Bullet selection for inline ML

It's that time of the year again and I'm hungry for some deer chili! Unfortunately, my only muzzleloader is an old 45 cal Lyman that doesn't shoot worth a darn no matter what you feed it. I got it cheap, so it's probably just going to be a wall hanger for now on. After some looking, I've decided to buy a CVA Optima V2 50 cal. I am not familiar with all the ins and outs of inlines and what to feed them though. Please forgive my ignorance because I'm about to ask a lot of (probably stupid) questions. I know most usually load them with saboted jacketed bullets. They also apparently sell full bore jacketed bullets. I don't know how that would work, it seems like that would be hard to load the gun with. I've also hear of people paper patching bullets, or using something like a LEE REAL mold or one of their hollow base Minie molds. I'm kind of confused as to what I need and what will and won't work in a modern inline. I think the Optima V2 has a twist rate of 1:28

The short version of my question is, what will my rifle eat and shoot without any kind of accuracy issue?

It's getting kinda late in the game to try a bunch of conicals because it's kind of a try it and see thing. Allot of conicals like the Lee REALs do well with an over powder wad. Can you see anything obviously wrong with your Lyman 45. Unless the bore id like a sewer pipe, there should be something that will work in it to get it to shoot.

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Originally Posted by am44mag

It's that time of the year again and I'm hungry for some deer chili! Unfortunately, my only muzzleloader is an old 45 cal Lyman that doesn't shoot worth a darn no matter what you feed it. I got it cheap, so it's probably just going to be a wall hanger for now on. After some looking, I've decided to buy a CVA Optima V2 50 cal. I am not familiar with all the ins and outs of inlines and what to feed them though. Please forgive my ignorance because I'm about to ask a lot of (probably stupid) questions. I know most usually load them with saboted jacketed bullets. They also apparently sell full bore jacketed bullets. I don't know how that would work, it seems like that would be hard to load the gun with. I've also hear of people paper patching bullets, or using something like a LEE REAL mold or one of their hollow base Minie molds. I'm kind of confused as to what I need and what will and won't work in a modern inline. I think the Optima V2 has a twist rate of 1:28

The short version of my question is, what will my rifle eat and shoot without any kind of accuracy issue?

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Look at the owners manual for what is recommended , hint Power Belt and white hot pellets anything else? /Ed

Your rifle is made to take any of the bullets, you have to decide which you want.

Sabots are used by a lot of people (when legal for hunting in that state) mainly because the recoil is going to be less than a full bore bullet. The down side is they can be a bit tough to seat depending on which kind you use and how it fits your barrel.

The full bore I'd suggest for a beginner are the Power Belt's. I liked the silver and black ones (expensive). They can be a real pain to load, especially a follow up shot.

Hornady Great Plains also worked well for me with stout powder loads and felt wads. TC Maxi ball and Maxi hunter work for a lot of people as well.

Pick one and go with it. Make sure it is legal for hunting in your state.

Hornady XTP with a Harvester ribbed sabot

When I hunted with my Knight inline, my absolute best accuracy was with CVA Powerbelts.

Powerbeats get my vote.

There's economical bullets and sabots for playing around with at the range, and then there's the expensive Premium BORE Lock MZ bullets for when ready to make the big hunt. --->>> https://www.thehighroad.org/index.ph...ullets.873690/

Federal BORE Locks may not be the perfect system, but it's worth looking into by learning & reading as many reviews as possible.

I'm also enamored by the No Excuses bullets with sabots.
I like that they have a modern spire point and that the same custom bullet design comes in a variety of weights. --->>> https://www.muzzleloading-bullets.co...tegory/sabots/

And they also make a 420 grain .50 lead conical that are sized .500 - .504 for the individual's bore, which can be tried in a sample pack. --->>> https://www.muzzleloading-bullets.com/shop/

No Excuses bullets is a small outfit with a good reputation, which should indicate that if their bullets don't shoot and work well then people won't come back and buy more of them. And they're also reasonably priced. Once you find a bullet that you like then you can stick with it for most serious shooting, and experiment with other bullets for fun.

