Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders What is recommended for muzzleloading for elk

A buddy is headed to New Mexico for a black powder elk hunt. This is his first trip for elk and needs to know what to load out with. Suggestions?

Thanks

does he have a muzzle loader yet?

Yes. I'm not sure what make or model so generic advice is fine. He is a whitetail hunter from the Midwest so he's familiar with his weapon.

290gr barnes is a great bullet. He can use sabots and loose powder, scopes, pellet powder in new mexico. Knowing his rifle would help us and especially he for better help.

Nice! What unit did he draw? I drew a tag in Unit 45.

I have been getting ready and I have the muzzleloader all dialed in so far. I switched to Blackhorn 209 this year. My rifle is a TC prohunter.

Now I know they aren't the fancy plastic tipped muzzleloader bullets that everybody goes to, but I am planning on using a Kodiak 350 gr with a MMP orange sabot, and 115 grains of BH209. I started with 90 grains and accuracy was good. Upping the charge to 95 and 100 the groups got bigger. I then jumped to 115 and everything came together. Speed should be right around 1850, but I am going to verify with the chrono the next time out.

Here is three targets overlayed on one another. The "H" is the Hornady 350 RN, the "S" is the Speer 350 FN and the "K" is the Kodiaks. I fired the 3 Speers in rapid succession, let the rifle cool completely, then fired the 2 Speers. As you can see they were darn near identical. I then let the rifle cool and did the same with the Kodiaks. I am very happy. I plan to move back to 200, give her a couple clicks of elevation and shoot to verify 200 yard hold with the ballistic plex reticle.



This combo is pretty much the same as a 45/70 load. I don't think there will be a bull elk out there that will hold a Kodiak very well

I have seen this bullet jug tested 10 yards at 1900 FPS and penetration was around 6 or 7 jugs of water with a perfect mushroom.

Depends on your buddy's gun.

I shoot a .570 patched round ball over 120 grains of Goex FFg. It's what my rifle shoots most accurately. I haven't shot an elk with it yet (drew a tag here in Oregon for this fall) but I've killed a couple deer with it. I've thought about using it instead of my centerfire for deer season to prepare better for elk season. We'll see.

Tom

I've done real similar too Tom. But I'll use the centerfire for Opening Day, then switch to a muzzy on Day-2.

BigBlock Jon picked out a super sabot/bullet for the thread-starter's buddy. The 290 Barnes TEZs are superb harvesters.

Thank you one and all!!!

Howdy all!. We (6) were drawn for Dec-Jan antlerless tags in the SE area of Wa where the Blue Creek wild fire is. Partners say that 200 yard shots are not uncommon sooo. I shoot a Hunterbolt 50 using 100 gr. Goex 2f, CCI musket caps and a 400 gr Lee .458 in an Orange sabot. I have upgraded the sights to a receiver sight and a 1/16 inch brass bead (no scopes allowed). It shoots fairly well however my question is about the bullet. Should I change to the 405 RCBS FN which has a larger metplat and/or what alloy should I use (all are onsite)? I am not going to use any commercial bullets, only fairly heavy FN cast.-Muddy

I'd use pure lead