Minimum .50 cal load for whitetails

[eagle24]

What are your thoughts on a minimum load in a .50 cal for hunting whitetails?  The reason I ask is my rifle seems to be most accurate with 70 grains of FF.  Is this a heavy enough load?  Probably my shots will be less than 50 yards (more likely 10-30 yards) in the thick area I hunt.

[awol]

At that max. range I think will be ok, but I would not take a shoulder shot, only a good clear shot to the heart and lungs. 

[54Bucks]

 I think you will be fine.There used to be an old rule of thumb that many people followed.They would match calibre to a volume gr. charge.For ex.: 50gr for a .50 cal. ,45 gr. for .45 cal., ect. ect.  I always thought that was  more of a starting target load.However many deer were killed using that old rule of thumb.

[BillPac]

Have shot completly through the ribs heart lung and exited with 70 gr @30 yards or so.  Don't remember if it hit shoulder bone or not.  .495 RB
BillP

[roundball]

What are your thoughts on a minimum load in a .50 cal for hunting whitetails?  The reason I ask is my rifle seems to be most accurate with 70 grains of FF.  Is this a heavy enough load?  Probably my shots will be less than 50 yards (more likely 10-30 yards) in the thick area I hunt.

Remember there are not necessarily "across the board answers" for things with little or no details supplied...ie: velocity/energy from one powder charge would probably be different in a 28" barrel vs. a 42" barrel.

At the extremely close ranges of 10-30yds that you mentioned, it wouldnlt be an issue...but in my mind I always ask myself the question...what would I do if a Pope & Young stepped out and stopped in the middle of an old loggers road at 100-120 yards with me holding a rifle with a range charge.  Or said another way, my personal opinion is that when I go big game hunting I use big game loads...and I leave entry level and mid lever powder charges for the range.

My 90grns of Goex 3F in a Flintlock will do everything a 70grn load will do at close range...ie: a pass-through is a pass-through...and my 90grn load will keep me from even hesitating on an unexpected long distance shot, whether heavy bone is involved or not.

My .02 cents...   

[Dave K]

I use 70gr. in my 50. Just happens the furthest deer I have taken was 65yds. but it sure wasn't a problem for me. The deer thought it was  though. It really is about your ability to place the ball where it counts. It is also about the ability of the gun to place accurate shots as well. I shoot the most accurate load the gun will perform at, one that I am comfortable with and practice with that load. I practice to 100yds. and I will take that shot if it presents itself and I will do it with confidence.

[Dphariss]

What are your thoughts on a minimum load in a .50 cal for hunting whitetails?  The reason I ask is my rifle seems to be most accurate with 70 grains of FF.  Is this a heavy enough load?  Probably my shots will be less than 50 yards (more likely 10-30 yards) in the thick area I hunt.

You don't need the most accurate load for hunting. You need a load that gives necessary accuracy and a flat enough trajectory for the distances involved.
I seriously doubt a deer can tell if it is shot with 70 or 90 grains.
The 50 caliber RB with 90 grains has killed deer for me to 140 yards or so and will shoot through a deer from side to side at that distance with a lung shot.

The primary reason for heavier loads is flattening trajectory. So long as the velocity is adequate  there is no lack of killing power. Remember the 70 grain load is going to be little different at 100 yards than the 90 grain load so far as actual killing power. The RB is very difficult the "magnumise". Generally if you are shooter a load that makes 1600 or so at the muzzle you will get all the killing power the ball will provide. Moving the velocity to 1900 will flatten the trajectory and making hits at longer ranges easier, but it will not change the 50 caliber ball into a greatly improved game killer just by this. The higher velocity makes it easier to make hits at longer ranges other than that there is little difference in the two velocities.
But if I were you I would try more powder or try FFF in it just for  general principle.
But where I live the shots are longer. I lay under a small cedar and 2 bucks at 140 yards for over an hour waiting for the doe to come out, she was bedded out of sight. Hoping that she were follow a path that would get the range 20-30 yards closer. But the wind came up to 25-30 and I gave it up. Too much wind for a shot at over 40-50 yards.
I shoot 75 grains of FFF Swiss in the 50 I was using.
Dan

[eagle24]

Thanks for the info and responses guys.

Roundball,
When I said short ranges, I really meant short ranges.  I am a bowhunter and that's pretty much all I have done until last year when I took up hunting with a flintlock occasionally.  I have treestands set up in funnels and transition areas that I bowhunt out of.  I will be hunting these same stands and there literally is no chance for that 100 yard shot you mention in these places or while on the way too them from the truck.  Also, I'd need a bench and sandbags to attempt a 100 yd shot at a deer.  I'm more proficient with a bow than a flintlock right now.

Dan,
I am still working on the best load and would like to find a little hotter load that gives good accuracy.  I plan to try some FFF next time out and I'm sure there is a better load than the 70gr FF I am shooting.  Here's the thing.  I know that 70gr shoots well enough and about an inch high at 40 yards.  I know that 90gr shot higher and the group was not as good.  I have a couple of days next week that I can either hunt or go to the range and work on finding a load for my rifle.  I sort of want to use those days in the woods instead of on the range.  I'm pretty sure I can get a shot at a deer inside 30 yards, so sounds like I will be fine with the 70gr load for now.

[BrownBear]

I'm with the others.  My wife uses 70 grains of 3f rather than 2f, but it's accounted for a good share of deer.  None past 50 yards, but no recovered ball either.  All were standard broadside lung shots, and I don't recall a deer going more than 20 feet after the hit.

