Anyone Tried These?

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WCW

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Has anyone used the lighter 50 caliber 320 gr. maxi-ball or the 275 gr. Maxi-hunter in a rifle with 1:48 twist? ie. T/C Renegade or Hawken

I was thinking they might give slightly better trajectories, but before I wasted any money on them I thought I might check here and see if anyone has any experience with them..

I usually use the 370 gr. Maxi-ball and get excellent accuracy with it.
 
Tried the 275s in a Firestorm T/C with 1:48 twist. Did not like the accuracy at 100 yards. Don't know how new you are to the sport, but I'll say this anyway.

Suggestion: Over the last 30 years or so, I have owned about a dozen different muzzleloaders of different kinds, and have found one thing to hold true with ALL of them. They all have their own special taste for a particular bullet and load combination. Once you find that combination, you can spend 100s of dollars trying other stuff, and you will always wind up back to that special load. There are a lot of innovative products out there, but what shoots the most accurate in your rifle, is what you want to stay with. Everything else is just made to get your money. It's like fishing lures, the companies make them to catch the fisherman, not the fish.
 
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This TC Break-O-Way sabot and 240 grain lead HP shot very accurately out of a nickeled 1 in 48" twist Traditions Deerhunter using 85 grains of Pyrodex P. It shot to the same POI as a patched round ball so no resighting in was necesary.

Other similarly sized sabot/bullet combinations should provide decent accuracy in a 1 in 48" twist barrel if your state allows them for hunting. I'm thinking about the .45 caliber Maxi Hunters of a similar weight which I've also used before.
Being .45 caliber bullets, they are slightly longer and have a better sectional density which deliver more penetration than .50 caliber bullets of the same weight. I wouldn't want to use saboted .45 bullets that are much longer or heavier than these in a 1 in 48" twist, or it might be better to just stick with .50 caliber conicals.
But they do provide a very accurate and consistent 1st shot out of a cold, clean barrel. And one can always reload using an easier loading PRB or conical for a follow up shot in the field while hunting.





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Maxi-ball

I have a TC Hawkins,but I have changed the barrel to a 1in28 twist Green Mountain barrel.I shoot the 320 maxi-ball and the 295 gr. power belt without changing the sights.Both of these perform better than the maxi-hunter in my 50.cal.I tried the maxi-hunter in my old 1in48 barrel and my new 1in28 twist barrel,both times it was about 10'' to the left and low.

Green Mountain makes a great barrel that drops right in a TC Hawkins,just pull the pin and drop in place.It has a 1in 28 twist,best thing I ever done.
 
I use the TC 275gr Maxi-Hunter in my Cabelas Hawken with 1-48" twist. It shoots great for me. I get 1 1/2"-2" groups at 60yds with iron sights with mine. I use 90gr of Pyrodex powder and a Remington #11 cap to propell it. I have taken 2 deer with it with great results. Both were one shot kills with complete pass through both times. One was a neck shot and the other was angled through the chest. I practice with my muzzleloader out to 100yds with it with no problem. The Maxi-Hunter shoots very well and consistently for me. I zero at 60 yds because thats my max comfort range with the iron sights to accurately place the bullet where I want it under field conditions. I have gotten a few 1 1/2" 3 shot groups at 60 yds where there all touching the edges of each other. What more could you ask of a .50 cal muzzleloader?
 
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