Elk hunting

[Greenmtnboy]

Got both of these yesterday.Got the doe yesterday mornin and the elk yesterday evening about an hour and a half before dark.

Way to go Brun,
Got my cow first morning called in my buddies bull next day, Now Caroline and I are out looking for her doe.
Will post pics later.
:thumbsup:

 

[Wink]

What kind of velocity/energy does a 54 cal RB and 90 grains of fff have. Is this pretty much a standard load for deer and elk?

 

[longcruise]

What kind of velocity/energy does a 54 cal RB and 90 grains of fff have. Is this pretty much a standard load for deer and elk?

His rifle looks to be a Lyman GPR with a 32 inch barrel. Muzzle velocity is probably around 1650 to 1750. Energy at 100 yards is in the 500 to 600 ft lb range.

This simply underlines what many of us have been saying over and over on this board and other forums; It's not velocity or ft lbs that kills big game. It's having enough velocity and momentum to carry the ball through the vitals and create a wound channel that will result in a sudden and complete loss of blood pressure. All that energy, velocity etc., stuff is just that, "stuff"

 

[BRUN]

Yep it's a Lyman GPR.I knew the gun would kill an elk at 100 yards but I honestly never expected a complete pass through.The meat is in my inlaws locker and I will look at the rib cage tommorow and see if I hit 1 or 2 ribs and get back to ya.I do know for sure that there was not a huge hole on the other side.

 

[BRUN]

OK I got curios and checked.Barely grazed the rib on entry and missed it on exit.This was a pure lead ball I cast from roofin lead.
entry

exit

 

[paulvallandigham]

A .54 caliber hole through the chest is still quite adequate to kill. Compare to a modern rifle in .30 caliber of any kind. Both get the job done, but the larger hole lets in more air, and lets out more blood. The faster, smaller bullet kills with its secondary wound channel caused by the shock wave that travels behind the bullet through the game. Its the shock to the internal organs that often causes quick death rather than the rapid decrease in blood pressure. Both work, and work quite well. There is really no reason for one to argue that one kills bettern than the other.

 

[Vaino]

The last elk I shot was w/ a .54 PRB using 120 grs. 2f. The ball nicked a rib going in and the flattened "ball" the size of a quarter was found under the skin of the opposite front shoulder. This lead cow went 40 yds after being hit at a paced off distance of 107 yds. The military is to blame for the modern jacketed bullets seeing these function better in military arms and the producers of "sporting" cartridges have been trying right along to equal the expansion of a PRB w/ all sorts of "gimmicks" eg...various versions of tip "wedge points", serrated jackets for "controlled expansion", various amounts of tip lead exposure, gilding metal jackets w/ varying thicknesses and all sorts of lead cores. IMO, the "sporting" cartridge manufacturers contrary to their "hype", still haven't achieved the performance of the PRB which has a much slower velocity.......Fred