deer medicine

[Ben Grace]

Is 45 grains fff enough powder with a 45 rb for deer?

 

[Skychief]

Sure. Hit then in the lungs/heart 50 yards or closer and go collect your venison.

Placement is the key to victory in the hunting woods.

Skychief

 

[kodiakmarine]

Is that your target load? I would suggest using the strongest load that doesn't totally destroy your grouping. You don't have to drive a tack to take a deer. I would also suggest limiting your shot to 50 yards if you are uncertain about your hunting accuracy. I don't have a .45, but it seems that most who do shoot 60 grains or more for deer. - John

 

[jdkerstetter]

Is 45 grains fff enough powder with a 45 rb for deer?

I would want at least 70 grains in a .45....but I kinda like a blood trail too. :wink:

J.D.

 

[Ben Grace]

45 grains of fff was the max the Investarms manual said to use of fff, the max they suggested on ff was 80.

 

[Ben Grace]

I normally hunt with a 50 but just bought this gun and was wanting to take it this fall.

 

[windwalker_au]

45 grains of fff was the max the Investarms manual said to use of fff, the max they suggested on ff was 80.

when you go from FF to FFF you drop the load by 15% so that woul give you 68 grains of FFF as a load but i would USE 65 grains of FFF the pressure will be just about the same as the 80 grains of FF.
Bernie :thumbsup:

 

[jdkerstetter]

45 grains of fff was the max the Investarms manual said to use of fff, the max they suggested on ff was 80.

Then go with 2F....if it's accurate enough.

I have found some Investarms Manuals to be a little conservative sometimes...yours is an example. Don't know if they all are.

I don't have the load tables here in front of me but you probably aren't getting to 400 ft/lbs energy with 45 grains under a 128 grain round ball at 50 yards. That's not allot....will it kill? Sure. High shock value? No.

What do your state game laws say?

J.D.

 

[Skychief]

I've never shocked any deer to it's death with a muzzleloader. They all died from a loss of blood.

 

[Ben Grace]

Thanks for the info , all the state law says is 40 cal or larger,I knew fff burned hotter but wasn't sure on the percentage, I normally shoot ff.

 

[kodiakmarine]

I think you're right. 80 grains FF sounds right, but 45 FFF sounds like a typo.

 

[kodiakmarine]

The .45 should do just fine. I suggest going with a heavier load. I agree with JD. If you aren't comfortable with exceeding 45 FFF, then go with the 80 FF. It will hit harder, do more damage, and kill the deer quicker. Good hunting :thumbsup: .

 

[Ben Grace]

Would you suggest the roundball for the 45 or something else? For hunting that is not target shooting.

 

[kodiakmarine]

I have never shot anything but roundball. It should do the job well, even in .45. A number of people prefer various types of conicals for hunting, but I have no experience with them. I have just bought a .50 flinter with a 1 in 48 twist. I am thinking of trying out Lyman Maxis and seeing how they do.

 

[Ben Grace]

That's all I've hunted with rbs but with a 50 cal was unsure on the 45. Good luck on the maxis

 

[S.Kenton]

I've killed numerous deer with my old Kentucky 45..my hunting load was 70 grains with a .015 patch and a .440 rb. The advice to pump your load up, until you start to sacrifice accuracy, is good indeed. Shot placement is also very important (as also stated) hit em in the boiler room and you won't have to track em too far.

 

[tg]

I hunted with .45 MLs for years with about 60 =70 gr of 3f and PRB I would keep shots under 75 yds 60 is better but this load will take Deer with good shotb placement. At one time the .45 and .50 were about all that could be had unless you built your own and most of us used the .45 with excellant results with PRB.Unneded magunmitis has drifted over into the ML world to some degree over the last few decades. THis is fules a lot by the marketing for connicals and a deceptive campaign about how inefficient the PRB is, all the problemas with the PRB I have seen the last 40+ years were due to shooting to far or just plain bad shooting, some try to make the change to the earlier tchnology of the mL but feel the need to still shoot 150-200 yds..this is not a .45 PRB situation,and not the balls fault when things go awry. For a true traditional experience the pRB is the answere as few if any of todays connicasl compare to what was used in the past, with them one basical has a modern 45/70 or 50/115 Ruger #1 breechloader without the brass case.

 

[Rat Trapper]

I see no reason to use such a light load for deer hunting. when using a 45 cal ball compared to a larger caliber you are already handicapped, and using a light load makes the handicappe worse.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

In Maryland the minimum is 60 grains of black powder for hunting deer..., minimum caliber is .40.

LD

 

[Rifleman1776]

Is 45 grains fff enough powder with a 45 rb for deer?

I would want at least 70 grains in a .45....but I kinda like a blood trail too. :wink:

J.D.

45 grains is a bit light. But keep under 50 yards and place well you should be OK. I used 65 grains for shots up to 100 yards, my self-imposed limit.
I don't want a blood trail. I prefer to drop them where they stand.