I bought an inline (TC Omega) last winter thinking I might want to use it for hunting. Found out it was fairly accurate, using three of those white pellets and 250 gr Sabots.
Since I bought it I've been watching hunting shows on the Outdoor channel where people were shooting critters it seemed like MLs were like bow, meaning you shot then followed the blood trail to the critter.
I realize no rifle will guarantee DRT, but seems MLs were less likely then, say my 270. Plus there is the smoke. You cant see what happens right after the shot like normal rifles.
I have a bear hunt lined up come spring and was thinking I would use the TC. I wanted to see for my self what they would do on critters so I got a doe tag to try it out.
Last night I took it out in the back pasture and found a nice doe, ranged it at 146 yards, and it was DRT. Shot it through the heart and it dropped it its tracks.
I was quite impressed. I didn't break shoulder bones, except a couple ribs, totally destroyed the heart. You couldn't expect any better results. Didn't recover the bullet, it passed on through into never never land.
I have no doubt it will work on my bear hunt.
As an added benefit, I bought a cheap Lee bullet mold for MLs, Sized it to .501 found it doesn't have the range of the jacketed ML bullets, but at 50 yards it seems every bit as accurate. Also found 44 & 45 sabots work good using my 44 & 45 pistol bullets so I'm not limited to those high priced ML bullets.
I think I'm hooked on muzzle loaders...................now if I can learn to shoot my cross bow, and recurved, I'll be a well rounded hunter.