Traditons Vortek Muzzleloader Loads

I took a break from vacuuming on the weekend to head out to the range with Mrs. Bugbear's father.  I wanted to experiment with some loads with my muzzleloader.  On my last range trip I had been shooting low.  When I went home I discovered that the company that I bought my last set of Powerbelt Bullets from had inadvertently shipped me bullets that were fifty grains heavier than my customary bullets.  I generally get very good accuracy from a 245 grain Powerbelt sitting on top of 90 grains of FFF Triple 7 loose powder.  Using three Triple 7 thirty grain pellets gives me  slightly poorer accuracy.

Grains of Triple 7	Projectile	Group Diameter (@50 yards)	Vertical Offset
60	.50 Cal Round Ball	4"	+2"
100	345 Grain Minie	2.5"	-8"
100	295 Grain Powerbelt	2"	-5"
90	245 Grain Powerbelt	2"	0

To provide a bit more info, I used pre-lubed Traditions patches. Unlike the Powerbelts I really had to push to ram the balls down to the powder.  Conversely, unlike the Powerbelts I didn't get a buildup of residue in the barrel just forward of where the bullet seats against the powder.  The literature that comes with Powerbelt bullets it warns of this condition.

I was actually very impressed with how well the Vortek shot the patched round ball. Modern muzzleloaders generally have a fairly fast twist (1:28" in the case of my Traditions Vortek).  The faster twist stablilizes bullets nicely but aren't so good with patched round lead balls.  In comparison Mrs. Bugbear's father owns a Pedersoli Country hunter with a much slower twist (1:48") which shoots round balls very accurately but can't get much accuracy out of a Minie, Maxie or sabots.  I've ordered some new sabots and I'm going to take them out to the range once they arrive.  Expect another range report then.