Just curious how much powder you guys use in your 54? Just finished a 54 with a 42 inch swamped rice barrel. Seems to shoot good with 60-70 grains of 2f, not a big fan of high powder charges. I would guess this is a low to medium powder charge?Pretty much shoots a 3 inch group off a rest at 50 yards, am happy with that. Some of you will say that is not very good. Will have start shooting off hand now. thanks, chuck
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54 cal. powder charge?
- Thread starter chuck-ia
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That’ll kill a deer deader than dead! If/when people use more powdah, to me that is to have a better (flatter) overall trajectory out to 100-yards or so.
More than good for bar, injun, or deers. My Lyman’s plains rifle of 28 balls to the pound (.54 cal) works well with a 70 gr. charge of 2Fg Graf’s powder. I too don’t care for any more than that regarding recoil.
I agree with the above comments, that is enough to take game. My Lyman GPR in .54 has its' best accuracy with 95 gr of 2f KIKK black powder, between 2" and 3" groups at 100 yards off a bench rest. That's about the best my old eyes will do.
My Lyman Trade rifle in .54 likes 85 gr of the above 2f, best group was less than 2" at 100 yards. However, I have a peep rear and hood front target sights on this rifle, helps accommodate these old eyes.
Basically, the rifle will let you know what it likes. With a nice rifle like yours, it will most likely produce great groups with a decent range of powder loading. Good shooting, make smoke!
My Lyman Trade rifle in .54 likes 85 gr of the above 2f, best group was less than 2" at 100 yards. However, I have a peep rear and hood front target sights on this rifle, helps accommodate these old eyes.
Basically, the rifle will let you know what it likes. With a nice rifle like yours, it will most likely produce great groups with a decent range of powder loading. Good shooting, make smoke!
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I have four .54's. All of them thrive on 85 grains GOEX FFFg.
I've harvested a lot of deer with 70 grains of 3Fg from a 38" Colerain barrel and a patched, .530 round ball. :wink:
I was taught that you use some math for a base, starting load, then at the range you experiment using that base, and see what works best.
Ball Weight in Grains / divided by 3 = result is then rounded to nearest 5, is starting load in grains by volume.
So my .490 ball in my .50 was 177...divided by 3 = 59, rounded up was then 60 grains. At the range I settled on 70 grains.
Upped my caliber to .54 a few years later, and the .530 ball was 225 grains so the starting load by the formula would've been 75. I had the 70 grain measure from the previous .50 caliber rifle, tried that first, and it shot fine so kept it at that.
Worked for my .40 too..., the .390 ball is 89 grains, so that's 30 grains of powder when the result is rounded. :wink:
LD
I was taught that you use some math for a base, starting load, then at the range you experiment using that base, and see what works best.
Ball Weight in Grains / divided by 3 = result is then rounded to nearest 5, is starting load in grains by volume.
So my .490 ball in my .50 was 177...divided by 3 = 59, rounded up was then 60 grains. At the range I settled on 70 grains.
Upped my caliber to .54 a few years later, and the .530 ball was 225 grains so the starting load by the formula would've been 75. I had the 70 grain measure from the previous .50 caliber rifle, tried that first, and it shot fine so kept it at that.
Worked for my .40 too..., the .390 ball is 89 grains, so that's 30 grains of powder when the result is rounded. :wink:
LD
Nobody has mentioned twist. The twist rate will determine what load is most accurate for your rifle. Slow twists require heavier charges. My .54 Jaeger with a 1:72" twist needed well north of 100 grains to close the groups. A 1:48" might only need 60 gr. Measure your twist (Rice likes 1:56", that might be what you have) and test by shooting from rest at 50 yards.
I had a .54 with a green river 1/66 twist. It shot cloverleaf with .526 ball .15 patch greased with lard on top of 70 grains of 3 f, it was my best shooting gun. My sights were v and thin silver blade, probably could have shot better with better sights.
My .54 L.C. Rice likes 85 gr FFFg.
Does all I need on deer and then some out to 100 yards where I have any business shooting.
Slower twists often prefer a stouter load with round balls.
Does all I need on deer and then some out to 100 yards where I have any business shooting.
Slower twists often prefer a stouter load with round balls.
My .54 Hawken rifle that I built uses 120 grs of 3f w/ a PRB...it's the only load used and is for elk. Like was said....trajectory out to 125 yds is of prime importance w/ its reasonable mid range height. One of the last elk shot w/ this rifle was at 107 paced off yds and it travelled 40 yds after the shot and collapsed.
Might be shooting some unburnt powder out the bbl, but am not concerned.....because it's also a very accurate load. My son has also shot a few elk w/ this rifle w/o losing a wounded elk.
Neither I or my son are recoil sensitive, having shot some big CF mags that really "kick"......Fred
Might be shooting some unburnt powder out the bbl, but am not concerned.....because it's also a very accurate load. My son has also shot a few elk w/ this rifle w/o losing a wounded elk.