A few other interesting bullets are related to each other because they come with a proprietary sabot that has ridges and can only be bought with Berry's plated bullets.

Berry's Blue Diamond version comes in 3 weights. --->>> https://www.berrysmfg.com/product/bp...0gr-muzzle-ldr

Berry's must have an exclusive agreement that allows Traditions to market them.
The Smackdown XR: --->>> https://www.midwayusa.com/product/102006160
The Smackdown Carnivore: --->>> https://www.midwayusa.com/product/10...?pid=102006128

There's another one named Bleed, but when you see the prices on all of these it makes one more seriously consider the Federal BORE Locks and the No Excuses sabots.

With my inline, that I really don't mess with any more, all the Lee ML bullets worked fairly good. Nothing to brag about but good enough for minute of deer at 100y. That 4" or under. I didn't care for the two HB minies because they didn't go down the bore smoothly, mostly after the first shot but I figured if I needed to force it down the bore, I might as well use the REALs. I didn't have the Lyman or T/C conicals at that time but never went back to the inline to give a try. My inline has a 1-28 like most.

I like the TC bullets with the EZ glide sabots in my Omega.

I think I'll pick up one of those REAL molds to play around with, but for now, I'll just get some of the Powerbelts and see how they do. Thanks fellas.

PS before I started casting for my Lyman GPH I bought some paper patch bullets from Buffalo Arms Co. 450gn .50 cal. They worked well but were on the ragged edge for stability (32" twist). On 'good' days I'd get 2" at 100 yd easy. I hoped for 1" but never got there. :) FWIW, I load my PP slugs with a veggie card wad over the powder, then a lubed wad under the bullet. I run all the PP bullets through a .501 sizer (bore dia is .502).

T/C shockwave 250

My front stuffer is a 1/20 twist. I buy the bulk bags of .50 cal. sabots and load cast boolits in .452, from 240 to 300 grains. at 70 to 90 grains ff. All do well, and <3" groups at 100 yds. is the norm. I've never recovered a boolit from any deer taken from as far out as 200 yds. IMHO, paying a dollar a round for some hoity toity ML ammoes is just plain silly.
Here's a good source for sabots for about 19 cents each;
https://mmpsabots.com/store/black-sabot50-pcs/

300 grain TC shock waves with their original black sabot has shot sub MOA in three different TC I tested along with 150 grains of tripple 7 pellets. I used the same sabot and a .45 cal 285 grain HP I casted of 50/50 alloy and group tested it last year. It hit almost the same POA at 100 yards and shot about a 2 1/4” group. I never tested it on a deer since my 300 grain shock waves shoot all in the same hole at 100 yards and group tighter at 250 yards than my cast HP load does at 100 yards.

Just broke out my Black Diamond Long Ranger and shot 120 gr. Triple Seven & a 250 gr. Shock Wave. Stunning accuracy.

Here are the 285 .452 HP group buy booloits I tested in 50/50 alloy in a TC original sabot. I don’t own the mold any more because my 450BM doesn’t like to feed cast.

https://i.imgur.com/BuiFA2K.jpg





And the 300 grain shock waves I use in my Omega with the first group I tested with it.

https://i.imgur.com/e8omQcU.jpg

I sighted it in 3 3/4” high at 100 yards with a 2.5x10 Nikon monarch BDC. It is dead zero at 200, 250, 300, and 350 yards on 10x. Same day I shot this target I tried 200 yards and shot a 1.5/8” group, 250 yards a 4” group, 300 yards a 4” group, and 350 yards a 12” group. The group consistently fell apart at 350 yards for some reason. All hit dead center POA using the BDC. I had to call Nikon and figure out the drops and calculate myself with the 3 3/4” sight in. Thus was the first year Nikon came out with the BDC. I’m sure after all my calling and questions along with everyone else Nikon finally got smart and came out with BDC drop program years later. I used it Elk hunting years ago. I currently have POA about an inch high now for the local deer woods.