SmokyMtnSmokepole said:
Dan Phariss said:
"The problem exhibited by the TC Maxi is very poor performance on game due to lack of expansion and failure to stay on track after striking game with the 48" twist."
?????????????????????????- Not trying to argue, but that's definitely news to me, I've shot probably 25 deer with TC maxi-hunters out of my .50 CVA Hawken with 1 in 48" twist, and over half of them have dropped in their tracks, and the rest were short, easy recoveries- most of them falling in sight and the others leaving a trail of blood that looked like it was poured out of a bucket.Don't see how they could get much deader.I have a friend who shoots maxi-hunters also and has probably killed more deer with them than I have, with the same consistant results.From what I've seen, they're one of the deadliest bullets I've ever used on deer from any gun, except maybe a 12-gauge slug.
Forgive me sometimes I forget there is a "Maxi-Hunter" as well as a "Maxi-Ball".
The Maxi-Ball and Maxi-Hunter are radically different designs. Comments applied to one do not necessarily apply to the other. The deficiencies of the Maxi-Ball were corrected as far as possible with the Maxi-Hunter. You must also remember that deer in the lower 48 are not as big as moose in northern BC Canada where most of these reports to me came from. But there have been reports of serious failures with Maxi-balls on deer as well.
Conicals shot from slow twists deflecting when striking flesh and bone is well documented back to the Crimean War. The Maxi-hunter appears to be shorter and blunter than the M-Ball. This makes it more stable in slower twists. The nose is designed to expand and I doubt it will collapse into the front grease groove as is reported with the M-ball forming what is a spitzer shape nose.
I prefer to shoot round balls for several reasons.
I don't consider the bullet used in MLs to be worth the risks and problems they create in a hunting rifle.
If I feel I need more power I go with larger round ball (a 54 Maxi-hunter is the same weight as a .662 RB in pure lead). They are largely free of the problems the conicals exhibit. They stay on the powder, they shoot flat, don't produce excessive pressures and they kill well.
Whats not to like?
But if you are a gun writer getting money from the various conical makers and the makers of the various zip gun MLs then the traditional ML with a RB is "deficient". Has to be. There is money involved after all. Gotta keep them advertisers happy.
I hunt with a flintlock because I like flintlocks, it connects me with my forefathers. I shoot RBs because thats the proper bullet for a ML hunting rifle. It hung on long after the conical was well known (right to today) check history, the conicals, even the cloth patched picket bullet, never caught on for general use till the advent of the breechloader.
What people hunt with is personal choice. But in my experience the killing power is about the same at least on the smaller species like deer. Bigger critters or bigger teeth/bad attitude, you need a larger bore size.
Dan