Bullet suggestions for a 1:48 twist

[Shortfingers]

hey, you ain't picking on me, i have killed literally 100s of deer in my life. you can shoot game with anything you like, big or small. if you don't hit the spot it won't matter, they will escape. if you do hit the spot with a small round ball or big one, they will die! so that is the key, not the size or shape of the projectile,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

It’s always shot placement that makes the difference.

 

[Shortfingers]

I've owned, hunted with and fired thousands of rounds from several 1-48" twist rifles. In every instance I fired patched round ball. Accuracy was always great and they took game exceedingly well. I can't comment on any conical bullet because I've never used one in my nearly 55 years of shooting muzzleloaders.

PRB and realBP keep traditional, traditional…..at least for me……the only time I’ve ever shot an in-line was when the state required it to pass their muzzleloading instructor certification class but I still used PRB and real BP…..they shrugged and scratched their heads but there were no rules against it so…….

 

[Frontstuffer070]

Agreed but 4” plate at 100 yds is my goal…..8” is like you say dinner on the table but could involve a wounded animal and a bit of tracking

An 8 inch circle is the boiler room of a White tail. Larger animals that size increases. But yes a bit of tracking can happen for sure.

 

[Ruben44]

I have a TC Hawken 1:48 .50 cal also, .490 round ball with .018 pillow ticking works ok for me, but not great. I tried the maxi ball when i first got the rifle without luck, I should revisit now that I have a better clue. I also tried Hornady PA Conical, but the lube that comes on them left me with a half rammed bullet in a loaded rifle. I haven't tried them again since but would like to.

I've had good accuracy with lee real 240gr which I powder coat. I use a wool wad saturated with a homebrew Lehigh valley lube ripoff. I've also had good results with DGL lube from TOTF

I have a lot more range work to try but I busted up my knee and haven't shot since early April. Surgery on Monday, hopefully I'll be back out again soon.

I have a .54 Renegade. It shot pretty well with .530 round ball and .018 patch.

Sent the barrel to Bob Hoyt and he refreshed the barrel, deepening the factory rifling. Very accurate now.

 

[oldschoolhunter55]

I have a TC Hawken 1:48 .50 cal also, .490 round ball with .018 pillow ticking works ok for me, but not great. I tried the maxi ball when i first got the rifle without luck, I should revisit now that I have a better clue. I also tried Hornady PA Conical, but the lube that comes on them left me with a half rammed bullet in a loaded rifle. I haven't tried them again since but would like to.

I've had good accuracy with lee real 240gr which I powder coat. I use a wool wad saturated with a homebrew Lehigh valley lube ripoff. I've also had good results with DGL lube from TOTF

I have a lot more range work to try but I busted up my knee and haven't shot since early April. Surgery on Monday, hopefully I'll be back out again soon.

Get well soon and make some smoke

 

[WonkyEye]

I think people have been conditioned to have high expectations when it comes to accuracy. It's everywhere in the gun world, not just here in the traditional muzzle loading community. I've seen it in all aspects. People expect bullets and ball in the same hole kinda accuracy then complain and believe their rifle is trash if they don't get it. They will print a 2-4" group and start wailing, lol. When in the real world I have never owned or shot a rifle that was not at least minute of deer or man accurate. I have no idea where people get these bench rest standards but its laughable to me. If you have a rock chucker that can hit an 8" plate at 100 yards you are gonna eat tonight. Now if you are competing then all that other stuff comes into play, and is not the point I'm trying to make.

Amen to that. It depends what you do, do you need the accuracy, and are you willing to put in the work. I think the answer for most is no and no. Minute of pie plate accuracy at 50 yards is great for a deer in thick pa woods, or just for some plinking fun, but not so much for competitive shooting.

I think where I might disagree with you is I think most rifles, especially muzzleloaders are more accurate than the shooter. How many of us shoot standing unsupported? Can't blame the rifle for that. How many of us use open sights? The margin for error is so much higher than with optics, again not the barrel or bullet's fault.
Even with modern firearms most aren't getting that accuracy with factory ammo. They're just getting help from optics and a sled or sandbags that get them a 3"group at 100 yards - i.e. it's the Indian, not the arrow.

I also think our muzzleloaders are capable of a lot more if we took the time to figure out what they like and fed them better, but to even notice what better is we have to take our own inconsistency out of the equation. But almost nobody is willing to put in that much work. How many of us weigh powder - the heresy! How many weigh their round balls and throw the extremes back into the scrap lead pile? There's lots of talk about lubes, but how many try 45/55 vs 50/50 vs 55/45 crisco/beeswax (or whatever their homebrew is) and track the results and temperature that day. How many have tried more than 2 types of patch material? How many keep a notebook and measure groups, and record weather , components, and weights, and consistently tweak 1 variable at a time?

I have a [redacted] that shoots cloverleafs at 200 yards. It doesn't do that with factory [redacted].
It requires a hand load with +/- .5gr projectile and trickled load to +/- .1 gr and seating depth that's tuned to the rifle, and consistently trimmed, annealed, and weighed [redacted]. I have to account for temperature of the barrel and shoot slow enough to keep it consistent. I went through an entire spiral bound notebook and a couple hours/week at the range for probably 6 months, constantly making little tweaks to get it there, and went through several different combinations of components along the way. That same [redacted] shoots a 5-6" group with factory [redacted] at the same distance. And if I shoot standing unsupported with iron sights - I'm happy if I can get it on paper at 200 and all that tuning is a complete waste. It took a long time to come around to it, but, back to your point, why fuss if you don't need it because it's not free and unrealistic to think it is.

For me, the pursuit of accuracy is part of the hobby. It gives me a reason to go to the range and waste lead every week to try the little lube change I made, or to try the new patch material. Is it needed - absolutely not. Does it make my rifle trash if I can't make the holes touch - nope.

 

[nkbj]

For hunting purposes a muzzle loading blunt nosed expanding soft lead bullet is fairly easy to make powerful and far more accurate than most shooters. You just need the rifle to be correctly built for however long the bullet is gonna be!

 

[Sparkplug]

I'm a fan of the Lee R.E.A.L 320 grain they shoot well in my Trapper and Bobcat over 65 grains of 2f.

 

[SPQR70AD]

I'm a fan of the Lee R.E.A.L 320 grain they shoot well in my Trapper and Bobcat over 65 grains of 2f.

Yes. I have a 58 cal hawken and the Lee REAL bullet is excellent in the 1x48 twist I have