I've used T/C Maxiballs and Hornady Great Plains on elk in my 54cal. This year I am switching to Powerbelts. The accuracy of the T/Cs was OK but not great in my Rem 700ML. The hornadys were better. The guys I hunt with love the Powerbelts and have had excellent results with accuracy and terminal perfomance so I'm switchin.
Good luck in Sept!
Russ

Bbear & Walker,

I just got off the phone with Doc White, (whom I have known for more than 25 years BTW) and the BuckBuster bullet is no longer made, but the 400 gr. or 440 gr. PowerPunch bullets on the same website will meet the legal requirements for Colorado, as the 440 is right at 1" long. I had made my previous statement based on the BuckBuster bullet to which the link was directed. When I further investigated the website, I found the PowerPunch and the pulldown showed available weights. I surmised the 400 & 440's would be legal in Co, but wanted to verify with Doc before I posted again.


Walker... I have a question for you - Upon what do you base your opinion that Round Balls are " piss poor " bullets for Elk?

I'm hoping to head out to Colo this fall for an elk hunt and I'm wondering what bullet's anyone has used w/ any success?
Colo does NOT allow sabot bullets, so I have to find a conical that will give me good accuracy as well as good effect on the animal out to around 100yds.
Any ideas?

Bbear, actually, you will be ok with the sabot IF you are not hunting in the ML only season in Sep. If you plan to hunt the sep season, you have until early april to apply for the tag since those licences are all by draw.

In ref to your specific question, the only conical I have used on elk was a .50 370 gr MaxiBall. Not impressed! I think the flaw in the Maxi is that pointy nose. It does not offer enough of a flat meplat to do the job and seems to penetrate with less damage kinda like a knitting needle. I've had better results on elk with a .54 round ball than with the maxi

Friends of mine have used the Hornady and Buffaloe Bullet slugs to good effect and also the Lyman Plains bullet but you will need a mold for that one.

One that I've shot with great results but not hunted with is the Lee 450 grain 50-70 slug that casts at .515 with pure lead and then sized down to .504 or .506. It hits like a locomotive on both ends

If you have a .58 or .62 in your battery, just stoke it up with round balls and you will have no problem with elk.

Bbear,

What gun and caliber are you using. Makes a difference if you have a fast or slow twist barrel.

Take alook at these. Big bullets for big game.
http://whiterifles.com/store/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=18

Just go with .495 (or .490) ROUND balls. Shoot for the shoulder and you should drop one is his tracks. The big resized bullets and White bullet described aren't legal in CO either - the regs state the bullet's length cannot exceed twice its diameter. However, if you have a fast twist rifle, it may not shoot RB's very well, and you will have to handicap yourself by shooting some kind of legal bullet!

Call Whiterifles and ask how long thier bullets are. A round ball would be a piss-poor choice for elk.

A round ball has the worse B/C of any projectile out there and also has terrible S/D. Penetration and energy would both be inadequate for elk IMHO.
I have some Power Punch 400's and you're right, they are right at 1" long. .503 may be tight in Bbear's gun though. He'd have to try some to see.

piss poor my ass i owen anshoot a custom 10(.775 dia) bore shooting 660 grain round ball with 200 grains of ffg swiss black powder this load will drop any elk on the face of this earth and do it with plenty of power left over



i have put this ball through many moose some weighing well over the 2100 pound mark i have even taken texas heart shots on 2 bull moose both of them dies within yards of being struck



ps 1 of the bulls was taken at a lazer range finded 174 yards now tell me after i blew both his shoulders and his heart out the other side of his body what was so piss poor about that proformance.?



a round ball is a deadly wepon as long as you use the right one for the application



for elk a 58 caliber should be min but a 54 will work under the right conditions. and id even go to say a 62 should be considered min. that way all possible shot angles can be taken with confidence.

Well said "nitro"

I have a .72 cal. that I plan on using for elk next year. 560 grain round ball, with 225 grains of FF pushing it!
Big Balls Make Big Holes......as a Michigan whitetail found out this year!

Nitro and MoreBS, if you will re-read the title of this thread it states right there in written english that he wants a bullet for a .50cal. A .50 cal. round ball is piss-poor medicine for an elk.

OK, OK so I missed another small detail, again! But would be nice to know what twist the barrel is!