2F or 3F

[Buzzard Luck]

Opinions: l have a Pedersoli frontier 50 cal. plan on hunting deer with. Haven't shot it yet but would like some help on working up a good deer load. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[leadhoarder]

Either will work fine but you may find it likes one or the other a little better. Your guess is as good as any of ours.

 

[deerstalkert]

i have a pedersoli mortimer that like fffg best. it is a 54 though.
with 65g of fffg a felt wad over powder, .018 patch lubed with Frontiers, and a .535 ball it will cut clover leaf's. i shoot for accuracy at 25 yards.
same gun and substituting 65g of ffg it does about 1.5 inch. if i kick up the ffg to 75g it brings it to the same accuracy as the fffg.
took me a while to find the patch/ball/ powder combo.
that is the only pedersoli i have. every rifle i have has to be tickled individually.
i don't try for magnum velocities until i find what the gun is capable of. then i step it up in 5g increments.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Either will work fine but you may find it likes one or the other a little better. Your guess is as good as any of ours.

Amen, Bro. Spot on advice.

 

[Ranch 13]

Both will work, but you really need to let the rifle and target answer the question.

 

[Buzzard Luck]

I've never heard of putting a felt was over powder then a patched round ball over that , is this common and what advantage or disadvantage does it give?

 

[Brokennock]

Either will work, both as the main charge, and in the pan if it is flintlock.
Many of us put some type of wad between powder and patched ball, either felt or thin card (sold as "overshot" cards) for a couple reasons.
Some feel it protects the powder from the lube when the gun is left loaded for long periods of time, as during hunting season. Some feel they get better groups with a patch/ball combo that is easier to start and push down. Example of this second one: I had a .45 caliber Pedersoli Frontier/Blue Ridge I got excellent groups with a .445 ball and a lubed patch of a given size which I don't remember, but, it was difficult to start and load,,,, a .440 ball shot almost as good with a slightly thicker patch, but not quite, but was easier to load,, adding a wad under the patched ball brought the groups equal.

I have found I can get equal performance with less powder from 3f when compared to 2f, and less fouling.
This is with guns from .45 caliber rifle to .62/20 gauge smoothbores.

 

[azmntman]

I've never heard of putting a felt was over powder then a patched round ball over that , is this common and what advantage or disadvantage does it give?

One advantage is you can use a thinner patch w/o burn through if thats what yer rifle prefers. Also a lubed wad keeps fouling soft. It also keeps the felt folks from starving.

 

[Christophero]

The Frontier and the Blue Ridge from Cabela's are the same rifle. Mine is a 1990's vintage in 50 caliber and shoots 65 grains of FFFg with PRB's or T/C MaxiHunter conical bullets equally well. Both projectiles have killed deer successfully, even out to 100 yards. I found out years ago that 65 grains of FFFg was equivalent to 80 grains of FFg, shot cleaner, accurate and gave more shots per pound. I have some FFg but even for the 54 PRB find myself still grabbing the FFFg. YMMV (but I doubt it)

 

[Omahkapi'si]

Since I only have 2F that's what will get used in the new flintlock when it shows up; in the barrel and the pan. No 3f or 4f to be had around here right now.

 

[FlintRock]

I use 2F for my 50 cal fast twist, 54 cal slow twist and 62 cal smoothie. Prime my smooth with 2F too.

just keeps it simple to use one and they all shoot well. Have used 3F in my 50 when I was in a bind and it didn’t shoot as well but I didn’t work on different loads.

 

[William O.]

I've never heard of putting a felt was over powder then a patched round ball over that , is this common and what advantage or disadvantage does it give?

It can sometimes improve accuracy and you've got nothing to loose by trying it. It is mostly used when shooting conical style bullets out a barrels having shallow rifling and faster twist rates though.

 

[William O.]

Opinions: l have a Pedersoli frontier 50 cal. plan on hunting deer with. Haven't shot it yet but would like some help on working up a good deer load. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I would start with 3f and work up a load from 50 grains, shooting three times and then increasing by 5 grains and repeating until your groups are nice and tight. Don't adjust your sights, change lubes or patch material either at this point. Once you've found the powder charge that your rifle shoots best with then you may want to try 2f. Sometimes you'll have a rifle that just won't group with one or the other. Sometimes you'll get similar results using both.
I had a 50 cal fast twist barrel that you couldn't hit the ground with using 2f. 3f and lots of it was the only thing it liked. Likewise I have a .54 that does best with 2f and is frustrating as heck if 3f is used. Anyway, half the fun is finding out!

 

[Harry]

I have tons of BP guns both cap and flint smooth and rifled in all but two guns I use 3f to include a 12g Mortimer that loves 3f. My double barrel navy arms prefers ff for a tight pattern and my 20g Fowler prefers ff for both pattern and round ball accuracy other than that fff on all calibers from .32-.72

 

[tom_in_vt]

Try both and see what it likes better (there may not be much if any difference).

 

[Lonewalker]

Both will harvest deer size game with equal effectiveness. For target shooting and group seeking ya must burn a good bit of each to decide, the journey is the fun part, enjoy.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Opinions: l have a Pedersoli frontier 50 cal. plan on hunting deer with. Haven't shot it yet but would like some help on working up a good deer load. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

The .50 is a great calibre for deer sized game, though a bit light for elk, in my opinion. I find the .54 with a round ball or the .50 shooting a conical bullet of some kind much more effective on something the size of an elk. That's not to say that the .50 can't kill elk with a round ball, I've killed lots of elk with a round ball using a .50 calibre...But to be honest, in my personal opinion, the .54 is probably a lot more efficient at it. I have pretty much retired my .50's for big game hunting and tend to use the .54 for big game. The .54 is the most efficient at converting grains of powder down the bore into projectile velocity out of the bore; so easy transition to make..

I have several .50's that I've used to hunt deer...the lowest powder charge was 80 grains in a Pedersoli .50 cailbre Alamo Rifle (for elk I use a charge of 90 grains in that particular firearm) and I had a CVA Mountain Rifle that I used for decades to hunt big game...or anything for that matter, as it was my only muzzle loader at the time, and I used a charge of 95 grains of ffg.

The .50 calibre will work well on deer & antelope sized game. You will be very happy...

 

[Lonewalker]

Either will let the go juice leak out of a whitetail with equal effect, which is most accurate in your rifle is a mystery till ya start shooting it ALOT

 

[Christophero]

I've had a number of 50 caliber muzzleloaders the past 35 years. I began with 80 grains of FFG under the T/C Maxiball but quickly switched to 65 grains FFFg and the MaxiHunter slug, as the velocity was basically the same with the FFFg burning cleaner and more shots fired per pound.
When I begin using PRB's I kept the 65 grains of FFFg loading and am completely happy with it, too. Numerous deer have succumb to both projectiles. For Elk I would only use a conical slug, though. I ve shot elk with centerfires and they can be tough to go down. My preference.

Recently picked up a 54, as it was at the right time, right place type of situation. Not that it is necessary for whitetail, but it has accounted for a large doe already with a PRB. Another enjoyable project.

Enjoy your journey. Much to learn

 

[tenngun]

Old rule of thumb was 3f to .40 or .45, 2f from .50 to .66, 1F above that
Most of us use 3f across the board, or 2f in to the biggest
As others have said shoot what’s you got.