Muzzleloader Bullet Review

With bow season here in NYS starting this coming Friday, muzzle loading season will be here before you know it. I thought it might be time to review some of the bullets I have had success with. I have owned a total of 27 muzzle loaders since I first got involved in the sport. That was back when NYS limited one to open sights (NO scopes) and flintlock, or cap lock with round ball only. In lines were in their infancy, and were not allowed in NY.

After a lot of trial and error and experimentation, I finally settled on the two smoke poles I own today. They are both made by TC arms. One is the original TC Encore 209/50 with a black synthetic stock and stainless barrel and the other is a synthetic camo thumb hole stocked Omega.

For more detailed information see my blog posts on 11/15/2007,  6/26/2008, 8/14/2008, 8/22/2008, 2/5/2009 & 7/5/2009.

I have had great results with:

TC 250 grain shock waves in the Encore. In fact this is the best shooting bullet I have found for this gun. Others that are more than adequate and shoot good groups are the Barnes 245 grain spitzer, Hornady's 240 grain, 250 grain and 300 grain XTP's and also Precision Rifle's Dead Center sabots in 260 grain and 300 grain.

The Omega also shoots these loads well and I ended up settling on Hornady's 250 grain SST which essentially is the same bullet as TC's shock wave. The Hornady SST has a red tip and the TC Shock wave has a yellow tip. Hornady makes both loads. The Hornady 300 grain XTP has shot some very tight groups out of the Omega and the Encore. I was also impressed with Cabelas extended range sabots in various weights.

I have tried a lot of primers, and like the Winchester 209 primers the best, with the Remington Kleen Bore coming in second and the triple 777's coming in last.

I have the Encore sighted in with 2/ 50 grain Pyrodex pellets and the 250 grain shock wave while the Omega is sighted in with 110 grains of loose Pyrodex RS behind the Hornady 250 grain SST.

I am attaching a link for Precision Bullets  "Rate Of Twist" chart for matching bullets weights to your rate of twist. It is interesting to note that the 1 in 28 twist which is the most popular also seems to stabilize a greater range of bullet weights than the 1 in 24, 1 n 32, etc. The cap locks I started with of course were mostly round ball guns and the twist rate for those was commonly 1 in 48, 1 in 60, 1 in 66 etc. or a SLOWER rate of twist.

http://muzzleloadingbullets.com/rate_of_twist_muzzleloader_bullets_chart.html

Have a great hunting season.

Dan

proverbs 23:17-18 "Let not thine heart envy sinners; but be thou in fear of the Lord all the day long. For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off"