Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Muzzleloader Hunting => Topic started by: kerrdog on June 20, 2013, 05:57:54 PM

Title: Bullet weight for Elk
Post by: kerrdog on June 20, 2013, 05:57:54 PM: Hey Ya'll. I'm using the Barnes Spitfire TMZs and have been buying the 290 grain bullets. Is that bigger than necessary (for elk)? Would a 225 or 250 grain bullet do the job?

And does a lighter bullet mean a shorter bullet? Does a shorter bullet stabilize better? Can it be more accurate at longer ranges?
Title: Re: Bullet weight for Elk
Post by: CoyoteChuck52 on June 20, 2013, 06:02:47 PM: TMZ 290g ....If its working,
Don't change a thing! :tup:

Oh and I'm not sure you can go to big for elk...
But you sure can go to light

What ML are you using?
Title: Re: Bullet weight for Elk
Post by: kerrdog on June 20, 2013, 07:02:59 PM: Disk extreme.
Title: Re: Bullet weight for Elk
Post by: CoyoteChuck52 on June 20, 2013, 07:05:30 PM: how is it shooting now with the 290's?
Title: Re: Bullet weight for Elk
Post by: Mfowl on June 20, 2013, 07:23:30 PM: I shoot 300gr Barnes Redhots through my Bighorn. Only shot 1 elk with'em but they did the trick. My thought is hit'em hard and make it count. Too light and you might risk something bad happening. :twocents:
Title: Re: Bullet weight for Elk
Post by: Sabotloader on June 20, 2013, 08:15:53 PM: Quote from: kerrdog on June 20, 2013, 05:57:54 PM
Hey Ya'll. I'm using the Barnes Spitfire TMZs and have been buying the 290 grain bullets. Is that bigger than necessary (for elk)? Would a 225 or 250 grain bullet do the job?

And does a lighter bullet mean a shorter bullet? Does a shorter bullet stabilize better? Can it be more accurate at longer ranges?

A 290 Barnes will certainly do the job if you do your job with bullet placement... I shoot .458-300 grain bullets and I am here to tell you that an elk will not know the difference between a 290 and 300...
Title: Re: Bullet weight for Elk
Post by: erk444 on June 20, 2013, 09:59:49 PM: Ive recovered 2 290 TMZs from elk and both have expanded perfectly :tup: I think their great bullets.
Title: Re: Bullet weight for Elk
Post by: Caretaker on June 20, 2013, 10:18:42 PM: I've seen others and have taken elk with 130 grain TTSX at 400 yds. Bottom line, nothing beats a well placed shot no matter how light or heavy your bullet is. And that's the bottom line :)
Title: Re: Bullet weight for Elk
Post by: bobcat on June 20, 2013, 10:33:12 PM: I'm leery of anything much less than 300 grains in a muzzleloader. I think that 130 grain bullet was probably from a 270. That would be a very short bullet in 45 caliber!
Title: Re: Bullet weight for Elk
Post by: bearpaw on June 20, 2013, 11:13:42 PM: Do most of you guys like the Barnes muzzy bullets best? Do they expand like their TSX rifle bullets and retain their weight in the same manner?
Title: Re: Bullet weight for Elk
Post by: Mfowl on June 21, 2013, 12:02:51 AM: I shoot them because they are the recommended bullet through Knight rifles and they have performed the best for me. I've shot several different Powerbelts and T/C Shockwaves with mixed results. The Bloodline bullets have also done well for me, but I prefer the Barnes Redhots.
Title: Re: Bullet weight for Elk
Post by: Sabotloader on June 21, 2013, 07:53:30 AM: Quote from: bearpaw on June 20, 2013, 11:13:42 PM
Do most of you guys like the Barnes muzzy bullets best? Do they expand like their TSX rifle bullets and retain their weight in the same manner?

Barnes, all copper bullets, are extremely good bullets and have a proven track record.

Myself and only for myself, I much prefer Nosler Partitions as they expand through a wider range of velocities than do the Barnes. But at this point Nosler is no longer making partitions that can be used in a ML. There are still some available but their time is short.

