Best 50cal projectile for hunting

[paulvallandigham]

A 1:22" ROT is about optimum for shooting heavy conicals in a .50 caliber rifle, FWIW. Very few Traditional .50 caliber barrels come with that Fast a ROT. With any .50 caliber Rifle designed for shooting RBs, and having a ROT of 1:48", or 1:66", and grooves that are .010" deep or deeper, its going to be very difficult to get top accuracy shooting any conical that weighs more than about 380 grains, as the bullets will be too long to stabilize properly with that ROT.

I am a firm believer that NO MLER should be attempted to be made that creates the same pressures, and shoots the same powder charges and bullets as a cartridge gun of the same caliber.

Those brass casings add a LOT of strength at the breech of the gun to give the shooter a margin of safety when shooting these heavy loads.

There are some "tweener" style of MLing rifles that employ a closed ignition system that can take those pressures, but I know of no Traditional Sidelock action that can handle those massive loads with any margin of safety. You see the closed ignition systems on heavy bench rest " slug" gun rifles, that were never designed nor intended to be carried into the field for hunting.

The last thing anyone should want to see happening, while shooting a MLer, is to see the Nipple( or any other part of a rifle) come flying back off the gun towards the shooter's head.

 

[nkbj]

The 1:28" twist in the Green Mountain Long Range Hunter barrel should be good for about six hundred grains of lead. I'll settle for about 450.

 

[paulvallandigham]

When are you hunting game in Africa??? You certainly don't need a .50 caliber, 450 grain conical to kill any game in N. America. :hmm: :thumbsup:

 

[Kentuckywindage]

i wouldnt go after buffler with a .50cal round ball. Unless i was way up in a tree stand.

its fun to try new things on hunts. :hatsoff:

 

[nkbj]

I can tell you never hunted Utah and got charged by one of these!
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Streifenhörnchen_Zion.jpg

 

[Horizontal Hunter]

Take a look at these; http://www.prbullet.com/ul50.htm
The "Keith" bullet has a nice wide meplat, great for penetrating and leaving a nice wide wound channel. They have a bullet slection chart so you can see what weight conical is going to give you the best accuracy for your rifle's rate of twist. You might also want to look at the Buffalo bullet "ball-et", half ball, half conical. I've used these out of my trade rifle (1:48 ROT) and they are very accurate, especially with a fiber wad between powder and ball. http://www.dixiegunworks.com/produ...=3625&osCsid=813d04ec81ac72532312b59e9670f2b2 http://www.thegunworks.com/custprodgun.cfm?SubCat1ID=61&Cat1Name=Round Balls & Bullets
Increase your powder charge a bit as well, as long as accuracy doesn't suffer. Since you are using T-7 just subtract 15% from what your max. powder charge is and don't exceed it. Your owners manual should list the maximum for RB as well as maxi-ball type conicals when using traditional black.

Bull,

Have you, or other forum members, shot any of the "Keith" bullets out of a 50 cal 1:48 ROT. I was thinking that they might be fun to play around with.

Bob

 

[fredrader]

I can tell you never hunted Utah and got charged by one of these!
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Streifenhörnchen_Zion.jpg[/quote]
I never should have went to your link :shocked2:
What a monster.I'll probably have bad dreams now..

 

[paulvallandigham]

Why would not a hard cast( wheel weights) 400-430 grain bullet put that buffalo down just as well??? A hunter went to Africa a few years back with his Marlin 45-70, loaded with stout loads and 420 grain CorBon bullets. He killed two Cape Buffaloes with one shot, passing through both animals, in the chests.

If you do your comparative penetration testing with any .45 or .50 caliber bullet, and with lead balls, soft, and hard cast, you will gain a wonderful education about what gives good penetration in thick tissues, and bone, and what doesn't. Many shooters have NO real idea what happens to a ball or bullet when it strikes flesh. I am always disappointed when I meet hunters who did not take the time to check the primary wound channel through the internal organs when they field dress their deer, or other big game. Its the modern day "Icky-poo" syndrome, where guys don't want to get their hands dirty, much less bloody, or covered in other body fluids. When I can't find an exit wound on the hide, I go looking for the spent ball or bullet, even if I have to sift through, and feel each organ, or intestine, or bowel. There is simply so much information about projectile performance to be had from these spent ball/bullets, I can't see how anyone would avoid finding them when they are available. Its sad enough that you can't recover the spent projectile if it exits the animal.

No, I would not want to try to take a Buffalo, charging, or asleep, with a .50 caliber Round Ball, made of soft lead. If I could get close enough to shoot it through the ear, I might get a killing shot on the animal with that RB, but conditions would have to be darn near perfect to even think of taking such a shot. A hard Cast RB is quite another matter. Medium weight hard cast bullets( conicals) also seem to be more than adequate for the job on this Continent.

