My opinion after shooting lots of muzzeloaders over lots of years..first, relax your way over worrying. Second..go down to the closest wally world to you, buy a can of pyrodex rs, whatever bullets they have INCLUDING powerbelts!! Third..try them out,if you are like the majority of folks you'll find most of the sabot type bullets so hard to load even on the first shot that you'll have to be careful not to break your ramrod. Fourth.. forget the pellets of any kind. Most rifles shoot best with less than 100 grains. Finally..start with the same grain of power as the caliber of your rifle and slowly increase charge 5 grains at a time wiping between shots.
It's really amazing to watch how patterns become groups . OK ok before the flaming starts. Like I say my opinion. Guys who worry about crud rings,plastic fouling,etc etc want to go to range and shoot all day without wiping . But I've honestly never shot at a deer 20 times myself. I will hunt with round ball this year, but my backup (rain) gun is an omega t5 shooting 80 gr loose rs,with 245 gr power belt aero tip. All holes touching at 100 yds from rest.
It's really amazing to watch how patterns become groups . OK ok before the flaming starts. Like I say my opinion. Guys who worry about crud rings,plastic fouling,etc etc want to go to range and shoot all day without wiping . But I've honestly never shot at a deer 20 times myself. I will hunt with round ball this year, but my backup (rain) gun is an omega t5 shooting 80 gr loose rs,with 245 gr power belt aero tip. All holes touching at 100 yds from rest.
