How many grains do you load your Muzzy with?

[Mongrel Koi]

I load my .50 Cal CVA with 80 grains of pyrodex. I am a little worried about blowing up my rifle. How many grains do you load with?

[Gordie]

I know guys that run 150 grains and to me that is just a waste of powder, I was taught long ago that with black powder you run as small a charge/load of powder that it takes to make your gun perform its best accuracy.

If you are using a inline you will be fine with that load , I ran two 50 grain pyrodex pellets for years until I found out that 80 grains were a better choice for me. my smokepole preformed much better with the reduce powder loads and I wasn't just burning up the excess powder.

[highlife4me]

100 grains of 777 powder. I tried the pellets but the powder works much better in my T/C.

[maros91]

100 grains of powder for this guy. I did get a new muzzy this year so I'll be experimenting again.

[fishattacker]

90 grains of Blackhorn 209. I used to shoot 100 grains of American Pioneer Products.

[fr0sty]

two 50 grain pellets on a 250gr projectile.

[FshBloodRiverMud]

150 Grains behind a bullet that i have to lube and slam into the barrel to get it to fit. End result is a pretty big bang.

[NAMASafetyDirector]

Ask 10 guys get 10 different answers. All depends on how serious you want to get and how critically accurate you want to be and how much time you want to spend getting there. There are almost infinite variables with muzzloaders so you will have to experiment and see what works best for you and your gun and the type of shot your trying to make. Obviously if your limited to a longer range shot your preferences might be different that someone (like me for instance) that typically only has shots of 100 or less yards. I shoot a TC Encore and shoot 3 50gr.pellets of pyrodex behind a 250 gr. TC Shockwave. Overkill?? Maybe..but is very accurate with my gun and I have never tracked a deer more than 30 feet post shot. It's moderately violent while target shooting but practically unnoticable while shooting at a deer. Lots of research, articles and video out there to help you along with your decision so just do what works best for you and dont let anyone tell you your doing it wrong!

[harvey lee]

150 grains with an inline. I have tried other loads but this seems to be the most accurate for me and the gun I shoot. I will trade the kick for the accuracy I get.

250 shockwave for me and it drops deer.

[Eric Wettschreck]

It's interesting to me to see the fellas using the higher grains. For me (I'm no expert) 80 grains is perfect. This is where I get the best accuracy and most bang for the buck. (kind of a pun there) Going higher than 80 grains I start to lose accuracy. My smoke pole is a .50 cap lock and I use traditional ball and patch.

Again, I'm far from an expert but I think the best thing a guy can do is grab the smoke pole and get to shooting. Try using different loads at different ranges and find what works best for you and your gun.

[NAMASafetyDirector]

I would agree with you Eric, every gun is just a little different. I shot a 45 Hawken for a long time and ended up finding that 70-75 grains of loose powder worked really well with that gun. The load that I shoot out of my Encore is drastically different but it's a pretty drastically different gun IMO. My Dad used to shoot an Encore and he shot a 200 gr. bullet on top of 100 gr. of powder and he really like that set-up and had good results as well. Like everything else in the gun world there are countless variables, different types, weights and styles of bullets, loose powder, pellets, theorys on cleaning, and on and on. At the end of the day a person just has to find something that works for what they want it to do and enjoy shooting.