Powder charge for .50 cal

[kingsax26]

Just started messing with my .50 cal Austin halleck rifle. What do you guys use for a hunting load in .50? Last year used my .54 with 60 gr and learned the hard way that it's not a good hunting load. Don't want to make the same mistake again. Do to where I live I only have 3f powder and cannot get 2f not sure if it makes that much difference . Thanks in advance

 

[necchi]

Why wasn't 6ogrns a good hunting load?

 

[kingsax26]

I shot a buck and hit it in the shoulder bone. It shattered the shoulder but expended all energy and did not penetrate any further. It was not a killing shot, granted I hit right where I was aiming and if I had made a lung shot it probably would have been a different story. That is it is , I don't want to go through that again. Reloading and watching the deer thrash on the ground blatting was not enjoyable

 

[BrownBear]

The more or less standard deer load has worked out to be 80 grains of 3f in all my 50 cal rifles. Flat shooting (+1" @ 50yds, 0 @ 75yds, -4" @ 100yds), and really smashes through deer. I'd be just as happy at 70 grains or 90 grains if a rifle liked that charge better.

We do lung shots rather than shoulders, but my wife's standard load from her 54 cal is 60 grains of 3f. She holds the range to 50 yards, and we've never recovered a ball.

 

[kingsax26]

I started with 80 grains of 3f but found accuracy the same and more tolerable to shoot with 70gr. It's not the most accurate but totally capable of minute of deer , especially since I try to keep my shots under 75yards.

 

[kingsax26]

Just wanna make sure the ball has enough oooomph when I pull the trigger

 

[mooman76]

It is just as important if not more that you be confident with you load you are shooting. Raise it to where you are confident that you and your gun will do it's job. If it's 70 or 80gr or even more then go with that.

 

[wirehairman]

The more or less standard deer load has worked out to be 80 grains of 3f in all my 50 cal rifles. Flat shooting (+1" @ 50yds, 0 @ 75yds, -4" @ 100yds), and really smashes through deer. I'd be just as happy at 70 grains or 90 grains if a rifle liked that charge better.

We do lung shots rather than shoulders, but my wife's standard load from her 54 cal is 60 grains of 3f. She holds the range to 50 yards, and we've never recovered a ball.

I get the same points of impact as Brown Bear out of my Lyman GPR with 70 grains of 3f.

 

[Stumpkiller]

With my .50 I played around between 70 and 90 gr and found a good, accurate load at 85 gr.