good loads for inline 50cal?

[7mmstalker]

A few months ago a frontstuffer rifle joined our family. I am concerned that I havent discovered what to feed it for good accuracy. The sabot/slug combo I want to use is a 240gr. 44cal. jacketd soft point. So far the results are terrible, lucky to get 3 shots on a pie plate at 50yds. Tried a couple of great plains (50cal)385gr.conical; 44cal 270gr jacketed soft point, pretty much the same results. Using 90-100 gr. of 777 with sabots, same amt. of Pyrodex with the lead conicals. Hoping for a bit of insight on what to try next, heavier slugs? I have 300gr. jacketed and some 410gr. great plains lead. Do different sabots make that much difference? Maybe less powder? I started with a thorough cleaning of the barrel/breech plug and nipple, and when shooting, brush the bore after 3-6 shots. I love shooting the rifle, but short winter days and my job are severely limiting range time. Wanting to get this rifle sorted out and move on to a sidelock that my son has his heart set on. We have guns for hunting first, and for fun a close second. So far this 50 cal. is not accurate enough for hunting.
Oh, -it is a Knight MK85, 1-28 twist barrel, bought used, the barrel does have a few pits at the breech end (first 2-3 inches) but shines like a mirror the rest of the way to the muzzle. Could the pits be a problem?

 

[andrewstorm]

loads for 50 cal

with 209 ignition 777 pellets,works in my gun 3 for a mag load @ 2200 fps with a 250 grain shock wave sabot,only 2 pellets if your gun isnt mag for about 1750 fps muz vel, 1 in 28 twist is for sabots t c shock wave are the same as hornady sst,very effective and accurate

 

[Tim the student]

I'm interested in this too. I have a similar question posed over in "Hunting".

 

[usmarine0352_2005]

.
We just started hitting muzzleloading hard this year. We killed 7 deer with T/C Truimphs, one T/C Omega and one Traditions using .245 grain Powerbelts and 3 pellets of Triple 7. The longest shot was just over 100 yards. Every deer dropped within 40 yards.

The only deer that wasn't recovered was shot with a Sabot (I don't know what brand.)


My friend who got one of the deer uses Powerbelts but said he tested Powerbelts and a lot of other bullets last summer through his T/C Pro Hunter. He said that over 100 yards the Powerbelts started being very inaccurate. He said the most accurate bullet was the Barnes 2 petal Sabot.


He uses the Powerbelts because he bought a whole bunch when they were on sale and most of his shots are within 100 yards.


And just because his Pro Hunter works well with Barnes doesn't mean yours will. Each brand and even each gun will pattern differently with different bullets and loads.


I'd also say many people agree that 2 pellets are usually more accurate then 3. For hunting though I always use 3.


On another note, my Omega and Truimph are extremely easy to load with Powerbelts even after many shots and no cleaning. After 1 shot I could barely get a Shockwave Sabot down the bore of my Omega. My brother bent our friends ramrod attempting to put a Shockwave Sabot down the bore of his Traditions muzzleloader after shooting a doe.

.

 

[x_wrench]

IF your muzzle loader is rated as a "magnum" able to take 150 grains of b.p., i have a load that works very well in my CVA OPTIMA (1in28 twist). I am shooting 120 grains of loose powder triple seven using a Hornady SST low drag sabot 250 grain bullet. from a rest, i get just over 1" 3 shot groups @ 100 yards with that load. P.S. IF YOUR GUN IS NOT RATED FOR THE HIGHER LOAD, DO NOT TRY IT!! NO LOAD IS WORTH GOING TO THE HOSPITAL IN AN AMBULANCE!

 

[george d dennis]

i went to sight in my thompson at 50 yrds. i loaded( 2) 50gr pellets of pyrodex
777 caps, and tc 240gr. open sights , no scope. at 50yrs they were in the center
bullseye, almost in the same hole. couldnt be more happy.i never tried for 100yrs,
when it gets warmer out i will be back at the range. i still want to try a heavy
bullet at 100 yrds.

 

[frontiergander]

7mm, what gun do you have?

 

[ontarget]

7mm, my son has the same gun you have (I shoot it more than he does) and the best groups I get are with 100 gr. Pyrodex RS (loose powder) and a cheap T/C 230 grain jacketed hollow point sabot purchased at Walmart. I dont know the name of the bullet but they were only like $7.00 a pkg. of 20. OH, his gun uses the musket cap ignition.

 

[7mmstalker]

Thats some good info. WA. state requires muzzleloaders to use musket caps and iron sights. Your loading is in the ballpark where I want to be.
My wife used this rifle last weekend to tag a nice blacktail buck. He was about 200yds. out when spotted and we had to coyote-crawl up to about 50yds. to get a good shot. She is a good shooter, but doesn't like the recoil of a heavy load. I'm trying to find an accurate load with a slug of 250 grains or less.

Thanx to all for the replies; frontiergander, we have a Knight MK85.

 

[joachim slim]

Muzzleloader

I have a Knight Revolution in 50 cal with a Simmons 3x9x50 scope. I shoot 2 50gr Pyrodex pellets with a 240 gr sabot bullet with plastic ballistic tip. It is a tack driver.