Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Best DRT bullet for Encore 50 caliber

Hunting in Oklahoma on a 12 acre tract. Would prefer the deer doesn't get off that property. I have some 240 XTP's that I have used in the past and I would not give them the glowing report so many give them. I am going to go for the 1900 fps range and I have some Speer 270 gr. Deep Curls and some 240 gr. SP's of theirs. Would prefer not to slam shoulders but will if needed. I also have some 385 gr. Hornady Great Plains bullets.

In 50 cal inline NOTHING puts deer down for me quicker than the 290gr Barnes TMZ's, it's an absolute chainsaw going through them, they simply cant deal with, furthest has been a 20 yard death run like they're running with a gallon bucket of blood taped to their sides, never got one recovered, always exit.

they all put them down quick if you use a high shoulder shot..460 lead conical about as quick as you can get high shoulder or lungs, Bull Shop or No Excuse.

I shoot the barnes expander mz 250’s. I would suggest putting more emphasis on what your rifle shoots the best honestly though. A high shoulder or neck shot gets more bang flops than anything, but i don’t want to be shooting a 3” group trying to hit that exact spot. I try to shoot dead center shoulder personally and most times it bang flops them. Meat loss is a tertiary issue to me.

I may end up going that route full bore conical and shoulder hits. Kind of want to do ribcage hits to ease meat damage.

250 gr. lee 50 cal mould cast of w.w. 110 gr powder break front shoulder off side hip bones 4 ft of body and no stop pen.

I shot a 252lb 9 point in Iowa in 2019 with my T/C Encore. Shot him with at 117 yards with a 250 grain Hornady Monoflex ML pushed about 2050 fps with 77 grains by weight (110 grains by volume) of Blackhorn 209. He dropped straight down and kicked a few times. Complete penetration behind the shoulder. I was impressed with the bullet performance.

Ron

Looking around it seems a lot of Muzzleloader bullets are out of stock. I did find some Nosler 300 gr. Ballistic tips with Sabots a while back in my bullet collection. They might work. Most shots on this property will be down hill pretty steep.

Best I’ve used


https://www.harvestermuzzleloading....p-bullet-sabots-not-included-pack-qty-50


https://www.harvestermuzzleloading....cal-300-grain-or-less-bullet-pack-qty-50

I put some of both in my cart on their site but they must be having some problems as I was unable to order. Maybe tomorrow.

Hopefully their site starts working, I always order direct from them.


Grafs has smaller packs if the site doesn’t act right: https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/5460

High forward shoulder.

Might lose 5# of meat but better than that tracking bit I hear of.

If concerned w the meat loss use a Barnes.

I've used 240 XTP's for years and never had to track a well hit deer

As already mentioned Barnes MZ Expanders....I use the 250 gr.

My complaint is more along the lines that they over expand and cause a lot of meat damage. Not that they did not kill well.

"they all put them down quick if you use a high shoulder shot."


Bingo!!!! Most of my deer hunting is with .50 and .54 caliber conventional muzzleloaders using patched round balls. The high shoulder shot or the high behind the shoulder shot that i prefer puts deer and hogs down to stay. Bang flop.







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My Encore loves this bullet with 110gr bh209, deer and elk don’t like it one bit and rarely take more then a few steps. Shoots fast and flat, opens up well and has always exited for me.

Hard to beat a big hunk of lead. No Excuses.

Rick,
Look at Fury Custom Bullets. Dennis is very, very busy right now but he may have some of his full bore 50cal bullets on the shelf. I shoot them at 1900fps with BH 209 and they have devastating power. .50 CALIBER STAR TIP MZ

https://www.furycustombullets.com/webapp/p/223/black-powder-muzzleloader

Thanks, Dinny

Bookmarked em. I did find the primers I needed.

Another option is Thors. I've killed a few deer with the 300gr thors. Basically a full bore Barnes TTSX.

Ones from my flintlock with blackpowder did OK...

Pushed hard with BH, they were dang impressive for a muzzleloader bullet IMO. Only shot 1 buck with the inline...quartering toward shot. He took a leap or 2 and plowed down a hill 40yds. The blood looked like he was hit with a big broadhead and a low exit. Don't usually see that kinda blood from a bullet let alone a ML. Of course my phone camera wasn't working...I tried to video and take pics because it was impressive.



Id agree though. If you wanna anchor them, you gotta take shots that'll anchor them. At least with a Thor or other copper solid you can salvage the bloodshot meat if you really want. I've never gotten wound up over meat damage. Unless your hitting the rear quarters, you aren't loosing too terribly much. At the end of the day, the neck and shoulders don't yield a ton of meat.

I’ve shot a bunch with 250g Barnes and have never seen a lung punched deer go more than 40yds. Some are DRT. I do run these at 2200fps using 3 50g pellets.

I started with the 240 XTP mags never had to track anything when being pushed by 90gr of blackhorn, when things got hard to find I switched to the 250 hornady low drag they shoot lights out in my encore 3 in the same hole at 150. The past two years I have shot the 300gr Nolser BT they do the job but man nothing in my experience dumps its energy into a deer like the XTPs.

Look at DRT bullets. Impressive .Shot a huge mule buck with one, DRT. I'll continue to use them

+1 or the TEZ .

Another vote for the Thor bullets!

My sons and I (mostly them) have done well with Barnes T-Ez 290s and 300gr .451 Hornady XTPs. You don't have to drive them hard; even 80gr of BH will give pass-throughs on chest shots.

Would rather lose 2# of meat than track a deer.

High forward shoulder is pretty minimal meat loss. Barely ruins anything on shoulder and its the very forward tip of loin.

I bust em right in the shoulder or a bit high forward, no reason for tracking with that shot.

Pretty sure the roughed up patch of hair was the exit, entry was just a touch farther back from how he was standing.
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That is one pretty deer.

Hornady 240gr XTP's rule here with most everyone I know, 250's work good too.
What issue are you having with the xtp's that nobody else has.

Not really an issue other than I don't have 200 0f them laying around, more like 15 or so. I do have a bunch of the 240 grain 45 caliber Magnum XTP's. I have heard this bullet is too tough but it seems to me it would have some value pushed around 1900 fps.