about powder charges for deer hunting

i was always taught that you start a cal. and go up for loads. i.e 50 ca 50 grains and you go up in 5 grain increments. is this so? and i also noticed i bought 3f goex vice 2f mine owners manual say the max load should be 70 gr o 3f with a .490 prb. is this sufficent to take a deer with? any help wil be greatly appreciated. :front:

 

[Rebel]

Yes, 70 grs of 3f is enough powder for deer hunting with PROPER shot placement.

 

[jackc]

No advice here, just telling you what my philosophy is regarding deer hunting loads. I use the heaviest charge that will shoot with acceptable accuracy at the furthest range I will take a shot.

For me and my .50 cal. that is about 100 yards. For all practical purposes, I can forget anything beyond about 70 yards just because of the country I typically hunt. The trees and brush are so thick that most of the deer I can get a shot at are between 20 and 50 yards.

Good shot placement is truly the sign of a good hunter but the fact is bad things can happen to good hunters. Combine even a very slow moving deer with a slight hangfire and you can have a seriously poor hit. Okay, that maybe an extreme example but what I'm saying is things can go wrong.

My hunting load for my .50 is 100 gr. FFg with roundball. I won't win a match with that load but it has proven itself on whitetails even with angling hits.

:m2c:

 

[cayugad]

i was always taught that you start a cal. and go up for loads. i.e 50 ca 50 grains and you go up in 5 grain increments. is this so? and i also noticed i bought 3f goex vice 2f mine owners manual say the max load should be 70 gr o 3f with a .490 prb. is this sufficent to take a deer with? any help wil be greatly appreciated. :front:

Is this an Investarms or Cabela's .50 caliber rifle? The reason I ask is I have a Lyman Trade Rifle made by the same company technically. The strange thing is, Investarms and Lyman both sent manuals along for the rifle. And in the rifle manuals, both have their different opinion of the max powder charge.

For instance in the Investarms manual it says 90 grains of 2f or 70 grains of 3f for the max charge. In the Lyman manual is says, 110 grains of 2f and 90 grains of 3f as the maximum charge. I shoot 90 grains of 2f in my .54 caliber Trade Rifle and the accuracy is outstanding.

I've taken deer with 70 grains of 2f powder and a .490 roundball so yes, 70 grains of 3f with the right placement will do the job. I just thought it funny that the two manuals have different ideas of the charges.... thought you might find that interesting.

 

[jdixon]

My whitetail load out of a side lock w/ iron sights (1:48 Hawken) - 100 grains FFg behind a .54 Harvester Sabot and a .452 Horandy JHP. 250 gr. pistol bullet. I know that ain't traditional but, I hunt in a semi mountainous areas most o the time, got tired of deer doing the down hill death run after being hit square with a round ball or Buffalo Bullet. Can't get into those areas with a vehicle so your own muscle power is all you got to haul them out of the steep terrain. The JHP is accurate enough to place a devastating knock down right there shot out past 80 yards in most cases. In those cases where I am hunting more level terrain and have access to four-wheelers and such, the PRB is the choice using a 90 gr. FFg charge out of the same rifle.

 

[Halftail]

I have killed a few Deer with 90 grains of 3f and a .490 ball.No problem.The last Deer I took was with 100 Grains of 3f.Not much difference between those 2 loads but the 90 grain load is slightly more accurate.I am shooting a T/C New Englander for deer. :results:

 

[roundball]

I have killed a few Deer with 90 grains of 3f and a .490 ball.No problem.The last Deer I took was with 100 Grains of 3f.Not much difference between those 2 loads but the 90 grain load is slightly more accurate.I am shooting a T/C New Englander for deer. :results:

Same here...I don't use target loads for big game hunting...max or near max loads for that...90grns Goex 3F happens to be my hunting load as well...
:redthumb:

 

[shmrck1]

roundball,
Where i hunt at here in Ohio a 50yrd shot is
a long shot concidering the terain i hunt in. Heavily
forrested and up and down hills. A 20 or 30yard shot
is what you look for in my area IMO
snake-eyes

 

[Tahquamenon]

70gr 3FG and a .490 PRB will certainly be effective on deer.

Yes, 5gr increment load adjustments are more preferred in my view as with 10gr increments you can skip right over a great accuracy combination.

Your rifle (Investarms Hawken Sporter), being a carbine version with a shorter barrel (21") and with a fast twist (1:24") is why you have a slightly reduced load data. Too heavy a charge with a PRB and that fast of rifling and you will strip the PRB over the rifling and your accuracy with go to pieces.

The bigger question is what accuracy will you get with 70gr 3FG and your rifle? Give it a try.

If when loading heavier hunting charges you are having accuracy issues, try a wonderwad over the powder charge and then load your PRB. Often with heavy charges, I find with the use of a wad and a tighter patch (.018 ticking) allows for the best accuracy/heaviest loads.

Shot placement is really everything but as mentioned by Rockypointjack, sometimes the optimal shot placement is not what you end up with for a variety of reasons. For that reason alone I insist on as much down range energy as I can muster for the give projectile choice.

For larger game hunting Deer on up, I always load up to the maximum that still holds decent accuracy while within the loading limits of the rifle for the selected projectile choice. Why? Because in a hunting situation, I never want to leave any down range energy on the table. Particularly with roundballs as they run out of gas much more rapidly as they travel down range. I load for 100 yards range with open sights.

With your rifle setup (21" barrel & 1:24" rifling) I would strongly suggest that you consider a ball-et or a light to medium conical or sabot. A PRB will certainly be effective, but I were carrying your rifle a field for deer the last choice I would use would be a PRB unless I were hunting close tight areas with a 50 yard or less range.

Try the Hornady Great Plains 385 gr hollowpoint or the T/C Maxi-Hunter 350grain. With 70gr 3FG and that conical or sabot in the 200-250grain, you will have a huge increase in downrange energy and likely a bit better accuracy with heavy charges down range.

Disclaimer: I realize that a sabot or conical is not traditional and I apologize for any heartburn caused by me mentioning them here. I think Jax12 is looking for a straight answer for his rifle and that's what I'm trying to give him.

:thumbsup: :imo: :m2c:

 

[laufer]

.54 RB, 90gr of RS Pyrodex, .530 RB- deadly combo for both elk and deer.
Good hunting! :front:

 

[scott fellows]

my normal hunting load is 60grns of 3f and a patched .490 rb. i have taken several deer with this load at various ranges. never have i recovered a ball from the deer yet, all of them have always passed right thru. like others have said shot placement is the key. i also normally only take shots at deer that are standing still. sometimes you have to wait a long time for that shot but the results are almost always meat on the table.
pieman

 

[dryfly]

I use two loads in my .50. 60 grains of FFG for "plinking" and 100 grains of FFG for hunting. Both with a .490 PRB.