Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders TC Maxi Ball or Federal Bor Lock

Hey all,
I have a muzzleloader cow tag in Colorado this fall. I'll be shooting a TC Impact, and 90gr BH209, and either 320 gr TC Maxi Ball or 270 gr Federal Bor Lock (copper).

I've tried every conical I could get my hands on, and these are the only ones that group at all.

The TCs are 1" at 50 yards, and the Bor Locks are 1.5". I like the accuracy of the Maxi Ball better, but wonder if the copper bullet would have better terminal performance.

Which would you choose?

I'll probably be chasing bulls in 2020 with this setup too, so please keep that in mind.

I am a full bore lead guy, Therefore the Maxi ball gets my vote! If i could Shoot Copper jacketed i would go with a Speer Deep Curl

This is me shooting Maxi’s and Lyman Plains, Both of Which i Cast


Me again, shooting the .500 Speer Deep Curls in my Fast Twist Sidelock, AWESOME Bullet!! You need to have a VERY good understanding of Muzzleloader before attempting Full bore Jacketed sabotless in a Sidelock Muzzleloader, Knowing you Bore Diameter is VERY critical. That being said, They can be VERY rewarding!


From 1 of my Custom Bullet Molds i had made for .50 Cal

COElk, I too got drawn for CO muzzy elk, but for bull in unit 42. I'm shooting a TC Omega. Three years ago, I drew a mule deer muzzy tag. I put a second shot into a buddies buck at about 60 yrds with the Federal. We recovered the bullet and I was not impressed with the penetration (no exist) or expansion. This year I'm gonna give the No Excuses conical a try, just order the 420 grn, for my bull elk hunt. If your eyes allow, I am also using a Tru glo ghost ring with fiber front sight. It really helped me to shrink my 100 yard groups. Federals shot about 2.5-3 inch groups, and the Hornady FPB shot about 3-4 inch groups at 100. I would try the Hornadys if you can find the 350 grns, but I think they are discontinued. Just my 2 cents. Good luck!

I'd go all lead as well. Have you tried the hornady great plains? I have found them to be the most accurate choice for my 1:48 twists.

I tried the 300gr FPBs and 385gr great plains, both were about 3-4" at 50 yards. Thors (both .503" and one size fits all) were all over the map. I thought I was the world's worst open sight shooter until the TC grouped okay. I tried the heavier Maxi Ball too (375gr maybe), but no dice, 6" groups at 100 yards. I have heard good things about No Excuses, probably one of the last bullets I'll test.

I need to try a wad between powder and bullet. The number of combinations get pretty overwhelming after awhile.

How do you even get started shooting these? My Impact is 1:28, is that fast enough? Would I need a sizing die or something? My bore is definitely on the larger size - the .503" Thors go down okay, even FPBs were pretty easy and I've heard they're typically a bear to load.

Only my experience, but I also have an Impact and at it would not shoot maxi balls very well. A call to TC and they recommended Power Belts or any similar bullet .Something to do with the depth of the rifling and diameter of Maxiballs.

I am glad you found yours shoots them better than mine. I have killed several elk,bulls and cows with my Hawkin and the 370 gr Maxiball using 90gr on BP.. Have you tried cutting that load back to 90grs?

I started using the 295 gr PB and 100gr of 209 in my Impact but was dissatisfied with it.Switching to the 348 gr PB and 90 gr of 209 did a lot better, I have since dropped to 80 grs of 209 and have not noticed any difference in killing ability . Only my experience,YMMV.

My Barrel is a Green Mountain LRH (Long Range Hunter) 1:28 Twist, Same Twist as yours. 1 problem you might have? Does your TC Impact have a QLA Muzzle? If so, You will probably do better without an Over powder wad, By all means try them, But i have seen Disastrous results using OP Wads with TC QLA Muzzles, TC is well known for QLA Problems (off center) LOTS of folks Cut them off and Re Crown the barrel. If i owned 1 with a QLA this is PRECISELY what i would do.

