Muzzy bullets for elk

[muledeerarea33?]

What bullet and load have you used for elk? How well did it work? I picked up a cva accura awhile back to use as a back up to my traditional muzzle loader. Just looking to see what’s been proven to work and what fails in a modern muzzle loader.

[Ed67]

The Barnes TMZ 290 grain are accurate with my older CVA Optima 50 Cal out to 150 yards.  I can’t say how they perform yet but my son is going to use it on his late muzzy bull tag this year. 

[creed]

300 grain Barnes MZ Expander with 100 grains of Blackhorn 209. I have posted pics before of the expansion from a bullet I pulled out of a deer. Devastating and very accurate out of my Optima.

[yotebuster]

Stick with blackhorn 209.  It is oil soluble so you use hoppes to clean it up.  Any pyrodex is water soluble which means that the powder and any residue will imbibe water from the air and it affects accuracy both in the powder and in the residue on the barrel.  Shoot good magnum shotshell primers with it as well.  I’ve had good luck with Barnes bullets as far as terminal performance out of non magnum muzzleloaders.  Stay away from EZ load sabots.  They are too soft and will be inconsistent.  

[muledeerarea33?]

I have some blackhorn powder and I ordered the breech plug for it yesterday. Also picked up some traditions smackdown carnivores in 250 grain, guy in another thread suggested them. I’m hoping I don’t have to try to many loads to find one that works. Injuries and corona have but me behind the ball this year.

[thegunsmith2506]

We have killed a bunch of elk, 2 coues, and one antelope with 250gr SST's. The have worked very well for us.

[yotebuster]

3 minutes ago, muledeerarea33? said:

I have some blackhorn powder and I ordered the breech plug for it yesterday. Also picked up some traditions smackdown carnivores in 250 grain, guy in another thread suggested them. I’m hoping I don’t have to try to many loads to find one that works. Injuries and corona have but me behind the ball this year.

Dunno anything about those bullets but once you get dialed in maybe measure your powder by weight instead of volume.  They have a conversion ratio on their site.  Much more accurate.  I would look in that 100gr by volume range for blackhorn.  Muzzleloader are expensive as heck to shoot by the time you get through $1 worth of BH209 and a $2 bullet. 

[muledeerarea33?]

10 minutes ago, yotebuster said:

Dunno anything about those bullets but once you get dialed in maybe measure your powder by weight instead of volume.  They have a conversion ratio on their site.  Much more accurate.  I would look in that 100gr by volume range for blackhorn.  Muzzleloader are expensive as heck to shoot by the time you get through $1 worth of BH209 and a $2 bullet. 

Yeah, they’re not cheap. My primary gun (hopefully) will be my old Thompson that my dad put together many years ago with hard cast balls that I make. That ones cheap to shoot and good for around 75-100 yards.

[rossislider]

I'd look into Parker bullets. I tried a lot of stuff I could get locally and couldn't get anywhere near the accuracy beyond 200 yards that I can with their stuff. I believe you still have to order direct from Parker and their stuff is not cheap! Over $2 a bullet, but great bullets. Call Bob Parker and talk to him. He will help you work up some stuff.

I started with the Match/Hunter bullet, but the Black Max is better for expansion on an animal, so I switched when they came out a year or two ago. When I first tried Parker, I wasn't having the consistency I wanted out of my rifle. I called Bob and after sharing my results he suggested trying a few other non-Parker sabots. I tried the TC super glide and it did the trick. I can shoot under MOA at 200 yards all day long.

https://parkerproductionsinc.com/

[muledeerarea33?]

8 minutes ago, rossislider said:

I'd look into Parker bullets. I tried a lot of stuff I could get locally and couldn't get anywhere near the accuracy beyond 200 yards that I can with their stuff. I believe you still have to order direct from Parker and their stuff is not cheap! About $2 a bullet, but great bullets. Call Bob Parker and talk to him. He will help you work up some stuff.

https://parkerproductionsinc.com/

Dang, your right, not cheap! Which one are you using and what has it killed? 

