Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders 150 vs. 100 grains of Jim Shockey

I am going on my first muzzle loader hunt next weekend. I shot a Thompson Encore today for the first time. I had it loaded with 150 Grains of of Jim Shockey Gold and 250 Grain Powerbelts. The recoil was punishing and I am thinking of dropping back to 100 grains of powder. Can some of you experienced muzzle loaders give me your thoughts.


Thanks

One other problem I had today was the gun would go off and it sounded like a week load even though I had put three sticks in the gun, and ideas on what I did wrong?

I hunt elk with 90-100 grains of powder, so you certainly don't need to use 150 grains. It is much cheaper to use 100 gr too! If you are just starting out in muzzleloading I would DEFINATELY drop back to 100 gr. If you keep your shots 150 yards or less, you will still get a good trajectory. Don't push the limits the first time out.

ALSO: and listen closely:::::: If you push a 250 gr powerbelt with 150 grains of powder, it is likely to blow up when you hit an animal and perform WORSE than if you had used 100 gr of powder. Powerbelts are just a pure lead bullet, and small pure lead bullets fragment/come apart when pushed too hard.

Hard to believe, but if you shoot 150 gr of powder with that bullet and I shoot 100 gr, I will outpenetrate you on a deer every time!

Not sure what you mean when you say "sounded like a weak load".

Was there a hangfire? If it was a weak load, was the recoil reduced?

First thing I would check would be the breechplug. I had no idea that so much "gunk" could collect in them until someone clued me in to ream them out from behind with a 1/8 inch drillbit (the end you put the primer in). Then be sure the flash hole is open by running a nipple pick through it.

Thanks I am heading back to the range tommorow. It was very strange I was shootin a target at 25 yards and one time when it happened something hit the taeget and it caught on fire and smoldered a hole on the paper target. The other two times it did not even hit the target. Thanks for the help its been an experience.

One more question. I am shooting the Copper series Powerbelts, does that make any difference?

The copper is not a jacket like a jacketed bullet, just a thin electroplated layer so no, not much of a difference. If your target is catching on fire, that probably means you have unburned powder going out the bore so it's wasted anyway.

I've shot an Encore with 350 grain PBs for years for elk/deer in Colorado. I found that above 100 grains not only was recoil unpleasant but my groups opened up; so I'd recommend dropping to 100 or 90 or 80 like tx said. Also, my rifle shot much better groups and more consistently with a fouled bore using the powerbelts, so that's how I hunted with it. I used a single moist patch between shots with 777 due to the residue build-up, and that worked well. Now that I use BH 209 I don't swab at all because it doesn't foul like 777 used to. Never used Shockeys but if it doesn't foul much you may want to try shooting a group or two without swabbing and see if the groups tighten up.

Are you deer hunting only? .50 caliber I assume?

The reason I ask is, if you're hunting something bigger than deer I'd recommend a heavier bullet. If you're hunting deer with a 250 grain bullet and your state allows sabots I'd go that route--those rifles shoot sabots better than bore-sized conicals and if all you need is a 250 grain bullet then there's no reason to use a full bore-sized round when you can use a smaller diameter, flatter-shooting saboted round.

I am hunting antelope in New Mexico next weekend.

Sounds like a great hunt, good luck. If your rifle is already shooting the PBs well it's probably not a good time to change but if not, sabots may be worth a try. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

Here is some more good info:

http://www.powerbeltbullets.com/docs/PBB26inchballistics.pdf

The 245 grain aerotip powerbelt with 3 inches high at 75 yards is dead on at 150 and 8 inches low at 200. Not to shabby.

Went out and shot again tonight with new scope and it grouped much better but every few shots I would get a really wild one. When I got home I gave it a good cleaning and had an incredible amount of plastic fouling and i assume that was the problem. I still do not have to much confidence in it and going out to shoot again tommorow.

swab the barrel between shots to keep fouling down, not sure how it works on sabots, but I do it anyway, IE not sure if it helps but I don't have fliers the few times I've shot sabot bullets.

And the rest are right, there is so much hype out there, all this stuff thats newer and better and a lot of the advertising hype is helped by all the stupid hunting shows on TV to boot.

I've found that between 80-120 grains of powder in almost all my guns has worked best.

I'm almost thinking that shooting a rifle for the first time a few weeks before a hunt, and something thats a bit touchy like a blackpowder, is really pushing it a bit, but best of luck. I've done it with a buddy before on spur of the moment and racked up a 218 yard muley kill with him shooting, but it was my gun, my zero, my load etc... and I knew it would work fine and know him inside and out like a brother and told him where to aim etc....

If you are having to work up a load and all on your own green it becomes harder.

BTW I'm still not sold on pellets....

Never had much luck with max loads in muzzleloaders....Mine have always preferred between 100 and 130 grains of several different varieties of powder for optimum accuracy with powerbelts. Nowadays I shoot BH209 and sabots and I'm pleased with the results. A lot less swabbing between shots.

As Rost says, swab the barrel after each shot at the range:

One wet patch (I use spit to wet it), both sides, followed by a dry patch, both sides. then reload

I changed to triple seven powder from Jim Shockey and changed from powerbelts to sabots. I also swabbed between shots and shot lights out out to 200, it was a lot of fun. Thanks for the help we will be hunting this weekend. One last question do you recommend shooting a 209 primer between shots to keep the breach plug clear?

No, shooting more 209s only adds to the buildup in the breechplug. After a thorough cleaning, I always pop off a couple before I load the first time to remove any ramaining oil or moisture in the breech plug and barrel. I don't think using a primer between shots will do anything but add to the buildup.

Glad you are getting some accuracy. Good luck. Post picutres!