Colorado Muzzleloader Advice

[flyingtxn]

Hey Guys,
I know this isnt exactly the forum for the question, but I thought some of you might have some experience. I drew a deer tag for muzzleloader in Colorado and an elk tag with rifle. As far as the muzzleloader goes, the restrictions wont let you use sabots. I am shooting a 50 caliber thompson omega and wanted to know if anyone has any experience with "power belt" bullets or "colorado conicals". From what I understand, both limit my ability to shoot longer range like the saboted bullets. Thanks in advance for the help. Also, any hunting tactics for deer with muzzleloader are appreciated.
Dev

[.280fan]

I have a 50cal CVA Optima Pro and have shot 2" groups at 100 yards with both the 270grain platinum and 245grain aero-tip Power-Belt bullets. I shot them both with 150grains of pyrodex pellets. According to the Power Belt website, both these bullets have the energy to take deer at 250 yards. Powerbelt Bullets

Although these bullets are not saboted, they do have a plastic cup on the bottom. Power Belt says you can shoot 6-7 rounds between cleaning. My experience is quite different, I quick-clean my gun after two shots. I tried shooting five rounds without cleaning and found that accuracy seriously deterioriated after the second round.

[7mmAI]

270 platinum would be a good choice be careful of the hollow point powerbelts as some feel the open to quick without enough penetration. Also the "209 muzzleloader primer" not the 209 shotgun shell primer may help accuracy as the powerbelts are not very tight in the bore and the primer may push the bullet off the charge before full ignition of the powder occurs. Good luck, I was in your position last year with a CO. deer tag. Was fortunate and got a nice 192 inch typical. Dean

[flyingtxn]

Great advice guys. I am going to shoot it in two weekends and will let you know how it turns out. 192 is an awesome deer. I killed a 190 in Delta 3 years back with the 300RUM at 560yds. It was crossing the river so I got to swim in the gunnison in November! Well worth it though. Got any pics?

[7mmAI]

I still don't know how to post pictures on a forum but will work on learning how to do that. Dean

[TheSollyLama]

I live in CO, so Powerbelts are something I've shot a few of. I have an older in-line Timber Ridge in .54 caliber and I throw 408 grain jacketed hollowpoints (got used to them when the store was out of the Aero-Tip version.

I find them to be pretty consistant on the range. No doubt it's a heck of a pill to slam into a critter. Of all the muzzleloaders I know, pretty much everyone is using the Powerbelts. So from anecdotal evidence, they are popular here. Although I agree with the poster above- I can't see getting a half dozen shots before needing a cleaning. I usually at least swab the thing out after 2 shots, 3 is pushing it.

Don't forget that pellet powder is also illegal here. Leave the pyrodex pellets at home.