Muzzleloader Setup for Elk

[tacrispy]

Wondering what some seasoned Muzzy elk hunters recommend? This wll be the first year in a long time I have hunted with the smoke pole and trying to get my setup dialed in. I bought the hornady bore driver 290 grain bullet and trying to decide between easily found 777 powder or trying to find blackhorn 209 and paying the market price for it.

Just curious on some successful setups from the past of other hunters .

CO hunt, so open sights and loose powder If I have read the regs correctly.

 

[cmbbulldog]

I shoot 90 grains of 777 with Thors. Works for my setup.

 

[Deerhunter6250]

I shoot Black horn 209 (110 grain by volume) with Thor bullets and a peep sight. Very accurate and will be used again this year.

 

[Alex.D102]

The muzzleloader forum has a ton of great info as well. BH 209 is great but you definitely don’t NEED it. I’m shooting 95gr by volume 777 with a 300gr Thor in an Optima V2 and it’s a deadly combo

 

[Huntnnw]

Also shooting Thor bullets and 777 powder.

 

[Archery Athlete]

I’m shooting 90 grains by weight of 777 3f with 270 grain federal bor locks. Shooting out of a CVA wolf. Have yet to kill with this setup, but its accuracy is awesome and I’m sure it’ll work just fine.

 

[tacrispy]

Thank you all for your feedback. Some good info!

 

[wtrbrdm]

I run a CVA Accura MRX and Fury 320gr with max charge (84gr) of Blackhorn 209 by WEIGHT with the large rifle primer conversion.

The most overlooked part, for me, is not weighing charges and going by volume only. A scale runs $30 and you can weigh and load charge tubes in a few minutes.

I bought 2 packs of the Blackhorn charge tubes (orange caps) last year. I love these as there's no static and all powder falls when loading. I laid them out and the hashmarks printed on them was all over the place. Of the 6 tubes, the largest deviation was 9gr (volume). I also get different readings when initially loading the tubes nad then tapping them on a table...the powder settles.

If you're planning on shooting out to 100yds.....that possible variance may not make a huge difference. To me, it's unacceptable. I weigh and preload my range and hunting tubes before heading out. As a shooter, I put enough potential error into the gun, so I want my bullet, load and charge to be as close to the same as possible...every time.

I ran the BoreDrivers for a bit and they shot pretty good. It's all about experimentation and developing your load. What my muzzy likes may not be what yours likes.

With regard to powders...I use BH209. I bought enough to last for a while a few years back. Looking at the cost of tags, travel, hunts etc.....it's doable, even with today's prices. I blow more money on other worthless crap anyway. Once I'm zeroed, I only shoot once or twice before the season to reconfirm....not plinking around...so a jug should last a decent time.

 

[fap1800]

^I agree wholeheartedly with this. I'm new to muzzys, and drew a NM tag for this upcoming season. With a scale and charge tubes, it doesn't take long to measure out the exact charge. There's a guy on fleabay selling 20 charge tubes and case for cheap (no static when loading). I think I spent 30 minutes measuring out 78gr of 209 for each of them. NM allows for sabots, but I'm grouping really well at 50 yards with a peep using 300gr SSTs. I'm gonna give 100 and 150 yards a go this weekend.

 

[Jmoore]

Been shooting pretty much what you mentioned. Bore drivers and 90 grain (volume) 777 FF.
Just got a new MRX and will try to work up a load in coming days. May try some BH but not sure I'd be as proud of it as they are.

 

[tacrispy]

Great Reponses above. Almost bought some blackhorn 209 this week but went to purchase and it was gone just that fast. I agree that the cost is negligible when compared to how much money I have spent on other hunt related items, (and still spending).

went to range with a friend of mine this week and shot 100gr by volume of 777 with the bore driver 290grain bullet. Results were better than expected honestly. We both shot the CVA at 50 and 100 with open sights . After a small adjustment up, We were both hitting plenty accurate at 100 yards

I feel good about this load, will probably try to find some BH209 still if nothing else, to shoot a cleaner charge ha!

 

[Ditt44]

I shoot Triple 7 pellets in my in-line and in all my traditional guns, I weigh powder. If you are using loose grain, there is no better way to ensure consistency of your powder than by weight. By volume is an "about this much-ism". Far more variance in volume. I know guys will argue this but it works and the smaller the caliber the more it proves out. I shoot a LOT of .32 and .36 but my .50s do better this way as well.

I take whichever brand and granulation and weigh out ten pours in a powder measure, never tapping to settle the grains. I write down all ten weights then divide by 10 and that is my 'weight'. I will then use my mini scale and trickle powder to the weighted average, even if it is 60.2 grains by weight, then that's what I do and remove excess grains slowly to get that weight. Meticulous? Yeah. I enjoy the methodology of it and you cannot argue with consistent methods and accuracy outcomes.

I now have my notebook with pages by granulation and brand and 'volume' equal to weight. Goex, Swiss, Schutzen. It's gets messy from there by gun as each has it's sweet spot but having that little powder 'bible' saves a lot of time and memory jogging.

I have a bit more complex method for 'volume' though which actually is very consistent as well. I use sized spouts, 15, 20, 25 and 30 grain to get my total volume. I use an empty percussion cap lid, place the spout flush against it (upside down of course) and press the lever to fill the spout, release and lift. I pour that amount into a vial via funnel and repeat to fill five, ten, twenty vials with that same amount. I then change out the spout for the next size needed to get my total 'volume'. This take more time but again, proves to be very consistent when I weigh out the vials to check weights.