300 FPS Difference............

[ETipp]

It matters less and less to me! Last year I was good to 75 yards with a rest on the hunt. My last outing with my elk gun says it's 50 yards this year! I'm OK with that. I hunt the timber where getting close is feasible.

A man has to know his limitations.

I too, hunt the thick stuff at most all my happy hunting grounds. However, I have one new place that has a couple somewhat smaller, open, grassy fields where I can get a 100 yard shot. And not to steep or thick in the immediate wooded surrounding area. I know I can hit accurately at 100 yards, so if they opportunity presents itself, and as long as I can get a good steady rest, then I doubt I would pass it up. Very doubtful I would aim for the vitals.

 

[Nav]

What would you aim for if not the boiler room? Neck?

I sort of feel like if you keep it low and don't hit the shoulder from the heart/lung all the way to the head is a kill shot. Thing is, the meat between the ribs is hardly worth the effort to butcher, but there's lots of good venison in the neck.

When I would go deer hunting on leave in OH my buddy's dad had 30 kill permits for their farm, and we would wait till dark, spotlight them, and take head shots with his .220 Swift. Once you hit them with that big light they wouldn't move, and you could down them 1,2,3. We would butcher them till dawn, and in the morning drive across the river to Wheeling and deliver the meat to the food pantries. Lots of grateful people on those mornings.

 

[ETipp]

What would you aim for if not the boiler room? Neck?

With a RB and until proven differently, yes sir, on closer up shots. Lower neck just in forward of the front shoulders.

However, if its at 100 yards or so I intend to aim center of the front shoulders. Bigger target at that distance.

I have studied up on this and have seen way too many videos of many deer shot with RB that runs quite a ways after impact despite most of them were good shots in the vitals. I cannot afford for a critter to run much at all at most all my happy hunting grounds. I have never seen any critter go anywhere but straight down after they have been shot in the neck area.

Maxi balls.....I have always aimed for the vitals and have never had anything go farther than a few steps/yards. Even elk.

 

[Rifleman1776]

So,
I’ve never had Swiss. Do folks that use or have used both think it’s worth the 33% difference in price
I understand, and have not tested this my self, that in large bores the increase becomes very minimal

Swiss is hotter, no doubt. But, I have never been able to get good groups using it in several different rifles. Dunno why, others do not express having this problem. And, yes, I have experimented with heavier/lighter charges.

 

[Frontier's]

Longest shot on an elk with a 54cal and round ball 140 yards, through the lungs. She went 60 yards after the double lung hit.

I've seen no difference in performance when using a conical, only more wasted meat.

 

[ETipp]

Longest shot on an elk with a 54cal and round ball 140 yards, through the lungs. She went 60 yards after the double lung hit.

I've seen no difference in performance when using a conical, only more wasted meat.

Shot my last elk with a .50 Maxi Ball at over 100 yards. It took about 4 steps.

I've never had any critter go farther than a very few steps/yards with a Maxi Ball.

The performance between a RB and a Conical, especially at 100 yards + is like night and day.

 

[John Strong]

Swiss is hotter, no doubt. But, I have never been able to get good groups using it in several different rifles. Dunno why, others do not express having this problem. And, yes, I have experimented with heavier/lighter charges.

I have a couple of rifles that love Swiss, but my smoothbore shoots awful with it.. Can't explain why. The Swiss seems to make more of a difference in the smaller calibers for me and not so much in the big bores. In the end, I use the powder that shoots the best out the rifle, so I have both Goex and Swiss on hand.

 

[Frontier's]

Shot my last elk with a .50 Maxi Ball at over 100 yards. It took about 4 steps.

I've never had any critter go farther than a very few steps/yards with a Maxi Ball.

The performance between a RB and a Conical, especially at 100 yards + is like night and day.

Not in my experience. Every animal I shot ended up dead without any struggle.

Less than a month and I'll be tracking down a bull with my 54 after a 5 year wait.

 

[Absoroka]

I have not tested Swiss over a chronograph. When GOEX was hard to get i used Elephant for a while. It took about 10 to 15% more Elephant to match the same velocity of GOEX. The big difference was that Elephant produced far lower standard deviation numbers that GOEX even though it took more powder to produce the most accurate velocity in my flintlock. AS noted above, if you are chasing X's in competition, consistent velocity leaves the rest up to the shooter. I don't believe most folks can outshoot either powder brand.