After shooting these things for over 25 years it never fails to amaze me how this magnumitise craze makes the rounds every few years. Now don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with wanting the best performance possible from your firearm. (And advertising a new wonder magnum rifle makes for good marketing for the manufacturers) But I have owned and written about most of the brands and makes of muzzleloading rifles and pistols that have come out during this time period and it may surprise some of you that I have found that the "hottest" load is not always the most accurate load. And in my book accuracy is more important than speed. After all, is that deer any deader if the bullet reaches it in 10 nanoseconds rather than 40 nanoseconds? To my way of thinking it is much more important to be able to place the bullet where I want it to go, in the vital area or kill zone, than that it reach the animal quicker than my neighbors.
I spend just about every weekend at my local shooting range and it has never failed to cause me to shake my head when some of the magnum guys show up to shoot. They promptly load in three or in some cases even four pellets, because they dont take the time to read the manufacturers warnings and if three pellets are ok shouldnt four be even better, of the propellant of their choice and then blast away at the target. If they can place all of their shots into an 8 circle then they pack up and go home, and wonder why they missed that buck at 125 yards on a day with heavy clouds and a crosswind in excess of 15 mph. It couldnt be because of the lack of practice or the flinch that some of them develop in response to using such heavy loads could it?
Spending the time to get to know your firearm and developing the load that provides the best possible accuracy can not be stressed enough. Now dont get me wrong, I am not anti-pellet. I have several muzzleloaders that I use pellets in exclusively. My Austin and Halleck for example shoots its best groups with 2 pellets of T7 and my Optima shoots its best groups with 3 pellets of Pyrodex. But I dont use them because they are easier to load or because I am looking for magnum performance, rather I use them because they provide the best accuracy in that firearm using that bullet/sabot combination that I have found so far.
I guess that what I am trying to say is that whether you use the pellets or loose powder, take the time to develop the most accurate load in your muzzleloader and you will enjoy hunting season a lot more because there wont be any wounded and unrecovered animals that you will have to fret over. And after all isnt that ethical one shot kill what we all strive for?