.62 Elk Load?

[Rebel]

I wondered what would be a good load for Elk using the .62 smoothbore. It seems to group best with 70gr. of Goex 3f powder, but i think that may be a little light for elk. How much 3f can i safely use do you think? I have some 2f also that i could try to get it to shoot a decent group with. So far it has shown a preference for the 3f, but i could try to get an acceptable group with higher charges of either powder if you think i need more power for elk. I don't plan on taking a shot past 60-75 yds, and hopefully closer than that. Anyone hunt elk with a .62 smoothie, and if so, what kind of load do you use? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Flintshooter in Indiana]

I've got a 58 I hunt deer with. My target load is 65gr 3F with a .562 ball and .020 patch. It groups good with that. I up the powder 20grs when I hunt and I sighted it at 70yds. For what reason, (hitting power) I don't know. I guess if I get a wall hanger out at 70-80yds and he makes no attempt to come closer, I might try him. The farthest I've shot is about 50-60 yds with the 85grs and not missed yet, only when the pan went and the charge didn't once. I can see no reason to switch to 2F. Most of the fellers I shoot with at Friendship use 3F in there 62 guns. I would think, from having switched from 2F to 3F in my smoothbore, you'd have to up the powder 20-30grs to use 2F to be where you're at now and to get it to group would be another question. That in a 62 (90-100grs) would get a shoulder mighty sore after a grouping session. If you're having luck with the 3F, stay with it and if you think you might shoot out to 75yds, work up a load for 75yds starting with what you got and see where it prints. Add 10 grs and try it again, and so on. I really don't know what the max powder to muzzle velocity would be, but I believe Mr. Elk will fold if'n ya hit 'em good. ::

 

[Stumpkiller]

How much 3f can i safely use do you think?

Yoiks! How weak is the weakest spot in your barrel? You won't know 'till you get just a hair past the safest load when all h*ll breaks loose. Hot loads can be like Russian Roulette. How many gunsmiths have been handed a gun with a bulged barrel and split stock and told "It never did THAT before."?

Not knowing just what your .62 is makes it unsafe to speculate. As a general rule drop back about 10% whan switching from FFg to FFFg. It's not that the powder is any more potent, it's just that FFg has more trapped air space in a given volume (which can actually help ignition).

Assuming you have a well made light-profile musket barreled piece (as opposed to a smooth rifle with a heavy barrel - which would just eject unburnt powder past a given 'reasonable' loading) that has no material or manufacturing flaws or has developed no problems due to abuse or corrosion and you are shooting a patched round ball I'll stick my neck out. I never saw the need to go past 90 grains in my .66 cal. smoothbore; and that had a Getz round musket barrel with maybe a 0.1" wall thickness at the muzzle and 0.25" wall thickness at the breech. 85 gr was my hunting charge. But then I never shot at elk.

I would opt for conservatism and say you shouldn't stuff more than 85 gr of FFg in that caliber EVER. 65 gr. would be the 'normal' charge, and 85 would be a 'magnum' load of 30% over service. I would certainly not feed it a constant diet of that. Statistics have a way of expressing themselves at the worst of times. 80 gr. should kill an elk dead enough. That's still 23% over 'normal' load. All the above weights are for FFg. Drop back 10% for FFFg.


Disclaimer:
The opinions expressed above are my own and not aproved or endorced by this site or the management, and you can make of them what you will at your own risk and peril. For all I know your musket was made from a length of gas pipe and a 2X4 stock and should not be fired with any projectile. The upper charges mentioned should be approached cautiously in small, incremental increases. There is no 'high pressure' warning sign on a flintlock as there is in a cartridge firearm, or even a percussion (i.e. hammer kickback to half-cock).

 

[Rebel]

North Star West Early English Trade gun with a octagon to round barrel. There is plenty of barrel wall thickness at the muzzle, and it is 1 1/8" across the flats at the breech. I guess what i meant to ask wasn't how much powder i could pour down the barrel safely, but how much would be needed for Elk to a max. of 75yds. I know that the 70 gr. 3f load i use in it now is enough for deer, just wasn't sure about Elk. It may be all i need for them too. After all, the most important part is where the ball is placed, not how much power you have. Thanks for the info guys, Take care, and Watch yer backtrail.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Nice gun. You're set. They are solid. I'll back off and let them as have actually seen an elk help you with killing them (I was more concerned with you killing yerself!) ::

 

[Rebel]

safety. I ain't lookin' to get kilt yet. :winking: I know that Curly Gostomski (former owner of NSW) used one of his .62's with 120gr of 2f to shoot clear through a bull Buffalo. Don't think i need quite that much powder in mine though. ::

 

[tg]

Rebel, at the range you can hit the right spot with a smoothie 70-80 gr of 3f will take an Elk with a .62 a .50 with the same load will do at 50 yds, I use 80 gr in my .62 smoothrifle and would not heitate to hunt Elk with that load if I ever get so senile as to put myself through so much work again. If you barrel is 1 1/8 at the breech it is a good one many are only 1".....the accuracy factor may be an issue as you up the load as well?????

 

Due to the low pressures developed and 'better' pressure/load combination with 2F, that's what I would use. I would not use 3F in the .62, personally.
: That said, I would follow Lyman's .58 cal. load descriptions for an indication of expected pressure and would load in accordance with that AND with attention to the accuracy received. For elk, I would load as high a powder charge as accuracy would allow, to approximately 140gr. or 150gr. 2F. this load will still be less than 7,500LUP. It sounds like a lot, but really isn't, and probably developes the same pressure as 85/90gr.3F, but would be giving higher velocity, hopefully.
: In the .58, which developes MORE pressure than the .62, due to a higher expansion ratio, with 140gr. 2F GO, developed less then 7,000 for it's slightly over 1,400fps. This load would be a good one for Elk at the ranges you've specified. These ballistics are for the 32" bl. used in Lyman's test.
: Indeed, in the .58, they went as high at 190gr. 2F for a max presure of 8,180LUP.(lead units of pressure in the crusher system)
: AGAIN- the 20bore developes even LESS pressure with the same load.
: Don't be afraid to experiment. Accuracy will be the final judge of your max load. You will stop going up due to excessive recoil or loss of acccuracy, long before you develope too much pressure for your gun.
: USE 2F as it will probably give better accuracy with an Elk-type load than 3F will. Plan on a minimum of 1,300fps if you can get it. 1,400fps(better) with a 310gr. ball, should give roughly 1,400ft.lbs.energy, whatever that means. What 1,300fps to 1,400fps means, is it has enough smack for an Elk.
: You may have to try different patch combos to get accuracy with heavy load, so as I said, don't be afraid to experiment.
: With Swiss powder, you should be able to drop these loads by 20gr. for the same velocity at GOEX, according to what Ross Seyfried has found using this in his guns.