Powder charge

[MosinRob]

I shoot my .54 renegade with 65 grains of goex ff for my target shooting. is that enough powder for deer hunting?

 

[54mountain]

that should be fine as long as you keep your shots at 50 to 60 yds.

 

[cynthialee]

like was said, yes

But...perhaps a heavier charge may be in order, so as to get a flater trajectory.

 

[longrifle78]

I'v killed several deer with a 54 shootin 60 grains of fff.

 

[George T.]

If my rifle would shoot a heavier charge well I would shoot from 90 tp 100 just in case I got a 100 yard shot. My GPR shoots very well with 100 grains and it's a 50! My 2cents! Geo. T.

 

[RC]

if you can hit where you aim that'll do the job jus fine :thumbsup: placement!..or.. :wink: location location location..

 

[Loyalist Dave]

My .54 launching a .530 PRB with 70 grains of 3Fg regularly goes through whitetails when they are broadside to me..., farthest that I have shot and done that was at about 100 yards, maybe a few more or a few less.

LD

 

[MosinRob]

my own casted .530 ball with .020 pillow from the fabric store with water soluble oil. Being pushed by 67 weighed grains of goex ff. Tight little shamrocks all day long out of my renegade.

 

[William O.]

Yep, as long as it is accurate and you keep your shots to a reasonable distance.

 

[feyx0006]

If 65 grains groups the tightest for you, then I would use it long before I would use any load. A hot 100 grain load grazing the shoulder does you no good. Any reasonable penetration into the boiler is a kill shot. My longest hunting shot was at a large doe a few years ago, about 85-90 yds, my standard hunting load is a .530 cal PRB, bore buttered pillow ticking patch, and 100 grains FFFg powder. That shot blew through the left lung, grazed the heart, right lung, and liver before exiting the opposite side. Needless to say, way more penetration than is truly necessary. For whatever reason, my GPR seems to have two relatively equal sweet spots when it comes to PRB loads. One is at around 70 grs FFFg and the other about 95-100 grs. Don't know why that is, but all other things being equal, I choose the heavier load.

 

[Little Wattsy]

I prefer 90 grains BUT accuracy is MOST important!!

 

[Black Hand]

I used 75-80gr FFFg in my .54 cal.

 

[dc7x64]

I try to use the highest charge I can and still maintain a decent degree of accuracy. Im sure my .54 has a sweet spot somewhere with a lower charge,but 90gr. of FFg seems to do well for me and hits the target in the same place at 100 yds as it does at 50 yds!

 

[roundball]

I must live under a star...I've read many threads like this one over the years about finding the absolute most accurate load and use it only...with implications that anything else is too risky, ie: what good is it using anything else if you miss the deer, etc, etc.

So far, in all my years of shooting I've never experienced this dramatic kind of an wild accuracy issue some people warn about, and that's with quite a few thousands of shots through each of .40/.45/.50/.54rifled/.54smooth/.56smooth/.58/.62rifled/.62smooth caplocks and Flintlocks.

The most change in group size I've ever noticed is about 3/4" to 1", and even that is from an already very acceptable small size hunting group.
My personal interest for hunting (big game) is to maximize the balance of velocity/trajectory/power/accuracy...not just accuracy alone.
I'd much rather have 2+1/2" groups at 100yds with full power powder charges for big game, than 1/2" smaller size groups with half power powder charges at that distance.

Just my personal POV based on never having experienced the wild swings in accuracy that sometimes seem to be implied in threads like these...others mileage may vary of course

 

[Spikebuck]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: My thoughts exactly.

 

[Little Wattsy]

I must live under a star...I've read many threads like this one over the years about finding the absolute most accurate load and use it only...with implications that anything else is too risky, ie: what good is it using anything else if you miss the deer, etc, etc.

So far, in all my years of shooting I've never experienced this dramatic kind of an wild accuracy issue some people warn about, and that's with quite a few thousands of shots through each of .40/.45/.50/.54rifled/.54smooth/.56smooth/.58/.62rifled/.62smooth caplocks and Flintlocks.

The most change in group size I've ever noticed is about 3/4" to 1", and even that is from an already very acceptable small size hunting group.
My personal interest for hunting (big game) is to maximize the balance of velocity/trajectory/power/accuracy...not just accuracy alone.
I'd much rather have 2+1/2" groups at 100yds with full power powder charges for big game, than 1/2" smaller size groups with half power powder charges at that distance.

Just my personal POV based on never having experienced the wild swings in accuracy that sometimes seem to be implied in threads like these...others mileage may vary of course

+1 and Amen... :hatsoff:

 

[JJCASTINGS]

As another member stated and I'll repeat here:
My personal interest for hunting (big game) is to maximize the balance of velocity/trajectory/power/accuracy...not just accuracy alone.

But that means KILL ZONE accuracy, same as the difference between target accuracy and combat accuracy. As long as a particular load will consistently group in the kill zone, it does not matter if the group is not the smallest group you can get.

Pick the caliber and projectile you want to use. Then as you work up a charge, you will see a point that after the accuracy is as tight of a group you can get, as powder is increased, the group will start to increase in group size, but still be 1/3 kill zone size. This gives the most killing power for that combination and still allows some error in your aim.

Do not go over the powder charge limit the manufacture gives for your gun.

 

[ryoung14]

65 gr. seems light for deer unless your hunting conditions are such that you'll never see a shot beyond 50 yards.

I usually use the highest charge that'll give me predictable grouping with NO flyers over a string of 5 shots with no wiping. Talking groups of less than 4 inches; generally around 2.5 inches at 100 yards.

This works out, in almost every case, to be 90 grs. of RS. One of my rifles is limited to 80 grs., so that's what I use. If I up the charge to 100 grs., I start to see flyers.