Neither I or my son are recoil sensitive, having shot some big CF mags that really "kick"......Fred
rfdr
.54 or bust
one should use as much a powder charge as both the shooter and gun agree upon. avoid the wrong amount and choose the better, right amount. this is akin to playing all good notes on yer fiddle and avoid playing the bad notes. :hmm: :grin:
lots also depends on the projectile and how it's implemented.
typically, that comes down to patch material type and thickness, and ball diameter (we'll assume a "pure" lead ball). then it's all about how tight a load does one want, and if a short starter is required, and if a hammer is required. :haha:
i know of folks using 30 grains with a .54 (actually, a .526 ball, thicker patching, and a "loose" load). with my .54, it liked 70 or 75 grains of swiss 3f and a loose .526 ball load.
it's really all about choices. figure out what yer gonna use the gun for, decide what kinda horsepower is needed to achieve that goal, then go ask the gun. seriously. :v
lots also depends on the projectile and how it's implemented.
typically, that comes down to patch material type and thickness, and ball diameter (we'll assume a "pure" lead ball). then it's all about how tight a load does one want, and if a short starter is required, and if a hammer is required. :haha:
i know of folks using 30 grains with a .54 (actually, a .526 ball, thicker patching, and a "loose" load). with my .54, it liked 70 or 75 grains of swiss 3f and a loose .526 ball load.
it's really all about choices. figure out what yer gonna use the gun for, decide what kinda horsepower is needed to achieve that goal, then go ask the gun. seriously. :v
When I started out 1 grain per caliber was the starting point. Back then, mid to late 70's, my 25 and 50 yard load was 55 grains 2fg. I won a lot of matches back then. My hunting load was 110 grains of 2fg. This was a TC with 1-48 twist.
Now my hunting rifle has a Colrain barrel with 1-56 twist. 60 grains of 3fg has and will shoot a one hole group at 50 yards.
Last year I loaded 75 grains of Goex 3fg and took a buck and doe, both rounds passed completely through both deer.
Due to the wild hogs this year I'm back to my old hunting load of 80 grains of 3fg.
I'm only shooting deer and hogs but if I was going after Elk my load would be much higher.
Now my hunting rifle has a Colrain barrel with 1-56 twist. 60 grains of 3fg has and will shoot a one hole group at 50 yards.
Last year I loaded 75 grains of Goex 3fg and took a buck and doe, both rounds passed completely through both deer.
Due to the wild hogs this year I'm back to my old hunting load of 80 grains of 3fg.
I'm only shooting deer and hogs but if I was going after Elk my load would be much higher.
kansas_volunteer
45 Cal.
Taking a similar tack as Loyalist Dave in ancient discussion here, it was said a load of 11.5 grains per cubic inch of bore is pretty close to an optimum. It may or may not be, but that's what was kicked around.
I use 80 grain 3F in a 38" .54 because that is what is shoots PRB most accurately with.
Griz44Mag
70 Cal.
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So for my .54 GPRKansas Volunteer said:
(.54/2)^2 x 3.14 x 33" x 11.5 = 86.86 (grains)
I found that 85gr on an adjustable volumetric measure is pretty darn accurate.
I think I will be checking some of my other rifles to see how this works on them...
VERY interesting.
So the longer the barrel the more hot gas you need to keep the ball under pressure and accelerating. A shorter barrel will waste the extra gas produced by a larger charge and thus not benefit from the additional energy. I did find that my 28" TC with a smaller charge is more accurate than my 33" GM barrel TC with the same charge. If I up the charge on the 33" barrel the accuracy improves dramatically. The theory seems to have merit.
Some folks report that in a much longer barrel than mine, say 44" + vs. my 38", that going to 2Fg gets better performance, and also does so with using 2Fg in .58 or larger with a 42" or longer barrel.
LD
LD
Loyalist Dave said:
This could be the case in certain circumstances , what I have found is that fg & ffg both work good in my 42” .54 rifle & 44”
16 gauge smoothbore.
The only difference I can see is fffg shoots a little flatter out at 100 yards and fffg cleans up a lot easier than fg or ffg.
At normal hunting distances (50yds or less ) I don’t see any difference in accuracy .
:idunno:
Have hunted for years with an open-sight Traditions Whitetail .54 with a 24" barrel and 1:48 twist. Had good luck with 70-90 gr. of Pyrodex RS behind 425 gr. Buffalo Bullet, but have settled on a 70 gr. charge behind patched ball (.530 and pillow ticking, or commercial Bore Butter-soaked patches).
The patched ball combination is dependably deadly on whitetail at 40-50 yards (I hunt in the Crosstimbers area of Oklahoma) and is capable of through-and-through shots in the traditiona kill zone of a whitetail with minimum recoil. I would take shots out to 70 yards if need be, but all of my "black powder" deer have been within 50 yards. Season always starts with a 40-50 yard "sight check" on a tennis-ball size bull's eye on cardboard. Rifle remains true to "in the black" hole punching from year to year, and I don't scrub the barrel until season closes after sight-in exercise.
Have shot the rifle on competitive "black powder shoots" which involved walking through the woods to engage various targets. Shot extremly accuragely with PRB and 30 gr. of Pyrodex RS.
Lots of fun whatever I do with it... one of my favorite firearms.
The patched ball combination is dependably deadly on whitetail at 40-50 yards (I hunt in the Crosstimbers area of Oklahoma) and is capable of through-and-through shots in the traditiona kill zone of a whitetail with minimum recoil. I would take shots out to 70 yards if need be, but all of my "black powder" deer have been within 50 yards. Season always starts with a 40-50 yard "sight check" on a tennis-ball size bull's eye on cardboard. Rifle remains true to "in the black" hole punching from year to year, and I don't scrub the barrel until season closes after sight-in exercise.
Have shot the rifle on competitive "black powder shoots" which involved walking through the woods to engage various targets. Shot extremly accuragely with PRB and 30 gr. of Pyrodex RS.
Lots of fun whatever I do with it... one of my favorite firearms.
