50 cal loads for the BigHorn

[Dirty Mike]

Just wondering what everyone shoots from there gun i just got a new muzzle for this yr and wanted to see whats best

[rasbo]

thats a can of worms,I shoot 295 grain powerbelts with 110 grain of loose

[CP]

Yep, this topic always gets a lot if interest going.

I have not found a more accurate load than a .451, 300g Sierra SportsMaster Bullet in the Knight Orange EZ load sabot, 100 grains of 777.  If I clean every other shot I can keep the holes touching @ 100 yards with a scope.

[jdb]

I shoot 85 grains of loose and a 370 grain t/c maxi ball with open sights and a sitting postion I can keep 3 shots touching at 50 yards

[stumprat]

I shoot 310 grain Knight bullets over 90 grains 777 ffg
With the new regs I'll try to sort through a new load.

[Dirty Mike]

i was using a 300 grain dead center bullet over 100 grains of powder

[elkaholic_74]

I just got a knight bighorn and I plan to shoot 310gr knight sabbot bullets with 100 grains of pyrodex. I'll let you know how it does after my next day off when I go shoot.

[fishunt247]

Out of my Knight, the most accurate load I've found is 110 grains 777. For bullets, I shoot the Knight 310 for elk and 265 for deer. I'm also going to investigate a new load for the new regs.

[ing]

I shoot 295 gr. powerbelts with 100 grs. of pyrodex pellets out of my Knight .50 cal.  I've killed two elk with this load.  Both times the bullet came to rest just behind the hide on the opposite shoulder.  Great performance.

[WonkyWapiti]

For those of you that were going to be testing some new loads, any luck yet?  I'm looking at buying a Knight Bighorn myself and my head is spinning researching all of this blackpowder stuff.

[Wacenturion]

Same here....Just bought a couple Bighorns for my son and I.  Muzzleloaded in the 70's and 80's....but been away from it for awhile.

[JBar]

I'm getting pretty good groups with 295g powerbelts and 100g pyrodex pellets at 100 yards from my TC (sorry I know this was a Bighorn question), don't like shooting futher than that with open sights. I am going to try 250g TC shockwaves this year and add a peep to see if I can get more accuracy and a little better range though I still don't think I would shoot past 150.

[usmc74]

I bought a blued Bighorn at the Joes closeout sale.  Need to work up a load for it, so will be watching this thread.

[stumprat]

For those of you that were going to be testing some new loads, any luck yet?  I'm looking at buying a Knight Bighorn myself and my head is spinning researching all of this blackpowder stuff.

Well I have tried 4 different Jacketed bullets with multiple powder loads.
Thompson Center / Shockwave 250grain /w multiple powder loads
Thompson Center / Shockwave 300 grain/w multiple powder loads
Hornady xtp/mag  240 grain /w multiple powder loads
Hornady xtp/mag  300 grain /w multiple powder loads

My conclusion was that these loads cost twice as much as my current load  Knight 310 grain bullet with 90 grains ffg  777 loose.
I don't shoot over 100 yards with my Bighorn, and at this yardage I found no reason(accuracy wise) to warrant changing what has worked so well for me.
Although I like the new regs. I will be staying with my old load at half the price and eating quite well.

[Wacenturion]

I bought a blued Bighorn at the Joes closeout sale.  Need to work up a load for it, so will be watching this thread.

Pretty good price?

[stumprat]

A blister pack of 20 pre saboted for $9.99

[M_ray]

Yep, this comes up a couple of times a year! What works for one guy in one barrel might not be your best group out of yours! You are probably going to buy a couple of packages of bullets and start with 777 powder and  go to the range, you could get lucky like me and 100 grains will be it from the start but if you don't get good groups you will have to start with 90 grains of powder and increase by a couple grains every couple of shots until you get your best group! Then start on the next bullet and so on, Good luck and be prepared to do lots of cleaning!!! I would also season your barrel before you start with bore butter. FWIW I also use the knight 310 grn sabots with 100 grians of 777 in one of my TC's and the other (which has the same barrel & doesn't except the same bullet)  I will have to use 295 grn powerbelt.

[stumprat]

If you are using saboted bullet I don't recommend seasoning the barrel. You are not using bore sized lead.

[CP]

A blister pack of 20 pre saboted for $9.99

XTPs are $12.99 per 50. 

[bobcat]

XTP's are handgun bullets, correct?  From what I know of them they are not designed for muzzleloader velocities. I'd be leery of using them on elk. Probably ok for deer and just target shooting, but I sure wouldn't trust them to stay together on an elk. I could see it just hitting a rib on the way in and blowing up.