I use all types of over powder Wads (Cork, LDPE, Vegetable Fibre, and Nitro Cards) 1/8” Wool felt is by far my Favorite OP Wad Material with Grease Groove Bullets, I use the others with my Paper Patch Bullets. I buy the 1/8” Wool felt 100 in a pack, they are RMC Oxyoke Brand lubed, and i prefer oversize for a tighter seal (example, i use .50 Wads in my .45 Rifles, .54 Wads in my .50 Rifles, and .58 Wads in my .54s)

My advice on Bullets would be Bullshop’s 460s, They are AWESOME Bullets!! I did some recent testing on some No Excuses Bullets and after my findings i would not Buy them, nor would i Recommend them. I have personally Shot the Bullshops and they did EXTREMELY well, i was impressed enough that i sent 1 to Accurate Molds and had a Custom Mold Made

Idaholewis
. Can you school me on over the powder wads.? " How or why do they work?. I have big bag of them,but have not used them since BP days and Hawkins.

Also I assume you cast your Bullshop bullets. Are they available commercially? If not would you be agreeable to sell a me a few to try?

Over powder Wads serve 2 purposes, 1 they create a Solid Gas seal behind the Bullet which can REALLY Help with accuracy, Consistency is key to accuracy, Try and make EVERY shot as Close as you possibly can to the Previous Shot. And 2, Over Powder Wads protect our Bullet Bases, Remember it is our Bullet Bases That actually steer the Bullet, NOT the Fancy nose/Front. Protect your Bullet bases at all costs!

Here is a Bullet Fired WITHOUT an Over powder Wad and Recovered from a Snow Bank, The Charge Burning against the Base is ROUGH on Bases, and also a BIG cause of Barrel leading, An Over Powder Wad protects the Base from the Hot Burning gasses, and GREATLY reduces Barrel leading, in fact i have 100s and 100s of shots through my .45s and have had ZERO issues with Barrel Leading


We want SHARP Clean Bullet bases, Notice how Sharp this Bullet base edge is? This is what you want!


Here are some “No Excuses” Bullets I recently tested for Lead Hardness, Look how HORRIBLE the Bullet Bases look! I don’t know if these came from No Excuses this way? Or if it was from the 2 people that sent them to me to test? Regardless, these Bullet bases are AWFUL!! Again, the Bullet Base is what Steers the Bullet, you want them PERFECT, accept nothing less!! If I ordered a Box of bullets and the bases looked like these i would be Sick! This is another reason to get Setup and Cast your own bullets, it puts you in TOTAL Control of QC (Quality Control)

OK thanks. Makes sense.

Here is The Bullshop, His 460 Grain Bullshop Bullet is as good a Muzzleloader Bullet as you will find for Hunting!! Dan is a Good guy, and very Knowledgeable, his NASA Blackpowder Bullet Lube is some AWESOME Stuff as well

~Bullets ~ - The Bull Shop https://bullshop.weebly.com/bullets.html

You might want to try T/C's Maxi-Hunter. I used to buy them along side the Maxi-Balls. I liked it so much I bought a mould and cast my own. The last elk I killed with the Maxi-Hunter had a broadside pass through with the well mushroomed slug trapped by the hide on the far side. The mushroomed slug nearly doubled in diameter.

That's interesting, I may give them a try. I was always a bit worried about the hollow point and penetration, but sounds like it worked perfectly in your case.

The Maxi Hunters are really not much of a Hollow Point, I would say More like a Divet. I use to Collect TC Molds at 1 time, i owned every Maxi Ball, and Hunter Mold they Made, in all Calibers. The only Maxi Hunter i have left is my .45 Cal

.45 Maxi Hunters


Blurry pic, the 2 on Top are 54 Maxi Hunters. TC Made 3 Different Hunters, and 3 Different Maxi Balls in .45, .50, and .54, Slightly Different design, and Weights. All 5 of these are from TC Molds for .54 Cal, and are all a bit different