Hunting Washington Forum
Big Game Hunting => Muzzleloader Hunting => Topic started by: Jburke on November 10, 2010, 11:24:25 AM
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What bullet weight would you guys recommend for deer/elk? Looking to use the same bullet for both, preferably. I am using a 50 cal inline. Also, what are the pros and cons of using loose powder or pellets? Any load recommendations would be appreciated as well. Thanks
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1200
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now that washington can use copper bullets. the best that i have found and tested is the barnes 290tmz. great for both deer and elk plenty of killing power. i like a bullet right around 300 grains or + when dealing with elk as well. i like loose powder because you get a little better burn rate and a little quicker as well. i shoot 110grains loose fffg tripple 7. pellets work great if you are new to the sport but my :twocents: is only shoot pellets if you are using musket caps. lots of people use 11 with them but i had nothing but problems when i first started trying to use the 11's with pellets. after about 6 months i switched to loose and musket caps and have never looked back. another good bullet is the dead center line they are lead but still a great bullet i have taken a lot of animals with them and been around a lot of animals taken with them. they work very well we shot the 340's.
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I just saw an article comparing a few different bullets and the tmz was the one I was most impressed with. Looks like a solid choice, think that I may start with them and see how they group. Where do you get yours? What kind of price am I looking at for them?
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well this is my first year muzzy hunting elk. I read all the posts on bullets shot the hornaby sst 300. Killed a cow elk at 100 yards.. one shot... clean throught the heart and out the other side. took out a rib on the way out. Didnt find the bullet so i couldnt see the mushrooming but put her out.. Very happy. I shot great groups with it out of my TC Blackdiamond..
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i got mine at sportmans warehouse. cableas and other bigger stores carry them. seems like about 35.00 for like 24 or somthing like that is what i pay. there are many good bullets out there that will kill. i have tested a ton. the hornady is good but i could not get them to open up well in all my tests. the 2nd best bullet i shot were the bonded t/c shockwave bullets. but you should be good with the tmz's. they are the best that i have found and shoot very well.
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I think I'm going to start with the tmz's. Still haven't decided on pellets or loose powder though.
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http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=735139&destination=/catalog/product.jsp%3FproductId%3D740064%26type%3Dproduct%26WT_tsrc%3DCSE%26WT_mc_id%3DGoogleBaseUSA%26WT_z_mc_id1%3D740064%26RID%3D40%26mr:trackingCode%3D26BFB7CC-958E-DF11-A0C8-002219318F67%26mr:referralID%3DNA (http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=735139&destination=/catalog/product.jsp%3FproductId%3D740064%26type%3Dproduct%26WT_tsrc%3DCSE%26WT_mc_id%3DGoogleBaseUSA%26WT_z_mc_id1%3D740064%26RID%3D40%26mr:trackingCode%3D26BFB7CC-958E-DF11-A0C8-002219318F67%26mr:referralID%3DNA)
300 gr sabot
100 gr (2x 50) of pyrodex
Loose has better burn, more efficient. But I love the convenience.
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In my limited experience you'll get better results with the loose powder.
I used 90-100 grains 777 loose and those 290 tmz's with good-great results.
I also shot the 340(maybe, I can't remember for sure) grain copper powerbelts with the green tips...same powder.
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I shoot the barnes expanders 300 grain with 110 grains of loose 777 powder. Each ML will shoot different bullets and powder charges better than another. Just gotta buy a few different brands and weights and experiment with powder charges to find what your ML likes. Personally I wouldn't shoot more than 125 grains of powder, I think after that things get squirrly and the ML won't burn 150 grains of powder correctly even though they say they are capable of a 150 grain charge.
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Yeah ill second that opinion. My ML wouldn't shoot that clean burning stuff for nothing. It ignited okay but the groups were horrendous. Switched back to 2x50 Pyrodex pellets and back to 1-2"groups at 100yds. I shoot 250 grain Hornady SST. But I only use it for deer. If I hunted elk with it I'd use 300 grain SSTs.
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Well I decided to go with pellets for ease of use, at least for now. We'll see how they work with the 290 grain tmz's and if they don't shoot well then I'll go ahead and switch it up a bit. Got a whole year to play around and get it right.
