.50 cal penn long rifle - deer load FF Goex

[JB]

I'm still working on what my rifle likes for a load.  I'm not sure where it will end up yet.  What type of grains do I need for a deer load?  Where should the range fall? So far my rifle does good at 65 - 70- 75 grans of FF Goex.  Is that enough? Or should it be more? 

41" barrel.

Any thoughts.

[Mike Brooks]

That's plenty, unless you figure to shoot 100 yards or better.

[JB]

That's plenty, unless you figure to shoot 100 yards or better.

ok, Thank you.  I really didn't know.  My shots should be 60 yards or less. 

[deepcreekdale]

A friend of mine shot 2 deer this past season with a Rice 44" barrel with 50 grains of 2FF. Both deer dropped in their tracks, one at about 30 yards, the other at 75 yards. The one hit at 75 yards had 5 shattered vertebrae, The other had a shattered shoulder. When my son was stationed in Alaska, he shot a moose with a .58 cal round ball over 70 grains of 2ff. It dropped in it's tracks also. I think too many of us get hung up on bullet speed because most, if not all of us, grew up with modern stuff. A slow moving round ball, well placed will drop any deer instantly. It is fun for some people to fiddle around with different loads, patch thicknesses and ball diameters. That is fine if you enjoy that but it is not necessary for clean kills. Practice is more important than load type and being confident in your gun. My 2 cents worth.

[Matthew1969]

A few Years back my Dad shot a Muley around 75 yards. .50 Hawken, 65 grains of 3f. Dropped like a stone. Ball was flattened in the off shoulder, broke ribs in and out flattening and skidding just under the skin to a stop. Plenty of power!
Matthew

[JB]

A friend of mine shot 2 deer this past season with a Rice 44" barrel with 50 grains of 2FF. Both deer dropped in their tracks, one at about 30 yards, the other at 75 yards. The one hit at 75 yards had 5 shattered vertebrae, The other had a shattered shoulder. When my son was stationed in Alaska, he shot a moose with a .58 cal round ball over 70 grains of 2ff. It dropped in it's tracks also. I think too many of us get hung up on bullet speed because most, if not all of us, grew up with modern stuff. A slow moving round ball, well placed will drop any deer instantly. It is fun for some people to fiddle around with different loads, patch thicknesses and ball diameters. That is fine if you enjoy that but it is not necessary for clean kills. Practice is more important than load type and being confident in your gun. My 2 cents worth.

Thank you.. Good information.

[smylee grouch]

Shot placement is the most important factor if your load is up to snuff. No deer will drop instantly if hit in the wrong place.

[oldtravler61]

 This is something I do when testing a load for hunting.
 Take two 1/2 or 3/4 inch thick plywood boards. Whatever size width you can hit. Put them both on boards standing a foot or so apart. At 75 yards shoot your target.
  If your ball goes cleanly through both.  No problem. It's my crazy way of testing a load. You can do whatever you want...!  Have fun.. Oldtravler

[Robin Henderson]

Shot placement is the most important factor if your load is up to snuff. No deer will drop instantly if hit in the wrong place.

^^^^^^^^^
I agree 100%.

[bob in the woods]

A .50 cal  or .495 ball with 75 gr of  FFg has dropped many deer for me.   All my shots are in rather thick woods with small openings here and there..  One time and one time only I shot at 100 yards across a beaver pond. All the other deer I've ever taken were 50 yards or much less.  I think you'll do fine.

[JB]

Thanks for the advise everyone..  I appreciate it.

[Don Steele]

I don't mean to just pile on so I'm going to add something not yet mentioned. With more powder, all other things being equal, you flatten your balls trajectory and immunity to wind deflection. Those factors aren't critical when we're talking about making a well placed good shot on a "minute-of-deer" target providing we're at the relatively shorter ranges you see mentioned in the responses thus far.
When you start stretching the range, especially with modest powder charges, you need to know the exact range and your balls trajectory across the course of it's flight to make sure that you will put the ball where it will do it's job quickly and humanely and not just poke a hole in your target somewhere that will result in a wounded and lost animal.
I've done well with 50 caliber patched roundballs over the years on Whitetail and hogs. ALL except one were taken from 20-50-ish yds.
That one longer shot was 100 yds and the only reason I took the shot was because I had prepared for it. While scouting and setting up that stand, I knew there was an active trail coming out of the woods into a more open area. I paced it off and found it was 100 yds from my stand. With that in mind, I paid special attention at the range to point-of-impact at 100 yds with my load.
While In the stand I was able to achieve a single point rest for the rifle. When a Buck walked down that trail into the open one evening... it was one shot, DRT (dead-right-there). At that range, there's a distinct audible separation between the rifle blast and the impact of that 50 caliber ball hitting the deer that my partner who wasn't far away heard very clearly. 

