muzzle loader question

[jay83196]

Just getting into this my second year I have a Thompson omega and a Thompson bone collector triumph and wondering what works best to shoot. I have read mixed reports, use 2 or 3 pellets of powder and what bullets and weight recommended? I have the powerbelt and then hornady saboted both around 300gr.

Thanks a lot

[flipper]

With muzzleloaders, as with any rifle, there are no universal loads that will work well in any specific model.

As far as the powder goes, if I were you I would get a t/c U-View powder measure and shoot loose powder. This gives you the ability to fine tune your load and shoot tighter groups. It also is much cheaper to shoot than pellets. With those two rifles either triple 7 or blackhorn 209 should be excellent powders. I would start with about 100 grains of powder and change in 5 grain increments until you find the sweet spots. Keep in mind that two 50 grain pellets are the equivalent of 85 grains of loose Triple 7 2f.

On the projectile I think the saboted bullets give you a lot of options. The important thing is finding the sabot/bullet combination that fits your bore properly. You want it tight enough but not so tight that you have to beat it down the bore. Sometimes you have to buy the plastic sabots seperately instead of using the ones that come prepackaged with the bullets. I am not a big powerbelt fan but I know a lot of people swear by them.

Once you find the best powder/bullet combination you will be amazed at how well these rifles can shoot.

Good Luck

[lakevet]

flipper is 100% right.

You can try the pellets, but compare them to loose powder results. Loose powder has always given us the best results. Also try different projectiles. Our family purchased 6 consecutive serial number muzzleloaders and each one likes a different load/projectile combination to get best accuracy! Now is the time while still warm to spend an afternoon or two getting the best load combo to feed each gun. I swab the barrel between shots. Sometimes it comes quickly, sometimes it takes longer! And remember practice, practice, practice!

lakevet

[Archerysniper]

The above info is great and spot on, my omega loves the 250 grain hornady sts however my dads won't shoot a decent group with them his likes the yellow tipped shockwaves. I hope you continue to have good results with the power belts, guys in my group have tried them and shot great groups however they did not performed well once they hit a animal and ended up with a lot of tracking one season.

[setterdude]

All good information - I have T/C Bone Collector edition and have really had good luck with 110 grs. of loose 777 powder coupled with the 300 gr. T/C shockwave. I have shot Powerbelts in the past and never had a deer run off, but I found they didn't group as well as the T/C shockwaves through this gun. Play with different powder amounts until you get some good consistancy in your groups. Good luck.