muzzle loader question

[Brow tine]

Hey guys I drew a muzzy elk tag and I have hunted coues with a muzzy but never elk. I have a cva optima, my question is,what grain/type of bull have u had success with and what kind of charges work good. Any help will be greatly appreciated thank u very much Ralph.

[Titanium700]

I love Barnes mz's

300 grainers.

[azelkhunter69]

We use 100 gr. of Triple 7 powder pushing either a 250 gr. or 300 gr. Barnes. Combined, we have 4 bulls to show for it. My wife will be trying for her 3rd bull in November.

[wish2hunt]

I would go with a little heavier bullet and not worry about distance as much.

[Green Bullet]

i shoot hornady sst 250 grain with blackhorn powder and magnum primers.

 

i used to shoot the pellets but the blackhorm is way better...easier loading and more accurate.

 

i've shot elk and mule deer very successfully..last muley at 276 yards and he dropped on the spot.

[Old Buck]

I have shot a number of elk with a muzzleloader. I use a muzzleloader because of the increased elk hunting opportunity not because I like muzzleloaders. I really like to hunt elk! I have used saboted bullets that varied from 250-300 grains, depending on which one shot best in my newest rifle. The last few have been with barnes bullets and I was very happy with their performance. I have always slowly worked up to the maximum powder charge for my rifle. IMO you need all the help you can get with a muzzleloader, so I try to get all the velocity that I can.

 

Remember when you are hunting that you are not using a real rifle, only a muzzleloader and take your shot accordingly.

[Will K]

Barnes 250gr MZ Expanders

[singleshot]

3 fifty grain Hodgdon pellets

 

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[Brow tine]

Man thank u guys for all the help. I'm going to get some supplys and start shooting this weekend iv shot muzzy before but it has been 7 years and it was on a Dec coues deer hunt. Thank u all for the input it will save me some money knowing a basic starting point. Thanks again for your time and GOOD luck on up coming hunts

[Kelney]

I have dropped more elk with my black powder gun than all my other weapons combined. I have also settled on the Precision Rifle Dead Center bullet with Blackhorn 209 powder. The loose powder lets you fine tune the rifle with varying amounts of powder. Good luck on your hunt.

[Tight Guy]

I have shot and hunted elk since 1978 with muzzleloaders. Used to use 90 grains of real 2FF black powder, pushing a 220 grain lead round ball that we cast from lead bars. Believe it or not these old precussion cap side locks worked great, and could shoot 2-3 inch groups with open sights.

Now days I use 2 triple 7 pellets, pushing the Barnes MZ 250 grain expenders in my Thompson Center Omega. We Have shot 2 bulls with this load and I cant say enough about Barnes. I shoot them for everything I hunt, and have never had a failure of any kind.

[Lookin4amonster]

I can vouch for Tight Guy (my dad) above. I was there when that bull was killed, as well as the Antelope he shot in unit 9 last year. The Barnes 250 grain load performed nothing short of perfect every time. In fact, here's the bullet pulled from the elk above. Can't get any better than this:

 

 

[lionhunter]

Congtratulations on your tag, should be epic....

I shoot the same rifle aand have had great luck with 300 gr SST in front of 150 gr of tripple 7

My boy harvested a monster bull last year in 3b at 68 yards, and I shot an antelope the year before with in at 305 yards. In both cases the bullet worked perfectly.. I would not change it for anything

 

Best of luck to you

Whitey

[azdonw]

What kind of Optima do you have? I have the older Optima Pro, and I needed to get a breach plug modified to shoot Blackhorn 209. If you have the newer Optima V2, then you can buy the special breach plug and it is worth it (the rifle comes with the one for older powder types). I agree with using a fairly heavy bullet for more penetration--300 grain works good. Sure it arcs a little more, but the greater momentum means greater penetration, and that's the game with elk. And make sure it is a "premium bullet" (like Barnes, Nosler Partitian, etc--no Powerbelts) so it holds together. As for powder, Blackhorn 209 for the ability to quickly get a follow up reload. Many of the older powders were less accurate and produced "crud ring" at the bottom of the barrel, making second shots less accurate. But make sure your rifle can reliably shoot BH209, as it requires a special breach plug in many rifles. That's my 2 cents. I love muzzleloader hunting elk! Just practice getting close. Don't call too much, except to locate, then head their way. I guess I should ask what tag you were drawn for, as I was assuming rut hunting.

[Anaconda]

Barns 250 EZ in front of 110 BH 209