I'm hardly a ML snob but I had bad luck with them and I'll just leave it at that. I have been using the prbullet QT .40 Polymer Tip in my 45 Cal optima for the past several years. Great accuracy and I haven't lost a deer but not always the best blood trails.


I just bought some of the lehigh defense xtreme penetrators to try next year. Haven't had a chance to shoot them yet but I'm hoping my optima will like them.




https://www.midwayusa.com/product/101886858

What kind of deer are you hunting that can’t be killed with a gun shooting a 2” group?

Never tried those

it really is hard to beat soft lead at ML velocity

good expansion and excellent penetration

look at Hornady Great planes next time your shopping

they are not new or flashy or hi-tech but the bust deer only time I didn't have an exit I shot the deer end to end and it was inside the hide just an 8th inch form exit

I used to use Powerbelts but switched to Federal BorLocks but can't say how good they are yet.



I will say one thing you should do is try Blackhorn 209 blackpowder.



Way better than any other powder. It doesn't degrade over time like most blackpowders (one reason I stopped using Triple 7) and it makes cleaning your muzzleloader like cleaning a regular gun.......no more hotwater, foam, or anything else. You just use whatever cleaner you normally use on a gun and you can shoot apprx. 29 shots before needing to clean the gun to shoot, with regular muzzleloaders you may need to clean every 2-3 shots.


To clean my T/C Encore .50 cal after using Blackhorn 209 you can clean it and lube with with just a patch or two of CLP, RemOil, or whatever else you use. I actually use 2 wet patches of Montana Extreme cleaner, 2 dry patches, and then 1 patch of Montana Extreme gun oil for a total of just 5 patches.

I think I will just use what I have got for this year. Powders and sabots and bullets are real scarce here locally. I will try different loads and such next year when I can find the stuff. Thanks to all

My friend and his wife shoot the 295 aero tips with white hot pellets been happy with them. I think they got the power belts figured out now I feel that the early ones were getting pushed to hard and coming apart.
I shoot the optima vers 1 one of my favorite guns. I shot loose 777 for a bit but hated dealing with the crud ring when working up loads. Switched over to BlackHorn 209 love the stuff. Going to sound like a infomercial here. no crud ring, first shot loads as easy as the tenth and clean up with regular gun cleaner no hot water bath like a traditional muzzle loader. My load out for mine is 90 grains BH209, Hornady .452 non mag 300 grain xtp harvester crush rib sabot and cci 209m primer. Mother inlaw has the cva accura ver 1 and shoots the same load we both get about 1 inch groups at 100yards. Wifes uncle also has the accura ver 1 he shoots 85 bh209 and barnes 290 tez.
If you ever decide to try BH209 check to see if your gun will need the BH209 breech plug if so there fairly cheap but it a must.
Justin

The 2" group from a bench rest is under optimum conditions. As conditions change from optimal in hunting situations that accuracy will degrade quickly, so the more accurate the rifle to begin with the better. A 2" group gun will not improve in accuracy in the field and only get worse, while the 1" gun still has some leway until it degrades to a 2" and beyond.

The blackhorn 209 seems to be sold out of every place I have checked

Same here
J

They've worked good for me. Two does down today neither went more than 50 yards.

Have always worked good for me.

They shoot great, especially out of CVA rifles but I've heard of stories about no expansion. I never knew what to think until yesterday a guy posted a pic from here after shooting a deer. Absolutely no expansion, just lost the tip. I shoot hornady XTP and am very pleased so far.

Its already 50 cal.,almost big around as a quarter.How much expansion ya need.You cant get a rifle bullet to expand to the dimension these start out at.Like I stated,,almost every deer I have shot with these went flop.None of the rest went more than 40 yards.

The expansion is energy transfer. Broadheads are the size of a quarter too but you need significantly more precise shot placement than a .30 cal rifle slug because it lacks that extra energy. Many more deer have been shot close to vitals with arrows and not recovered than similar rifle shots I'd venture to guess.