hunting Loads for 45cal. with Buffalo Bullets 285g

What would be a good starting and max load for Pedersoli Frontier flinter? I'm going to consider 80 gr. of BP Max for PRB. There's a heat discussion in the forum ( PRB accuracy) about what is the minimum caliber of round ball needed to kill a deer at 125 yards. My feelings in this matter are that 45 caliber round ball is capable of killing a deer at 125 yards as long as you have the clean broadside shot. But if a deer is facing away from you a 45 Cal. PRB will not cut it . The one sweet thing about conical is that they will penetrate up through the vital areas of a deer even if all you have is a up the rear shot.

When I said 80 gr. of BP was the Max. I meant pressure wise, I imagine accuracy would be going to hell long before I reached that amount of powder.

For target shooting I'll probably only use 35 or 40 gr. of BP with PRB's

 

I have a Beford County I got from birddog6, it's a flinter and I'm notrious for using way too much powder so I think you are good with the 80 grains 3fg.
I haven't shot the flinter all that much, but with 75 grains of 3fg five shots at 50 yards darn near all went into the same hole, group actually measured under 1/2 inch. I'll see if I can find the target as I think I chrono'd the thing and maybe I can post some results next week. My personal opinion is that even 100 yards is a tretch with the .45 r/b on a deer, but what do I know?
Deer aren't tough to put down as long as the ball goes in the right place.
A .40 r/b would work well at tree stand ranges I suppose but I'd still like a heavier ball.

 

Maxiball: That should kill a buck or a flathead (doe) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

Would that be like shooting fish in a barrel? :haha:

 

[roundball]

FYI, two outstanding full power conical hunting loads in my TC 1:48" barrels are:

110grns Pyrodex RS (FFg)
OxYoke Wonderwad
285grn Hornady GP bullet


90grns Goex FFg
OxYoke Wonderwad
255grn TC Maxi-Hunter

 

[JesseJames]

I hunt deer with my T/C Cherokee 45cal with maxie balls and 60 gr pyrodex. I don't shoot more than 50 yds and alot of my kills are less. It kills them dead.

 

[Ohio Joe]

roaddog, I have taken deer with the .45 PRB (.445) using 70 grains of 3fg Goex, with my 36" GMB Transition Hawken I made. (By transition I mean - a halfstock with percussion Siler lock, and pinned stock). I had no problem with the ball passing through the lungs at what I stepped off to be 87 yards. She went down at once and I figure the ball must of struck her on her exhale. In any event, she dropped when she was hit. I've only used the PRB for deer and antelope hunting in, .45, .50, and .54, and have never had to go more then 30 yards to recover a kill. The PRB works, and it works good. Good shot placement is the key no matter what a person chooses to use. I have never hunted from a stand so I can't say what would happen on an angle shot? Am I confident using the .45 PRB? Yes! For the deer size game I hunt, it works just fine. I limit myself to 100 yard shots, preferring closer shots, though I have dropped deer as far away as 137 yards with my .54...

 

Well duh! I just saw the BULLET word. Yeh, the 285 grain bullet with 80 grains of powder will shoot through any deer in the woods.
I don't know if the thing will stabilize in you barrel What's the twist rate? If 1:48 it might, but if 1:60 or slower it probably won't, but there is nothing like shooting to find out.

 

Maxiball I'm Sorry, it probably would have been easier for you to spot if I had spilled it ( telluB ) backwards


(Private joke)

 

[mowolf]

I have shot several deer with PRB from a .45 Hawken. Most of my shots have been less than 50 yards. I did shot one at 65 paces, he ran about 50 yards and somersaulted over a log, dead on contact with the ground. I also dropped an 11 point buck at 15 yards from a tree stand with PRB from the saem .45. PRB are effective, if you hit the vitals. Not sure I could shot out to over a 100 yrds with open sites now adays.

 

roundball: The one real sweet thing about frontier rifle's is that they have a lightweight 13/16 barrel in 45 caliber but that's also the downfall you don't dare give them a steady diet of heavy loads.