[CP]

Damn fine bullet.  I’ve used XTP bullets for years in several calibers and several weapons, pistol and rifle.

But don’t take my word for it, they are well reviewed:

http://www.chuckhawks.com/underrated_hornady_XTP.htm

[bobcat]

Well, thanks CP. After reading that I just may have to give them a try. Just never did pay much attention to copper jacketed bullets for muzzleloader use, until now, since they weren't legal. At $12.99 for 50 that's about half the price of the Buffalo Bullets I've been shooting, and they were cheaper than almost all the other options. I take it they are sold without the sabots, correct? If so that's just fine by me, as I buy Harvester crush rib sabots for use with the Buffalo Bullets, and throw the ones they come with away.

[M_ray]

If you are using saboted bullet I don't recommend seasoning the barrel. You are not using bore sized lead.

Why not? I seasoned my barrel several times over 5 years ago and I shoot great groups with a sabot bullet out of my TC 50 cal, does a seasoned barrel know the difference between a patch and a sabot?

[usmc74]

I bought a blued Bighorn at the Joes closeout sale.  Need to work up a load for it, so will be watching this thread.

Pretty good price?

I bought at 25% off  $207 for blue, the stainless was $280

[stumprat]

If you are using saboted bullet I don't recommend seasoning the barrel. You are not using bore sized lead.

Why not? I seasoned my barrel several times over 5 years ago and I shoot great groups with a sabot bullet out of my TC 50 cal, does a seasoned barrel know the difference between a patch and a sabot?

Don't get me wrong it doesn't hurt anything. But bore butter and Crisco is lube for shooting bore sized lead. I used it on all my older guns. After switching to the in line it's just one thing I don't need. UNLESS I shoot bore sized lead through it.

[bobcat]

Black Powder: “Seasoning” … good for your cast iron fry pan but bad for your barrel. Seasoning is purely a myth carried on for eons that has absolutely no basis of fact. Original muzzle loader barrels were made from wrought iron that has a much bigger grain structure than modern steels but nowhere near that of cast iron. Seasoning in a cast iron pan is nothing more than a layer of burned on oil properly identified as “varnish”. The large grain structure of the cast iron and rough surface texture allows the varnish to bond to the iron giving the nice smooth surface. The finer grained wrought iron will not take varnish (seasoning) like a cast iron pan and neither will any modern barrel steel because the grain structure is too small and the surface is relatively smooth. Varnish (seasoning) is nothing more than fouling and in extreme cases it can cause serious problems resulting in damage to the gun and or death / injury to the shooter and bystanders.

http://www.fire-iron.biz/Fire___Iron_-_Information.html

[M_ray]

Thats good info! But what I did was not that involved so I my need to be more specific. I didn't use any other solvants or agents, I only used bore butter so Im not sure that it is considered the same ... maybe? I meant I season it with bore butter and what it really did for me more than anything was make it easier to clean and easier to seat the bullets. My TC Firehawk is 10 years old now, not sure is that has anything to do with it but my newer TC Black diamond is only a couple of years old and I havent seen much difference in seasoning with bore butter either except it is getting easier to clean, but it is still a B!tch to get a sabot down!

[bobcat]

Try a different sabot. I switched to the Harvester crush rib sabots in my Black Diamond, and they load much easier than the ones I was using. All muzzleloader bores are different, that's why they make sabots in different thicknesses.

[M_ray]

Got it I'll try Thanks! 

[Dirty Mike]

hornady sst 50 cal 300grn shoot great and load sooo easy

[Dirty Mike]

ok since i started this post i did not have a load for my gun i was using 100 grains of triple 7 loose and a 300grn hornady sst bullet which was cheap at cabelas for 14 bucks and its 20 shots worth awesome grouping super easy to load i also bought a williams peep sight fp model with micro meter adj i paid 33 bucks online and it sells for 85 usually made a huge difference with my shooting let me know if you.want the website to buy it for your bighorn

[woodswalker]

my brother and I have Knights... his is a Wolverine and mine is a Bighorn...his likes the Knight 260 sabot over 120 grains of Pyrodex Pellets (4x30s).  Mine likes a Powerbelt 348 over 110 of Pyrodex Pellets OR Powerbelt 405 over 100 Pyrodex Pellets

[Dirty Mike]

i was usuing the hornady easy load sabots and they went in super easy but i just switched the sabots on them to the knight high pressure ones which are the black ones and heres my grouping at 50 yards, i did have one wild one