicals (350 gr or bigger).

Welcome to the great world of muzzleloading!

Tahquamenon

From a T/C Omega...
Hornady 300gr SST on top of 120gr Black Mag'3 powder.
Yep, the SST's are a bear to load. Really tight.
Killed 4 deer this year with this combination and each had 0-yard run after being shot.
Still hunting for No. 5...

Looking forward to tossing this combination at bear next year.

This is by far the hardest hitting combination I've found. Also very good accuracy.
I've no idea as to what the ballistic tech data is but this really knocks them down hard!

I'm not changing a thing.

IMHO

Best,

mrlizzzard

In my experience hunting,mule deer die more easily than elk,but a mature whitetail will take more lead and defy death at a much greater level.Most hunters will tell a tale about a good hit on a whitetail and never recovering the animal.

lizzzard

brother hal

I also have a TC Black Diamond XTR, which I use only for those years I get drawn for elk in CO. I shoot 348gr powerbelts and 90 or 100 grs of Clear shot or Clean shot (I use both with the same results). I have been blessed to kill 2 elk in the last 3 years. Both were one shot kills, both broadside thru the lungs, and both elk died within 20-30 yards. This load/bullet is quite accurate in my rifle, and delivers when it is time to shoot. I don't see myself changing anything unless the components I now use go out of production. BUT, if you ask 100 hunters, you will probably get 100 different answers. good hunting.

Pygmy

Hey... Good to see some familiar handles here, friends from other forums like Cayugad and TXhunter58..

My rifle is a T/C Hawken .50 cal. that is about 35 years old.. Most of my experience has been on whitetails with round balls and they work very well...

Last year I drew a ML elk tag in Colorado, so I decided I needed to find a good conical because .50 cal. round balls are a little light for elk..

After trying several different bullets, I settled on the NoExcuses 460 conical with 80 grains of 777... It loads very easily and is extremely accurate in my rifle...

I was fortunate enough to take a bull elk with it and then I used it for a whitetail here in NY..

The elk dropped in his tracks from a high lung shot but needed a finisher...I recovered both bullets just under the hide on the off side...The deer was lying down facing me...The bullet entered her left eye and ranged down along her neck vertebrae and came to rest in a shoulder, so I managed to recover it.. I would rate bullet performance as excellent...Both bullets from the elk are nearly picture perfect mushrooms and retain nearly all of thier original weight..The one from the deer is busted up somewhat more due to contact with a lot of bone, but still is a formidable hunk of lead...