PotashRLS Posted November 26, 2012 Report Share Posted November 26, 2012 Since Wisconsin's muzzleloader season starts today I thought I'd start the good ole "what's your setup" thread. There is a ton of variety out there for muzzleloaders so posting your good and not so good setups may help others cleanly kill their quarry with consistent results. I changed this year in my never ending attempt to find the "perfect" load. My gun is a 7 or 8 year old stainless T/C Encore 209x50 (pre ProHunter model). I think it has a shorter 22" or 24" barrel. It is not the longer 26" barrel. I previously shot 120gr. of American Pioneer fffg powder behind Hornady 300gr SST sabots. They gave me my best kill/blood trail results to date but I was yet to drop a deer with it even when heart/lung shot close to the shoulders. I was happy with the 3" + - groups it gave me at 100 yards as it was more than enough to take deer at normal ranges. My new infatuation with Barnes bullets got the best of me this year and I decided to go all out. I worked up the following load this weekend. I now will be shooting 110gr. of Blackhorn 209 powder (Win.209 primers) behind 300gr. Barnes Expander MZ sabots. They tweeked easily from my old loads and kept roughly 2" groups at 100 yards without really trying too hard. I chronoed this load at 1910fps which according to Barnes should give me a trajectory of about +2.5" at 50yds, +3" at 100yds and -7"-8" at 200yds. That is pretty good for a 300gr. projectile. If the reviews of this bullet are true regarding how devestating they are on whitetails, I suspect I should be quite happy with this load. Anyone else shoot Barnes in their muzzleloaders? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted November 26, 2012 Report Share Posted November 26, 2012 Blued black syn TC black diamond using 120 grains of loose pyro and 240 grain xtp mags. Wife hunted our ml'er season with that one this year. Using remington hot percussion caps. That gun is topped with a cabelas powderhorn 3-10x40. That setup yields about the same results as our new one a cva accura, can see in the last two pics the results we typically see. Last deer I killed with TC was 2010. He did not go far, can see why in the pic, took out the top of his heart. He pumped so much blood out it was unreal that he went the 50 or so yards he did. Then the wife shot hers this year with that same setup and load. Deer went no more than 30 yards. She did not have a great angle on hers and hit shoulder bone. Bought the realtree apg with 28 inch stainless fluted barrel version cva accura earlier this year so the wife and I could hunt at the same time during our ml'er season. Plan was for her to hunt with the cva, but she likes the black diamond better. Using the same bullets, the 240 grain xtp mags, and 115 grains triple 7. Ignition is by winchester shotgun primers. Topped with a nikon prostaff 3-9x40. He did not go very far, maybe 60 yards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoosierhunter Posted November 26, 2012 Report Share Posted November 26, 2012 Post your muzzleloader setup and results Traditions ambush xlt. 3x9x40 cabelas scope. 150 grains 777. 250 grain shockwave bullet. Sighted in dead on 100 yards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted November 26, 2012 Report Share Posted November 26, 2012 TC ProHunter .50 cal with black synthetic energy burner stock and 28" fluted blued barrel -Leupold rings/bases -Nikon Omega 3-9x40 scope with BDC 250 reticle. SubMOA load... -250gr Hornady SST low drag sabot -150gr of triple-seven pellets -Remington Kleenbore primers. don't have a picture of the gun. here's a picture of the biggest buck i've shot with it though at 104 yards down into a canyon... so open heart surgery it got. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VermontHunter Posted November 29, 2012 Report Share Posted November 29, 2012 TC Triumph 50 Cal. topped with a Nikon 3X9X40 BDC 150 GRN. Triple Seven Winchester 209 Primer 270 GRN. Powerbelt Platinums Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTbrshbstr Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 Thompson Center Encore. Pro-Hunter staneless Frame. 50 cal blued barrel with power rod. Camo Flextech stocks. Camo Nikon 3x9x40 BDC. 100 gr. Loose Pyrodex 250 gr. T/C Shockwave. Winchester 209's. Good luck this morning VermontHunter. You get a doe permit? I got one for the my area down in the southern part of the state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PotashRLS Posted December 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 (edited) Smoked a doe yesterday afternoon with my new setup. The 300gr. Barnes went right where I put the hairs but that darned old doe wasn't laying there. She went 70 yards or so into the overgrown alfalfa field. She laid an average blood trail but the field didn't lend to a great surface for the blood. There was (as I heard in reviews) a 2" chunk of lung where I hit her along with other small "pieces" of stuff. Very interesting. The shot was 90 yards quartering to me. Her fawns wouldn't move so when they did, I squeezed. The shot entered on her shoulder midline and exited on the opposite side in the middle of her rib cage. The exit hole was the standard 1" circle but the internal damage was tremendous. Odd thing though was that her mouth and nose were perfectly clear of any blood when I walked up on her. Strange for a double lung hit. Edited December 1, 2012 by PotashRLS Posted Picture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PotashRLS Posted December 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 Correction on my barrel length, it is 26". I guess over the years it just looked shorter to me than the newer models. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archerjg Posted December 3, 2012 Report Share Posted December 3, 2012 I have two setups. The first is a T/C Black Diamond XR with a 28" barrel in synthetic camo and blued barrel with a Burris Fullfield 2 3-9X40 scope. I use 100 grain of 777 pellets and either a shockwave 250 grain, or an XTP mag 240 grain they shoot same point of impact with devastating results. My other setup is a T/C Omega camo stock and 28" stainless barrel with a Nikon Omega scope in 3-9X40 in matching camo. I shoot 150 grains of 777 pellets and 250 grain shockwaves from it. Dead on tackdriver at 100 yards. I shoot shockwave superglides, regular, and bonded and all shoot the same dead on out of both my guns. I use Winchester 209 shotgun primers or Remington kleen bore 209 primers. I'd like to try the white hot pellets, but the 777 work so well I just can't see switching what I have out. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Archerjg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PotashRLS Posted December 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2012 Update on my setup..........put another doe down yesterday afternoon from 85 yards. She was broadside and took 3 steps after the shot, that was it. The Barnes Expanders are absolutely devastating on the inside of these deer. I kid you not, this 2nd doe had a 2 foot diameter area of "stuff" blown out of her where she stood. In the middle of the "stuff" was a bunch of lung material. I have never seen anything like it in all my hunting experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTbrshbstr Posted December 3, 2012 Report Share Posted December 3, 2012 Took this one at 6:50 yesterday morning with my Encore. She was about 20 yards away kind of quarting toward me. I was 15 feet in the air. Bullet went through both sides, dosent seem like it expanded though. No meat damage she only went about 15 feet. [ATTACH=CONFIG]13086[/ATTACH] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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