jayman035

i shoot the 240gr XTP bullet with mag express sabots in my CVA staghorn. and that is dead on at 100 yards with 100g of pyrodex.

SWThomas

Thanks!!! You know, I wish all of the forums on this site were as helpful as this one is. Seriously, you guys are awesome! You guys truely embody what these forums are suppose to be all about. I think I understand about the calibers and sabots now. Why would someone want to use a sabotted bullet over a conical? It seems like the conical would grip and seal better and offer better accuracy. Am I wrong in that assumption?

cayugad

Sabots are also a tight seal. In fact depending on what sabot you use, you can go from easy to load to near impossible to load. Also when you fire a sabot, the bottom expands and engages the rifling on the way up, just like a conical. Because of the large selection in projectile size, sabots can be a good way to go. Especially if you want to shoot long range with a flatter trajectory.

Now I am not by any means trying to talk you out of conicals. If you like conicals, then by all means use them. I shoot conicals out of some of my rifles. BUT with the Genesis so far, I found it is a really good sabot shooter.

gleason.chapman

Most folks are shooting .451, .452 or .458 bullets not slugs and most use sabots that hold the bullet to the rifleing. Unlike a Centerfire Rifle, the bullet does not do the rifleing with sabots, the sabot does the rifling. Chap Gleason

gleason.chapman

Conicals are what use to be shot in flintlocks and percussion rifles, with 209 primers, most are designed to shoot sabots well. Sabots seal just a well if not better than conicals. please see this article for more details:

Are Sabots THAT Much Better than other Muzzleloading Projectiles?

at this site: http://www.chuckhawks.com/index2h.muzzleloader.htm

Chap

SWThomas

Awesome article! Thanks!

UncleNorby

Don't get me wrong, you are getting good advice.

But, I recommend you try Hornady FPBs. These are a full bore, copper jacketed, hollow-based conical that weigh 350 gr. My Genesis shoots them into 1" groups at 50 yds. I did not shoot further than that, but I'm almost 2" high at 50 and will aim dead on at 100. Load is 100 gr Pyrodex RS, T7 209 primer.

They load easily once started in the bore, and that just takes a little practice. I feel confident a load could be worked up for 150 yds if needed, but I'm all set with shooting 100 or less, and this load will perform.

These bullets are supposed to penetrate and perform well through a range of velocities (unlike PowerBelts), and don't require a sabot. Nothing against sabots, but why introduce another variable if you can shoot an accurate and deadly bullet that does not need one?

My $.02.

MOEncore

There is always great advice on here.

For me personally I only have 1 in-line gun now... the rest are sidelock percussion and Flintlocks that all shoot roundball.

In my Encore I have tried 6 or 7 different bullets but have always worked my way back to the 250 Shockwave. These things for me are deadly accurate and have always dropped deer within feet of where they were hit. Every gun has a personality and every gun owner does also. Try some stuff others recommend and use what you are comfortable with. You can go cheap and be happy or you can spend a LOT and be unhappy, you just never know... the best thing to do is just try some stuff out to see what will work in your gun and for you. The Shockwaves I use are not that cheap but I dont price shop when it comes to something that works for me.

smokeblower

I like using .458 diameter 45-70 government (300 grain sierra pro hunter flat nose hollow points) bullets since 2 pyrodex pellets or 100 grains of loose pyrodex RS mimicks the muzzle velocity of the older 45-70 gov. trapdoor models. Also, thanks to the insightof others on this site, I came to see that measuring loose powder ahead of time and storing it in a speed loader or some other holding device is much more cost effective than using the pellets.

LKNCHOPPERS

Barnes Expander TEZ tighter barrels or Barnes Expander MZ for looser barrels, most stores do not carry them. I order through Midway USA and get them in a couple of days but they are worth the wait.