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Which bullet?

Never had trouble killing with patched ball. About all the deer hunting I ever did was in the woods so it was short range...50 yds +-. My load in the 58 is 82 grains 2fg and a .570 ball. Like a previous poster said it's mostly about shot placement...
 

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I've hunted with the 92 model for years & husband the 93 , Get you a box of Hornady XTP 250 gr bullets 45 cal. Pistol bullet & some Santa's & 90 or 100 grs of Pyrodex pellets. They come in 30 & 50 grains don't worry about plastic fouling. In between cleaning use borebutter
 
Smo said:
Like Wobblyshot said, A patched round ball has killed many a deer..

I plan on seeing what a .626 ball over 70 grns fffg will do too a Tennessee whitetail this Fall..
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I'll be keeping my shots under 50 yards too, which is easy too do when you can only see 40….👍
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I've seriously thought about using round ball…I will be getting a supply of them just to have in stock in case, well, you know, just in case.:)
 
Wobblyshot1 said:
Never had trouble killing with patched ball. About all the deer hunting I ever did was in the woods so it was short range...50 yds +-. My load in the 58 is 82 grains 2fg and a .570 ball. Like a previous poster said it's mostly about shot placement...
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I've got an old H&R Huntsman .58 caliber. It shoots good with patched round ball and 90 gr. Triple 7. I've meant to try Goex 2f black in it.
 
poorhunter said:
I know there has been a lot of other threads regarding bullets, but I can't seem to get what I'm after. I am new to muzzleloading but have hunted and shot my whole life, so I have an understanding of guns. I have an older Knight LK-93 in good shape. My desire is to not use a saboted bullet, and I've seen a few out there like the Thor, Great Plains, Thompson Center MaxiBall, and the Buffalo Arms paper patched bullets. I just want to avoid using the plastic sabots. Anyone have any experience with these bullets or another I should look at?
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Congrats on getting a LK93 a true classic.


I would not sweat using sabots. I know a lot of the smokeless guys are hung up on using non saboted full bore bullets and perhaps for good reason. They are shooting alot and at higher speeds. Sabots tend to get soft and push groups from heat at those speeds.

If you are the average deer hunter and have patience sighting a gun in. Let cool down times set in. And clean your gun on a regular basis you will never have plastic build up. Most any load will shoot incredible and go down easy with a sabot. Not so much with full bore bullets.
 
I have two of the same Knight MLs. Have used plastic sabots for 20+ years with no issue. Early on, I tried various powders and different weight bullets. Weights varying from 180-300. I settled on two 50gr 777 pellets and a 300 grain bullet. It shoots touching bullet holes at 50 and 100 yards with the same aim point. 125 yards is about the limit though. I've shot at paper at 150 and memory says bullet drops about a foot.

Bullets are Hornady SST but I've also shot other 300 gr bullets with similar results. Seems like I was shooting a Thompson bullet until I had trouble finding them.

Regarding pass thru, I don't specifically remember because when I shoot deer with this setup, they fall over dead within sight. In 20+ years, probably killed 20 deer with this setup.

Regarding the lighter bullets such as 180 and 240, they never patterned well, meaning 6 inch groups at 50.

As far as cleaning, I clean it after every range session, which is probably 6-8 shots. Just use the standard black powder cleaner.

I guess that's just a long way of saying I've had very good results with that exact same gun using 300 gr sabots.

Oh, SS and converted to shoot 209 primers
 
BSK said:
I'm very anti-sabot. I only shoot full-caliber bullets in my MZs, but that's probably just unnecessary concern. Personally, if I have a 50-caliber gun, I want to shoot a big, heavy 50 caliber bullet I'm sure will go all the way through. No 45-caliber pistol bullets for me!

I've shot a lot of MaxiBalls, but they can be hard to load. I was not pleased with the Thor bullets. Using BP, after the first shot they would not load (fouling from the first shot). If I ever transition to 777, I may rethink that. Also didn't get the accuracy I was hoping for. Have not tried the Buffalo Arms bullets. Great Plains worked fairly well. Currently, I'm shooting the heaviest Powerbelts they make (405 grn). They have proven to be extremely accurate and do not suffer from the break-up-on-impact that plagues their 295s. However, they are extremely hard to find. The company only makes a small batch of them each year and you've got to get them right then as they will sell out quickly. Others I hunt with shoot the 348s, which are a little easier to find.
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I'm curious about the round your using, so you get a lot of pass through. I've used the 295 gr powerbelt since they came out and like them accept I don't get an exit. They put them down every time quickly but hard tracking.
 
Madbowh said:
I'm curious about the round your using, so you get a lot of pass through. I've used the 295 gr powerbelt since they came out and like them accept I don't get an exit. They put them down every time quickly but hard tracking.
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I believe he mentioned that he's currently using a 405 gr version Power Belt. They are hard to find but it's a large chunk of lead and a very effective round. I used 410 gr, flat point, Great Plains conical for several seasons with excellent results on deer. Sadly, they don't make that version of their Great plains conical any longer. Big lead may not shoot as flat but it's extremely affect in punching holes in one side and out the other on deer size game.
 
BSK said:
I'm very anti-sabot. I only shoot full-caliber bullets in my MZs, but that's probably just unnecessary concern. Personally, if I have a 50-caliber gun, I want to shoot a big, heavy 50 caliber bullet I'm sure will go all the way through. No 45-caliber pistol bullets for me!

I've shot a lot of MaxiBalls, but they can be hard to load. I was not pleased with the Thor bullets. Using BP, after the first shot they would not load (fouling from the first shot). If I ever transition to 777, I may rethink that. Also didn't get the accuracy I was hoping for. Have not tried the Buffalo Arms bullets. Great Plains worked fairly well. Currently, I'm shooting the heaviest Powerbelts they make (405 grn). They have proven to be extremely accurate and do not suffer from the break-up-on-impact that plagues their 295s. However, they are extremely hard to find. The company only makes a small batch of them each year and you've got to get them right then as they will sell out quickly. Others I hunt with shoot the 348s, which are a little easier to find.
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Here's another good looking heavy full bore bullet.

www.muzzleloading-bullets.com

50 Caliber 420 Grains - NO EXCUSES MUZZLELOADING BULLETS

The lightest of the No Excuses 50 caliber Muzzleloading bullets. We have had great success with these while hunting deer and elk and reasonable ranges (less than 200 yards).
www.muzzleloading-bullets.com www.muzzleloading-bullets.com
 
Wobblyshot1 said:
Never had trouble killing with patched ball. About all the deer hunting I ever did was in the woods so it was short range...50 yds +-. My load in the 58 is 82 grains 2fg and a .570 ball. Like a previous poster said it's mostly about shot placement...
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Have you ever tried any conical bullets in your .58? I tried some Lee .575 gr. hollow based flat points in mine. The guy I bought the rifle from had them. His father casted them. I couldn't get them to group good. I may have been pushing them too fast. I think I was shooting 90 gr. Tripple 7. More like 60, would've been better.
 

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