I have a T/C Renegade cap lock that has a Green mountain .50 cal replacement barrel. 1-28" twist. I have been shooting my own cast .452 325 gr solid lead bullets in sabots at paper. I am planning to use it for the muzzle loader season in MN in a few weeks. I want to use pistol bullets in it for that purpose. What do you recomend?

I'd stick with the lead bullet you're using now, I've killed deer and elk with similar bullets from a Vaquero in .45 colt. It works fine.

I'm curious though, as to why you use a sabot at all? Why not a similar weight .50 caliber bullet? You'd have the weight you like and a larger caliber projectile that kills really well. I doubt there's a nickels worth of difference in downrange trajectory is there?

I just took one with a 240 grain Hornady XTP. Broadside shot made liquid lungs.

I would stay with the lead bullet.

Also make sure of your state regs.

In Washington state we can not use a jacketed bullet to hunt in a blackpowder special season.

James Wisner

I don't recommend using sabot and pistol bullets in your muzzleloader. My Knight Inline was made for them and it gets plastic melted in the bore which will rob accuracy if not removed. Plastic fowling is a real pain in the as* to remove. In some of the muzzleloaders the use of sabots will void your warranty.
Swede44mag

Buddy shot a button buck two weeks ago with a .452 300 gr. Hornady XTP in a sabot. Shot was at 30 yards, with the buck running full steam.

When they found it, the neck was blown out, like the bullet failed, but it had a bullet sized exit wound. We've been debating whether the bullet blew up, or whether the sabot came off the bullet when it hit the deer, thus causing the blow-up damage. I don't think we'll ever agree.

Having said that, I shot a groundhog at 20 yards last year, with a Sierra .452 240 gr HP. Hit him right in the neck. The bullet didn't exit! Being it was just a groundhog, which was very dead, and being that I had no plans to use these bullets on deer, I didn't bother doing surgery to recover whatever bullet was left.

So that's like, a varmint load extraordinare!

"Fischer " Congrats on the deer. You didn�t mention what powder charge you were using on the deer or groundhog. I use 80grs of RS Pyrodex for hunting. I have done a lot of target practice with my Knight Inline and the sabot has never gone more than 25yrds. I have shot several deer with the same Knight at close range 20 ft or less and haven�t yet found a sabot in a deer. The Hornady 44cal 240gr XTP is the bullet I like to shoot in my inline because it doesn�t get deformed by the ramrod. This bullet will shoot clear through on side shots and plenty of expansion, 44cal in and silver dollar out and larger depending on what it hit going through. I shot one in the neck and it shattered the vertebrae like it was hit with a sledge hammer.
Swede44mag

Swede, we all use 100gr FFg Goex in a Rem. 700ML.

I've found that I don't have to re-sight my rifle from the 300 gr. deer load to the 240 gr. chuck load. I'm sighted dead on at 100 for the 300 and about 3 inches high with the 240.

Woodnbow, I picked up the 240 gr. cheap, so I figured I might as well use them for some summertime practice. Though, I did hit one groundhog a bit far back at 100 yards, and he got down the hole. But not before leaving a blood trail that a blind man could follow.

Been using the Hornady 240 grain XTP for years, just takes one in the boiler-room and you don't have to track. Not much left of the heart though. If your gun likes em, use em.

You may want to try the new sst or shockwave bullets.My 3 brothers and I took 7 deer with them the week of muzzleloader here and they worked great.I shot 2,a large 8-pointer and a doe,one with the sst 200 gr and one with the shockwave 200 gr,the rest was with the 250 shockwaves and sst 250 gr.