new to using a muzzleloader

[champ]

I am going to be using a thompson center omega gun season this year. I want to be able to reach out 150 yrds or even 200yrds without any problems. It is a 50 cal.
What are some suggestions on what grain of a bullet i should use and powder. 100,150 etc. i have been told 150grains of powder with a 225grain and even a 300grain bullet....so I am confused...
Also what you think works best....powerbelt, hornady, etc. preference?
Please help me.
Thanks

[skipper34]

Not to be critical, but now is not the time to think about muzzleloaders for firearm season. This should have been done months ago. Anyway, as long as you are bent on using it, start with 100 gr. Pyrodex or Triple 7 pellets. Less muss and fuss. Use a 250 grain TC Shockwave bullet. Use the Remington 209 primers. Shoot the gun at 25 yards, this will most likely put you on the target. See how the gun groups at this range with this load. If it looks good, move on out to 100 and see what it does. You may get good accuracy, or you may not. If not, it is back to square one with a different load and a different bullet. If it were me, I would stay with the 100 gr. Pyro and change bullet weight, down to a 200 or 240 or up to a 300. Muzzies can be very fickle. With this being so close to firearm season, I hope it works out for you. I shoot an Encore and it likes the TC Shockwave 250 and 100 gr. Pyrodex pellets. My son's Remington 700 likes the Hornady 240 XTP and 130 gr. Pyrodex pellets. It has taken us about 4 months of shooting different loads and bullets to get to this point. Which means the best accuracy. Accuracy is what you want to work at. All of the bullets will kill, but only as long as they hit where they are aimed. Good luck.

[champ]

Thanks,
I know its sighted in and all. Its my buddy's, he just had twin boys, so he will be to busy to hunt this fall.
But he never like shooting out that far for whatever reason. He said he had it sighted in at 100yrds last year.
Maybe i should just stick with what he was using and just compensate if i need to go out 150 or 200.
I am going to shoot it this weekend so, we'll see what happens i guess.
I am thinking about buying my own after this season is over, so this will be kinda nice to test one out and see if i like it or not.

Thanks again!

[skipper34]

Thanks,
I know its sighted in and all. Its my buddy's, he just had twin boys, so he will be to busy to hunt this fall.
But he never like shooting out that far for whatever reason. He said he had it sighted in at 100yrds last year.
Maybe i should just stick with what he was using and just compensate if i need to go out 150 or 200.
I am going to shoot it this weekend so, we'll see what happens i guess.
I am thinking about buying my own after this season is over, so this will be kinda nice to test one out and see if i like it or not.

Thanks again!

Sorry, Champ, I thought this was a new gun. Yes, stick with the load that he has it sighted in with. If possible, try shooting it at 150 and see what it will do. If I may ask, where in Michigan are you expecting a 200 yard shot? Does the firearm have a scope? If not, I would stay within 100 yards, 75 would be better yet. One more thing, you WILL like it! Muzzleloading is very addicting.

[shakedown]

i have the same gun, i shoot two pyrodex pellets think that 100 grains with a 245 grain bullett. i am not sure of the bullet, but is got a green backing and its hallow point... nothing special. i wouldnt heistate to shoot 150 yds, i may aim at the top of the shoulder... i only have a 4x scpoe so i would probably not shoot at 200 but i thinks its capable.

[champ]

yes it has a scope i am not sure what the power is right now but i will find out.
I have property thats some farm land that i may have a 200 yrd shot....
the bean field i hunt on...on the north and east side of the property we don't own any of the woods or tree line. its strictly the bean field.
this is a newly hunted property too, so I am still learning where the deer come and go from. I did some pre season scouting there but its change quite a bit since then.
So i have a stand set up on the west side of it in the wood/bean field line. The last two morning i have been see deer cross over that way towards me but head into the woods about 150 yards out. So just in case that a "Giant" steps out and doesn't come in any closer, i want to be able to knock it down.

[skipper34]

The farm that I hunt on in Genesee county is like what you describe. There are 2 large oak trees in a bean field, and the woods is about 150 yards from one of the trees. I set up under the oak tree and shoot the deer when they enter the bean field in the evening. I would put a stand in the oak but in December it is usually way too cold to be sitting in a treestand with no wind protection. I set up a pop-up blind in October under the oak tree. At least it gets me out of the elements and I use a Buddy Heater to stay warm. Last year the heater was a Godsend. I wait until the deer are within 100 yards before I take a shot. My gun is sighted in at 100 so with a rangefinder I know that I can get a killing shot. Like I said, you really have to shoot the gun at the range you want to be hunting to see how it performs. I wish you all the luck this year.

[Reed]

Skipper, I was in the same boat as you last year, tried a MZ and loved it. Bought the shop owners encore. I am shooting 100 grans of buckhorn 209, 250 grain TC shockwaves.( the non bonded ones Yellow tips) at 100 yards it wall place 3 shots in the same group when I do my part. My set up drops 6" from 100 to 130 yards. and hits about 4 high at 50. On my burris fullfield 2 scope if set a 6X I hold on at 100, the 2nd hash mark is 125 adn the 3rd is about 160. I went with 100 grains as the recoil was way less than 120 grains, but I am used to my 25-06. My hunting buddys shots a pro hunter with the same bullets but 120 grains, and with his testing he is good to 200 with that setup and the Nikon MZ scope.

