Sabots for Sambar Deer?

[Redlg155]

Well folks, I got some good news in the mail today.

I got drawn for a Sambar Deer hunt on St. Vincent Island here in NW Florida! St Vincent Island used to be a private game reserve until it went back into State property some time ago. A resident population of Sambar Deer remains on the Island and the state allows limited hunting by permit only for two days a year. These deer average from 300-500 lbs, pretty close to Elk.

The hunt is muzzleloader or bow only, so I've decided on the Muzzle loader. Hopefully I'll get a good TC Encore muzzle loader sometime this next month or so to prepare.

Since I've never hunted anything larger than deer with a muzzle loader, I need some advice. Will the current crop of medium weight sabot bullets be enough to put down an animal the size of an elk, or do I need to look at something like the Buffalo Bullet? Perhaps even something like the Barnes copper solids. Either way I need something to shoot out of a relatively fast twist rate of the Encore.



Good Shooting
Red

 

[Jaegermeister]

Winchester supreme partition

Winchester has a new ML sabot bullet out that has a partition type bullet. It is supposed to have controlled expansion and hold together. Look in the Cabela's catalog.

They also have a platinum tip, but that is lighter and is more of a pistol type bullet for deer.

I've used the Barnes Expanders out of a shotgun for big southeast Minnesota deer (corn and apples). They are quite nasty and should retain their weight because they are solid copper. Those copper fins will just bend back and the whole thing will keep penetrating.

I'd use a bullet of at least 300 grains on larger animals. I like to break the front shoulder, take the top off the heart and mess up the opposite shoulder on large animals. If you can pull that off, they rarely go more than 20 yards.

By the way, a .54 caliber round ball will also kill one of those deader than a doornail within 75 yards if the shot placement is in the vitals. I'd not use a round ball on a fast twist barrel such as a 28 however.

If you use about 100 grains of powder (I like loose Triple 7 in ffg) and a 300 grain bullet, the gear will do the job if your shooting is good.

 

[Redlg155]

Took a peek at some BP rifles today. Hmm..that TC Omega looks really interesting, and at half the price of the Encore.

I also got to look at some new bullet styles. I'm amazed at how BP shooting has progressed. The Winchesters silvertip hp black powder bullets also look very promising.

Good Shooting
Red