Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders CO elk bullet

I am hoping to draw for a CO tag this fall - my first elk hunt. I am very pleased with the performance of my TC Triumph, but all that experience has been with saboted bullets - a no-no for CO mzldr season. I have some T/C Maxi-balls, T/C Maxi-hunters, cast conicals and some Federal BOR bullets.

Anyone have any experience with full-bore conicals launched from an in-line? Other forums claim the maxi-hunter is not a good option. I may consider slugging the barrel and trying the Thor bullets.

I plan to start experimenting soon with the Leupold scope in place, then remove it, install the peep sight and start practicing. Shots will be limited to <100 yards.

If this doesn't work, I may just take the tried and true .54 cal Lyman GPR flinter with PRB atop a healthy dose of blkpwdr. Anyone smacked an elk with a PRB?

Thanks. DJB

I use to use a T/C Maxi-ball out of my Renegade 54. My buddy T/C Maxi ball out of his T/C 50 Hawken. The elk didn't like either. Never used a Round Ball. Good luck on the draw.

To be honest---I started to eat more elk meat when I started to use a 30/06.

I have killed a few elk with the maxiball and they all died fast. We get a lot of rain usually in ML season ,so I sure wouldn't go with the flinter. Even when I was using a side lock percussion Hawkins I had moisture problems.

I use 348 gr Powerbelts and have killed quite a few elk with them.You can't push them too fast. which is what a lot of guys do and then bad mouth them.They won't kill any deader than a maxiball, but to me are more accurate.

Invest in a couple different good bullets and see what shoots best in your rifle.They will all work.You sure don't need Barnes, tHors or some specialty bullet ,but use what you think will work.

I am impressed with Thor's concept. I am using the 300 gr version in my Remington Ultimate Muzzleloader. BC is .336

I am going to mention some things that you might know but other readers might not, so bear with me....

Thor offers a sizing pack to determine which size bullet to use: from their literature: "The Thor™ Bullet produced by OPG Gun Ventures is a patented, full bore diameter, bullet conical that is bore size specific. Being 100% copper, the Thor™ Bullet is not soft like lead, and will not size to the bore like lead bullets when loading. As a result, these bullets require sizing to ensure a perfect fit to your bore. The Thor™ Muzzleloader Bullet sizing pack comes in .50 caliber with 4 diameters of .500", .501", .502" and .503". "

Only the rear most part of the bullet is larger, the body is .500".

https://www.muzzle-loaders.com/bullets/thor-bullet-sizing-pack.html


Thor bullet offerings:

https://www.muzzle-loaders.com/catalogsearch/result/?cat=0&q=thor+bullets



I removed the breech plug and tried the sample pack, A friend suggested I place rifle on bathroom scale and note its weight. Then see how many pounds of pressure it takes to push a bullet through bore. The .502" had approx 20 lbs of resistance. The .503" was around 50 and very difficult. I chose the .502". Loading it is very easy. I can get it started down bore with my fingers eliminating the need for a bullet starter.

I also switched to BH209 after I replaced my breech plug with Arrowhead's version which is Blackhorn compatible. (Remington will void the warranty if BH is used)

While velocities are nothing to rave about the load is accurate and it is easy to load. With 110 gr of Blackhorn I can load multiple times without cleaning, something Triple 7 would not allow. Velocity is 2065 fps. I tried the tighter .503" and it was a struggle to get it to fit in bore. The tighter bullet gained 75 fps which IMO isn't worth it.

Based on what a 250 gr 45 cal Accutip (barnes made for Rem) bullet did on a cow elk this past December I think the larger diameter heavier bullet should do well. FYI the
recovered and mushroomed .451 cal accutip was measured at .800". This adds .349” to outer diameter. If mushrooming is proportionate (multiply by 1.77) the 50 cal bullet (.502") would make a wound channel hole of .890”!!

I am using Thor but these look intriguing: B.O.R. Lock MZ Trophy Copper Muzzleloader Bullets

Dave, I did a muzzy elk hunt in Colorado in 2006 and am putting in for a muzzy tag this year. I would go with the Triumph also rather than a flintlock. I have an Omega and a Firehawk. The Omega has the same rate of twist as the Triumph. Of the conicals I’ve shot out of the Omega, the Maxi-ball has been the best followed by the 348 Gr Powerbelt. At the time I was shooting Triple 7. I had to swab the barrel after every shot and the groups weren’t that great compared to my Firehawk so I ended up using that gun.

This year I’m going to try the 300 gr Thor, Federal BOR-Lock and Maxi-Ball out of both guns and see what shoots best. I bought the Thor one-size bullet which measures .502 at the skirt. I really like the looks of the bullet and as Azshooter said the BC is much higher than the others. I’ll post back here what I get for results when I start shooting.

One thing I would recommend is an aperture sight. I have one on my Firehawk and I find I can shoot much more accurately with it vs traditional open sights.

Bill

Thor bullets are real, real accurate in my Savage. They fly great out to 175 yards. Very consistent even at that range. So consistent I have dug up a micrometer peep sight for the rifle and hope to stretch them to 250.

all i use anymore is a heavy 45 conical. No Excuses 460-490 grain work very well.

