Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Best .50 Cal ML Bullet for Elk

going Muzzle Loader Elk hunting in NM. First time Hunting Elk and fairly inexperienced in ML hunting. I would like to know yalls suggestions on best bullet to use.

Thanks in advance

i've used the 348gr powerbelt with great success for over 10 years. gonna use the same bullet in sept for my guided hunt in colorado this year.

290 GR Barnes TMZ has worked well for us.

What rifle are you shooting, and what twist rate? Do you have a load that shoots well?

There are a lot of answers to this. If you are loading for a magnum where you are using 130-150 gr, then you need a premium bullet. Something like a Powerbelt Platnum.

If you are in the 100 gr range of powder, several bullets will fit your need. If one of the older Hawkin style, then a 370 gr maxiball, but they usually don't shoot well in modern inlines.

If an inline, then I'd choose a 348 gr Powerbelt, or a similar weight in a Hornady bullet. Unless you are a shoulder shooter, there is no need for a Barnes bullet. I have used a 295 gr Powerbelt ( Aerotip or hollow point)for years with complete satisfaction but I am stepping up to a 348 gr hollow point this coming year. There are a lot of variation in price. So you just need to pick one you are satisfied with

You will get replies that Powerbelts blow up or come apart, but most of those complaints come from guys who over drive them velocity wise.

Although bullet placement is paramount with any firearm and elk hunting, with muzzleloader hunting it is more so and just about any heavy bullet will do the job, contrary to what most advise. It's what shoots most accurately in your rifle.

Or guys who've never shot an elk with one............

The 348 is what I've used without problems but if I was to hunt in a state that allowed sabots I think I'd be looking at a premium bullet in the 300-grain range.

sorry forgot to post that I will be using a TC Encore .50

I am VERY new to Muzzle Loader hunting as well.

I haven't started load devlopment yet but I have some .458 sabot's for my CVA powerbolt (1/27 twist) and will try the RCBS 458-300 FN & HP and 500 gr. cast Hp's w/100 gr MOL of holy black and musket caps first. Bet that the 500s and 100 gr kick!, I'll probably start w/70 or so first though.-Muddy

348 Powerbelt Aerotip, 80-90 grains of BH-209 powder, and a regular WInchester 209 primer have shot well in 2 Encores and a T/C Triumph for me.

A round ball from a .50 on up,works fine for me..

A few years back, I decided to start hunting elk with a muzzleloader.
My goal was to expand my elk hunting opportunities, and the muzzleloader was a means to the end.
I researched this question a bit, and talked to several experienced elk hunters who use muzzleloaders.
Each one of them told me the same thing.

BARNS, don�t waste you time with anything else.

They are not cheap, but compared to the price of an out of state elk tag, a weeks vacation and a one thousand mile road trip, quality bullets are not even a drop in the bucket, and they work.
Accurate, great expansion and complete penetration.


You can argue back and forth about Power Belts, Great plains bullets, Shockwaves or Minis. Too much powder for this bullet, not enough for that one. This bullet does not shoot good in one gun, that bullet in another, but have you ever heard anyone say anything bad about Barns ?

Just post what your load was behind that Barnes before touting it as a God send and exactly how many elk you have personally killed with it.

I don't know what elk hunting experts or such you talked to, but I have 40 + years under my belt hunting elk, with 40+ kills,about 25% of them with a front stuffer, and you don't need a Barnes super duper bullet. I was killing elk with plain old 370 gr maxiballs before most even decided to hunt elk with a ML. The same as quite a few on this forum have done.

Put any plain pure lead bullet where it is suppose to go and the elk fall over.

Out of 6 bulls this is the only one I've been able to catch. Is it needed? No, but neither is a 30/06 and 200 GR anything, or half of what people use. They have shot very well out of every ML I've tried them in.

The toughest bullet listed so far is the Barnes TMZ. And since you are shooting a gun designed to shoot sabots and since NM allows sabots, I would recommend trying that first.

It also may be your best choice at longer distances. Flatter shooting than bigger bullets but heavy enough to take down an elk. And since you can use a scope, you will want something that is good out to 200 yards. Again, that bullet would do the job nicely.

BH 209 is the way to go IMO and your gun will shoot it. Anything in the 90-110 gr range of powder will be adequate

Thor bullet
BH 209. Powder
209 mag primer

Saddle: His gun may not shoot "plain old 370 grai maxiballs" or any other pure lead conical because of its QLA. Probably will do OK with powerbelts, but not flat based lead bullets. It might, but he is new and short timin so I wouldn't waste my time with them. Especially because the super duper banes is not that much more expensive than powerbelts or even maxiballs. In the future, he might be someone who goes out and shoot a lot, but for this year, probably won't happen, so the cost difference in bullets will be negligible.

So in my mind, his choices come down to barnes, powerbelts or Hornaday FPB. When I finally get my tag for Utah, I plan on giving barnes a try. Nope, never shot one, and in fact never shot a sabot, but they sure have a good reputation.

That said, I am going to be using a 460 gr pure lead bullshop bullet on elk this fall! That will put them down for sure! But those bullets gave me a 5 inch group at 25 yards with my Omega (basically the same barrel he is using)

^^This^^. I run them at 1800 +\- FPS and they are well within Barnes' window at 200 +.

Check out No Excuses in Utah. He will guarantee you like em. Thumps Elk Real nice. Phone # 801 776 1418 Better getcha some.

TX. My only beef was Anaconda's post where he made it sound like the Barnes was the only one that worked and all others were trash. No, his modern inline, if that is what he is using, probably won't shoot maxiballs. Wrong twist. But any of the others that several have mentioned would all work just as well

May not shoot these bullets well. My Omega shot No Excuse bulle 8 inch groups at 25 yards with some going through the target sideways. Sent it back to T/C and they said the barrel was fine, and that I should shoot sabots. It was the QLA (false muzzle) that kicked the bullets sideways because on many other their QLA guns, the bore and the QLA are cut on different centers.