My rifle has a twist of 1 in 48. I am considering using the Hornady Great Plains 385 gr. HP bullet with around 80-90 gr ffg Goex. Has anyone had any experience with the bullets on deer? I think that it will work great. Seems like it would drop them in their tracks. Thanks guys.
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Great Plains Bullet
- Thread starter tx50cal
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Actually, from my experience with them, that is not the case, unless you hit the brain or spine. They seem to pass right through deer size animals, (Oregon Mule Deer) without expanding at all. I used one in a .54 cal. i had with a
1-48 twist and couldn't get much accuracy with them either. I have found that the round ball seems to put deer down faster than the conical bullets do unless like i said, you hit the brain or spine with the conical. Just my observations on them.
1-48 twist and couldn't get much accuracy with them either. I have found that the round ball seems to put deer down faster than the conical bullets do unless like i said, you hit the brain or spine with the conical. Just my observations on them.
I've shot the Hornady Great Plains out of my .54 caliber. They worked great on deer. Accuracy was very good with them but I do not shoot all that far usually. I also had good luck with Thompson Center maxi hunter and maxi ball. Due to cost, I started casting LEE REAL conicals in 300 & 380 grains for the .54 caliber. I really like the 300 grain REAL. It puts them down and keeps them down.
Guest
"My rifle has a twist of 1 in 48."
What kind of rifle? Brand?
Here is a GENERAL rule of thumb regarding the 1:48 shallow groove twist. Remember there are no hard and fast rules.
That twist in caliber .50 and .54 seems to shoot better wtih bullets in the 245 to 300 grain weight class. I have never had good results wiht a Thompson Center 1:48
twist with any bullet or roundball. But then again since the combinations today are almost limitless maybe I haven't hit a good combination yet.
With that said, I have a Lyman Deerstalker .50 with that twist .
Here's what this rifle does well with. Using open sights that came with the rifle it will shoot one ragged hole at 25 yards using a .490 r.b. and .015 ticking and Crisco lube over 50 grains of Goex 2fg. This load will produce 1.5" at 50 yards.
90 to 100 grains of
Goex 2fg under a 245 or 295 grain PowerBelt gives me 2.5 to 3" groups at 100 yards. It shoots the 370 maxiball into 3" at 100 with the same load, and heavy bullets, those over 400 grains, are downright aweful!
using
What kind of rifle? Brand?
Here is a GENERAL rule of thumb regarding the 1:48 shallow groove twist. Remember there are no hard and fast rules.
That twist in caliber .50 and .54 seems to shoot better wtih bullets in the 245 to 300 grain weight class. I have never had good results wiht a Thompson Center 1:48
twist with any bullet or roundball. But then again since the combinations today are almost limitless maybe I haven't hit a good combination yet.
With that said, I have a Lyman Deerstalker .50 with that twist .
Here's what this rifle does well with. Using open sights that came with the rifle it will shoot one ragged hole at 25 yards using a .490 r.b. and .015 ticking and Crisco lube over 50 grains of Goex 2fg. This load will produce 1.5" at 50 yards.
90 to 100 grains of
Goex 2fg under a 245 or 295 grain PowerBelt gives me 2.5 to 3" groups at 100 yards. It shoots the 370 maxiball into 3" at 100 with the same load, and heavy bullets, those over 400 grains, are downright aweful!
using
.45cal and .50cal Hornady Great Plains bullets have been excellent in my TC Hawken 1:48" barrels with 90grns FFg. (I actually used Pyrodex-RS - FFg equivalent at the time)
The .50cal bullet is heavier than I need for my hunting but back in percussion days I used the .50cal GP bullet twice on does, both under 50yds...one a heart shot, the other a high shoulder shot.
The heavy bullet gave complete penetration / pass-through on the heart shot, and the doe collapsed after a short 30-40yd sprint, with a very obvious trail to follow after the first few yards.
The high shoulder shot on the other doe also passed through, broke both shoulders, took out her spine, and she dropped where she stood.
