.45 cal deer load

[luieb45]

How much powder should I load my .45 caliber rifle with? I am using pyrodex RS.

 

[gmww]

I start at 70 and go up from there.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Have you talked to manufacturer of Pyrodex RS Yet?

According to my Hodgdon Loading Data manual, they recommend starting at 48 grains of RS( 1712 fps MV) and work up to a max of 72 grains RS. They give the caliber of the barrel, but not its length. The 72 gr. load is indicated at 1974 fps MV.

I don't know what deer they are trying to kill or at what distance, but much of that velocity is going to be lost inside 50 yards. The ball is just too light to carry energy very well over longer distances. 1500 fps. should be enough to kill a deer inside 50 yards!

Pyrodex is suppose to give 20% MORE VOLUME when compared to a given volume of Black Powder( NOT WEIGHT!) A volume of 30 grains of BP is equal to 24 grains of RS BY VOLUME. ( ie. 20% of 30 grains is 6 grains. 30- 6 = 24 grains.) Although we measure powder by volume, we still talk about it using a measurement of weight( Grains. There are 7000 grains in a pound; 437.5 grains in an ounce.), when talking about the amount of powder we are using. Don't let the use of the term, " grains" confuse you here. :thumbsup:

 

[gmww]

How much powder should I load my .45 caliber rifle with? I am using pyrodex RS.

From the Lyman Black Powder Handbook and Loading Manual 2nd ed. Hope this helps you with your decision.

 

[roundball]

How much powder should I load my .45 caliber rifle with? I am using pyrodex RS.

When I used Pyrodex RS in my .45cal caplock, this was my deer load, very accurate and worked fine on a handful of deer:

110grns Pyrodex RS
Oxyoke prelubed wool wad over powder
.018" T/C precut/prelubed pillow ticking
Hornady .440

In my Flintlocks, I currently use 90grns Goex 3F as it hotter than 2F (RS)

 

[luieb45]

So 110 grains wouldn't be too much in a .45 cal? I'm not going to go to 110 gr. right off the bat.

 

[roundball]

So 110 grains wouldn't be too much in a .45 cal? I'm not going to go to 110 gr. right off the bat.

All muzzleloader manufacturers publish load data charts for their MLs...for the record, you should go by the charts published by your ML's manufacturer.

In the case of TC for example, their load data charts are in their owners manual...its on their web site, which you can look through and/or download...they list 110grns 2F as their recommended max load in their .45cal Hawken.

 

[gmww]

When I first suggested 70gr. It is because you'll discover that your gun will have a sweet spot. Sweet spot being where your gun shoots the most accurate at a given powder charge. I like to go up in 5 gr. increments an shoot 5 shot groups. It can take a while but it's worth the effort.

 

[jmforge]

I am new at this, but I have talked with some very experienced folks and done some reading. these folks say that unless you have a very tight fitting "engraved" bullet or something like a two groove "express" barrel with the winged bullets, you pretty easily reach velocities with larger powder charges where the bullet or ball will "skip" the rifling and accuracy will suffer. i am also not sure if anything other than a "modern" muzzleloader or one like the late English sporting guns or super strong "smallbore" rifled muskets like the Whitworth or Parker Hale Volunteer would hold up too well with a 120 grain charge producing 20,000 psi pressures. Mark Sentz, a knifemaker and muzzleloader builder aquaitance of mine says that he does his target range shooting and hunting with his 1980's vintage Rigby reproduction using 120 grains of powder and 540 gr bullets for the range and 375 gr bullets for deer. The caveat is that he has to load these "engraved" bullets using a false muzzle and leather mallet!!!! So no "skipping happening there.

 

[gmww]

I rarely have to go over 85 gr. to find the sweet spot on my guns. I also engrave conicals (hardcast) for my fast twist 45. But it is done at home and I slip the pre-engraved bullets in the barrel easily in the field.

That is a sizer made from the same barrel on my gun. I ordered a barrel blank 2" longer with the idea of cutting of the 2" to make the sizer. Works great. :thumbsup:

 

[jmforge]

How much do those bullets weight? They look like they would definitely meet the 2 to 1 ratio.

 

[gmww]

Those were just test bullets to see if the sizer would be practical on hardcast. They are .45 pistol bullets. I think 300 or maybe 240. I can't recall.

 

[longcruise]

How much powder should I load my .45 caliber rifle with? I am using pyrodex RS.

All my chronographing over the years has shown that Pyro RS is, as Hodgdon states, pretty much equivalent to Goex ff on a volume basis. If it varies, it's more likely the Goex that is varying by lot.

There's plenty of wiggle room as far as safety goes in the manufacturers load tables so don't be too concerned about that.

I'd start at about 50 grains and work up looking for the point where accuracy falls off and then stay under that.

 

[luieb45]

My muzzleloader doesn't have a chart because I bought it at an auction and the gun is very old and the company has been closed down since the late '70s.

 

[roundball]

My muzzleloader doesn't have a chart because I bought it at an auction and the gun is very old and the company has been closed down since the late '70s.

Then to be honest, its really a manure-shoot due to its age, condition, manufacturing materials, unknowns, etc...there's really no way strangers on the Internet can safely advise you what you can shoot...and no way should you let them...bottom line is that nobody knows what you have there

 

[luieb45]

So you're saying my gun is crappy. I know that it definitely is not a good rifle.

 

[longcruise]

So you're saying my gun is crappy.

He didn't say it's crappy, he just said he doesn't know if it's crappy or not! :haha:

Must be some markings somwwhere on that gun. Bottom of the barrel., etc.

 

[roundball]

So you're saying my gun is crappy.

Your comment is absurd

 

[gmww]

So you're saying my gun is crappy. I know that it definitely is not a good rifle.

Noun 1. crapshoot - a risky and uncertain venture; "getting admitted to the college of your choice has become a crapshoot"
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/crapshoot

 

[John Wasmuth]

Both my CVA Kentucky and my H. Leman seem to like 80 grains of either Goex FFg with a .440 hornady round ball with a .015 wonderlube patch. Punch clean thru a whitetail at 75 yards. Lighter loads dont hold as tight.