Hav shot a pile of deer with a Thompson Center White Mountain Carbine and sabots but I recently picked up a New Englander in 54 cal and plan to try patched round balls. I hunt whitetails only, wondering the effective range of this gun with prb on deer.
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54 cal PRB effective range?
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Certainly further than I'm willing to shoot, but easily to my 100 yard personal limit. Some guys here on the site take them further though.
I limit my shots on game to 80 yards but that is due to how well I can see using open sights. I would have no reservations shooting a deer out to 120-130 yards using a .54 PRB if I knew exactly where the shot was going to hit.
BTW- discussion of plastic skirted bullets are frowned upon here, we just refer to them as "unmentionables".
BTW- discussion of plastic skirted bullets are frowned upon here, we just refer to them as "unmentionables".
Yeah! I agree that the 54 PRB is not the limiter. Know your rifle and your load and most of all know your ability to place a accurate shot. With me it varies as the light conditions change. When things are good at the range I can place shots in a 8 inch shoot and see at 110 yards but I really doubt that I would take a shot at a game animal at much more than 75 or 80 yards. By the way I am a bow hunter and 80 yards looks a long ways off. I only use iorn sights on MLR's. Geo. T.
hanshi
Cannon
Elbow, the max killing range of a .54 prb is the maximum distance that you can keep 5 consecutive rounds on a standard pie plate and all shots fired from a field position - sitting/kneeling/standing with no arm support other than your body. It's that simple.
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My longest kill with a .54 ball was a 115 lb. doe at 86 yards - mid chest lung shot with complete pass through. Everything else happend to be around 60-70 yards. But I wouldn't hesitate to go out to 125 yards for a broadside shot on a relaxed animal if I had a good rest. I've never lost a deer shot with a .54.
nchawkeye
58 Cal.
I've killed them out to 125 yards with 80grs FFF Goex...
Rat Trapper
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I set up the same as if I was bow hunting except and am willing to shoot out to around 50 yards. I can shoot with very good accuracy out past that distance, but don't want to if I can help it.
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elbow said:
Depends on how fast it's going when it gets there as well as how accurately you can hit the chosen spot.
Little Wattsy
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nchawkeye said:
Yah out to 100 yards the trajectory is pretty flat.. 90 grains of FFg and a .535 RB will be 1" high at 25 yards, 3" high at 50 yards, and dead on at 100 yards - all things being equal; between 100 and 125 yards it wi1l drop nearly 12" and fall off the charts from there.
Energy is not the problem, real hunting accuracy is..
That said, I love to hunt with my .54 and RB's
Col. Batguano
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Yup. Like hunting with a mortar after about 125-150 yards. It can be done, but not easily.
The other alternative with a big caliber (54 is a little small, as .75 is more like it) is to create fused shells and turn your rifle in to an area weapon. :stir: .
The other alternative with a big caliber (54 is a little small, as .75 is more like it) is to create fused shells and turn your rifle in to an area weapon. :stir: .
You nailed it.
A round ball has ballistics almost as bad as a thrown brick.
At right about 100 yards the ball simply runs out of 'legs' and start dropping like a.....uh...a brick.
A good shooter with a rifle properly sighted for longer ranges can kill deer with a round ball, no doubt.
But many consider about 100 yards the longest range for consistent hits and humane kills. It is my personal limit.
A round ball has ballistics almost as bad as a thrown brick.
At right about 100 yards the ball simply runs out of 'legs' and start dropping like a.....uh...a brick.
A good shooter with a rifle properly sighted for longer ranges can kill deer with a round ball, no doubt.
But many consider about 100 yards the longest range for consistent hits and humane kills. It is my personal limit.
Thats pretty much what I've came up with as far as ballistics go. I've shot out to 125 yrds or so and killed deer..just have to take into consideration the drop of the RB. Last year I shot a buck offhand at 90-100 yrds. I hunt exclusively with 54 cal.Wattsy said:
I normally don't like long shots, I hunt with my M'ler like I bow hunt, up close and personal.
Years ago we were shooting the silhouette pistol range with ML rifles. I was shooting my .54 Sharn Hawken with .530 patched round ball and 120gr of 2f black power. I hit the chicken and it droped hard, the pig went down fast, I missed the turkey. The ram is 200 meters and I held about a foot over and fired. I had brought my rifle to portarms and was turn to step off the firing line when she fell over. A fellow there saw the splash when the lead hit the ram he said it was high shoulder. If that had been a big buck I would have been tracking a wound animal. I like 100 to 125 yards for my distance limt.
elbow said:
I would limit myself to 150 yards if the velocity is 1900 or so and sighted for 130.
The 54 RB has been known to kill Canadian moose at 175 and a friend shot a Antelope farther than that for a one shot kill. Past 140-150 it takes either luck or experience to know where to hold.
Dan
Hawkins said:
A 54 RB will shoot through a deer at 200 with broad side lung shots or at least to the off side hide. Had you hit a buck in the high shoulder at 200 he likely would have staid where he fell since it more than likely would have gotten the spine.
Would I recommend that people try shots at this range? No. It requires practice at ranges past 150.
But testing years ago proved that at 200 penetration would be adequate. Velocity will still be about 850 fps with a 54 at 1900 and energy superior to 45 ACP. A 50 rb at 800fps will easily penetrate to the vitals and beyond on deer sized animals, having shot a deer and an antelope with a pistol that made 800 at the muzzle then did penetration tests with it at 25 yards and rifles out to 200. The 25 yard pistol penetrated the same as the 50 cal rifle at 200.
Dan
GaCop
40 Cal.
mike3132 said:
Amen to that! :grin:
