Cast bullet recommendation?

[Dancing Bear]

Currently I'm shooting MMP saboted Hornady 45 cal XTP's over 44 gr ( 24 grains was a typo!) of 5744 in my muzzleloader. Yep, I'm shooting a 50 cal.Savage ML-11.
The XTP's are .452 diameter.
Looking to use a cast bullet for mostly target practice. Thinking of getting an inexpensive 2 cavity 45 cal Lee mold.
Any thoughts, suggestions?

[Soundguy]

what nose profile do you prefer?

[NoAngel]

The Lee Truncated cone .45 mold should closely resemble the XTP's nose.

Either way, it's a good bullet for cheap.

[Dancing Bear]

The Lee Truncated cone .45 mold should closely resemble the XTP's nose.

Either way, it's a good bullet for cheap.

This one?
Double Cavity Mold TL452-230-TChttps://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/images/product_images/006-90287/006-90287.jpg

Soundguy, probably stay along the style NoAngel posted.

[fastdadio]

I have that mold. I fired them out of my Traditions Buck Skinner. 1/20 twist, Hornady sabot. Accuracy was good up to about 50 grs.3f. Over that and accuracy was falling off quickly. Same results with Hodgdon select. In my case, OK for a plinker/light target round, but my rifle likes boolits in the 260-300 gr. range when used for hunting or going for full velocity accuracy.

[curator]

The Lee .452-300RF is an outstanding choice for shooting in sabots. The gas check design allows the slug to sit all the way to the bottom of most sabots. This boolit shoots so accurately in my two .50 caliber inline muzzle loading rifles that I don't buy J-word bullets anymore. Same boolit for targets as hunting. They seem to shoot fine in just about any .50/452 sabot using 80 grains of loose Goex FFg or 2 Pyrocr@p pellets

[fastdadio]

The Lee .452-300RF is an outstanding choice for shooting in sabots. The gas check design allows the slug to sit all the way to the bottom of most sabots. This boolit shoots so accurately in my two .50 caliber inline muzzle loading rifles that I don't buy J-word bullets anymore. Same boolit for targets as hunting. They seem to shoot fine in just about any .50/452 sabot using 80 grains of loose Goex FFg or 2 Pyrocr@p pellets
I like it. Ever shoot it over 100 yds? How far out have you shot these? I'm good to about 200 yds with my traditions and the 300 gr XTPs, so I'm curios if this could be a good substitute? Hope I'm not hi-jacking the thread, but I think my question is related to the subject.

[quilbilly]

The Lee 200 gr RF shoots very well in my 50 getting 2.5" groups at 100 yards. My mold drops those boolits at 215 gr plus/minus 1 gr. it is definitely a deer getter for longer ranges when I am not using PRB.

[curator]

I like it. Ever shoot it over 100 yds? How far out have you shot these? I'm good to about 200 yds with my traditions and the 300 gr XTPs, so I'm curios if this could be a good substitute? Hope I'm not hi-jacking the thread, but I think my question is related to the subject.

The flat nose on the Lee 300 grain slug might be a bit less efficient for 200 yard shooting than the 300 gr. XTP bullet, but not by much. I don't have access currently to a range longer than 100 yards. Most of our hunting situations here in Florida are 30 to 70 yards anyway. The penetration and wound channel made by the Lee slug when driven to 1600 fps is outstanding. You can also vary the hardness by using different alloys. Hard alloys like 50/50 Lino/COWW will act like solids--a good choice for 300 pound "Piney-woods rooters."

[fastdadio]

The flat nose on the Lee 300 grain slug might be a bit less efficient for 200 yard shooting than the 300 gr. XTP bullet, but not by much. I don't have access currently to a range longer than 100 yards. Most of our hunting situations here in Florida are 30 to 70 yards anyway. The penetration and wound channel made by the Lee slug when driven to 1600 fps is outstanding. You can also vary the hardness by using different alloys. Hard alloys like 50/50 Lino/COWW will act like solids--a good choice for 300 pound "Piney-woods rooters."
Thanks for the feed back Curator. It's rare for me to get a long shot like that here in Mi. 99.989% of my deer kills have been under 100. But I have taken 2 out past that and one was a tad over 200. I have 1 box of the 300 gr XTPs left and then I plan on buying a mold. That Lee 300 looks just fine for what I do. I will likely just cast 'em pure and soft. I'm sure they'll just plow on through. Any reason to harden them up for white tails?