FYI...a .50cal / 180grn ball is plenty for deer at typical distances, and my 1:48" twist barrels shoot patched round balls extremely well using this hunting load:
90grns Goex FFFg (or 110grns FFg)
OxYoke wonderwad
.018" prelubed pillow ticking
Hornady .490 ball
The .50cal bullet is heavier than I need for my hunting but back in percussion days I used the .50cal GP bullet twice on does, both under 50yds...one a heart shot, the other a high shoulder shot.
The heavy bullet gave complete penetration / pass-through on the heart shot, and the doe collapsed after a short 30-40yd sprint, with a very obvious trail to follow after the first few yards.
The high shoulder shot on the other doe also passed through, broke both shoulders, took out her spine, and she dropped where she stood.
FYI...a .50cal / 180grn ball is plenty for deer at typical distances, and my 1:48" twist barrels shoot patched round balls extremely well using this hunting load:
90grns Goex FFFg (or 110grns FFg)
OxYoke wonderwad
.018" prelubed pillow ticking
Hornady .490 ball
I think the trick to gaining top performance from any of the big conicals from Hornady, Buffalo, T/C or White is to keep your powder charges moderate. In a .50 that would be somewhere between 85 and 100 grains of FFg, RS, or Triple 7, and allow the bullet's weight to work at full advantage. Moderate loads also allow the heavy projectile to "bite" into 1:48 inch rifling for maximum accuracy. I just finished some tests on .54's using them and Buffalo's Maxi-Ballet. Once my charges went over 100 grains my accuracy degenerated badly. I still like big conicals and moderate powder charges for almost all my big game hunting. Big conicals make big holes for good blood trails, break bones, and will cause the game to go "all loose" at first impact. Although I've had good kills with pistol bullets I've never seen that effect on game with them like I have with conicals.
Guest
With 48" twists, you are much better off with a very short-for-calibre bullet. Just as Maxiball says, the heavier, therefoe the longer the bullet, the poorer they shoot.
; By all means, go with a Lee REAL slug if you want to cast your own, & their moulds are cheap. If you want to buy slugs, try the Bal-ets. They come pre-lubed and shoot well in my .45 cal rifle.
; In the .50 cal, try to keep your bullet weight below 325gr. 48" is too slow for proepr stability of slugs, but too shallow in depth for round ball shooting with heavy loads. Some will shoot patched round balls very well, as do Maxiball's 48" twist guns. They require very snug combinations to do well, due to shallow rifling, but will do just fine on deer. The first 8 deer my bro shot with a smokepole were with a TC Hawken Flinter in the early 1970's. He used a .495 ball, .018 patch, 85/90gr. 2F C&H and dropped them in their tracks. Slugs rarely do that with the same lung hits.
: Some slugs, due to their nose shape are poor game killers. The TC maxiball is one of these. Due to the sloping shoulders, and large, deep grease grooves, the maxiball seems to collapse instead of expand and it makes a fairly neat wound, opposite what is desired.
; REAL bullets, similar in nose shape, lack those deep grooves and seem to work well on deer.
; By all means, go with a Lee REAL slug if you want to cast your own, & their moulds are cheap. If you want to buy slugs, try the Bal-ets. They come pre-lubed and shoot well in my .45 cal rifle.
; In the .50 cal, try to keep your bullet weight below 325gr. 48" is too slow for proepr stability of slugs, but too shallow in depth for round ball shooting with heavy loads. Some will shoot patched round balls very well, as do Maxiball's 48" twist guns. They require very snug combinations to do well, due to shallow rifling, but will do just fine on deer. The first 8 deer my bro shot with a smokepole were with a TC Hawken Flinter in the early 1970's. He used a .495 ball, .018 patch, 85/90gr. 2F C&H and dropped them in their tracks. Slugs rarely do that with the same lung hits.
: Some slugs, due to their nose shape are poor game killers. The TC maxiball is one of these. Due to the sloping shoulders, and large, deep grease grooves, the maxiball seems to collapse instead of expand and it makes a fairly neat wound, opposite what is desired.
; REAL bullets, similar in nose shape, lack those deep grooves and seem to work well on deer.
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