I've been hunting everywhere for the data to be used with lightweight barrel I can find any anywhere. There might be some data on this in the Lyman black powder manual but I don't have one.

 

[musketman]

I've been hunting everywhere for the data to be used with lightweight barrel I can find any anywhere. There might be some data on this in the Lyman black powder manual but I don't have one.

I do...

Let's see now, .45 caliber with conicals...

First off: all loads givin are developed in the .45 caliber, 28 inch barrel (.453 bore .472 groove)

Lyman list the .445 round ball with .015 patch lubed with Crisco, I wont give all for this but two...
MIN: 30 grains FFFg 1144 fps. (3,510 LUP)
MAX: 100 grains FFFg 2008 fps. (15,100 CUP)

Projectile: .45 cal. T/C Maxie Ball
30 grains FFFg 939 fps (1,490 LUP)
65 grains FFFg 1588 fps (15,660 CUP)

Projectile: Lyman Bullet #454612 (300 grains)
25 grains FFFg 864 fps (2,745 LUP)
65 grains FFFg 1414 fps (15,755 CUP)

That's all I got...

 

Thanks musketman, that the kind of info I was looking for.

 

[tg]

I would suggest a max range of 70-75 yds for a .45 rb on deer, under the best of conditions, that little ball looses poop real quick.From listening to many hunting tales over the last 30 years most of the negative feelins about rb as a hunting projectile could be chased down to trying to shoot to far.

 

[swquiro]

One more 45 cal hunting tale for you. While out after deer several years back I saw a nice mature buck slipping by about 60-65 yards away, and as it passed behind a large tree I readied my rifle. As it presented itself it had turned away and presented a quarter profile. I touched one off and the deer dropped as if pole-axed. Because of the under brush I couldnt see the deer. I reloaded and eased over in that direction and at about 25 yards I could see the deer sitting on its haunches with its neck and head slightly off the ground. As I raised the rifle to administer the coup the buck sprang up as if it had never been touched, and as it did so I could see blood over the area of its shoulder blade. Two quick leaps and the deer disappeared down the side of a hill never to be seen again. I looked and looked but no blood other than where the the buck had been on the ground. It was momentarily stunned, nothing more. Did the shoulder blade allow only minimal penetration, or is it possible that the ball only glanced off the blade? I will never know. But from that point on I've soured a bit on the .45 (60gr. of Goex). I now carry a .50

 

[swquiro]

The projectile was a prb.

 

[tg]

It is always impossible to tell what the "problem" was when we loose an animal, $#%& happens as the saying goes, I have heard of close range shots with a .58 or .30-.06 loosing deer, a good rule of thumb is the smaller the cal. the closer the shot should be. It seems as though the standard range most talk of with any ML is 100 yds, which is out there a ways for open iron sights and a RB, I like to think "archery" when ML hunting, get close and make a good tight shot.

 

[roundball]

I've had two cases of that over the years where the deer dropped but remained alive, only paralyzed...I was able to get both deer with a second shot...and what I found was that my shots had been a tad high, above the blade and went through nothing but tissue above the blade but just under the spine...the trauma from the impact that close to the spinal column momentarily causes paralysis, but if left alone they recover and take off...no vitals damaged, etc.
The .45 is a fine caliber, have take several deer with it using PBR...just need to wait for a heart/lung shot...the most recent was a 6 pointer in November at 55yds.
http://www.members.aol.com/wjcutbush/45cal6pointer.jpg

 

Right-on, Roundball. We HAVE to wait until the prime shot presents itself. Dicipline is required to collect our game in relation to what we are using. If we lack penetration, we have to wait for the shot that our penetration will allow. A round ball in 48" or slower twist is much less libale to glance on a bone than a conical from the same twist.
Daryl

 

This is going off the subject but I swung over to roundball's homepage, it made me realize how much of a Pain in the ass you Southern boys have to deal with when you kill your deer in warm weather. In the photo I could see roundball work up a sweat. :: Once killed you definitely can't Philly fart around!!!

P.S. nice deer :applause: