New .45 Cal MRX Muzzleloader - need help

[Bmcl322]

What are your thoughts on the best combination for deer hunting with a .45 Cal Muzzleloader with a .40 Cal Bullet? Any help would be appreciated! Thx!

Backdrop: I just purchased the .45 CVA Accura MRX, which is awesome & would love to give some updates to the forum on what works best for the .45 (understanding there are less options for .45 muzzleloader, as compared to .50 Cal),. I'm new to the muzzleloader game & really appreciate any guidance!

 

[mac1911]

What are your thoughts on the best combination for deer hunting with a .45 Cal Muzzleloader with a .40 Cal Bullet? Any help would be appreciated! Thx!

Backdrop: I just purchased the .45 CVA Accura MRX, which is awesome & would love to give some updates to the forum on what works best for the .45 (understanding there are less options for .45 muzzleloader, as compared to .50 Cal),. I'm new to the muzzleloader game & really appreciate any guidance!

Like anything find what tour rifle seems to like
My buddy , 50 cal hawken
Uses the hornady black sabots with a basic lead 230 gn 45cal bullet 80 gn blackhorn 209.
he can put rounds into a paper plate 100 yards with irons off hand which is beyond his “normal” range where he goes.

i dont hunt but I get very good accuracy with the Lee REAL bullet and blackhorn209 out of my 50 cal

i called my friend to see if hes done anything new
Says he likes the Barns TMX when he can find them.

 

[Caveman]

Welcome to the muzzleloader community! You’ll want to try a few different bullets to see what your rifle likes. There are a few .45cal muzzleloader bullets. but i’m not sure on the .40cal sabot options. Hornady SST or Barnes is probably the direction I would try first like Mac said. Personally I tried a few sabots. after crying at the price I ended up with the tried and true 535gr MaxiHunters smothered in borebutter. I just call them the flying trashcans.

 

[whacko]

What are your thoughts on the best combination for deer hunting with a .45 Cal Muzzleloader with a .40 Cal Bullet? Any help would be appreciated! Thx!

Backdrop: I just purchased the .45 CVA Accura MRX, which is awesome & would love to give some updates to the forum on what works best for the .45 (understanding there are less options for .45 muzzleloader, as compared to .50 Cal),. I'm new to the muzzleloader game & really appreciate any guidance!

Just curious why you chose a 45 and not a 50? There are so many more 50 cal projos and sabots available. So why 45?

 

[MisterHappy]

Don't rely on internet answers - get a few samples, and see how they perform.

You can always take a second shot at a target on the range- not so much at a deer, with a muzzle loader.

 

[mac1911]

I would have no problem putting my sights on a deer with these.
Cast with pure lead they do well out of my Omega .
Although its one of those things tou have to try. Some people cant get good accuracy with them. I am shooting 50 cal YMMV
The sabot 230gn RN does well also. Good thing as its not that great in my pistols


View: https://youtu.be/rsbdj2Z7g_M

 

[Bmcl322]

Just curious why you chose a 45 and not a 50? There are so many more 50 cal projos and sabots available. So why 45?

Sure. Price. I was almost given this .45 Cal muzzleloader. .50 would have been preferable for ease of bullet options. Thus this post asking for help....

On the upside, it is a beautiful muzzleloader & ridiculously accurate at crazy distances... Just don't trust CVA's long range .45 Cal bullets to kill deer consistently.

 

[whacko]

Sure. Price. I was almost given this .45 Cal muzzleloader. .50 would have been preferable for ease of bullet options. Thus this post asking for help....

On the upside, it is a beautiful muzzleloader & ridiculously accurate at crazy distances... Just don't trust CVA's long range .45 Cal bullets to kill deer consistently.

Gotcha.

As far as a good load....every muzzleoader is different. Testing different powders, charges, bullet profiles, bullet weights etc is part of muzzle loading. Buy a few different types and go to the range and have fun.

 

[Bmcl322]

Like anything find what tour rifle seems to like
My buddy , 50 cal hawken
Uses the hornady black sabots with a basic lead 230 gn 45cal bullet 80 gn blackhorn 209.
he can put rounds into a paper plate 100 yards with irons off hand which is beyond his “normal” range where he goes.

i dont hunt but I get very good accuracy with the Lee REAL bullet and blackhorn209 out of my 50 cal

i called my friend to see if hes done anything new
Says he likes the Barns TMX when he can find them.

Boy, that is really kind of you asking your buddy! You are a gentleman & I really appreciate your extra effort! & Yes to the Barnes XTP. They have a .40 @ 200g that aren't available at the moment (that I can find) but it will be one of my test subjects for sure.

 

[MudMuppet]

in the Acura’s I’ve shot the Hornady SST 250&300 are the most accurate but I’ve had bad results with actually killing animals. I have shot 4 deer with them double lungs and they pencil in and out. If I didn’t watch them run across the marsh and flop I wouldn’t have found them there wasn’t a drop of blood on the ground. The Barnes TMZ flatten everything I’ve shot with them. They expand perfectly and stay together with great weight retention. The heart shot was a little over 200 yards which passed through and the other was 186 and I found what was left in the offside shoulder it was 250 tmz infront of 80 grains by weight of BH209

 

[DJBrad]

What are your thoughts on the best combination for deer hunting with a .45 Cal Muzzleloader with a .40 Cal Bullet? Any help would be appreciated! Thx!

Backdrop: I just purchased the .45 CVA Accura MRX, which is awesome & would love to give some updates to the forum on what works best for the .45 (understanding there are less options for .45 muzzleloader, as compared to .50 Cal),. I'm new to the muzzleloader game & really appreciate any guidance!

Welcome home. I have an Accura V2 and have gone through .50 powerbelt, TC, Hornady, and finally .45 Lehigh penetrators in a .50 cal sabot. Can’t remember the sabot diameter but it fits the .458’s nicely. That’s my most accurate shot with 200gr of 777.

 

[Bmcl322]

in the Acura’s I’ve shot the Hornady SST 250&300 are the most accurate but I’ve had bad results with actually killing animals. I have shot 4 deer with them double lungs and they pencil in and out. If I didn’t watch them run across the marsh and flop I wouldn’t have found them there wasn’t a drop of blood on the ground. The Barnes TMZ flatten everything I’ve shot with them. They expand perfectly and stay together with great weight retention. The heart shot was a little over 200 yards which passed through and the other was 186 and I found what was left in the offside shoulder it was 250 tmz infront of 80 grains by weight of BH209View attachment 522290View attachment 522291View attachment 522292

Great pics and thanks for the info. Based on a number of accounts, I will not be using the SSTs for Deer Hunting. Many are saying the same thing, "The don't expand and pencil through the deer."