So another question.
1st. What's the consensus on using moden cast bullets designs in traditional style muzzleloaders? NOE , accurate,MP and other have a bunch of neat ones.
2. 45cal vs 50cal. Which one is the most versatile as far as bullet selection. I'm I'm looking at everything right seems 45cal has way more mold options but now sure.
Thanks

All depends on the rifling twist and style, I would say. Most of my rifles in 50 and up have 1:66 or 1:70 twist, no where near enough to stabilize anything more than a round ball.

Even my small bores have 1:48 rifling, pretty darn slow twist.

I have seen some with 1:24, not sure how they would perform. I don't mess with conicals at all.

Ok that makes sense was thinking about twist rates, I know in cast rifle shooting they work a bit different then jacketed but wasn't sure about in black powder muzzleloaders.

I have playd with Lee R.E.A.L some

best conical I have shot were the Hornady Great Plains I really liked the 410gr flat nose but the 385gr HP works they stopped making the 410gr

when you play modern bullet you have to start asking are you basically putting a pistol bullet in a sabot or are are you going paper patch , or will it have a large enough lube grove

with BP your not just lubing the bullet your keeping the fouling soft which could probably be accomplished with lubed felt wads over a card wad under the conical but I haven't played with that

there were other things that worked

I've heard of a few guys having luck with slow twist barrels using ball-ets. Basically a skirted round ball. Not sure if they are available any more.

I think they also go by the name PA conical https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1002235363

Hornady makes them and they are still available , it is sort of a ball-ett any way , there used to be more I am sure

If you are looking at modern cast bullets ,instead of made for muzzleloader conicals, the issue is engraving the rifling. With a long bearing surface you would be hammering them down the barrel.

Yup, the whole history of development from percussion to cartridge case often obscures the parallel development of bullets.

One area of experimentation was the bore matching projectiles like the brunswick or whitworth. I think the whitworth was the most successfully able to use harder alloys. Paper patching was also used as well.

The allure of muzzleloaders is making it more difficult. The modern bullets are more accurate, but my consensus is its like shooting a carbon arrow with a mechanical out of a traditional bow, or flyfishing with a worm. I have pretty accurate success with roundballs.

I think the 50 is the most versatile in a hunting sense, though i shot 4 big game animals with my 45 last year including a bear

Also, muzzleloaders are the sort of thing where they all like their particular thing. I shoot .010” patches in some. .015” patches in others. I try to keep it all FFFg though except for the pan in the flintlocks. I know your a tinkerer. I would get a few molds and see what your muzzleloaders like

I don't do blackpowder but the allure to me is almost interpretive archeology using only the materials and technology available at the time.

It fascinates me how they did it without the things we take for granted.

I use thor bullets in my inline and flinty, very good accuracy with them and easy to load.

Lead balls or maxi balls in my older Rifle

Sabots for my inlines

I mainly use round ball in my guns but my .32 is a 1/48 twist. The reason for me trying conicals in the 32 is to gain more weight, .310 round ball= 45gr while a maxi ball I think = 105gr.
Look at your state regs and find out what minimum caliber they allow for hunting. A .45 will take down a lot, plus if casting round ball you’re using less lead per bullet. Depending on what type of muzzle loader you buy you can swap barrels out. You can find some cheap deals out there.

3F works fine in the pan also. Been doing it that way for 20 years. A bonus is it doesn't suck up moisture as quickly as 4F on the humid days. I only carry one horn now. No priming horn.

1in 66 is round ball twist. 1 in 48 will do round ball or conicals. TC Hawkens were 1 in 48. I have good success with a .490 ball patched with .020 lubed pillow ticking and FFFG as the charge and in the pan.

Here's my best group to date at 100 yards, offhand (standing with no support). I recently widened the slot in my rear sight, appears i need to drift it a bit to the right and hold a touch higher. The rifle is 54 caliber flintlock, 1:70 twist. Shooting 530 round ball in .018 ticking patch, spit lubed, over 85 grains 3F goex.

I am also all FFFg

Get a .45 cal.

Uses less powder..

And is well ovah 2000 fps

Heck ..most of the Black powder bench shooters use a .40 cal

Rule of thumb for accuracy when shooting a patched round ball..

You want .20-.22 thousand thick patch ( Old Blue Jeans ..denim ) works great. And pair that up with a smaller dia ball.

So all that thick patching material is stuffed into the rifling and get that ball spinning wicked.

Plus you can run a heavy charge without blowing up your patch..cuz a thick patch can take the heat.

That's a good start for sure. In my rifles I notice no improvement when going from .018 to .020 or thicker patches, other than they got real hard to start loading.
Powder charge plays a huge role, even a 5 grain change can make a noticeable difference. At 80 grains, the above rifle prints a 5 inch group at 100 yards off the bench. Going to 85 grains shrinks the group to 2 inches.
Patch lube is a factor also. For general target shooting, I use spit for lube, just stick a patch in my mouth before I start loading, and its soaked through when ready.
For hunting, I am using rendered raccoon fat (I don't have bear grease). Same POI as spit patching out of my rifles. And it loads real slick.

KSnow....found yah some .526.... just right for that thicker patch

Thanks, Ness. I cast my own and am satisfied with the accuracy I am getting right now. Maybe if I find a mold in that size for a price I can't refuse I'll try it out.

Black powder bench ?....hmmmmm now I'm curious

.38 cal is minimum for deer. Still not quite sure on the style I want. Hawakens just look to blocky same with the Mississippi. The swiss guns would be a dream but just not practical. The Kentucky and Pennsylvania one are two I'm kinda stuck on honestly.

Check out chunk guns or over the log guns. Pretty much dedicated target rifles that often weigh over 12 pounds. All about accuracy.

Interesting, but not my cup of tea.

Hmmm honestly didn't even consider that

Side note , also wanna get into BP cartridges at some point. Pedersoili has a few I'd love to own

Yup....the. 45/70 sharps are nice

Look at “poor boy” styles. I like to do a lot of walking, so I want less weight. If you are bench shooting then get a “chunk gun”.
Edit: didn’t see k snow had mentioned chunk gun already.