Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders New to ML

Just got into ML this season using a friends ML. I then went out a bought a TC Impact and I'm in the process of putting stuff together. I'm gonna start out with BH powder and want to go with as low a charge as effective for eastern whitetails ranging out to 150 yards.
I'd appreciate any recommendation on preferred loads and any other tips e.g. what is really needed vs just something cool for the ditty bag.
Thanks in advance.

I hunt heavily timbered public land in the Missouri Ozarks. A long shot in the timber is 100 yards, most are closer to half that. I have an Impact and have developed an easy shooting load that is very effective on whitetail. I shoot 85 grains of Blackhorn 209 by volume, a 300 gr. Hornady .45 non-magnum XTP with Harvester black crush rib sabot, Federal 209A primer. In my rifle that load is very accurate, mild recoiling and very effective on deer. Hope that's helpful.

MOGC, Thanks for the info, I'll give that a try.

Out of curiosity, have you found any difference between primers?

I have only tried two primers, Winchester and the Federal. I couldn't tell any difference between the two but scuttlebutt is that the Federal gives better ignition when using B209 so I settled on that.

One other note, if using the XTP or other handgun bullets keep them within their expansion velocity thresholds. I learned this the hard way by blowing a 250 gr. XTP up on a buck deers shoulder. I was pushing that bullet about 1,900+ fps and Hornady says that is 400 - 500 fps over that particular bullets designed expansion threshold. And it was. Killed the buck but he ran nearly 200 yards and his shoulder looked like it took a .410 shotgun blast of #6 shot. I switched to a heavier bullet and slowed it down and things have been great since. Hornady has a chart listing expansion velocity thresholds for the various standard and magnum XTP's and the Blackhorn 209 site list expected velocity for various charges and bullets. Something to consider.

+1 on the velocity limit. I use the 250gr XTP with just 70gr by volume of BH209. Don't know the velocity but performance on deer is acceptable in that since I process my own deer I won't use any load combo that causes excessive damage. This also includes centerfire rifle performance.

My cousin shoots a TC Impact. Groups extremely well with 90gr BH209 by volume, 250gr Hornady T-EZ, Federal 209A primer. Make sure you use the magnum primers with BH. The T-EZs perform great but aren't cheap. I like the 300gr XTP out of my TC Omega over 100gr BH.

Thanks for the info guys. I'm trying to learn through the wisdom of others before pulling my wallet out and going hog wild. I'm seeing that could be easy to do on one hand, but I try to make Lincoln squeal before I turn loose of him, lol. In all seriousness looking forward to experimenting but want to be smart about it. Looking up up the expansion/velocity tonight; never gave that a thought, thank you for that tip.

If Fed 209A's cannot be found (that has been my case), then CCI 209 Magnum is second
best.