(Best lead muzzleloader bullet for elk)

[jmason]

I drew an muzzleloader elk tag for Idaho. Since Idaho only allows all lead bullets, what is the best lead bullet to use on elk? Powerbelts are legal in Idaho. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also, how much powder should I use? Thanks

[callturner]

What type of rifle are you shooting? What is the twist rate of the barrel?

[Dan-o]

I absolutely love Harvester hard cast lead bullets.   

Have killed a bunch of elk with them.
They are devastating.

[jmason]

I shoot a Knight Bighorn with a 1:28 twist. thanks

[callturner]

I shoot the Harvester400 gr hard cast also in my Bighorn in a Black crushrib sabot over 90 gr by volume of Pyrodex select. I fire it off with RWS musket caps. If you cannot use a sabot and I don't believe you can in Idaho, contact Dan at Bullshop in Saco Montana. He Casts many fine bullets for muzzleloaders.

[Camo]

I would reach out to Sabotloader or look for his posts on here. Guy has tons of great info, in the event he doesn't chime in.

[Pete112288]

Hornady Great Plains bullets arent too bad, I shot them for a while. Personally couldnt get very good grouping past 100 yards, so I kept my shots under that.
But as with others on here I became a devout using of the harvester hardcast. I shoot 330 grain bullets on 90 grains of Tripple 7. But also as is said, i dont think they are Idaho compliant.
What I do have to say is try with less powder and work it up from there. I have met a few people who are adamant on using as much powder and magnum loading as they can get away with.
In my humble opinion, there is no need, and thats not what muzzleloaders are meant to be.
I started with 70 grains of powder and could group amazingly at 100 yards. Then I started taking it up 10 grains at a time after I felt like I was comfortable with how it shot.
When I went from 90 to 100 grains, my groups opened up a little, and then a little more when i went to 110 grains. So I settled on 90. And with those 330 grain harvesters have great results.
1 passthrough on a small bull at 155 yards, 1 passthrough on a big bodied bull at 135, both broadside.
Last years bull had a sharp quartering away shot, entered behind the rib cage on one side, and exited through the shoulder on the other side, he didnt go far and the shoulder still didnt stop the passthrough.
My point being with that is that it does not take a magnum load of powder to be powerfull against that size of an animal. 

[jmason]

Thanks all of you for the information. I really appreciate it.

[callturner]

One thing with the harvesters , weigh and sort your bullets and you will have better groups. They are not very consistent but do shoot well.

[Sabotloader]

I drew an muzzleloader elk tag for Idaho. Since Idaho only allows all lead bullets, what is the best lead bullet to use on elk? Powerbelts are legal in Idaho. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also, how much powder should I use? Thanks

I really dislike Idaho regulations, restrictions on what bullet you must use.  I will tell that lead Power Belts can and normally are a very accurate bullet, but their shaky 'Terminal Performance' troubles me.  The lead is such a soft lead you really need to be careful of the powder load you might use.  Shot to much velocity they do tend to break up in the animal. Remember that is just my opinion.

For myself, elk hunting here in Idaho I turned to Bullshop Dan's .503x460MT Nex.  It is probably an over kill in using that much lead - but it does not come apart even when it contacts bone.



Here is a link to his 50 cal bullets.  He will size them to whatever diameter you need for your bore.

https://bullshop.weebly.com/-50-caliber-cast-bullets.html

This ballistic sheet is computed using 90gr. volume T7.  Most will tell that 90 is to much but it turned out to be the most accurate from my Knights and from my GM LRH/Renegade barrel.  Most might suggest 70 to 80 gr. volume.



Also would highly suggest ignition with a #11 MAG cap or better yet a RWS Dynamit Noble 1075 cap. Many people use the standard Musket cap but I have I really get better ignition with the Mag style caps shooting T7 powder which needs the hotter ignition temp.

[OutHouse]

I heard from a guy that he did not recommend the power belt pure led with the hollow point. I have used it and works just fine for deer but he said it may not punch through the shoulder of an elk if that's the presented shot.

