Help - Need a Muzzy Load for Elk and Moose

[jschaffer]

The drawings have been fortunate to me this year. I will be hunting moose in Maine and the end of September and then Elk in New Mexico the beginning of October. My NM tag is for muzzy only, but I would also like to hunt my moose with that as well. But because of the close proximity of the two hunts, I would like to use one load. I believe in both states sabots are legal as well as pelleted powder (still doing my research on Maine).

So I am looking for advice on what bullet and powder combination might be solid for both hunts?

The biggest issue I am running into is that Maine will likely have closer shots in thicker woods, whereas NM I will want to be able to get some range with accuracy (looking at 200 yards). So I would like a combo that has good knock down power as well as some good flight performance at a distance.

Oh, I shoot a .50 cal CVA Accura v2. I have had good luck with the Blackhorn powder and may continue with that.

Thanks in advance for any advice or help!

 

[Gatorgrizz27]

Blackhorn 209 is the most consistent and gives high velocities from what I’ve seen. A 300 gr Barnes would be my bullet of choice. Not sure of the differences between their offerings or how much it matters.

 

[ENCORE]

110grs volume and a Barnes 290gr T-EZ bullet.

 

[muddydogs]

BH209 powder, 300 grain .45 cal Hornady XTP in a Harvester crushed rib sabot with CCI 209 mag primer. Best accuracy out of my Traditions Vortek Strikerfire is with 110 grains by volume, 77 grains by weight of BH 209 which produces 1900 fps at the muzzle.

The sabot used is going to depend on what you can load down your barrel. With my rifle I tried a few from both Harvester, MMP and one from Traditions, some of the Harvester brand sabots I couldn't even get started but the Harvester Crushed Rib loads great and had the best accuracy over MMP and Traditions sabots.

 

[jschaffer]

Thanks much!

 

[duckhunter175]

110gr by volume of Bh209 was the sweet spot in both of my Accura V2s-- I used Harvester black crush ribs and their Scorpion PT Gold bullet. For elk and moose Id probably go with a Mono like the Barnes. Ive seen other threads where guys hunting elk size game favor the Barnes.