Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders bullets for Elk,,

i drew an Elk (bull) tag in NM,, ill be using my TC ENCORE 50cal and im looking for some bullet suggestions,,ive used the shockwaves 250gr for deer but im not so sure they'll stand up to a bull elk,,i did order some 300gr hornady xtp/hp but the more i read the more im second guessing the hornady's,,
anybody use the TC bonded shockwaves ???

245 0r 295 barnes spitfire or the new tipped barnes mz bullet would be my choice. Great performance on deer and elk both but I should warn you they do tend to overpenetrate some. Good luck

i've used 348gr hp powerbelts (50 cal) to take several elk. they always worked for me.

I would go with the NO EXCUSES 460gr solid lead conical if it were me,have shot deer and Elk both with them absolutly devastating to anything they come in contact with.

Out of an Encore?

I like the 348 PBs or the 350 Hornady FPBs in my T/Cs.

Although I have never shot a sabot, since I hunt Colorado, I can't really recommend a particular one. However, if I were to hunt NM, I would probably try a sabot. You can't go wrong with a 300 gr nosler partition or any of the barnes variety bullets.

No excuses are great bullets, but won't shoot even 12 inch groups out of my Omega, and the Encore has the same basic barrel, so I would be surprised if it were to shoot them well.

One conical that might shoot well is the 300 gr Thor. Sabots of the same type are cheaper though.

There are different barrels in use in the Omega models as far as twist and length, twists from 28" to 48" for example. My wife's Omega X7 has the QLA, I will have to try it with the conicals I have on hand.

jim

Powerbelts!

x7/omega all have the 1:28 twist.

The Omega Northwest Explorer has a 1:48" twist...jim

northwest explorer is not an omega. At least it does not carry the omega name i should be saying.

Its not a rifle everyone will use and most likely will not be a big seller due to the #11 ignition thats exposed

Use 275 grain Parker Ballistic Extreme's and don't look back.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp;jsessionid=TSNRC1IVTBEJ3LAQBBISCONMCAEFEIWE?id=0081547217252a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Product_liberal&QueryText=omega+northwest+explorer&sort=all&Go.y=7&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23&Go.x=24&_requestid=73232

Cabelas sells it...jim

I would shoot a saboted bullet for sure. I wouldnt care so much if it was a nosler partition, swift a frame or barnes. 300 grains is great but 250 would probably be just fine.
Accuracy from a scoped gun would almost certainly be as good or better from the sabots. The recoil of the lighter saboted bullets makes a huge difference in accuracy for most people. Much flatter shooting as well if you are able to make the longer shots. Good Luck, Dean

All the Omegas that I have seen are only 1:28 twist

Then northwest explorer has the 1:48 twist, but with a QLA, I will wait until someone else buys some and tells me that it will shoot a conical. The jury is still out on that one.

It also has an EXPOSED breech (the closed breech is one of the features that I like the best about the Omega) and shoots #11 caps. That is why it is called the northwest: legal in the northwest states that require exposed breech and #11 caps. If it really WAS an Omega, but just had the 1:48 twist, I might be interested. But it is not an Omega. Not sure why Cabelas has "omega" in the page address.

But of course, we digress, he wants to know what kind of elk bullet for NM, and I don't think you could beat a sabot there. He already has a gun.

My TC Triumph will not take the Barnes, even though I tried for quite a while. The bore is just too tight. I even tried the undersized sabots.

Mine likes the TC bonded shockwave EZ glide 250 grain. The bull I got last year was pretty impressed with it too

FWIW, it did not exit @ around 100 yards with three pellets of 777. It did however do the job pretty convincingly.

so is it safe to say that the Hornady 300gr xtp's werent the best choice for elk ??????

correct

I used the Barnes 290 gr. Spit-Fire EZ-load bullets over Blackhorn 209 in my TC Triumph. Shot was a little over 100 yards, DRT.

I've killed 7 bulls with the 435gr White Powerstar saboted hollow point lead bullet in front of 2 50gr Pyrodex pellets. I use my old Knight DISC rifle with a 22" barrel, so the slug is only going about 1200fps at the muzzle. I don't think these bullets are available anymore but Buffalo makes a similar one. They're very effective, having taken a couple at around 150 yards. I've never lost an elk that I've shot with this combination.

Having said that, I think any of the newer designs weighing 250gr or more will do the trick. Hit'em good and they won't go anywhere. Just stay away from the shoulder.