I'm shooting a CVA Optima with 100 grains of powder and 245 grain powerbelts. They perform ok, but there is rarely an exit hole and usually little to no blood trail. I've researched several others and the Hornady Boredriver FTX seems to be well liked. Any opinions? Thanks

I have had good luck with the Hornady 250gr SST for nearly a decade.

these https://www.hornady.com/muzzleloading/browse/50-cal-385-gr-hb-hp#!/

only once I didn't have an exit , and it went the entire length of the deer and she went down and never got up

Good bullets but unfortunately they didn't group well out of my gun. I went to the Hornady 240 grain xtp.

here was the one recovered , it wasn't the shot I intended , the doe turned to look back down the trail I was on and I intended to hit her in the back of the neck , i hit the base of the tail ran up the spine then down and through and found it under the skin forward of 3 broken ribs figure about 40 inches of penetration it was end to end on a good size doe , that was the only one I ever had with those that wasn't a 2 hole shot.
given that weight , expansion and penetration you can see why

Full bore I have a maxi hunter mold. Sabots I order mmp sabots and use 250gr .45 Hornady xtp pistol bullets. If you always want a pass through go with the 300 gr xtp.

I have killed around 50 with the 250gr and been happy with them. Also it's cheap to order the sabots and bullets separately

I like patch and roundball

250 grain XTP

X2

X3 on the Hornady SST. I shot Powerbelts for years and although they shot good I felt the terminal performance wasn’t there. I tested a bunch of bullet, powder, primer combinations. My most accurate combination was the SST with 110 gn granular FFF equivalent 777 and a federal champion 209M primer out of a regular TC Encore muzzleloader.

Started with XTPs. Liked them alot but when the SST became popular 20-25 years ago swapped over to them. I liked them until a few years back when noticed expansion wasn’t so reliable way at the end of their range. I’ve switched to Barnes. Probably not as disruptive at cliser range but Ive never seen one fail to expand and give extreme penetration. They are my go to now. XTPs get run outta 44 mag

You betcha!

I like patch and roundball too. I enjoy shooting the same kind of stuff my ancestors did. Shoot and hunt with modern guns too.

Thor 300gr for inline
350gr maxiball in the flinchlock

I’ve had good luck with the 295gr powerbelts.

Barnes 245 grain or 250 grain with 110 grains of blackhorn 209. If barnes arent available, hornady sst250 also shoot well out of my rig.

We've killed 100+ deer with Knight 260 gr all lead saboted hollowpoint over 90gr 2F.
Only recovered a handful, but they look like this.

I've always shot Hornady 240 grain HP/XTP. These are .44caliber in 50 caliber sabot. Pushed by 100 grain 777 pellets they have been deadly accurate. NY state is trying to ban lead bullets from use on state land so I bought some Traditions TPF Hunters, a solid copper hollow point bullet .44 caliber in a 50 caliber sabot. My first experience with them on a rifle range proved they are just as accurate as the Hornady's and group better. I am going to use these this season and see how it goes.

Interesting

Hornady 240 grain XTPs .44 caliber in 50 cal sabot - what we used and no reason to change. Punched paper and deer very well with our limited experience. I tried the patch and roundball and it was horrible in our CVA Accura V2s. THey are not designed for roundballs and it clearly showed. I shot and shot and finally read the literature - they clearly won't shoot a roundball accurately but have extreme precision shooting the hornadys

I'm Going tovtry those in my optima

https://harvestermuzzleloading.com/collections/crushed-rib-sabots

I have found some of the best sabots and bulltets at the above site - hard to beat the pricing also. Just something I uncovered last year and wanted to pass on. Looks like the company is in KY and I have heard tons of good things about the crushed rib sabots about how easy they are to load

Thanks for this

Ive heard good things about those harvster sabots. From my experience with my Thompson ProHunter, Barnes bullets are hard to beat...a little spendy, but I dont mind when they shoot the groups that they do. Every barrel is a little different and likes different loads. Good luck in your search....

I use a patched round ball over 80 grains of 2f. I was watching a video on YouTube once and they were testing different types of bullets for muzzleloaders on water jugs. The patched round ball penetrated the deepest, traditional ways are sometimes the way to go.

You won't be disappointed.

Traditional ways are good in traditional rifles. Shooting round balls in a modern inline with excellent bergara barrels was a disaster in mine. Tried it and couldnt get minute of milk jug at 50 yards.....couldnt get minute of pizza box using a scope. It was atrocious. I simply read my instructions then and saw the manufacturer only recommends shooting modern jacketed bullets. Did that and can put 3 hornady xtaps within an inch utilizing a decent burris full field mz scope. From there, I went hunting.

Scorpions are made by Harvester MZ and I think they would be worth trying for .50 a shot +powder. I can generally shoot the xtaps from Hornady around .65 + powder. I have yet to see a reason to shoot a new powerbelt or aerodynamic missle at $2 a shot.

Here in oregon we can't use sabots. No, 209 primers, has to be open ignition and caps only and only loose powder
I finally drew a muzzleloader tag this year and got lucky to get a good one. I shoot those hornady great plains 385 gr

This is a Great thread

Patched round ball for me.

I’ve had great luck with the Hornady 250gr SST’s in front of 100gr 777. Most of those whitetails dropped within 20yds of where they shot. A few dropped right there. I’ve had poor luck with the green power belts. I’ve recently changed to blackhorn 209 and lookin to shoot some 300gr SST’s just for a change up. Excited to see the results with that.

Harvester Scorpion 300gr funnel point in a crush rib sabot. Shoot well out of my Accura and load very easy. Plus the company is in my home state.

AnthonyT - thanks for that info about the Scorpions out of an Accura. I think I will purchase a few packs to have on hand if need be. They are very well priced.

Yup, me too. With 90gr 2F.

I shoot 300 Grain Hornady XTPs out of an MK 85 with the Harvester Green Crush rib sabot over 90 grains of 2F triple. 7. I shot a solid copper 250 Grain Maximus by Cutting edge bullets with the same sabot out of my CVA Accura over 74 grains by weight of BH 209. Both loads are great for deer and extremely accurate.

I use a 260 gr. Scorpion PT Gold,
70 gr. (weight) Blackhorn 209,
CCI 209M primer
Harvester H5045SB sabot

in my T/C Triumph and it shoots better than any other brands. Every muzzle loader is different, you just have to find what works. I'm 12 out of 13 years with a buck. They don't go far with a well placed shot.

Uncle Dave

240 grain Precision Dead Centers over 130 gr. loose (by volume), weighed 87 gr. 777.

I really like Barnes MZ 300 grain with 90 grains of powder.

Accurate and always a great blood trail.

I have also had good luck with Hornady Great Plain 385 grain.

I'm in the same boat with the green power belts at 245 grains. I don't think they get good penetration. I'm going to 300 grain SSTs.

I have a muzzloaders, always shot sabots, what is difference between power belt or sabot