Maxi Ball Users and Results

[vsparto]

How many of you use TC Maxi Balls or similar and what loads have you cooked up and do you use bore buttons? I have a TC Hawken and have only used round ball. I want to use something with more energy so won't have to chase them too far.

 

[rabjr]

Well I don't think theres anything wrong with the round ball. I have used and taken 6 bucks with maxi balls but that was a while ago as I have not used Maxi's since 97'. I shot em mostly out of a White Mountain but I did have a Renegade I used them in too. Always used a lubed bore button and 80 to 90 gr of 2F in the renegade was tack drivers.

 

[Kentuckywindage]

first year i ever hunted with a muzzleloader i used i believe it was a 275 grain maxiball over 70 grains pyrodex RS and i shot a buck in the shoulder, found very little blood and ended up losing that deer. Next day i shot another buck, first shot was high and that deer took off and i found him 1/2 mile where i hit him, Asked the rancher if i could finish him off because he ran onto his property, Drove out to where he was, stalked him, shot him again through the lungs @ 50 yards, Deer jumped up and ran a mile and a half before going down. Neither the 35 yard shot or 50 yard shot exited and left no blood trail at all. After that i went to a 285 grain remington conical and then to powerbelts. I like using .45's and we have a 170 grain projectile minimum law. I didnt like the maxiballs and still wont use them.

 

[kevthebassman]

Nothing at all wrong with the maxiballs. I shot two deer with .50 370 grain hand cast maxis driven by 90 grains of 777 this year, first one dropped on the spot spine shot and needed a finishing shot, and the second one piled up after a 30 yard death run after being lung shot. Both bullets went straight through the deer without changing path and both exited.

Maybe some have had problems with maxis, but I have a hard time imagining a 370 grain lead slug not passing through on a broadside shot on a whitetail at 30 yards. I suppose it's possible.

So far I've had good results with maxis, and I would not hesitate to use them again or to use them on larger game such as elk or black bear.

 

[rabjr]

I agree I never had any problem with the original 370 gr maxi. Six shots, 5 dropped in their tracks and one ran 50 yards before piling up. Never recovered a maxi either.

 

[410-er]

I have shot maxi's in the past and have had good accuracy.The round ball I would say is flatter shooting than the maxi.The biggest FEAR I have with the maxi is walking with the muzzle pointed down and having it slide off the powder charge!

 

[kevthebassman]

I don't know about a round ball being flatter shooting than a maxi...... I know that the Maxi has more energy at 125 yards than the round ball.

As for worrying about the maxi sliding out... I read your post and got to thinking about that, so I went out and checked my rifle. It's had the same load in it for 4 days of hunting and the bullet is still sitting exactly where it should be.

 

[tg]

"I want to use something with more energy so won't have to chase them too far.'

You probably won't find much difference there whether using balls of bullets some will drop some will run quite a ways.

 

[playfarmers]

I have used maxis in .50 and .45, and the deer ran farther than any that I have shot since with a round ball. The bullets passed strait through and didn't expand at all. If I was shooting an elk or moose I would use one, but for deer I will stick to the round ball. If I wanted more power I would get a .54, oh wait I did. LOL

 

[kevthebassman]

I don't think I'd go so far as to say that they don't expand at all. They're still made of the same soft lead as the PRB, just more weight and greater sectional density. They sure do penetrate.

 

[Wink]

A couple questions concerning Maxis. First should I be concerned with the possibility of too much penetration with the Maxi Ball and perhaps use the Maxi Hunter?--Has anyone ever had problems keeping either one of these bullets seated on the powder charge?

 

[roundball]

A couple questions concerning Maxis. First should I be concerned with the possibility of too much penetration with the Maxi Ball and perhaps use the Maxi Hunter?

I want complete passthroughs on my projectiles so too much penetration would not be an issue for me. For a completely different reason, if/when I used a Maxi, it was always a Hunter and they blow right through a deer...the good news is they also expand while they're doing it just like a PRB...plus...you don't hear stories about them veering off track inside the animal like the stories of Maxi-Balls doing that.

--Has anyone ever had problems keeping either one of these bullets seated on the powder charge?

My experience was that the maxi-hunters were somewhat loose compared to a patched ball, once they're short started and the lands have cut through the engraving band at the top. One thing to remember is the use of a short starter will result in the minimal amount of movement...the reason being if you try to start one by gripping down low on a ramrod and try to force it through the engraving band, there is a lot of resistance as the lands are trying to push through the engraving band and some lateral movement is usually going to happen to the conical as it's being wiggled down through the band by manhandling the end of a ramrod...the grooves can get widened / sloppier than if they were sharply cut through with a firm rap on a short starter.