[rossislider]

We didn't have any muzzle loader tags in 2019. In 2018 my wife shot her bull at about 140 yards and I shot a Coues deer at about 220, both with the Match/Hunter bullet. The Black Max had not come out yet at that time. Bob suggested taking shoulder shots with the Match/Hunter to get better expansions (especially on Coues, not as important on elk) which is what we did. Shortly after our hunts, the Black Max came out which uses a polymer tip instead of aluminum and was developed for better expansion. They shoot just like the Match/Hunter, but we haven't yet tested on an animal. Parker's have a longer more streamlines shape than most muzzleloader bulllets (similar to long range rifle bullets), and so you probably also need the spin jag made for them (also on Praker's website). I plan to use the Black Max going forward.

[muledeerarea33?]

Right on. What gun are you shooting and what’s your load? Sabots I’m guessing? I’ve been shooting a muzzle loader for years but not with this technology. I was really hoping to have a nice rifle built by arrowhead or PCR this year but plans changed.

[yotebuster]

1 hour ago, rossislider said:

We didn't have any muzzle loader tags in 2019. In 2018 my wife shot her bull at about 140 yards and I shot a Coues deer at about 220, both with the Match/Hunter bullet. The Black Max had not come out yet at that time. Bob suggested taking shoulder shots with the Match/Hunter to get better expansions (especially on Coues, not as important on elk) which is what we did. Shortly after our hunts, the Black Max came out which uses a polymer tip instead of aluminum and was developed for better expansion. They shoot just like the Match/Hunter, but we haven't yet tested on an animal. Parker's have a longer more streamlines shape than most muzzleloader bulllets (similar to long range rifle bullets), and so you probably also need the spin jag made for them (also on Praker's website). I plan to use the Black Max going forward.

Be careful with the black max on elk.  Not sure if this thread is directed toward elk or deer but I killed two muleys with the black maxes last fall.  One hit just under the throat patch on a head on deer.  Hit the spine and vaporized.  Broke the spine and obviously crushed the deer but didn’t exit.  Thank god it didn’t as it was a giant shorthair buck and it would’ve destroyed the cape.  I wouldn’t have wanted that to be an elk shoulder though as it wouldn’t have penetrated at all.  That was a 300gr black max at 2350fps out of my ultimate at 120 yards with open sights.  The second deer was 368 yards with my bad to the bone muzzy which cranks the same bullet at 2650.  He was above me in his bed at a 45 degree angle.  Shot him through the front shoulder (the heavy bass of it) and it angled up through his heart.  That one completely fragmented as well.  Awesome deer bullets and I’ve heard the match hunters will pencil through a deer but I think if I had a muzzy elk tag this year I’d take the match hunters instead.  Even if they don’t expand at all they’re still .45 cal which is a nice size hole.  

[rossislider]

40 minutes ago, yotebuster said:

Be careful with the black max on elk.  Not sure if this thread is directed toward elk or deer but I killed two muleys with the black maxes last fall.  One hit just under the throat patch on a head on deer.  Hit the spine and vaporized.  Broke the spine and obviously crushed the deer but didn’t exit.  Thank god it didn’t as it was a giant shorthair buck and it would’ve destroyed the cape.  I wouldn’t have wanted that to be an elk shoulder though as it wouldn’t have penetrated at all.  That was a 300gr black max at 2350fps out of my ultimate at 120 yards with open sights.  The second deer was 368 yards with my bad to the bone muzzy which cranks the same bullet at 2650.  He was above me in his bed at a 45 degree angle.  Shot him through the front shoulder (the heavy bass of it) and it angled up through his heart.  That one completely fragmented as well.  Awesome deer bullets and I’ve heard the match hunters will pencil through a deer but I think if I had a muzzy elk tag this year I’d take the match hunters instead.  Even if they don’t expand at all they’re still .45 cal which is a nice size hole.  

That's a good call out. Definitely something I will have to play with a bit. Most of my hunts with this muzzleloader will likely be Coues and javelina, so I think the Black Max will be ideal. Who knows if I will ever have another muzzleloader elk tag, but will have to monkey with it a bit if we do. 

[muledeerarea33?]

5 minutes ago, rossislider said:

That's a good call out. Definitely something I will have to play with a bit. Most of my hunts with this muzzleloader will likely be Coues and javelina, so I think the Black Max will be ideal. Who knows if I will ever have another muzzleloader elk tag, but will have to monkey with it a bit if we do. 

That’s what I’m doing now “monkeying” lol