[longcruise]

The lightest I have ever used for deer (mulie) was 60 grains in a .50 with RB.  I was a little surprised at the degree of destruction to the lungs!

The shot was 60 yards.  So, that comes to one grain per yard.  Is there a formula evidenced here?  If we repeat the one grain per yard rule enough times it will become etched in stone.  Of course wel will need to have some science based modifications to the formula based on differences between 1f, 2f and 3f.

Lets get started.  The more participants, the faster it will become the truth!

[roundball]

 

There you go...100grns Goex 2F for 100 yard shots...grain per yard
 (or 90grns 3F)

[Daryl]

Although I personally would use more powder as our ranges tend to be longer, your little charge will do the job, especially considering the range you've specified.

[hammerhead]

great info

[hanshi]

Concerning the "rule of thumb" charge = caliber (eg. 50 grns/.50 cal., 45 grns/ .45 cal, etc.); you might consider this.  While these light charges are fine for the range and can take deer when properly applied, some states require a minimum powder charge regardless of caliber.  In Va. you MUST use 50 grains, minimum, for example.  Just another reason to "load for big game".

[longcruise]

Hanshi, that's interesting.  I had never heard of a min powder charge by law.  Is there a min caliber?

[northmn]

While I ascribe to a little heavier load for a 50 than 70 grain of 2f (I use 80 grains of 3f) I knew an individual that did in 28 (at last count) whitetails with a CVA Mountain rifle and 70 grains of 3f.  A couple at a fair range.  Its hard to argue with success.  Depharsis live in the plains area and his comments on trajectory are well taken.  But like Roundball I can run into shots where the deer may be at feet instead of yards or just too d--n far (TDF).  When you pick up a flintlock you have to learn to accept TDF for what ever range it is for you.  My 270 had a very large TDF, my 30-30 with peep sights a much smaller one and my flinters TDF keep shrinking with experience and older eyes.  Heavy powder charges may not be the panacea we think.  Also for longer shots the 50 may get marginal and a 54 or larger may be better.

DP

[Dphariss]

The 50 does not get marginal for deer till 140-150 yards *IF* the shot can be placed right. This is really too far but I have done it when my eyes were younger. Complete pass through.
Friend killed a deer last year with a 45 at 120 yards.

Dan

[Dphariss]

GHall:
Go shoot a deer and quit worrying about power. 50 rb shot from a pistol will work.

22 RF will kill deer with lung shots at 30-50 yards. As related to me by a guy who shot some with a Winder musket in his childhood.
My grandfather killed one in the garden with a BP 22 short when he was a kid.
Deer are not that hard to kill folks IF the shot is placed right.

Dan

[tuffy]

Minimum caliber by law in Kansas for deer is .39 cal. For elk it's .50 cal. These are both BP related laws. No minimum on powder charge.   

[Pete G.]

I like that advice..."go shoot a deer."
Personally I have settled on about 1-1/2 grains per caliber or thereabouts for a hunting load. That gives 75 gr for a .50.

[eseabee1]

Here in PA it 45 cal. min

[hanshi]

Longcruise, Here in Va. the minimum caliber is .45 and the minimum charge is 50 grains of black (or substitute) powder.  In Ga., where I use to live, the minimum was .44 caliber though no minimum powder charge is currently required.  If memory serves me correctly (seldom does these days) Ga also used to have a minimum for powder as well. 

Now, these rules specifically apply (strange, eh?) ONLY to muzzleloading season.  The general rifle season specifies only .23 caliber or larger.  This means I can hunt with my .40 (and will) or even my .36 (don't think so).  Actually this all sounds fine to me and I don't see a problem.  I DO see a problem with Va. hunting seasons.  They are so chopped up and confusing you have to read the regs in great detail the evening before you go out.  Plus they are difficult to understand.  I had become accustomed to a straight through season, buck and doe (2 buck limit, however) with no breaks, alterations, etc.  Even longtime hunters find the Va regs very confusing.  What ever happened to KISS?

[northmn]

For some reason Minnesota dropped most power requirements for centerfires also.  You can shoot a deer now with a 25-20 but must have a 40 cal muzzleloader.  They read that any centerfire of .220 or above is now legal.  Made the tactical chaps happy as now they can take out their favorite AR15 clones.  Our biggest gripe is that ML seasons start after Thanksgiving.  They predict three days of snow for opener of ML season.  As to what constitutes "marginal", when you get into bore sizes of about 45 and over you blow a pretty big hole, so the discussion is mostly sophistry.  If one is doing a lot of long range shooting I think a larger bore is better, but I also will agree to the advice of forget about power and go out and shoot some deer.

DP  

[Daryl]

No restrictions here on calibre size here, only that centrefires must be used on big game from deer up.  Since we don't have as much of the semi-auto .223 crowd here, very few are used on deer, I'm sure as most guys around here overgun themselves, rather than the reverse.  No calibre limits on ML's, only that RB's be used for deer in the primitive hunts, no slugs allowed in ML's for that hunt.

[hanshi]

  If one is doing a lot of long range shooting I think a larger bore is better, but I also will agree to the advice of forget about power and go out and shoot some deer.

Well said.  That was my thinking as I ignored sage advice and for years scored over and over with a .22 Hornet and a .357 rev.  As Miyamoto Musashi said after a lengthy explanation of strategy & technique (paraphrased) "Don't worry about that, just cut".