Once you get going you will be hooked

[skipper34]

Skipper, I was in the same boat as you last year, tried a MZ and loved it. Bought the shop owners encore. I am shooting 100 grans of buckhorn 209, 250 grain TC shockwaves.( the non bonded ones Yellow tips) at 100 yards it wall place 3 shots in the same group when I do my part. My set up drops 6" from 100 to 130 yards. and hits about 4 high at 50. On my burris fullfield 2 scope if set a 6X I hold on at 100, the 2nd hash mark is 125 adn the 3rd is about 160. I went with 100 grains as the recoil was way less than 120 grains, but I am used to my 25-06. My hunting buddys shots a pro hunter with the same bullets but 120 grains, and with his testing he is good to 200 with that setup and the Nikon MZ scope.

Once you get going you will be hooked

Yes, muzzies still pack a wallop out to 200, depending on load and bullet, but the trajectory is such a large arc, one must shoot alot at long range to know how the projectile will perform at those ranges. According to TC, ballistically the Shockwave still carries enough energy out to 250 to kill a deer-sized animal. But the holdover is always the deciding factor. Personally, I am not that good of a shot anymore, even with optical sights, because my eyes are going bad at my age. So I keep all of my hunting shots to within 100. If there is a bruiser out there 200 or so, he is a lucky buck for that day. Maybe tomorrow he'll appear within my capable range.

[JC07Rhino]

i have a thompson center triumph bone collector. shoot 150 grains of tripple 7 and 250 grian shockwaves. it shoots sub inch groups at 100 yard. just thought i should put in my two cents.

[heilman181]

Skipper, I was in the same boat as you last year, tried a MZ and loved it. Bought the shop owners encore. I am shooting 100 grans of buckhorn 209, 250 grain TC shockwaves.( the non bonded ones Yellow tips) at 100 yards it wall place 3 shots in the same group when I do my part. My set up drops 6" from 100 to 130 yards. and hits about 4 high at 50. On my burris fullfield 2 scope if set a 6X I hold on at 100, the 2nd hash mark is 125 adn the 3rd is about 160. I went with 100 grains as the recoil was way less than 120 grains, but I am used to my 25-06. My hunting buddys shots a pro hunter with the same bullets but 120 grains, and with his testing he is good to 200 with that setup and the Nikon MZ scope.

Once you get going you will be hooked

4" high at 50 yards, and 6" low at 130 yards? Is it zeroed at 100 yards? If so, it is dropping 10" from 50 to 130 yards?

[Reed]

4" high at 50 yards, and 6" low at 130 yards? Is it zeroed at 100 yards? If so, it is dropping 10" from 50 to 130 yards?

your right I checked my target again. ( have ot love digital cams) go 2 -2 1/2 high at 50 and 3-4" low at 130. with a 100 yard zero

[cranker2]

Lots of good info posted prevoiusly. If you have the time take a weekend and shoot a boat load of rounds. They can be very finicky depending on the load combinations. My omega is very load/bullet sensitive. I've shot a ton of powder and bullet combos in the last 2 years out of my Omega, wasting a lot of time and money in the process. The 250 grn shockwaves mentioned by skipper34 earlier shot the best for me until I tried out the Bares TEZ sabots (not the TMZ) in 290grns earlier this year. Coupled with a 110grn load of Blackhorn 209 powder it is now a very accurate muzzleloader. I can now shoot 1" groups @ 100 yds consistently off the bench. My 200yd groups are fantatistic now also.
The blackhorn 209 powder is the cats meow when it comes to blackpowder substitues. I struggled and struggled to get consistent groups I was happy with with until i switched to the Blackhorn powder. Don't even get me started on the PIA cleanup involved with 777 or pyrodex, especially at the range. It turned in to a half day affair before it was all over and I never left happy. I now sit down at the bench and proceed to shoot till I'm done, no swabbing between every couple of shots, no cleaning after you can't seat the bullet properly anymore. Simply shoot and clean up when I get home. It has made the whole blackpowder experience now rather enjoyable and my accuracy has gotten a lot better. My unexplained flyers are now a thing of the past also.
I now will not hestiate to take a 200yd shot if it presents itself. Prior to my powder change I was not confident in that shot. Good luck on your endeavor. Even if you dont' go with the blackhorn powder go with the Shockwaves or the Barnes bullet offerings I noted above, they both shoot well out of the TC offerings. The Hornady SSTs were horrible.

[champ]

Thanks for all the info and insight on everything you guys have used.
Thats going to save me a lot of time and money.
I will be going out this weekend between bow hunting and shootings some rounds out and see what happens.
I will keep you posted on how I do this weekend.