[bob in the woods]

Because of the type of woods I hunt in, my rifle is sighted to be dead on at 50 yards.  If the top of the front sight is " in the notch" and even with the top of the rear sight the ball will hit dead centre at 50 yards. If I put the base of the front sight in the notch, with the blade above the top of the rear sight, I'm dead on at 100 yards.  This arrangement makes it easier to make the shots I need when branches are in the way at the closer ranges. Since I've only ever shot one deer at the longer range, this works for me. The 75gr of FFg in the 50 cal is a decent load, and I've never recovered a ball from a deer.  Now,  moose hunting is a different story. My .62 rifle is loaded with 120 gr of FFg which is very accurate in that gun, and it shoots dead on at 100 yards and I have a known sight picture for 150 yards.  Personally, I wouldn't recommend hunting deer with a .50 cal and 50 gr of FFg.  75 gr will give much better results , especially if distances may exceed 50 yards.

[hanshi]

My advice - such as it is - is to locate your most accurate load and use that.  In the states where I've hunted, a minimum powder charge is 50 grains.  Now 50 grains will certainly cleanly take deer; but I like a bit more power.  This means from 60grns to 70grns for both the .50 and .45 with 60 in the .45 and 70 in the .50.  I've killed two deer at 100 yards with two different .50 longrifles.  The farthest kill for the .45 was 75 yards using 65 grains, IIRC, or maybe 60 grains of 3F.  By far the most kills were made well under 50 yards.

[JBlk]

I site in all of my rifles for one hundred yards with round ball and linen patches.When I consistently hit my target at that range with the powder charge I have chosen shes ready to hunt with.The majority of my deer are harvested at less than seventy yards. the point of impact changes are easily adjusted to hit the spot you want to hit.The best training you can practice is learning to estimate yardage correctly.

[Daryl]

Whatever you do, make sure you shoot the load you've chosen so arbitrarily, with the ball and patch material you are going to use, with the patch oiled or greased, as it's impact might be different from your sights.
This point of impact (POI) change is normal. Sometimes higher, sometimes lower or off to one side or the other.  Sometimes the accuracy goes to H---l in a handbasket and must be increased 10gr. to get the accuracy back. 

Remember, you want to hit what and where you are aiming to hit.

[Standing Bear]

I no longer have my Dixie Poor Boy flinter. It was sighted at 50 yards w 90 gr FFg. For deer hunting it was loaded w 90 gr FFg same .495 ball, .018 patch and mink oil which put it on at 100 yds, no adj sights just same sight picture and squeeze. Took a small Eaat Texas buck at 95 paces w gun on a limb.  DRT.   I’d rather estimate holding 2” low than 4” high and covering 75% of the target.

TC

[Mike Brooks]

My advice - such as it is - is to locate your most accurate load and use that.  In the states where I've hunted, a minimum powder charge is 50 grains.  Now 50 grains will certainly cleanly take deer; but I like a bit more power.  This means from 60grns to 70grns for both the .50 and .45 with 60 in the .45 and 70 in the .50.  I've killed two deer at 100 yards with two different .50 longrifles.  The farthest kill for the .45 was 75 yards using 65 grains, IIRC, or maybe 60 grains of 3F.  By far the most kills were made well under 50 yards.

There's your best advice unless you live out west where you have to shoot 100+ yards.

[Daryl]

My advice - such as it is - is to locate your most accurate load and use that.  In the states where I've hunted, a minimum powder charge is 50 grains.  Now 50 grains will certainly cleanly take deer; but I like a bit more power.  This means from 60grns to 70grns for both the .50 and .45 with 60 in the .45 and 70 in the .50.  I've killed two deer at 100 yards with two different .50 longrifles.  The farthest kill for the .45 was 75 yards using 65 grains, IIRC, or maybe 60 grains of 3F.  By far the most kills were made well under 50 yards.

There's your best advice unless you live out west where you have to shoot 100+ yards.

AND using the ball, patch and lube you will be using for hunting.

[Robby]

^^ What Daryl said^^
Robby