Another bullet and the bullet that I now use is the Knight Bloodline built for Knight Lehigh Defense. The Bloodline is every bit as good as the Nosler or Barnes but operates in a completely different manner. I believe the theory of operation came from Germany. In general Europeans use much smaller rifles and harvest the same size animals that we do using this theory.
Title: Re: Bullet weight for Elk
Post by: Dirty Mike on June 21, 2013, 08:34:56 AM: 290 is plenty. Buddy droped a cow at 60 yards
Title: Re: Bullet weight for Elk
Post by: MountainDevil54 on June 21, 2013, 09:10:55 AM: Barnes as well for me! Only i use the full bore diameter barnes under the Thor name. Also use plenty of 54 and 58bal round balls in the sidelocks as well.
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi293.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm53%2Fthepowerbeltforum%2FThor%2520Bullets%2F100_8538.jpg&hash=34c797172ea8bb8f4221290e5fb64d38e9c77c94) (http://s293.photobucket.com/user/thepowerbeltforum/media/Thor%20Bullets/100_8538.jpg.html)
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi293.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm53%2Fthepowerbeltforum%2FThor%2520Bullets%2FThor%2520Ballistic%2520Tip%2F100_9377.jpg&hash=84e00765f5676c8aacf20126e6dce8229f19758d) (http://s293.photobucket.com/user/thepowerbeltforum/media/Thor%20Bullets/Thor%20Ballistic%20Tip/100_9377.jpg.html)
Title: Re: Bullet weight for Elk
Post by: WSU on June 21, 2013, 09:14:08 AM: There is no reason to go smaller with a muzzy.
Title: Re: Bullet weight for Elk
Post by: meatwhack on June 21, 2013, 05:13:10 PM: The 290gr Barnes tmz in my opinion and experience is the best performing and most accurate muzzleloader bullet on the market.
Title: Re: Bullet weight for Elk
Post by: Slowdraw on June 28, 2013, 12:21:39 AM: I shoot 295 power belts shoot straight as an arrow, I've shot deer drop them in there tracks, elk goes 50-75 ft if that up to 150 yards both game, my ML is TRADITION VORTEK, 28inch barrel ported on top, this is my 4th ML love this one best.
Title: Re: Bullet weight for Elk
Post by: kerrdog on June 28, 2013, 02:17:55 PM: I had no idea that Barnes had full bore bullets under the Thor name. That's good to know in case Washington goes along with Oregon and Idaho with the full bore rule? I also wonder how the Thor would do in my 1/48 twist T/C NW Explorer. Soon I'm going to revisit that rifle (once I have my new Disk Extreme dialed-in.) so my boy can shoot it. It's light, short, and ambidextrous (he's a lefty) and his Mama don't want no lead bullets being used. :dunno:
Title: Re: Bullet weight for Elk
Post by: Sabotloader on June 28, 2013, 02:51:16 PM: Quote from: kerrdog on June 28, 2013, 02:17:55 PM
I had no idea that Barnes had full bore bullets under the Thor name. That's good to know in case Washington goes along with Oregon and Idaho with the full bore rule?

I was jjust in Sportsman's here in Kennewick and picked up to boxes of Barnes .500x325 grain XPB's to shoot sabotless in my DISC rifles. They are just a little bit small but knurling them between to files takes care of that.

Here is a picture of a knurled .500-275 XPB

(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv130%2Fsabotloader%2FKnurledXPB.jpg&hash=464c5ef6777ae6de17511c152e8cf7735bc8b6f0) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/sabotloader/media/KnurledXPB.jpg.html)

Last wee k I was shooting the .500x275's from one of my MK-85's

(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv130%2Fsabotloader%2FKnight%2520MK-85%2520PG%2FShootComposite.jpg&hash=01c88c04ed8ff10dd1126d2e88446802fe6b5fa7) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/sabotloader/media/Knight%20MK-85%20PG/ShootComposite.jpg.html)

(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv130%2Fsabotloader%2FKnight%2520MK-85%2520PG%2FWorkBench.jpg&hash=e7a8194ea493f9dedd73e7467f747830170eeb1b) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/sabotloader/media/Knight%20MK-85%20PG/WorkBench.jpg.html)

Quote
I also wonder how the Thor would do in my 1/48 twist T/C NW Explorer. Soon I'm going to revisit that rifle (once I have my new Disk Extreme dialed-in.) so my boy can shoot it. It's light, short, and ambidextrous (he's a lefty) and his Mama don't want no lead bullets being used. :dunno:

Since it is a 1-48 twist you might look at some Speer .500x300 grain Deep Curls. That short bullet should stabilize very well in a 1-48... but since you can still shoot sabots the .452x250 Speers should work very well for your young shooter...
Title: Re: Bullet weight for Elk
Post by: MountainDevil54 on June 28, 2013, 05:32:39 PM: Quote from: kerrdog on June 28, 2013, 02:17:55 PM
I had no idea that Barnes had full bore bullets under the Thor name. That's good to know in case Washington goes along with Oregon and Idaho with the full bore rule? I also wonder how the Thor would do in my 1/48 twist T/C NW Explorer. Soon I'm going to revisit that rifle (once I have my new Disk Extreme dialed-in.) so my boy can shoot it. It's light, short, and ambidextrous (he's a lefty) and his Mama don't want no lead bullets being used. :dunno:

They do great in our cabelas hawken. The 250 version with either 90gr 3f goex or 110gr pyrodex rs is the ticket in this gun. 90gr 3f goex at 100 yards with 250gr Colorado Thor.
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi293.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm53%2Fthepowerbeltforum%2FThor%2520Bullets%2F247GrColoradoThor004.jpg&hash=bb5bbb37cb0745a6e72b68140d80b013985bd783)
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi293.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm53%2Fthepowerbeltforum%2FThor%2520Bullets%2FThor-dad100yards.jpg&hash=842f14874093cbb480b90fcb8068212039231406)