[Fl0und3rz]

I always appreciate your ML posts.  They are always chocked full of info.

[Sabotloader]

thank you - I really do try to be helpful and not let my biases show to much!

[h20hunter]

Have never hunted with a front stuffer and it's not my thing......however.....i love reading your posts as your level of detail and experience is super interesting to follow.

[duckmen1]

I heard from a guy that he did not recommend the power belt pure led with the hollow point. I have used it and works just fine for deer but he said it may not punch through the shoulder of an elk if that's the presented shot.

Throughout the years I had a lot of experience on deer with 348 grain all lead hollowpoint powerbelts. I would never recommend them for elk. Even for deer I made a switch. I had multiple deer die very very quickly dropping within 5 steps to 20 yards with heart shots. But hitting higher up in lungs and shoulder shots I've had very mixed results. Won't get into too much details because I can go on and on but these bullets are very soft and pancake completely flat and loose a lot of energy very quickly. Alot of times on standard ranges of close muzzleloaders they don't pass through and some animals took quiet abit of time to expire. Longer shots over 100 yards or low heart shots I've seen some pass throughs. If you want more details about this bullet I can add to my response. I will also dig out a pic that I can give another story on about these. For elk yes any bullet can kill one but other options would be more reliable. I've heard many good things about hard cast harvester bullets.
In my area I can use what I want and we've had great success with Barnes and bloodlines but those aren't what this topic is about.

[OutHouse]

I heard from a guy that he did not recommend the power belt pure led with the hollow point. I have used it and works just fine for deer but he said it may not punch through the shoulder of an elk if that's the presented shot.

Throughout the years I had a lot of experience on deer with 348 grain all lead hollowpoint powerbelts. I would never recommend them for elk. Even for deer I made a switch. I had multiple deer die very very quickly dropping within 5 steps to 20 yards with heart shots. But hitting higher up in lungs and shoulder shots I've had very mixed results. Won't get into too much details because I can go on and on but these bullets are very soft and pancake completely flat and loose a lot of energy very quickly. Alot of times on standard ranges of close muzzleloaders they don't pass through and some animals took quiet abit of time to expire. Longer shots over 100 yards or low heart shots I've seen some pass throughs. If you want more details about this bullet I can add to my response. I will also dig out a pic that I can give another story on about these. For elk yes any bullet can kill one but other options would be more reliable. I've heard many good things about hard cast harvester bullets.
In my area I can use what I want and we've had great success with Barnes and bloodlines but those aren't what this topic is about.

Very interesting. Last deer I took with a pure led power belt hollow point--it was shot at about eight yards and the bullet ended up right under the skin on the other side of its body. It expired quickly but I was questioning how in the heck the bullet didn't pass through. Sure enough it pancaked just like you said.

[kselkhunter]

Does Idaho have a bullet length restriction for lead conicals?

Oregon did have a length restriction, but relaxed it this past year so that opens up more bullet options there.  Idaho and Oregon had similar muzzy restrictions, so just curious what Idaho's rule is on length.   I'll be testing some of the No Excuses bullets out for Oregon muzzy elk tag.  Obviously haven't had a chance to use one on an animal yet, but have read really good things about the performance of these bullets. 

https://www.muzzleloading-bullets.com/shop/

[MountainDevil54]

Using this bad boy in colorado this year.

[duckmen1]

This is another story on powerbelt all lead .348 grain bullets.  100 grains of powder. Sorry the pic is pretty narly but used for reference. This buck took 4 shots with the muzzleloader to expire. All 4 shots lined up on the shoulder line. 1 shot was about 130 yards. All the next shots were between 45 and 70 yards. These bullets did the same thing pancakes 🥞.  I don't fully understand why animals shot with these bullets have such inconsistent results in a quick humane kill. With the Barnes bullets and bloodlines they are always 1 and done in seconds with my experience from many animals. The powerbelts have always been accurate in one of my muzzleloaders. But I hate to see an animal take so long to expire.