Just had a dream come true and I know be careful what you dream for: it may come true. Drew for Nevada Elk Muzzleloader tag in the Jarbidge. Hunted Elk many times with rifle but new to the up close and personal approach. I am looking at either a .45 or .50 caliber inline open sight and am thinking of a Knight Elite. The hunt in peak rut mid September

Tell me I am on the right track or just a newbie. I have to get this quickly in order to sight in and learn how to load.

thanks in advance and I am going to enjoy the journey

Pat

Congratulations on drawing your elk tag. This might be a fine time to buy a T/C Encore pistol frame and then assemble a 209x50 rifle on it. I don't know that mine is better than a dedicated inline (my other muzzleloaders are roundball rocklocks) but the Encore can become a handgun, rifle, or shotgun whenever you feel the need. Good hunting!

Congradulations on your draw. I'm more than a little envious. 1st thing to do is get ahold of the Nevada regulations and see what their laws are regarding muzzleloaders. In Washington, the cap must be exposed to the elements and you cannot use scopes, so you really need to find out what's legal in Nevada.
From there the skys the limit and alot of it will be personal preference... traditional, inline, etc... and what kind of experience do you want to have. I prefer the real thing... black powder, but the pellets, black powder substitutes, and even smokeless muzzleloaders are an option nowadays.

My first muzzleloader was a Great Plains Hunter percussion in .54 cal. I would recommend a large caliber like .54 or .58 myself. Best of luck!

IN NEvada, you can hunt only with open or peeps sights. The bullet must be lead ball, a lead bullet, a semi jacketed butllet or a metal alloy that expands. A sabot round can be used What does this all mean....?

I will redirect and go for a > .50 cal. Any suggestions as to bullet or loads?

My Great Plains Rifle shoots a .54 cal 425 grn Hornady Great Plains mini w/ 90 grns FFFg. Don't know velocity, but it's the most accurate of the bunch I tested.

quote:

IN NEvada, you can hunt only with open or peeps sights. The bullet must be lead ball, a lead bullet, a semi jacketed butllet or a metal alloy that expands. A sabot round can be used What does this all mean...

Sounds like you need a muzzleloader with no scope shooting a roundball or an expanding bullet made of lead or other soft alloy. You can even use softnose jacketed pistol bullets in sabots. No troubles there.

quote:

I will redirect and go for a > .50 cal. Any suggestions as to bullet or loads?

I wouldn't go to a larger bore unless you intend to get a traditional roundball rifle. In modern guns .50 caliber is the most popular and provides you the widest variety of projectiles and accessories. I would however use a full diameter conical instead of a sabot'd pistol bullet for larger game. My Encore likes the 295 grain Powerbelt hollowpoint over two Pyrodex or 777 pellets but I'd look into their heavier slugs http://www.powerbeltbullets.com/products.htm were I chasing elk. I've had mixed results - accuracy wise - with Hornady Great Plains bullets and Thompson Center Maxi-Hunter and Maxi-Ball bullets but I haven't spent much time trying to crack the code after finding the Powerbelts. Good hunting!

They aren't the most well known muzzleloader out there, but I have two 50- cal Whites, and wouldn't take for either one of them. Both of them will shoot the 300-grain 45-cal Hornady SSTs to inside 1-1/2" at 100 (scoped), and will do the same with the Remington 365 HPs or 385 soft noses, all with 100 grains of Triple Se7en.
The thing I like about them is the complete ease of disassembly for cleaning. Ten minutes tops, and you are "back to burning black"... They are designed for the #11 percussion cap, and I have carried one all day long, capped and ready to go, on my shoulder, and the cap doesn't slip off. They are just exquisite in-lines, with Bold Triggers and all-stainless receivers and barrels, and if you want to get one now, go to http://www.gunbroker.com and do a search for "White". Doc White, the designer, has several kits he is selling right now at absolute giveaway prices (~$250, complete!). Take a look, and best of luck in Septmember!