They are inexpensive and IME way better that TC offerings

I have some 50 caliber 460 gr No Excuses bullets FS in the classifieds. They don't shoot well out of my T/C rifles. T/C bullets are designed to shoot out of T/C rifles which may explain why they don't shoot well for you.

I had two good experiences in Colorado last year with Harvester Sabertooth 300gr bullets-- one cow elk, one buck mule deer-- both taken at 100 yards, one shot a piece and each went less than 30 yards. CVA Accura MR with 80gr (by volume) of BH.

I developed my load with my scope on the rifle and then removed it and mounted my peep and front hood (crosshair)-- very accurate!

250gr thor, 100-110gr blackhorn209.

I doubt you'd have much luck with that TC shooting lead conicals.

I could not get my Encore to shoot the Lee . 500 340 gr cast bullets.

Several of our group used the power belts, worked great

Update on 300 gr .502" diameter Thor bullet:

The Rem Ultimate rifle has the Arrowhead breech plug. Didn't mention the module is using Fed 215 primers. As mentioned earlier in this thread 110 gr , by weight, of BH209 yielded 2065 fps. While this is generally considered a max load with a 300 gr bullet it would appear that the hollow base is not expanding and sealing that well. I concluded just like a centerfire rifle that velocity and pressure are related decided to try 112 and 114 grs, by weight, to see if the bullet would seal better and more velocity could be gained.

112 gr 2192 fps
114 gr 2196 fps.

Will be using 112 grains again. It was accurate with a 1" four shot group with two in same hole at 100 yds.

Next move is to have action bedded in the laminate stock and have barrel floated. Never liked the idea of fore end pressure on a rifle barrel.

Hope this information is useful to other shooters.

I have used powerbelt platinum's the past 2 years and killed 2 large cows. Neither went more than 50yds before expiring. They work pretty well from my experience.

I used the 350 grain Federal Bor-loc in front of 120g Blackhorn in my Triumph Bone Collector this past September in CO on my first elk hunt. The rifle shoots them great and had a complete pass through on a 5x3 Bull at around 125 yards. There were 5 of us on the trip, one friend killed a ~340" 6x6 with the same bullet and charge out of his Encore his wasn't a pass through but the bull was quartering to around 80 yards and huge bodied, he probably made it 40 yards after the shot. Three others used 300 grain Thor's and they performed well on a 5x5, 5x4 and a cow. I wouldn't be afraid to use either of those bullets in my Triumph.

I have an inline that really shoots the Powerbelt Platinum 270gr very well over 120 Blackhorn 209 and CCI-209M primer. Single hole all day long at 100 yards CVA Optima V2 and the bullets built for a magnum charge. You could also try the BOR Lock, but I haven't tried it yet.

I dont think I would recommend shooting any powerbelt with 120gr blackhorn209. At least not at big game.

Have to agree with you.

Cut that down to 80-90 grs and they perform admirably. At 120 gr you get a piece of leaf about the size of a silver dollar if they don't splatter into fragments before that.

This is the write-up on the PB webpage. Whether you believe it or not is another story but IME bullet shape does impact penetration.


http://www.powerbeltbullets.com/Platinum-Series-Muzzleloading-Bullets.php

Yes the shape of the platinum does help quite a bit, but its not bullet proof. Theres only so much a pure lead conical can take, especially with a deep hollow point. I saw a fellow over on my place take the 270gr platinum mule deer hunting with 90gr T7. He shot a big 200lb muley and that platinum turned into a round ball shape when i recovered it. If anything, the 338gr platinum might be the best powerbelt for elk, but again, under 100gr charges. Even the harvester sabertooth bullets suffer from the same issue. Lead, hollow point, high velocity, pan cake / fragment.

I have killed more than a few elk with the 348 grPB, 80 0r 90 gr of 209 but I fill the HP with a 17 cal air rifle pellet.

I am really considering using the .54 Lyman flinter with .530" PRB. I have fired hundreds of round balls through this rifle and harvested numerous deer. I really know this rifle. I use a rear aperture peep sight and can consistently swing a 10" gong, off sticks, at 75 yards. I figure that's my maximum elk range even on a broadside shot.

My question is, how fast do I push them for adequate penetration? Obviously elk are larger and wider than whitetails. My go-to round ball load for deer is 100 gr (volume) Goex FFG, 0.015 patch and .530 RB.

Anyone with real-life experience successfully launching round balls at elk?

Thanks. Dave

I wanted to share my recent Colorado elk experience. We saw and heard numerous different bulls. My guide was great. On day 1, he called a beautiful 6x5 in to 85 yards. However, I passed on the shot due to my poor eyesight. On day 5, he called in a very respectable 5x5 satellite bull to 42 yards. God blessed me and I double lunged him with a 365-grain, .54 cal T/C Maxi Ball sitting atop 100 grains of 3F Goex. He's not a B&C record but I am very happy. I recovered the bullet just inside the hide on the off-site. The MaxiBall performed very well; expanded to about 0.60 and still weighed 360 grains.

Good hunting everyone and be well.

Congrats Dave! I know you put in a lot of trigger time prior to your hunt. Glad you were able to connect!