I used TC Maxi-Hunters several times in caplock days and always followed the advice of periodically checking to ensure it was still seated...I never felt one move so far...but I always checked if I had been walking, still hunting, jumping over a ditch, bumping the rifle against a tree, etc...it's easy to check and only takes 15-20 seconds

 

[rabjr]

I want complete pass throughs on my projectiles so too much penetration would not be an issue for me.

Absolutely, I want a hole all the way through everytime.

I don't remember ever having movement issues with a Renegade I had. I never had one move while loaded in my White Mountain with 1-20 twist. I do remember a friend having one of the imports with chrome barrel having a terrible time keeping a maxi loaded on top of the powder though. He actually had one drop out onto leaves where he sat on stand one day. Not good heh.

 

[Kentuckywindage]

maxi hunters also fit loose in my bore. I once rammed a charge home, pulled my ramrod and the bullet was stuck to the end of my ramrod! :haha:
They didnt shoot well in my rifle. My guess would be due to the looseness of the bullet.

 

[gmww]

Count me in the "I want it to penetrate through" crowd. I can't say I've had any noticeable problems with the Maxi-ball sliding loose. Never had an opportunity to use a Maxi-hunter.

 

[Wink]

What do you feel a good hunting load would utilizing the Maxi Hunter? I have a 50 cal WMC and use FFF GOEX. This gun is used exclusively for deer in my home state of WI. Any and All input appreciated.

 

[rabjr]

Wink,

I would try various loads between 70gr to 90gr to see what your gun likes the best. You'll probably find one somewhere between 70gr and 80gr shoots best for accuracy. Use a bore button with your testing. I used the 370 maxi and 2F in mine when I had it and found 80gr to 90gr a very accurate loadings but in my younger and more foolish days I upped it to 100gr load for hunting. Accuracy wasn't as good but acceptable.

 

[Vaino]

Started many years ago w/ a TC .50 cal. "Hawken" kit rifle and used Maxiballs for the first few shots and because of hard starting due to fouling, switched to 410 gr."Buffalo Bullets" and used them w/ excellent accuracy and performance on deer and elk. The reason I went to a .54 PRB was the "queasiness" after a few "Buffalo Bullets" came off the powder charge...checking thru out the day whether the bullet was "down" became a "pain in the neck" and finally decided to build a .54 PRB "Hawken" from Pecatonica. The elk never knew the difference betwwen the PRB and the "Buffalo Bullet" but the trajectory of the PRB was a big improvement vs the conical. The TC "Hawken" is still in use as a "loaner" on elk hunts using the conicals but w/ a big "caveat" to check the "Buffalo Bullet" during the day.....Fred

 

[vsparto]

I have my TC hawken .50 set up for round ball and was going to try 320 grain maxiballs to hopefully put em down fast. The place I'm hunting we don't have room to recover them if they make it to the marsh reeds near the river. Impossible to get in there to get them without sinking in the mud plus a lot of marsh/swamp to look in. My son in law shot a large doe last Saturday with his TC Z5 with a 110 grains of Shocky's Gold and 240 XTP bullet and we didn't recover the doe. Two large puddles of blood and the blood stopped after 40 yards heading for the marsh. He hit it quartering away and got at least one lung. So I need something that gives me a good chance to drop them in their tracks. How bout the hornady great plains 390 grains conical? Anyone use those?

 

[roundball]

"...I need something that gives me a good chance to drop them in their tracks. How bout the hornady great plains 390 grains conical? Anyone use those?..."

Well, unfortunately, using a bigger projectile isn't going to just start making deer drop in their tracks...to do that the projectile, no matter what size it is, has to hit something like the spinal column or brain to put something out of commission on the spot...and regular round balls do that if they hit those targets.

Even with a direct heart shot that puts the heart 100% out of action, most deer make a mad dash for several seconds and cover 25-35 yards in thick woods...and a round ball puts the pump out of action as good as a conical will...the heart is completely stopped in either case.

Short of the precision required for a spine shot which I believe is a poor odds type shot, the only other thing that comes to my mind for the circumstances you described MIGHT be a heavy enough projectile to blow through and destroy both shoulders on a broadside shot to immobilize the deer for a finishing second shot...but that's getting awfully risky to plan on those specific events being presented and then executing them perfectly.

Might have to consider moving your stands 50-75 yards further away from those reeds...and if deer that are shot then still make it further than 75 yards, it usually means poor shot placement and the size of the projectile won't help that.