[heilman181]

Thanks for all the info and insight on everything you guys have used.
Thats going to save me a lot of time and money.
I will be going out this weekend between bow hunting and shootings some rounds out and see what happens.
I will keep you posted on how I do this weekend.

champ, I have the same gun. I am shooting 90 grains of Blackhorn 209 with 250 grain Hornady SST sabots with GREAT results. If you go with the Blackhorn 209 powder, just make sure that you use 209 SHOTSHELL primers, not the 209 muzzleloading primers.

[vabowhntr]

I shoot an omega and have extensive experience with 777 and BH209 with hornady sst and tc shockwaves (both are the same bullet with different color tips and different sabots). I would personally go with 90 to 100 gr of bh209 and the 250 sst or sw bullets, as these have been close to MOA loads in my gun. If you are looking to shoot long range, I would even look at the 200 gr sw, which offers a much flatter trajectory and better wind bucking ability with a higher bc. I would look at 110 gr of bh209 and the 200 gr sw with the supplied blue sabot. At that charge and bullet you should be +/- 3" out to close to 200 yards (when sighted in 3" high at 100). The problem will be the wind, a 10 mph crosswind will send your bullet off by close to 9" off at 200 yards.

THAT BEING SAID I WOULD NOT SUGGEST SHOOTING AT 200 YARDS AT A DEER UNLESS YOU HAVE PRACTICED AT THAT RANGE. IT IS MUCH HARDER TO ACCURATELY SHOOT A MUZZLELOADER THAN A CENTERFIRE RIFLE AT THAT RANGE.

[DitchTiger]

I shoot 100 grains of pyrodex pellets with a 245 gr powerbelt bullets through my .50 cal omega. It's dead on at 100 yds. I prefer the powerbelts over the TC bullets because you get far less plastic fouling from powerbelts, and they will tear the heck out of anything you hit.

[roger46982]

I shoot 100 grains of pyrodex pellets with a 245 gr powerbelt bullets through my .50 cal omega. It's dead on at 100 yds. I prefer the powerbelts over the TC bullets because you get far less plastic fouling from powerbelts, and they will tear the heck out of anything you hit.

Yep fragmented bullet parts all over the deer. Powerbelts are designed to be shot with lighter loads.

[Rick Hodges]

Muzzleloaders generally require "Seat Time" for good accuracy. By that I mean you need to take the time to get familiar with the weapon and become consistant with your loading technique. All the charts in the world and other peoples results give you some idea of what their weapons are capable of but no two rifles are the same. Even the loads your buddy uses may not work as well for you if you use more or less pressure when loading than he did. You need to spend the time at the range with the rifle and then shoot it to see how well it will handle the longer ranges.

For what it is worth I shoot an Omega and use 300gr. Hornady XTP's and MMP sabots in front of 777 powder. It is fully capable of handling a 200 yd. shot.

Head for the range, my friend, and enjoy that rifle. Good Luck

[woodsbaby]

I shoot the tc omega 50 cal... I zero my gun in at 50 then practice to 25 to 150yds... shoots fairly flat to 125 then drops like crazy. never shot at a deer over 80 yards though....
I use 100 grs of pyrodex and 270 powerbelt platinums... I've tried others but I and my gun love this combo... fast and easy to load too... I've been accused of taking a shotgun into the field I'm so fast at reloading and taking the second deer.

[champ]

thanks guys for all the input.
Now to let you in on my latest news!!!
Here in Michigan last Sunday was our gun opener, Friday night i get a phone call from the land owner that i was going to hunt at for Sunday.
Long story short he tells me my hunting buddy and I CAN NOT hunt the fields anymore.
***!! i was pissed!! The only real reason he would give me is he didnt want us to ruin the field or crops. I understand if there were crops up, there was beans but they cut those down 6days before this talk.
They lease the property out to a farmer and he pays them quite a bit of money to farm it and bla bla bla.....
So anyways i told the land owner i will respect what ever he wants me to do and i took my stand down Saturday morning and went to another piece of land.
Now there is no need for a 150-200yrd shot now....oh well....
still a little irritated but oh well....time to move on and go find some other land and more deer.

[Reed]

thanks guys for all the input.
Now to let you in on my latest news!!!
Here in Michigan last Sunday was our gun opener, Friday night i get a phone call from the land owner that i was going to hunt at for Sunday.
Long story short he tells me my hunting buddy and I CAN NOT hunt the fields anymore.
***!! i was pissed!! The only real reason he would give me is he didnt want us to ruin the field or crops. I understand if there were crops up, there was beans but they cut those down 6days before this talk.
They lease the property out to a farmer and he pays them quite a bit of money to farm it and bla bla bla.....
So anyways i told the land owner i will respect what ever he wants me to do and i took my stand down Saturday morning and went to another piece of land.
Now there is no need for a 150-200yrd shot now....oh well....
still a little irritated but oh well....time to move on and go find some other land and more deer.

That sucks, but they may have planted winter wheat, who knows