.50 cal muzzleloader bullet to bore vs sabot

[ole hunter]

Oregon no sabots for ag elk ..Maybe some day

 

[eltaco]

Both. They are 350gr Arrowhead XLD's. They took both 1st and 2nd place at Camp Atterbury in the 800, 900 and 1,000yd match.
The Fury bullets are excellent hunting bullets.

In .50 cal? Where do you find them? I don’t see 0.50 cal on their website.

 

[ENCORE]

In .50 cal? Where do you find them? I don’t see 0.50 cal on their website.

Use the Fury.

Black Powder Muzzle Loader Bullets – Fury Custom Bullets

www.furycustombullets.com

 

[jlink83]

I tried the Parker BE 275s in a new to me Encore last year and switched from 458gr nosler 300BTs to Fury universal 320gr 50s in a 700ml. I was extremely impressed with the Fury my one kill with it was a 165 yards bullet stopped just under the fair side shoulder if I can upload a picture I recovered the bullet if I remember correctly i think recovered weight was 286gr.

 

[BPI_Outdoors]

I'm new to muzzleloading and just got a .50 cal knight ultralight. I am getting ready to work up a load for it and I am wondering if I would be better off to go with a Thor bullet, bullet to bore or a parker ballistic extreme with a sabot? I'm hoping to to get a range of 250 yards to hunt deer and amtelope. As I understand a lot of people are moving away from sabots and going toward bullet to bore. Any thought and advice would be appreciated.

When shooting a 50 caliber you are limited to only a few full bore bullets unless you are going to cast your on . On the market you can purchase Parker products, Fury,Federal, power belt and a few others. Just make sure you bullets fit your bore with about 10 pounds of loading pressure.

 

[ENCORE]

If it were me, I'd go with the FURY bullets. Actually its exactly what I hunt with.
If you really want to get to the nitty gritty of bullets, buy a sizing die.

I see BPI states 10# of loading force. I can tell you from an exceptional amount of experience, you want more than 10#. Your bullets should load between 18 and 20#'s in a fouled barrel.
I would also suggest using a wad, either wool or veggie.

If you're using BH209, then I highly suggest the following: Measure out 10 charges of 120grs BY VOLUME of BH209. Tap, no tap, its up to you but, be consistent. After you've measured the volume charges, weigh each one and write it down. Find the average of the 10 charges by weight. Use that average weight for your charges. I highly doubt you'll need to adjust your charge using Fury bullets.

 

[muzz]

If it were me, I'd go with the FURY bullets. Actually its exactly what I hunt with.
If you really want to get to the nitty gritty of bullets, buy a sizing die.

I see BPI states 10# of loading force. I can tell you from an exceptional amount of experience, you want more than 10#. Your bullets should load between 18 and 20#'s in a fouled barrel.
I would also suggest using a wad, either wool or veggie.

If you're using BH209, then I highly suggest the following: Measure out 10 charges of 120grs BY VOLUME of BH209. Tap, no tap, its up to you but, be consistent. After you've measured the volume charges, weigh each one and write it down. Find the average of the 10 charges by weight. Use that average weight for your charges. I highly doubt you'll need to adjust your charge using Fury bullets.

Are you saying the 120 gr charge is the load that will shoot the best? I just ordered 20 of the fury’s and would like a good starting point for accuracy

 

[ENCORE]

Are you saying the 120 gr charge is the load that will shoot the best? I just ordered 20 of the fury’s and would like a good starting point for accuracy

120grs VOLUME. There's a very high probability that that charge will shoot very well. If you'd like, you could start at 110grs VOLUME and work it up by 2grs.
The Fury's are an accurate hunting bullet.

 

[muzz]

120grs VOLUME. There's a very high probability that that charge will shoot very well. If you'd like, you could start at 110grs VOLUME and work it up by 2grs.
The Fury's are an accurate hunting bullet.

I’m hoping they are accurate. I would like to use them for elk in a week

 

[ENCORE]

I’m hoping they are accurate. I would like to use them for elk in a week

MANY use Fury bullets in both smokers and SML. They size easily and remain sized. Other bullets have some spring back where Fury remains sized.
The 320gr ST2P is what I hunt with in my .45cal.
The Universal for the .50cal is mainly what all Ultimate and Remington Ultimate shooters use. They work.