[Blammer]

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/blammer8mm/2016%20Deer%20and%20hog/DSCN9812_zpsr9bks7pp.jpg
(http://s54.photobucket.com/user/blammer8mm/media/2016%20Deer%20and%20hog/DSCN9812_zpsr9bks7pp.jpg.html)

these were shot out of my 50 cal muzzleloader with 80gr of FFG.

beginning and ending wts are recorded on the paper.
they were just air cooled ww's.

a solid most likely would not have been recovered and worked just as well.

I have a write up about the hunt with it somewhere on the forum here.

for practice, the Lee mould you mentioned earlier would be fine.

don't get a bullet too long or too heavy, it may not stabilize, and as a result shoot poorly.
I know I can't go much above the wt of the heaviest one listed here without a severe accuracy problem.

OK I feel stupid now, these are 44 cal bullets, not 45 like you mentioned. Sorry about the 'wrong' help.

[fastdadio]

[QUOTE=Blammer


OK I feel stupid now, these are 44 cal bullets, not 45 like you mentioned. Sorry about the 'wrong' help.[/QUOTE]

I think your still relevant here. I've shot both .44 and .45's out of mine without much difference in performance. I only chose 45 because it makes a bigger hole. I also doubt my gun will know the difference between a 300gr cast and the 300 XTP other than the lower coeficent of the xtp giving better long range performance. And I'm gittin too old to be shootin at deer that far out any way. What is your rate of twist on the rifle?

[10 ga]

I shoot sabot slugs out of my Savage MLIIs and upfitted 700MLs. Have 3 of 45 cal and 2 of 50 cal. I use the sabot bullets like you can get moulds for from Accurate. I have a BRP mould for 45 cal 300 gr sabot bullets for my 50s and am in process of getting a 40 cal 225 gr mould for my 45s. Buy sabots in bulk and shooting cast bullets the SML are pretty cheap to shoot and great trigger time. I do lightly file knurl all bullets that I shoot in sabots. That 24 gr of 5744 is really light. In my 50s I shoot 55 to 65 grains of H4198 or 65 to 70 grains of Re#7. In the 45 cals it's mostly 50 to 62 grains of H4198. For the latest on SML jump over to Dougs Message Board http://dougsmessageboards.proboards.com/

and Hanks Board
http://hanksmessageboard.freeforums.net/


Accurate has a bunch of sabot bullet moulds
http://www.accuratemolds.com/index.php

Good luck shooting, stay safe, mark that ramrod. 10ga

[Dancing Bear]

I shoot sabot slugs out of my Savage MLIIs and upfitted 700MLs. Have 3 of 45 cal and 2 of 50 cal. I use the sabot bullets like you can get moulds for from Accurate. I have a BRP mould for 45 cal 300 gr sabot bullets for my 50s and am in process of getting a 40 cal 225 gr mould for my 45s. Buy sabots in bulk and shooting cast bullets the SML are pretty cheap to shoot and great trigger time. I do lightly file knurl all bullets that I shoot in sabots. That 24 gr of 5744 is really light. In my 50s I shoot 55 to 65 grains of H4198 or 65 to 70 grains of Re#7. In the 45 cals it's mostly 50 to 62 grains of H4198. For the latest on SML jump over to Dougs Message Board http://dougsmessageboards.proboards.com/

and Hanks Board
http://hanksmessageboard.freeforums.net/


Accurate has a bunch of sabot bullet moulds
http://www.accuratemolds.com/index.php

Good luck shooting, stay safe, mark that ramrod. 10ga

I'm sorry, I wrote an incorrect powder load, Should have read 44 gr. not 24! Listed range is 40-45 gr for that powder.