Muzzleloader Sabot Preferences

Stohs57

FNG
Joined
Aug 9, 2017
Messages
12
Location
Southeast Nebraska
I have a T/C Omega in .50 cal that I bought brand new back in 2005 to kill all those big bucks during December in Nebraska that were just too far away to kill with a bow. Well, as luck would have it, it has been 11 muzzleloader seasons since then, and I have yet to kill a deer with it!!! I've killed countless coyotes and a couple bobcats with it, but no deer. But I digress, back to my original question...

I have "finished off" a couple deer for friends on the blood trail with T/C's 250 grain Shockwave's, and the performance was questionable. Both deer I've put the last shot on, simple entered and exited without much expansion. One shot being 20 yards through the shoulder, another was 50 yards right behind the shoulder.

I'm no expert, but wouldn't we be looking for more internal damage than just a hole in and out? Is that sufficient? Or should I be trying to find a more rapid expanding bullet? I'm curious what you fine folks here on Rokslide would recommend. I've looked briefly at the DRT 170 grain bullet that is supposed to just "blow up" inside the rib cage, but question it's penetration on quartering towards shots through the shoulder. Any info is appreciated. Maybe I'll finally get lucky this winter! I shoot the full charge of blackhorn 209 and CCI 209 primer. Thanks!
 
Joined
Oct 29, 2014
Messages
867
i gave up on the prepackaged bullet/sabot combinations a few years ago after struggling to find a good fit in my tc triump. it's got a real tight barrel. did a lot of reading on the chuckhawks website and eventually determined that a hollowpoint bullet was probably the ticket for the shots under 100 yards which i typically encounter. i shoot the 250 grain hornady xtp bullets (think these are meant for .45 handgun reloads) now and pair them with sabots directly from MMP. MMP manufacturers all of these sabots which get rebranded by tc, barnes, hornady, etc. call them up and tell them what gun/bullet combo you're shooting and they'll set you up with a few options based on your specific barrel fit. it's also much cheaper going this route. you can get 50 loads for under $30.
 

Osprey

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Mar 6, 2016
Messages
127
I'm not an expert on muzzys by any means mine usually collects dust since I primiarly bow hunt whitetails but it occaisinally comes out in gun season. Hornady SSTs usually shoot pretty accuratly out of T/Cs however I haven't had the greatest blood trails out of them so i'd stay away from anything similar to that which is how the shockwaves are as well. I've since swithed to try the Hornady FPB which I haven't shot anything with since I just switched it last year but I've heard good things. It groups decent at 100 yds even in 350 gr. I might switch to 300 gr this season not sure yet. Well I take it back I clipped a tree and watched a nice 10 pt run away unscathed last year I swear big bucks have 9 lives.

What range are you typically shooting that also might change bullet decision if your looking for 150-200 yds accuracy vs under 100 yd shots. You might look into hollow points if your looking for max expansion especially if your shooting under 100 yds. Theirs a lot of reviews floating around the web on the FPBs most of which are really good so that might be something to look into.
 
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Joined
Sep 8, 2014
Messages
1,737
Location
Front Range, Colorado
Barnes! Any of them, I shoot the T-EZ. Muzzleloaders are somewhat different than rifles. Velocities are much lower, but bullet diameter is much greater. I prefer to use a bullet that holds a large frontal area through the entire wound channel when it comes to blackpowder guns. I get complete expansion with the Barnes bullets at very low velocity. As low as 1300 fps so far. They hold together as well. I finished off a buck I spined once. Shot down through his shoulder blades and recovered the bullet clear down one leg, with 2 petals bent nearly flat but all intact. My experience on game is as follows:
1. Dad's bull elk, 60 yards. Shot in chest, huge exit behind shoulder. Ran ~100 yards and went down.
2. The buck I talked about above. Spined on the first shot.
3. 2013 buck. Shot quartering away hard at 80. Bullet broke his hip, traveled through his body, exited behind front leg, broke that leg, and exited again. Buck made it 10 yards.
4. Last year. 189 yards, ~1300 fps impact velocity. High lung hit, exited fully expanded. Buck made it 15 yards.
Just make sure that you buy the ones with the right sabot. The ez load (blue) ones don't shoot as well in some new guns with oversize bores. Other than that they're very accurate. I'm shooting the 250 gr T-EZ with 90 gr of T7.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 

Sodbuster

WKR
Joined
Jan 9, 2016
Messages
713
Location
Missouri
Travis Bertrand
I second mmp
You need to try different sabots with different bullets to really shoot well.

Agreed.

MMP worked for heavy loads in my Savage smokeless but the 250 grain bullets liked Harvester sabots better.
 

N2TRKYS

WKR
Joined
Apr 17, 2016
Messages
3,954
Location
Alabama
I've killed several bucks with Powerbelts, but thought they were a bit fragile. In hindsight, the Powerbelts were good enough. Then I started shooting T/C Shockwaves. These shot fatter and grouped well at 200 yards. I don't think that I've killed a deer with them, yet.

I shoot 150 grains of 777 and Winchester 209 shotgun primers.
 
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Stohs57

Stohs57

FNG
Joined
Aug 9, 2017
Messages
12
Location
Southeast Nebraska
Thanks for all the input guys. I appreciate it. I will probably get all the fore mentioned rounds and try them out, then go with whatever groups best at 100 yards. Most shots will be within 100 yards, but may stretch to 150 on occasion with 175 being the max. My Shockwave grouped flawlessly, but as I mentioned before, questioned their effectiveness. I've read a lot of good reviews on the Hornady's and Barnes', so i'll probably start there. Thanks again!
 
Joined
Dec 28, 2015
Messages
848
Hornady XTP 300 grain .45 cal with the black MMP sabot. I shoot this out of my TC encore with 80 grains of Blackhorn 209 and out of my savage with 43 grains of 5744. Had no issues out of either weapon/powder combo and have killed deer from 10-225 yds.
 
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