When I was a kid, my parents took us out west, and we got within 100 feet of an old bull. I have not forgotten how big he was, nor how impressive he was. I would not want him charging me either, no matter what size howitzer I was shooting! :rotf: :thumbsup: If I had my 19 ga. fowler, loaded with a Hard Cast .610" diameter lead ball, I would expect to be able to drop that buffalo in his tracks with a head shot, however. That ball weighs about 330 grains. :hmm: :surrender:

 

[nkbj]

When I gets the chance gonna try out that Lymans 508565 bullet with the sorta semi-wadcutter nose in a 1:48 Renegade and a 1:28 GM LRH. It'll have to get the hind ends sized .501 to go in. Maybe leave the front band just big enough for an interference fit with a little engraving. Maybe use some 9/16" punched cards.

 

[Idaho Ron]

I have a couple of GM LRH barrels in the 50 cal. The bullet I like the most is a Lee C-501-440-RF. This bullet is made for the 500 S&W. I paper patch them and size them .501 with the paper on. I use a over powder wad and I use 80 gr of pyrodex P. These bullets shoot amazing. At 460 grains they work very well on deer. Ron

 

[Dphar]

When I gets the chance gonna try out that Lymans 508565 bullet with the sorta semi-wadcutter nose in a 1:48 Renegade and a 1:28 GM LRH. It'll have to get the hind ends sized .501 to go in. Maybe leave the front band just big enough for an interference fit with a little engraving. Maybe use some 9/16" punched cards.

A 440-500 grain RB will do what you want to do better than these bullets will. But you would have to buy a quality rifle to get one with this bore size. Its been proven historically and in modern times.
Another problem with these bullets in hunting guns is that they have little or no friction in the bore and like the minie they tend to move off the powder.
Dan

 

[nkbj]

I have a couple of GM LRH barrels in the 50 cal. The bullet I like the most is a Lee C-501-440-RF. This bullet is made for the 500 S&W. I paper patch them and size them .501 with the paper on. I use a over powder wad and I use 80 gr of pyrodex P. These bullets shoot amazing. At 460 grains they work very well on deer. Ron

Hey Ron.
How thick is your dried patch before sizing?

 

[nkbj]

"A 440-500 grain RB will do what you want to do better than these bullets will. But you would have to buy a quality rifle to get one with this bore size."

Dan, my Fremont throws a 450 ball just fine. And it is one of the handiest and well balanced rifles I own. Work has interfered mightily with hunting for the last couple of years, but maybe next year.

 

[tg]

"Idaho Ron Said:I have a couple of GM LRH barrels in the 50 cal. The bullet I like the most is a Lee C-501-440-RF. This bullet is made for the 500 S&W."

Would that be one of the traditional bullets you use Ron? the one made for the S&W 500? :hmm: We are still on the ML forum aren't we?..maybe I pushed the wrong button :shocked2:

 

[Kentuckywindage]

its a pure lead conical right?

 

[Little Wattsy]

"Idaho Ron Said:I have a couple of GM LRH barrels in the 50 cal. The bullet I like the most is a Lee C-501-440-RF. This bullet is made for the 500 S&W."

Would that be one of the traditional bullets you use Ron? the one made for the S&W 500? :hmm: We are still on the ML forum aren't we?..maybe I pushed the wrong button :shocked2:

Mr "Don Quixote" errr TG.....Yer wind mill is off in left field

 

[Idaho Ron]

The paper is .002 thick. I get the paper from the paper mill store on line. It is 25% cotton onion skin paper. Ron

 

[Idaho Ron]

Here is a picture of the bullet naked and wrapped.
I don't know what you have in mind for that rifle but the Lyman 57 SML peep and the 17 AML globe make for a great hunting gun. Ron

 

[nkbj]

That looks nice Ron. The Lyman peep looks sturdier than a ladder type tang sight.

Got a mold being modified to throw a paper patch slug with a one-third diameter small hollow base.
Meanwhile will be trying out a couple of "rubber hammer" bullets, the Lyman 508656 and 50 REALs.

 

[Idaho Ron]

Don't hold your breath on either of them. The Lee REAL is not bad at 50 yards.
The groups get a little bigger than I like at 100 yards, but would work in a pinch.

It seemed that nothing I could do changed anything much. It was about 3.5" at 100 yards.

The Lyman Great Plains bullet the 508656 was not worth a crap.

5" to 6" groups at 100 yards is not worth going any farther. I hated that bullet. Looking back I could have backed off the powder a bit but I hated those bullets, and got rid of the mould.

The LEE C-501-440-RF is more accurate than any other home made bullet I have tested for the 50 cal.

I have chased several different rabbit trails making a conical shoot sub 2" groups at 100 yards. The Lee C-501-440-RF is by far the best bullet I have seen on target or game. The deer I have seen killed with these bullets were "devastated". That wide meplat on the front of that bullet puts the smack down on game. Ron