In need of Muzzleloader advice

[Tn_Va_Hunter]

I shoot tc shockwave 250 grain with super glide sabots. Never a issues. Easy to load and great blood trails.

 

[Jcalder]

I shot a nice 10pt last year. Perfect broadside shot right in the armpit. He took off straight uphill without a single drop of blood that I could see, no pass through. Made it 100 yards and crashed. I will never use powerbelts again.

On a side note: The only reason I used powerbelts in the first place is because that is what CVA recommended over the phone to my dad. Rifle used was a CVA Accura V2 LR

Cva and powerbelts are owned by the same company. You'll never get cva to recommend anything other than powerbelts.

 

[knightrider]

I shot a nice 10pt last year. Perfect broadside shot right in the armpit. He took off straight uphill without a single drop of blood that I could see, no pass through. Made it 100 yards and crashed. I will never use powerbelts again.

On a side note: The only reason I used powerbelts in the first place is because that is what CVA recommended over the phone to my dad. Rifle used was a CVA Accura V2 LR

Thats because they are the same bank account, cva and powerbelt are owned by the same folks

 

[Spurhunter]

Powerbelts load easy, shoot accurately and leave no blood trail. As you've discovered, you need ALL 3. Switch to Barnes Expanders. You'll get blood trails Stevie Wonder can follow.

 

[Talome13]

Cva and powerbelts are owned by the same company. You'll never get cva to recommend anything other than powerbelts.

I did not know this, thanks

 

[philsanchez76]

Ive always used the hornady 240 grain xtp mags , i buy them in bulk and for the last several years paired them with harvester crushrib sabots

Yeah I think the mags have thicker jackets for higher velocities. The other xtps I think are thinner and made more for handgun velocities. prob what that other fella was talking about im guessing. the mags are deadly.

 

[DeerMan66]

If you can find some Barnes Expanders you will like the blood trails they leave. Every deer I have shot with them have left blood trails that anyone can follow. I have only managed to recover one and it was on a buck shot quartering toward me and the bullet lodged in his offside ham. It looked just like the pictures in the advertisements.

Dido. I use 250 gr Barnes Expanders and 3 white hots. Ha w never had an issue with a blood trail. Most of the time it doesn't matter because the deers don't make it out of sight.

 

[TNlandowner]

Agree on the Powerbelt bullets being a bad option. I shot a big mule deer buck at 60 yards with a TC Firehawk muzzleloader firing a 54 cal 348 grain "aerotip" Powerbelt bullet a few years ago. The buck dropped immediately. I watched him lay still for several minutes. As I walked up to him, he got up and bolted away without a blood trail. I lost that deer and still feel sick thinking about the failure. I changed bullets and learned to immediately reload even when I think the task is finished.

I now use a 50 caliber CVA firing a 300 grain Nosler BT (Jim Shockey) marketed bullet with three 50 grain Triple 7 pellets. I used the Hornady 240 grain XTPs before this set up. I have dropped several deer right away with the 300 grain Noslers and never had to worry about blood trails. The 240 grain XTPs did great with complete pass throughs, but I would have to trail the deer. I think Nosler discontinued the 300 grain bullets, but I bought a lot from Shooters Pro before they ran out of inventory.

 

[Cheshire]

Wise ones,

I am at my wit's end.
More than once, I have taken well-placed shots on wall-mounter bucks, and I never get pass-through. Friends have told me it's a problem with PowerBelts.

I'm shooting 100 gr of White Hots with 270 gr PowerBelts. I have no struggle with accuracy.

My shots this far:
15 yds (harvested after 100 yd run, ZERO blood trail, got lucky to see the white belly across a ravine)
20 yds (never ran, just stood there, licked the air and fell over -- very strange)
25 yds (quartering away, shot just behind the shoulder blade, should have exited -- never found a drop, I know I hit it -- never recovered -- this was Monday)
65 yds -- knocked it over -- spent 11 min making a crop circle before springing up and teaching me the most valuable lesson of always reloading -- never recovered it

The pic is the one I didn't recover this week. Looking back at camera pics, I realize he might only be 2.5, but all that bone in the moment ...

I'd like to know if others have had similar experiences,
if I'm doing something wrong, or
if you have suggestions.

Thanks, and I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!

I also had the bad experience with power belt bullets. Once the smoke cleared, no blood no way to track.

 

[backyardtndeer]

Are the 240 grain XTPs technically the XTP Mag? I seem to remember those coming in 240 and then regular XTPs are in the 200, 230 and 250 grains.

I believe they are two different bullets. The mags are designed for higher velocity than the standard xtp pistol bullets.