 

[hicountry1]

I toss factory sabots and use the harvester crush rib sabots

Primary use Barnes 250gr tmz and 250 hornady ftx

The hornady ftx are just loose bullets I buy in boxes or 50

Barnes are sold as ml bullets, and like I said, toss the factory sabots

Even when I was using the 250gr Shockwave, I tossed the factory sabots

 

[BPI_Outdoors]

When shooting a 50 caliber you are limited to only a few full bore bullets unless you are going to cast your on . On the market you can purchase Parker products, Fury,Federal, power belt and a few others. Just make sure you bullets fit your bore with about 10 pounds of loading pressure.

I just wanted to state that when I said you should load your bullets with about 10 pounds of loading pressure that was on a clean barrel. After you shoot the gun ,the barrel will be fouled and your loading pressure will rise. It is most important to know how thick the copper jacket is on the bullet you purchase. The fury bullet has a 15000’s jacket as well as the Parker bullet. Most of the premium bullets were first designed to shoot in Smokeless rifles at way higher pressure. The thinner jacket bullets will perform better in regular smoke poles. If the jacket doesn’t let the bullet bump up then accuracy will suffer. I hope this will help in your decision.

 

[ENCORE]

The Arrowhead XLD's have a .021" jacket and if a veggie wad is used, a charge of 120grs VOLUME of BH209 will bump the bullet enough to shoot accurately to 1,000yds+.

I suggest using a wad.

 

[TC Reloader]

Do any of you use a different primer/Breach when shooting BH 209? Any ignition issues?

 

[hicountry1]

Do any of you use a different primer/Breach when shooting BH 209? Any ignition issues?

In my pro hunter, nothing special other than fed 209a primers.

In my rem 700ml, I put the badger ridge conversion on. Same primers.

Never a hangfire in either.

 

[ElDiablito]

I wouldn’t mess with full bore bullets in a .50 unless you were required to shoot them. I’d go with a sabot!

 

[ENCORE]

I wouldn’t mess with full bore bullets in a .50 unless you were required to shoot them. I’d go with a sabot!

In any half quality barrel, one that's not choked nor bored by someone not knowing what they're doing, bullet to bore is the way to go. Eliminate the weakest part, the sabot. Sabots are the weakest link in modern inline shooting, always have been. Heat and sabots mix like water and oil.

 

[ElDiablito]

In any half quality barrel, one that's not choked nor bored by someone not knowing what they're doing, bullet to bore is the way to go. Eliminate the weakest part, the sabot. Sabots are the weakest link in modern inline shooting, always have been. Heat and sabots mix like water and oil.

Some advantages to either. For the average guy though, a sabot is much simpler. Especially for the OP who is “new to muzzleloading.”

 

[ENCORE]

I'm new to muzzleloading and just got a .50 cal knight ultralight. I am getting ready to work up a load for it and I am wondering if I would be better off to go with a Thor bullet, bullet to bore or a parker ballistic extreme with a sabot? I'm hoping to to get a range of 250 yards to hunt deer and amtelope. As I understand a lot of people are moving away from sabots and going toward bullet to bore. Any thought and advice would be appreciated.

You have a dandy rifle, one that is at least has a good bore.

Here's an old time muzzleloader's advice........ learn to go bullet to bore.

Sabots are easy and yet other times a pain in the foot. Why buy 4 or 5 different packages of sabots to find out which one might work with a specific bullet of your choice?
I'm not saying that sabots can't shoot a bullet well. I'm saying bullet to bore is better and its not that hard to learn. Yes, it takes a sizer in some cases, in others, depending on the bullet need zero sizing.

If you just plan on shooting the rifle a couple times before a season opens then hunt, sabots are fine. However, if you plan on shooting more and during the summer, sabots and heat do not mix. Shooting one round and having to wait 10min+ for the barrel to cool is............... well not cool. It gets old REAL quick. You end up spending more time waiting for the barrel to cool than shooting.

Here's an example of sabot and heat........... See the ripples in the sabot?

 

[ElDiablito]

Couldn’t disagree more. And I have been a dedicated muzzy hunter for 35 years.

For guys new to muzzy hunting and the vast majority of average hunters (not paper punchers) sabots offer more advantages: cheaper wider range of bullet choices, sabots seal the bore and keep the bullet on the charge, simpler, often flatter trajectory, no sizing and the issues with sizing. Waiting a few minutes for the bore to cool during the summer is no big deal - use a cooling rod if you’d like and you’ll be shooting about as quickly as a bullet to bore shooter.