sdeters

I am new to black powder Hunting. I have a traditions muzzle loader with a Leupold 2x7 scope on it. I think it is an Evoluttion. Any ways I was using a 223 grain Powerbeltbullet And shot a1.5 year old deerat about 30 yards. I am using 100 grains 777 pellets. I lost this deer Blood trail crossed another deers blood trail. It was a mess anyways. Is a 223 grain Powerbelt bullet heavy enough for deer? What bullet type and wiegth would be reccomnended?MOst of my deer kills are within 20 to 75 yards.

Thanks

frontier gander

Yeah its perfect. You need to go with loose powder though. 80 grains pyrodex RS or P or 80 grains triple 7 will put that deer in its tracks. I used a 225 powerbelt and 80 grains triple 7 and put it through both shoulders.

You'll get a lot of NO NO! dont use it! It will fragment.
I personally hunt with these bullets and know what powder charges work best. Stick with around 80 grains triple 7 or pyrodex and that deer is going down.
Heres a pic of the deer i shot at 80 yards with the 225 powerbelt. Take note to the shot placement and remember that in the field when you put your sights on a deer....
This one didnt go more than 5 yards before rolling down the mountain stone cold dead.

sdeters

So the pellets are not the way to go? It is so easy For me being a beginer. Sounds like the Powerbelt I was using is good enough. I do not think I got blow through on my shot. I did not find any blood until it took about 50 steps. It jumped and kicked liked I hit it. Then it ran with out flagging me.

frontier gander

Powerbelts perform best with slower speeds. 100 grains of pellets is to fast. You'll get the best performance out of them by ditching the pellets and lowering your charge. The deer i shot was almost a pass through shot through both shoulders. But as i said, 80 grains triple7 performed perfectly and dropped that deer with massive blood trail. That deer snorted blood out of her nose all over the place and that enterance wound leaked pretty good itself
Get yourself a simple powder measure and some pyrodex P and check your sights to make sure its on still.
In an email to powerbelt bullets, they emailed me back and said when shooting loose powder, you'll get the best perform with betwen 60 to 90 grains of powder "pyrodex"

lemoyne

You can use pellets if you use a 50 and a 30 gr which will give you 80 which is the ideal load for PB's
and they will do a nice job at close range. But they do not have a good ballistic shape if you shoot very far the enegry drops fast and they have one of the poorest trajectories of the available muzzle loader bullets the only ones that worse are those great heavy chuncks of lead and at least they keep more enegry.
With the enegry drop and the rainbow trajectory I would suggest you limit your shots to a reasonable range or practice a lot. A good choice would be a 250 gr with a sabot a Shock Wave or Gold Dot or XTP are all well proven, even that PB if well placed with the right load will do a good job out to a 100 yds. Lee

sdeters

Ok so if I stay with the pellets and change to a Hornady sst or XTP bullet about 250 grains or more is a better choice for me I think. '
Thanks for all of your help. Off to gun magazine to find new sabots for Muzzle loader. What is the thoughts on the Traditions brand of muzzle loader? Is it a good one to have and shoot? Any negatives about them I should know about?. Thanks

frontier gander

they are good muzzleloaders for their price. I own a traditions flintlock and love the thing.

gleason.chapman

Thanks for saying that for me FG! Chap Gleason

sdeters

So I have read other posts. In other areas in the forum. This is what I am going to try. Please comment.

100 grains 777 pellets

T/C XTP mag bullets at 300 grains.

Question? Can I load this just like the Powerbelts? Just put the poweder pellets in then start theshockwave then drive it home? Or do I need some lube before I insert these bullets?

Sight in at 100 yards. My shots will not be any longer than this.

frontier gander

Sabots will load tight and usually need a ball starter to get them started into the barrel.