Dad needs load advice...

[bigbore442001]

My dad sent his NEF to Gardner MA and had a 24" muzzleloading barrel installed. He is pleased and we just put on a Tasco Propoint for the gun.

He is now wondering what would be the best performing load for the gun for whitetailed deer hunting. I looked at various posts and it seems that what is posted here as well as the information from the factory; the best load is a 240 gr Hornady XTP sabot with 100gr or Pyrodex or equivalent.I would also like to find out any other loads or combinations if possible.

Any comments would be welcomed. Thank you.

[greg4]

Heres what I have found with the 50 cal.  Huntsmans. Bought 3 of them when they 1st came out a couple yrs ago. Scoped them with 3-9x40 Bushnell Elites. Have tried alot of different loads and bullets and found the best is 295 gr HP Powerbelt bullets with 2-50 gr 777 pellets. At 100 yds it will keep a nice tight group without any flyers. At 50 yds they will shoot about any load fairly tight-sabots-pyrodex or whatever. Its when you get at 100 yds the powerbelts and 777 shows the difference. The boys and I were shooting them yesterday just to get rid of all the odds and ends powder and bullets we have laying around and this combo out performed everything else. Also have found that the Huntsmans accuracy is better with a fouled bore. You have to watch when using 777. After a few shots pellets will build a ridge in the barrel down by the breech plug making it hard to get bullet seated all the way. Make sure you have your ramrod marked for depth. Make sure you coat the breech plug threads good with antiseize or bore butter when using 777.I think someone told me the new Huntsmans or Sidekicks have a different style rifling so maybe they will shoot the sabots just as good. This is just what I have found with ours. Hope this helps. HAPPY TRAILS

[tscott]

Bingo greg4!... I have posted my load several times...
My huntsman shoots 90 gr 777 powder, 295 powerbelt terrific.
I put a bushnell shotgun scope on it the other day and took it to the range... Final 2 shots tore out the bull at 60 yds...
This gun has shot 3 bucks in the last 2 years... None of them moved..
Over the summer I bought Hornady 44-240 hp/xtp to just cut cost...
Bad move for me. Thought I was going to have to use all of my 6'5" torque to get them down the barrel...Not to mention the collapsible
ramrod really collapsing... Yes, powerbelts are expensive. Paid $26
for 2 boxes of 20. The Hornady's are collecting dust. They must be good in a rifle other than the Huntsman I have...

[greg4]

tscott--hopefully the price of powerbelts will come down after they have been around for a while or something new comes along. The 240 xtps shoot great in the 2 Tradition inlines I have but since I bought the Huntsmans the Traditions have been gathering dust. I've read some of the other posts and see where alot of guys are using loose 777 powder because of misfires with the pellets. We've never had a misfire or hangfire yet using the pellets in any of our Huntsmans. Whatever it takes I guess. Using loose powder like your 90 gr loads would work better for fine tuning and is more than enough to get the job done. Could never see much advantage in guns that use 150 gr loads. Alot of wasted powder and shoulder abuse. I have noticed the 777 has a little more oomph to it than the pyrodex. In fact yesterday had it jump up in the rest twice and got smacked by the scope. Makes the old eyes water. Guess I need to pay more attention to what I'm doing. Got alot of razzing from the boys. HAPPY TRAILS

[rmtaylor]

I just tried 250 gr Hornady SST's and got a 1.5 Inch group at 100 yards with a 3-9X32 Bushnell. At $9 for 20 I am sold.

Richard

[rmtaylor]

Sorry that was with 85 grs of 777.

Richard