Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders MZ pistol bullets for whitetail

Curious what is everyone’s favorite pistol bullet for deer in there Muzzleloaders. I like pistol bullets for their economy and for the most part have been pretty accurate. I’ve been using the 44 240 XTP (non-Mag) with 90 gr Vol of BH209. They are moving at 1825 fps in a TC Impact. They work but tend to come apart more than I like. The velocity window of the 300 XTP seems a bit more suited to MZ velocities, so looking at it and possibly the Speer 270 Gr Gold dot which I use to load for my 44 Mag. Any others I should be looking at? Does the 300 Gr XTP hold together better?

I's try a 300gr gold dot, they really seem to perform well and the price is very good on them.

I found the 300's hold together a LOT better. That said, I killed a ton of deer with 240 and 250 gr. XTP. Great bullet.

I don’t see a 300 Gr gold dot or DeepCurl listed?

You can get 100 of the 200 gr SST bullets for $60. While not as cheap as some of the pistol bullets they should also hold up better especially at those speeds.

Edit: Somehow missed you're shooting larger .44 or .45 bullets maybe the 250 SST performs similarly?

300 XTP for me. Inexpensive. easy to find, accurate, and deadly on whitetail.

My sons did very well with standard 300gr .45 XTPs, over only 80gr of BH. Pass-throughs, even on a +200 pounder. Gold-Dots have eluded me thus far, a pretty hot item I guess.

When I zeroed my Strike last week, I used 250gr XPBs, but with 777. I've had ignition woes with those in two otherwise reliable rifles with BH, using Harvester Crush Ribs. Barnes T-EZ 290s are fine, so I suspect it's the sabot. No matter, I need to use up that 777, and they load very easy, even after a couple of shots. With equal volume loads of Goex FF, they hit a bit lower. According to the charts, they are likely going a good bit slower, but still fast enough for deer.

One thing I've noticed with all the rifles I've dinked with is that just about any load will strike close enough to POA for hunting at woods ranges, once a rifle is zeroed.

You did not look hard enough then. They offer 2 300gr bullets in 45cal.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/101054983
https://www.speer-ammo.com/products/bullets/handgun-bullets/deepcurl-handgun-hunting/3974

And a cheaper Unicor design
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/101054434?pid=557475
https://www.speer-ammo.com/products/bullets/handgun-bullets/jacketed-handgun-bullet/4485

Ahh...I was looking for .44 cal. I have a stockpile of Hornady green 44 sabots, so kind of want to stick with 44’s.

100 sabots at Grafs will set you back about $14 if you order bullets at the same time. Harvester crushribs are about $7/50. Those green Hornady sabots must be really tight in your Impact bore.

300gr DeepCurl
https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/17309

Harvester Crushribs
https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/5465

Agree Pappy.
I got my inline about 15 years ago,
Spent about $150 trying to get great groups.
BP, 777, Pyrodex.
SST's, sabot pistol bullets, Powerbelts, Barne's Expanders 250 and 300.
All were 1 1/2 to 2" groups, all pretty much same POI

A little tight, feel similar to my Lyman GPH and Hornady Great Plains bullets, thought that was normal. I’m pretty ignorant when it comes to sabots. Are the Harvester Crushribs easier? The XTP’s I’m using measure .430, while the Speers measure .429, figured that would help a little also.

I use Hornady's 250gr (.452) 45 cal. HP/XTP bullet with Harvester Crush Rib (black) 50cal. sabot and only 70gr by volume of BH209 in my T/C Impact. Never ran it over a chronograph it even though I have one. Even at a low velocity I've found the bullet to do a bit more damage to deer than I like and will eventually switch to the 300gr bullet of the same brand and design.


It would surprise me if you didn't find the Harvester Crush Rib sabot below to not load easier than that Hornady.
https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/5464

Short answer, yes IME.

The 240's kill, but you are moving them right along. When I did that, I had bullets coming apart in my dead deer.

This

Yes, they will load a bit easier. Usually the crushribs are a good fit for T/C bores too. Next step up is the regular Harvester sabots. The sabots you are using now are about .002-.003 larger when loaded. They will probably feel even tighter when you use a longer 300gr bullet. Its really hard to beat that 300gr DeepCurl for the money. 300gr XTP non mag is fine but the Speer is a better bullet.

Thanks for the tutorial on sabots, I’ve heard some have preferences for one over the other, however a guide to sizing has eluded me.

