[Lee Woiteshek]

Went out two years ago and bought the .45 Disc Extreme after the American Hunter raved about it. I purchased a large quanity of the Knight 240 grain lead boattails and was shooting 150 grain pellets. Accuracy was ok, but not better than the 50 cal Black Knight I sold for the Disc. I'm about out of the boat tails, and I've just bought pellets in 777. I want to try the Barnes/Red Hot all copper bullets. Does anyone have any experience with an accurate weight in the .45 caliber?

[Lee Woiteshek]

Could use some help here. These bullets cost more per pack than a bottle of whiskey. (Ok so its a mighty small bottle ) I'd like to get it right the first time if I could. Gonna be shooting 150 grains of 777. 150's? 180's?? 200??? :scrutiny:

[Mark whiz]

For the sake of accuracy, I'd advise you to get the heaviest (i.e. LONGEST) bullet you can find. That's what Knight's like the best .................. and unfortunately nobody really makes a bullet big enough for best results in the .45s IMHO. But then again, I'm pretty anal about accuracy.

I would suggest trying the PowerBelt Aerotips in 275gr .............. which I believe is about the heaviest bullet you'll find for a .45 without going to a non-saboted conical. You can also try the Hornady 200gr XTP or SST sabots.......... they are relatively cheap and the 300gr versions shoot REALLY well out of my Knight.

One thing I might add here............if you stay with the pellets.........100gr of the 777 is all you'll ever need, as 150gr is overkill and detrimental to accuracy. For instance, for best accuracy using those 300gr SSTs in my Knight, the preferred charge is only 80gr of loose 2fg 777 powder - accuracy goes to hell when the charge is increased above that.
And since your choice is limited to even lighter bullets in the .45, even smaller charges might be necessary to maintain accuracy..................... so you might consider trying loose powder if the PowerBelts or SSTs don't give you what you're looking for with the 100gr of 777 pellets.

[Lee Woiteshek]

Thanks for the reply. There are some of those Hornady's at Bass Pro. Many of my friends shoot 100 grains and less. The area I hunt is mixed farm and hard and soft woods. Shots can be from 5 yards to 500. I wanted to shoot 3 pellets just in case I see that 175 yard deer of a lifetime. Went out and bought one of those ballstic plex scopes with the graduated cross hairs that Burris sells just for the above described senario. Our blackpowder season is right in the chase phase of the pre rut, and the big ones can literally be anywhere the hot does are. The does are of course going to be where the food is. I had felt the 150 grain bullet loads just didn't have the sectional density for even the small Virginia deer I hunt. I wasn't sure about the 180's or the 200's but would shoot them if they were accurate in my rifle. I was using the 240 grain pure lead boat tails that Knight was selling, but they deformed during the ramrod stroke to seat them on the pellets, and had mediorce accuracy. Didn't think the Barnes hollow points would deform that much. The SST's look to be the same as the Knight boat tails with a copper jacket. Good news is I've got a couple of months to play with it, and now I have a starting point. Thanks again. Lee

[Harve Curry]

On some hunts I guided last year I have seen the 250gr Barnes sabot bullet perform, one shot kills on elk and deer. Both were 50 cal. inlines, a TC and a Knight. So this is a 45cal bullet. Shouldn't be any difference .

4x4 165 Mule deer was running at 125 yards, quartering away. Bullet went in behind the ribcage and lodged in the L/F shoulder. Deer hit the ground dead. The 250gr bullet wieghed 249gr and expanded perfectly.

6x7 365 Bull elk at 248 yards and first shot went over his back. Elk ran at us while reloading, powder all over the ground and finally loaded 150gr of 777 and elk was quartering away, paused at 265 yards, held dead on and the bullet entered r/s ribs and lodged in L/F shoulder, elk coughed and fell dead with legs up. Bullet expanded perfectly.

I don't know the Barnes people but I have seen these bullets work where another bullet might not have been a one shot & instant kill. Load for accuracy, so 100 to 120gr might be OK, but your trajectory will increase quite a bit, check it on paper, don't just go by what the manuals say.

Hope this helps,

[Lee Woiteshek]

I would of probably wet my pants if I had a 6X7 Elk running at me with an empty muzzle loader in my hands. I'm sure it was quite the experience. Does anybody have any experience with these Powerbelt bullets that seem to be the rage? Does it foul the barrel without the sabot?

[Harve Curry]

Lee,
I don't think you'll have any accuracy or seal the gas behind the bullet without the belt.

[Mark whiz]

Yeah Lee,

If you push the Powerbelts too fast you will see a little plastic fouling, although not as much as you would with a full sabot.

The bigger problem with the powerbelts is that you over charge them.................too much powder (or using 3fg 777) compresses the powercheck cup too tightly to the bullet as it burns and can keep the cup from falling off of the bullet in flight. This will destroy accuracy in a bad way.

I'm not a great fan of the PowerBelts as I wasn't happy on what I noticed on game I shot, although others have had wonderful results...................seems to be a bit of a crapshoot with them as sometimes they expand and other times they don't. But I DO use them as my standard backup shot when hunting because they load so quickly.