Muzzleloader help

[twistedmidnite]

I have a .50 cal CVA optima magnum. I shoot Hodgdon triple 7 150 grain magnum charge (3 pellets), CCI 209 primer and Hornady SST 250 grain .45 cal Sabot.

Shoots well for me.


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I have the same gun and use the same loads. It's a great shooter, I have a muzzleloader bdc reticle scope also

[sharkhunter]

I shoot 777 and power belts. Get a 1.5 group at 100yrds.

[Greenheadless]

I am a shooting an CVA Accura and use 100 gr IMR (two pellets), 223 gr Pwerbelt, and Remington 209 Muzzleloader primer. I can shoot in MOA groups at 100 yards easily.

I think 150gr of propellant is overkill unless shooting 200 or more yards.

[Bayouboy]

Green powerbelts, two 777’s, 209 primer of your choice. Work perfectly in my CVA’s. Also, pickup a good muzzleloader kit for cleaning and lubricating. Keep it simple. Lots of good videos on youtube.

[Drycreek3189]

Congrats on your MZ!
Assuming it’s a newer in-line muzzleloader with the 209 primer & the ability to shoot 100-150 grains of powder.

I’d go simple with 100 grains pellet powder (1 pellet=50 grains) with either Hodgdon triple 7 or IMR White Hot.

There’s lot of ammo choices too.
Barnes Spit Fire (left blue in pic) or Powerbelt (green bullet) are great choices. I like the 250 grain bullets personally
Good luck

Good advice here for a beginner. Almost all MZs will handle 100 gr. of black powder substitute of whatever brand. I use the Powerbelts in my TC Encore and they shoot well. Deer sized animals are cleanly taken with Powerbelts, but if I were to hunt larger animals i think I would use a better constructed bullet as I've had them break up on bones. The deer was still dead, but I wouldn't want to use it on an elk. Visit a MZ forum and do some research.

Edit to add: TC makes a product called Bore Butter. It's absolutely the best product I've used to season and maintain your bore. Blackpowder substitutes are very corrosive so cleaning and maintaining your bore is important. I take my barrel off, stick the end in a small bucket of hot water and Dawn, use the rod and a patch like a pump, stroking the rod up and down until the bore is clean. The hot water heats the barrel and when you run a clean patch through the bore, drying it out, you can heat your bore butter in a microwave for a few seconds then apply it to your bore. The heat lets it get into every nook and cranny in your bore. It's good stuff ! Use some kind of anti-seize grease on the threads of your breach plug if you ever want to get it out again !

[Quackerbox]

I think 150gr of propellant is overkill unless shooting 200 or more yards.

This.

I just picked up a second inline. A school mate of my wife bought a scoped CVA V2 got scared of loading it and sold it to me for 200 bucks. Still had the tags on it

I zeroed it Saturday with 100 grains of pyrodex (that's what I had), 250 grn T/C shockwaves and 209 Remington premier . The last two shots were only 1/4 apart at 100 yards.

My other rifle is a T/C prohunter which has done well with 300 grn hornady SSTs and same load and primer. I shoot that one with open sights and limit shots to 75 yards or less.

I havet shot anything with the shockwaves but the hornady have done me VERY well. Once Im out of the shockwaves I may just shoot all hornady. I WILL NOT shoot power belts of any weight. 3 different deer killed in the last 4 or 5 years had very little blood trails with great pass thru shots. Essentially hoof tracked one for 200+ yards. Not impressed with the powerbelt

[Hix]

I have the same gun and use the same loads. It's a great shooter, I have a muzzleloader bdc reticle scope also

I’m getting a Nikon prostaff BDC for mine for Christmas to myself [emoji16]


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[cashcropper]

I have the Nikon BDC on my Rem UML. Works great.

[JonW]

This.

I just picked up a second inline. A school mate of my wife bought a scoped CVA V2 got scared of loading it and sold it to me for 200 bucks. Still had the tags on it

I zeroed it Saturday with 100 grains of pyrodex (that's what I had), 250 grn T/C shockwaves and 209 Remington premier . The last two shots were only 1/4 apart at 100 yards.

My other rifle is a T/C prohunter which has done well with 300 grn hornady SSTs and same load and primer. I shoot that one with open sights and limit shots to 75 yards or less.

I havet shot anything with the shockwaves but the hornady have done me VERY well. Once Im out of the shockwaves I may just shoot all hornady. I WILL NOT shoot power belts of any weight. 3 different deer killed in the last 4 or 5 years had very little blood trails with great pass thru shots. Essentially hoof tracked one for 200+ yards. Not impressed with the powerbelt

Very common issue with Powerbelts. I have no reservations telling someone to avoid 245-295 range if dead deer leaving a blood trail is the goal. I've heard good things about the very heavy (400g +) but like bullets in 300g range.

Barnes are very tough to beat overall. I've found Expanders to be the most effective on deer at blackpowderish velocities.

SST and Shockwaves are same bullets and work well.

Pellets work fine for most anyone, BH209 is cleaner and might perform a LITTLE better as car as velocity goes, but you'll have to measure.

CVA is a good Muzzleloader to hit the woods with for someone learning.




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[Bayouboy]

For those of you getting little expansion and pass throughs on the power belts are you using 2 or three pellets? I use two and have had no problem dropping deer or hogs. I have had some pass throughs at 50 yds or less. But, there was lots of internal damage.

[HDWRENCH]

Myself never had much luck with the belted bullets . My knight loves the barnes sabots and its deadly accurate with them . As well the barnes bullet has never failed me it always does what it should. pass through do happen but on there times based on the distance of the shot and angle it may not . With that said never had one go very far after being shot .

I have recovered several of the Barnes sabots and they always look picture perfect

[tx_basser]

Patched Roundball...... Been bringing them down for centuries.

[Quackerbox]

For those of you getting little expansion and pass throughs on the power belts are you using 2 or three pellets? I use two and have had no problem dropping deer or hogs. I have had some pass throughs at 50 yds or less. But, there was lots of internal damage.

Never shot more than 100 grains of either pellets (which is actually volume) or 777 granulated powder. Heck, the first deer I ever shot with a ML was with 75 grains of pyrodex powder with a 280 grain .45 barnes sabot

FWIW I know a guy who killed a 300" elk at 385 yards with a muzzle loader last month. Used a 327 grain parker and hes shooting less than 150 grains of powder

[JTCowpoke]

I like the Hornady 300g XTP bullets. It put a serious thumpping on my elk this year. It didn't take a step.

[sendit]

I like the Hornady 300g XTP bullets. It put a serious thumpping on my elk this year. It didn't take a step.

Yes, they do work well in sabots. Both the .429 and .452's