Starvin Larry

Those of us with older .50 caliber muzzleloaders,or the inexpensive .50 caliber inlines that can not handle the 150grain magnum charges can still use some of the technological advances in muzzleloading bullets.

The combo of a .44 caliber hollow point bullet-such as the Hornady XTP,and green plastic sabot for use in .50 caliber muzzleloaders is one good combo to use ,another is the line of PA conical bullets from Hornady.

I am not a Hornady spokeperson,nor do I benefit in any way from mentioning their products.

I use the 240 grain .44 caliber XTP jacketed hollow point bullet with green sabot over a 95 grain charge of Triple 7 as my main hunting load in most of the places I hunt in Ohio.

In a couple of places,I use the 240 grain PA conical,as it is heavier than a round ball,and does not require use of a lubed cloth patch. Hornady claims no patch is needed,but I have found the bullets perform much better with a felt patch between powder charge and bullet. Some states require you to use lead round ball or conical bullets during their muzzleloader seasons.

Both will give you great accuracy out to 100 yards,the .44 caliber XTP bullet with green sabot gives good accuracy out to 150 yards in both of my muzzleloaders.

For feral hogs,I use the 385 or 425 grain PA conicals,or the 300 grain XTP’s,when elk hunting with muzzleloader,I cough up the extra $$$, and buy a box of 300 grain Swift A-Frames.

Since I have a newer-(last year)- inline,I’ll use a .45 caliber 240,or 250 grain XTP bullet,with the black sabot as my first round for hunting,as they get a little better velocity,and have more energy. The problem with them is they quickly foul the barrel,making reloads difficult.

I also bought a box of 230 grain lead round nosed bullets to use for target shooting,along with the black sabots for use in .50 caliber muzzleloaders.

They are accurate,and hit to almost the exact same point of impact as the .44 caliber 240 grain XTP’s with green sabot.

The problem is that at ranges much over 50 yards,they start hitting way to the left-as in 3-4″ at 75 yards,and 10-12″ at 100 yards.

I believe that’s due to the powder charge not being 150 grains,causing the bullet to de-stabilize at ranges greater than 50 yards.

Since they are accurate to 50 yards,I’ll use up the remainder of the 200 round box I bought for target practice at 50 yards or less.

I’ll continue to use the Hornady XTP as my hunting bullet,they do not shoot the best out of all muzzleloaders,but they shoot the best out of mine.

Try as many different bullet/sabot combos as it takes until you find one that gets you 3″ or better groups at 100 yards,if you are using an inline with scope-sight it in at 100 yards-that way you will hit a couple inches high at 50 yards,and a few inches low at 150 yards-still in the vital organs of deer sized game.

If you are using iron sights and no scope,sight in at 50 yards because you aren’t going to be taking many shots beyond 50-100 yards,so a 50 yard zero is fine.

If your muzzleloader is like my older CVA,it’s not accurate until a couple of shots have been fired through it. I take mine out and fire 3 shots,run a couple of dry patches down the barrel a day or two prior to hunting season,and leave it like that until the end of the week-or 2 weeks depending on your state’s season-or until I get a deer before thoroughly cleaning it.

Be sure you target shoot at a bunch of unknown distances,and shoot from a variety of angles and firing positions in the months prior to hunting season-that way,you have a much,much better chance of making a kill shot on a deer.

Read.

Learn.

Train.

Do more PT !