Is My Hunting Load OK?

[Eric M]

I am shooting a .530 ball with .20 patch behind 70grains of 2F. I am right on the money at 50 yards. Is this strong enough for deer?

 

[MattyB]

If you can put the bullet in the vitals, yes, it's plenty.

 

[BrownBear]

I am shooting a .530 ball with .20 patch behind 70grains of 2F. I am right on the money at 50 yards. Is this strong enough for deer?

My wife uses 60 grains, and she whaps the snot out of deer. Keeps her shots inside 50 yards, but I bet she could stretch it a little since we've never recovered a ball.

 

[roundball]

My personal choice is that it's less than I'd want to leave the house to go big game hunting with.

I prefer powder charges for .54cals at least in the 90-100grn range minimum, to accommodate longer than expected shots, mis-judged distances, a deer starting to turn just as the sear breaks and by the time the ball gets there possibly having a lot more mass / bones in the way, etc, etc. Bumping up the powder charge might raise the POI an inch at 50yds but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Or to put my views on big game hunting another way, I'd rather have more power and not need it than less power and wish I had it...others mileage may vary.

 

[Black Hand]

That said, there is a point of diminishing returns. Find a load that your rifle likes and that will put the bullet where you point it.

Putting something down is less a matter of power than it is of shot-placement. After all, you can kill a bear with a .22 LR if you shoot it in the right place.....

 

[roundball]

LOL...yeah, the old ".22cals will kill an elephant" line usually gets trotted out in threads like these...bottom line it's meaningless.
Proper shot placement is always assumed to be the goal in discussions such as these...nobody has suggested "use more power and just shoot the animal anywhere"...

 

[Black Hand]

To repeat myself....

That said, there is a point of diminishing returns. Find a load that your rifle likes and that will put the bullet where you point it.

Putting less/more powder than your rifle likes down the barrel results in your precision & accuracy going to hell.

 

[Pacobillie]

The old .45-70 was originally a black powder cartridge, and it was so named because it shot a .45 caliber bullet with 70 grains of black powder. It was used to kill countless buffaloes; an animal much larger and tougher than any deer you might ever run into. It would thus appear to me that 70 grains would be an adequate load to propel a patched round ball intended for Bambi.

 

[BrownBear]

I am shooting a .530 ball with .20 patch behind 70grains of 2F. I am right on the money at 50 yards. Is this strong enough for deer?

Even if your power is "adequate," there's something to check. Go ahead and shoot it at 100 yards to see where it's whacking. I bet it's on the order of 8" low or so at 100 when sighted in at 50 yards like you are.

I pick my charges for a 75 yard sight-in and a 100 yard impact that's not too low for my tastes on game. No, I don't plan on shooting game that far, but in the case of a wounded critter or a great rested shot, I just might need it. Can't say about your hunting grounds, but that's what's going on here.

BTW- My standard load for 54 cal to achieve that trajectory is 90 grains of 2f or the same of 3f, depending on which does better in a particular gun. Those loads are only printing an inch high at 50 when sighted in at 75, and around 3" low at 100. I'm often on hand to "back up" my wife's 50 yard shots with 60 grains, but in close to 10 years she's never "let" me follow up a single time.

 

[roundball]

The old .45-70 was originally a black powder cartridge, and it was so named because it shot a .45 caliber bullet with 70 grains of black powder. It was used to kill countless buffaloes; an animal much larger and tougher than any deer you might ever run into.

To ensure clarity...what you left out is that the .45-70 used a larger heavier bullet...this discussion is about using a smaller / lighter PRB...kind of an apples & oranges comparison.
:wink:

 

[Pacobillie]

The old .45-70 was originally a black powder cartridge, and it was so named because it shot a .45 caliber bullet with 70 grains of black powder. It was used to kill countless buffaloes; an animal much larger and tougher than any deer you might ever run into.

To ensure clarity...what you left out is that the .45-70 used a larger heavier bullet...this discussion is about using a smaller / lighter PRB...kind of an apples & oranges comparison.
:wink:

You are correct that the two are different. I was only trying to make the point that 70 grains of BP is not a plinking load.

 

[hanshi]

In answer to your question, YES, it will do fine. A friend use to beat the he__ out of steel woods walk targets with that very load.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I like 85 gr FFFg in my .54, but 70 gr FFg ought to get the job done.

 

[hanshi]

As an aside, I use to hunt with 80grns 3F in my .45, 100grns of 3F in my .50 and 110 grns 3F in my .54. I've toned it down since then as all that extra power simply was not needed and superfluous.

 

[Matt85]

70 grains is fine if it will do ok at your maximum hunting range. where i live shots out to 100 yards are not uncommon. so 70 grains wouldnt work for me.


-Matt

 

[Eric M]

I would have to say the farthest I would shoot where I hunt is 75 yards because I hunt in wooded areas and not so much fields.

 

[Robby]

Does this camo make me look fat?

Sorry couldn't help it.
I'd say your good to go with the load and range, as always shot placement is everything. Good luck!!!
Robby

 

[hoochiepapa]

:rotf:
Robby, where'd you get that picture of me??

 

[longrifle78]

I'v killed several deer with a 54 loaded with 60 grains of 3f, the furthest was about 75 yards, so i think your 70 grain load will be fine.