Anyone have 1st hand experience with the 270 Gold dot/DeepCurl? This bullet has really caught my interest.

In the meantime I am going to drop my BH209 charge to 80 Gr volume to get the speed more inline with the suggested velocity window. This will be convenient, because 80 Gr vol of FF is what I use in my flintlock as well. So set and forget on the powder measure. The older I get, the more simple I like things 😁

My T\C Impact loved the .452" 250 gr. XTP over 95 grs. by volume of Blackhorn 209. Using the Harvester Crush Rib in black. True sub 1" groups at 100 yards. Problem was the bullets blew up on shoulders and ruined a lot of meat. I switched to the 300 gr. non magnum XTP and cut the powder charge to 85 gr. and all is good again. My big timber short range whitetail are hammered by that combination and I get exits without too much wasted meat.

That’s where I’m at essentially. Sample of two deer this year with the 240 XTP at 1825 fps. One buck shot in the neck at 25 yards. Dropped right there but not dead. Found a jacket but nothing in it. Deer #2 was a doe shot 75-80 yards away, slightly quartering away. Bullet entered rib cage and totally blew up the opposite shoulder then exited. This doe is what really got me thinking. The damage to far shoulder seemed excessive.

Going to drop 10 grains volume, adjust zero and see how they do. If not better going to try the Speer 270 DeepCurl.

The 270gr DeepCurl wont expand reliably with milder loads. Its made to handle 444 Marlin loads. Any bullet makes a mess on high shoulder shots. Lots of meat loss no matter what.

I've killed a lot of deer with 300 Gr XTP's in 44 caliber.
I've only ever recovered one that went nearly 3 feet lengthwise through and stopped under the hide on the off side.

I was getting around 1600 FPS.

Shot another buck yesterday with my 90 Gr BH209 240 XTP load. This one was broadside, about 80-90 yds out. Much better bullet performance, less mess. I think I just need to slow this load down a bit for the close shots. Going to try 80 grains for speed and accuracy when I get bored this winter.

Try DRT bullets and 110 grain of 209 Blackthorn. Devastating

My V2 likes 70 gr weight of BH209, Harvester Smooth Sabot, and a Hornady 4305 pistiol bullet. That 265 gr FTX bullet did a great job on 4 whitetail and 2 hogs so far.

As others have said, 300 grain bullets tend to hold together a little better. I haven’t tried any of the solid copper pistol bullets, but I imagine they would do very well.

They work fine in a Ruger Deerfield. Never tried them in a muzzleloader. In the Deerfield my wife killed a 300 or so pound boar on a Women's NRA commercial hunt in Tennessee with the 270gr factory load. One shoulder shot and down. Bullet not recovered. I've loaded them with I think 22gr H110 but might have been 21gr, I'll have to check. Killed a 150something pound buck down thru the right shoulder blade and found it well expanded low just behind the left rib cage. He was maybe 15 yards out and staggered off another 20 or so. Killed another about the same size thru both shoulders but missing bone and he ran maybe 50 yards. Rib cage and innards showed good expansion and complete penetration. Doe at maybe 75 yards in the neck down and dead, bullet thru and thru. Pretty sure you can get .44 mag velocity with that bullet in a muzzleloader without much trouble.

Thanks for the input.

I like the 44 cal. 300 gr XTP's

They've given good accuracy in every gun in which I've used them, and I've never recovered but one, which went most of the way lengthwise through a deer and stopped under the hide. It was perfectly mushroomed.

Ordered up some 300 XTP’s and crush ribs, we shall see how they do after I get the leaves blown and trapping slows down. Thanks all for the input.

I mistook your question / subject. I was going to say we're not allowed to hunt deer here with muzzleloading pistols. Kinda pisses me off. I hope to cheat on that a bit and "game" the rules: I want to pick up a Ruger cap and ball (I see them once in a while), swap in a .45 colt cylinder, and load the ammo with round balls and black powder.

As to your question, we're not allowed to use saboted bullets during muzzleloader only season but we can use them in a muzzleloader for hunts where a centerfire rifle is legal. Back when I shot a TC Big Boar I had some sabots for .45 cal bullets and launched some 270 grain SWCs. Accuracy wasn't all that great and I never "made meat" with them. I have a couple boxes of .45 cal sabots with 10mm / .40 cal plastic tipped bullets which I hope to try to shoot a cougar with and I have some loose sabots and 135 grain 10mm hollowpoints that might do for a coyote .. time permitting.

Tom