Knight, T/C, etc are all excellent choices it boils down to personal preference, future use and of course like any firearm FIT. I think your wise sticking with a 50 cal in an inline, as mentioned the choice is much higher in rifle/model, accessories and projectiles based on popularity alone. It will serve you well for your elk or most any other hunt you choose to use a ML.

As far as bullets I would try the 460gr No Excuse Cronical or for a saboted bullet the 300 gr Hornady SST or 300gr Shockwave(same thing but different sabot and T/C packaged). I use the 250gr SST in front of 105 grain of 777 (loose) and it shoot remarkable out of my Rem 700 MLS. I have taken a number of deer with this bullet and it is impressive in terms of game performance. I also hunt with several other guys who have a variety of rifles with the same results with the SST or Shockwave offerings. I have used the 460gr No Excuse to harvest a bull moose and it was equally impressive shooting very respectable groups loaded with 120 gr of Pyrodex. Personally I would start with T7 around 100 grain, then adjust by 5's(up or down) till you find your accuracy load. I prefer loose powder because of it's flexibilty for tweaking your load. If your wanting to shoot pellet form than try 2x50gr pellets = 100gr total, this seems to be the most common load with pellet shooters. I use winchester 209 primers as they have yet to give me a hang or miss.

Best of luck and enjoy front stuffing!!!

Killed several elk in Oregon with my Knight .54 over the years. When sabots were legal, my partners and I used "Harvesters" with great success. Sabots are not legal anymore so I'm using bullets from http://www.prbullet.com. Would get a .50 if I had to do it again for the wider selection of bullets. Will find out next week if I scored an Oregon 200M2 elk muzzleloader tag for this year.
Sako

DNADOC:
Why not walk the traditional trail with a Lyman Great Plains? The .54 with round ball or the .50 with the faster conical twist will give you all the power you need. This is a handsome, reliable and accurate rifle that would have been at home across the saddle of an early pioneer, trapper or prospector.

Read what reloader has to say about the Savage ML11 # 10 under your posting page

Thanks to all

I decided to acquire a Knight Disc extreme .50 cal thumbhole. Looks like it does wonders on TTT with sabot.

WOW this is as exciting as finding a Purdey in an old abandon English Farmhouse. The possibilities.

Alway drew a BP mule deer tag in my backyard

Based on my experience with Hornady XTPs and XTP/MAGS you wont be dissapointed. My freind and I both have killed bull elk with them and thay did an out standing job. I shot mine at 60 to 70yrds standing towards me quartering to the right and the 300grn XTP entered at the bace of the bulls neck traveled more than fifteen inches going through both lungs and snaped off a rib before exiting leaving a large golf ball sized hole.

My friend shot his bull first at 150 yards while the bull was quartering away from him (later confermed the next day with a laser RF) and then a little over a minet lator, again at about 75yrds as the bull stood broad side, dropping him. After he caped, skinned and quartered out the bull, he examined the chest cavity of his bull and he said the lungs were utterly devistated, and the second shot did not now seem warrented.

I have shot ten each of the fallowing into a box of tied and tughtly packed satcherated and drained newspaper at 100yrds:
240grn XTP/MAGS
250grn XTPs
Both 300grn XTP and XTP/MAGs
Thay all held up and pennitrated quite well with the 300grn XTP/MAGs compleatly pennitrating 16" of wet newspaper and retaining on average around 80% of their weight.
WE both own Encores.
My elk load of choice is a .452 cal 300 grain Hornady XTP/MAG in a Hornady black high pressure sabot sitting atop 120 grains of 3-F 777.

My freinds elk load of choice is a .452cal 300 grain Hornady XTP/MAG in a Knight/MMP black high pressure sabot sitting atop 110 grains of 3-F 777.

Please go to http://www.prbullet.com and heed their advice about how to optain the best accuracy possible out of your ML. We did and it made a world of difference for us.

Best of luck and let us know how things turn out. I have been applying to NV for elk for a looooooong time.

Again, best of luck and be safe.