50 cal squirrel loads

[tx50cal]

I have a hawken 50 cal with a 28 inch barrel with 1 in 66 twist. I am wondering what it lightest load I can use is. I want to use it for squirrel hunting out to about 25 yards.I just want to get the ball out of the bore and, if I hit the squirrel I don't want to blow it to heck. Thanks.

 

[musketman]

The lightest charge I have for a .50 caliber, 28 inch barrel with a 1-66 inch twist using a .015 Crisco lubed patch and a .498 roundball is as follows:

50 grains of FFg
1333 fps.
709 FT/lbs energy at the muzzle

I'm sure there are lighter loads and as soon as other members read this, they'll post replies with them...

You can always work a load down in 5 grain increments until you find the desired squirrel load...

 

[roundball]

Thinking back about the size of the tiny .22cal bullet, I'm pretty sure any good sized muzzleloader ball that hits a squirrel is going to do some serious damage.

What I've learned from our fellow ML enthusiasts is to go for head shots, so I've throttled back a .45cal flinter to 40grns of FFFg, and have been practicing at 25yds with a small 1+3/4" steel target so I can try the squirrels this year myself...should be fun

 

[Dave K]

Well, I am shooting Swiss powder, but remember a 22 rimfire that many shoot on squirrels, are only traveling about 1200 fps. My squirrel load is 20gr. in my 32 and 25gr. in my 40. I never tried it in a 50, but I would try around 30gr.All you need to do is take their heads off, don't need to send the head into orbit.

 

[BrownBear]

If it has any rellevance, I'm using 30 grains of FFF behind a PRB in my 54 GPR for snowshoe hare. My partner has a TC Hawken with the 50 cal RB barrel, and he uses 25 grains of FFF for snowshoes. Back when I lived in squirrel country my favorite load was 2 grains of Bullseye behind a wadcutter in a 38 Special case from my old 6" Model 19 Smith. When the light was right you could see the bullet fly, so I don't think there will be any minimum velocity issues with your 50- head shots of course.

 

[tg]

If you have a chance try sone .45 cal balls with wool blanketing or heavy denim patching with 25-30 gr. of powder, some guns will group well with an undersized ball and light loads.

 

[roundball]

I know 40grns Goex FFFg is more than I need in my .45cal for squirrels but since I'm going to try head shots anyway I figured it wouldn't matter.....and the added benefit will be that I'll have enough umph for a "bigger head" shot in case a buck comes walking along
::

 

The only thing you should have to watch out for are safety issues, Clearing the bore and not allowing air gap between charge and ball.

I know that a 20 gn charge is plenty powerful from my cap and ball revolvers and I have used 15 gn charges in my .50 cal pistol many times.

The only concern I would have would be to make sure that the "chamber" area of the patent breech is filled and the ball in sitting on powder when you pull the trigger. Otherwise the ball becomes and "obstruction" in your bore and you get into dangerous preasure issues. :m2c:

 

I never shot squirrels with an ML rifle. Is "barking" a myth or can you stun them with a near miss? :huh:

 

[Stumpkiller]

With the 1:66 twist your accurcy will probably fall off if you push the ball too slow. 50 to 60 gr FFg should be a winner. I go as low as 42 gr in my .54 with 1:48, but my 1:48 .50 cal likes 60 gr as a target/squirrel load. Whatever gives you the best accuracy.

I have barked squirrels. It's not reliable, like when a squirrel stops on a trunk with his back to you. It also works differently depending on tree species and temperature. I much prefer a light load and a head shot, or even a stout load and a head shot. Barking works well when you're almost directly below a squirrel and the branch obscures part of the head and you've got a heavy charge. In my opinion, the thicker the bark (like on the main trunk of an oak vs. a white pine) the less effective the practice. About half the squirrels I shoot are on the ground, and trying to "dirt" a squirrel is even less successful than trying to "bark" one.

 

[kentucky bucky]

Barking squirrels out of trees isn't myth. I have an old friend that is in his 80's and his father and grandfathers hunted with ML rifles in WV and did it regularly. They would have bets among themselves to see who could kill a squirrel(or the most squirrels) without drawing blood. They would knock it out of the tree, which stunned it and whack it in the head before it went into the pouch. There is a story that once one of them didn't whack a squirrel hard enough and it woke up hanging on his belt and about ate him up!

 

[Doc Contender]

Have a friend that picked up a dead squirrel once(shotgun hunting), placed it in his hunting vest. Few minutes later squirrel started to move. Friend reach back in his vest, grap the squirrel. Squirrel bit friend through thumb(bone and flesh). After he finally got the squirrel to let go, he shot and beat and beat and shot that little squirrel too numerous times to tell. He also cuss like a demon from hell all the way through the episode. Has a nice scar on that thumb to this day. So, if your going to bark"em... bark'em
good!

 

[750k2]

both me and my son use 30gr 3f and they are plenty accurate for squirrels @ 25yds and maybe a might further with some hold over.
I wouldn't worry about head shots - just hit them in the front half - little or no meat there anyway.

50 GPR and Austin & halleck 50 1:60 & 1:66 :results:

 

[tx50cal]

Would 30 grains of 3f measure about the same as 30 grain of 2f? I use 2f and have never used 3F thanks.

 

[roundball]

The same volumetric 30 grn measure would be throw 30grns of either FFFg or FFg.

FFFg is 'hotter' (faster buring = higher pressure) than an equivalent volume of FFg

 

[Stumpkiller]

The same volumetric 30 grn measure would be throw 30grns of either FFFg or FFg.

Nope. It will throw the same volume, but you'll get more FFFg by weight than the FFg.

Here's what I get with a brass T/C adjustable measure (the one with the sliding funnel and the internal cap safe.

FFFg___FFg
40_____37
50_____48
60_____56
70_____65
80_____75
90_____84
100____94
110___103
120___112

The larger granulations trap more air between the kernals.

FFFg is not hotter (it all comes out of the same batch, it's screened for size). It contains more powder and less air for a given VOLUME.

 

[roundball]

Nope. It will throw the same volume, but you'll get more FFFg by weight than the FFg.

FFFg is not hotter (it all comes out of the same batch, it's screened for size). It contains more powder and less air for a given VOLUME.

:huh:
Just to clarify, that's exactly what I said...the question was would 30grn of FFFg measure the same as 30grns FFg...wasn't asking about differences in weight...said measures...=volume.
I said the same volume measure would throw the same volume of either...didn't get into side discussions about granule size, trapped air, weight, etc, etc;

And yes, a given volume of FFFg does burn faster/is 'hotter' than an equivalent volume of FFg, creates higher pressures sooner, etc...the additional number of smaller granules present a combined greater total amount of surface areas to all be burning at the same time.

All this is the primary reason why we have the recommended rule-of-thumb that FFg load data be reduced 10-15% when using FFFg.

 

[rrgr40]

No myth, done by accident before.

 

[tommy b]

If it's a Thompson Center Hawken, TOW carries a Green Mountain .32 cal conversion drop-in barrel that should do squirrels quite nicely, Bought one myself a while ago, just haven't fired it yet. Price was a lot more reasonable than buying one from GM.

 

[trent/OH]

Just for information sake, my first ML deer was taken by the load you ask about, except in a 42" barrel. It hit a medium sized doe at 130 yards, and she died after running about 50 yards. At that time I didn't know that was too far to kill a deer.