Shooting Lyman GPR

[Enfield1]

Hello fello shooters. I had a great morning shooting my .50 GPR. I have read in more than one source that 90 Grains of 2FG powder behind a 180 Grain patched round ball is plenty enough for deer-sized game. After firing several rounds at 50 yards to practice for accuracy, I put a ball into 2 2 x 12 boards that were stacked back to back. The load seems to be very stout, but surprisingly, the round only penetrated the first board. The ball only began to enter the second board before it stopped. As I said, this 90 grain load is written to be a humane hunting load, but does that seem like enough penetration to you guys?

 

[AZ-Robert]

I don't have a .50, but that sounds like a good load to me. Wood might not be the best medium for testing penetration. Some guys use wet phone books (soak it real good, prop it up, and shoot), and another neat idea is to fill a coffee can with paper towels (loose fit, about 50/50 paper and air) then fill the can with water.

 

[Zonie]

If deer were made out of pine it might not be enough but, as we know, they are made out of softer stuff.

IMO, there are several things to think about here.

If the ball doesn't blow all the way thru the animal, 100 percent of it's energy is going to be spent doing destructive things to the deer.

The .50 caliber ball starts out larger than many modern bullets expand to and it often expands to even larger sizes so it creates a very large wound channel.

Because it isn't as high in velocity as a modern gun, it doesn't create the hypershock of modern bullets which is why we muzzleloaders stress accuracy and shot placement rather than relying on modern technology to do the job.
You might think of Muzzleloading hunting with a roundball as a cross between modern rifles and archery. It takes the skill of an archer but adds the knock down power of gunpowder and large bullets.

Even if your shot is well placed it may not instantly kill the deer (although many times it will) and that is the time to use a technique that goes back for hundreds of years.
Reload the gun, sit down and enjoy the peace for a while, then slowly follow the path taken by the deer. They usually won't run far if they aren't being followed and will lay down for the last time. That's where you'll find them.

I suspect you will hear from many members who have had excellent luck with their hunting.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I did penetration tests with my .50 when it was new, shooting both a 60 grain charge of 2Fg powder, and then a 100 gr. charge of 2Fg powder. The target was a series of 1 ich boards( actually 7/8" from the lumber yard) spaced one inch apart. Both penetrated 6 boards and hit the 7th. The first made a dent in the 7th board, and fell down between the boards. The second dented and stuck in the board until I touched it, and then it fell out of my fingers to join the other one. Both balls were flattened severly. Both tore up a lot of wood, looking at the holes on the backsides of each piece of board penetrated.

On my first deer, at about 30 yds, I shot an old doe broadside right behind the right shoulder. The ball penetrated both her lungs and heart, and exited after shattering a rib. She stumbled down the ravine side to the bottom and piled up. She left a double blood trail all the way down, about 50-60 feet. I am a tracker, so I ignorred the blood and studied her tracks to see what they would tell me about her failing condition. When her shoulder pushed against that broken rib, she would break her wrist on the front foot, and drag the foot as she stumbled, leaving a consistent drag mark of 4 inches in the leaves.

Since then, I have tried, successfully, to pick my shot so I break a front leg, coming or going. You have enough penetration with that 90 grain charge to completely penetrate a deer broadside, even an old one with a barrel chest, or to break bone going in or coming out on the other side. Pick your shots, take your time, and your deer will be waiting for you.

 

[Spring]

I shoot a GPR in .50. I use it to hunt deer. My preferred load is 90 gr. of 2F.

I agree with Zonie when he talks about combining the attitude and technique of an archer when shooting a blackpowder rifle. I disagree that a complete passthrough is less desirable than retaining the bullet in the animal.

As for the .50, and 90 gr. of 2F? Forget what the boards tell you. This load is plenty for deer.

With this load my GPR is set up so that its dead on at 50 yards, about 2" high at 80 yards, and back on at 100 yards.

In deer hunting the issue is not accuracy, but energy. A roundball sent from a GPR is plenty accurate out to 100 yards. However, at that range its too light on energy to kill deer reliably. I figure I need about 900 ft lbs of energy on impact. By the time that roundball gets to 100 yards I've been told its carrying less than 700.

Get close, place the ball accurately and the deer won't know the difference between a .50 GPR and the latest hotrod centrefire magnum.


Cheers!

 

[jethro224]

Can't say for sure about 90 grains of 2f in a .50 but 80 grains of 3f in a .54 goes right thru. :thumbsup:

I'd say yer good to go. IMHO

 

A friend of mine uses the same load and told me he has never recovered a ball--they go right through the deer. You must have some strong wood there!

 

[Norskie]

I don't shoot at wood anymore. I fired at my firewood pile once and my .490 bounced off the end grain of a piece of oak and went 'wheat' past my ear. I have no idea how far that round bounced. Luckily there weren't any houses for miles. It got my attention.

 

[Kuckus]

I agree with Spring... I've killed at least 10 deer with this same caliber and load. Although I've picked my shots (like any responsible hunter does of course), I've never had a deer go further than 50 yards. The "spent" round ball is always found on the outside of the opposite side rib cage and appears to be a "nickel" in circumference. Most importantly, it gets the job done humanely and quickly :thumbsup: .

 

[WV_Hillbilly]

Hello fello shooters. I had a great morning shooting my .50 GPR. I have read in more than one source that 90 Grains of 2FG powder behind a 180 Grain patched round ball is plenty enough for deer-sized game. After firing several rounds at 50 yards to practice for accuracy, I put a ball into 2 2 x 12 boards that were stacked back to back. The load seems to be very stout, but surprisingly, the round only penetrated the first board. The ball only began to enter the second board before it stopped. As I said, this 90 grain load is written to be a humane hunting load, but does that seem like enough penetration to you guys?

As others have already said, wood penetration isn't the best way to test a load, BUT it's cetainly NOT the worst way either. I think your "perceived" lack of penetration "problem" has more to do with the test conditions and media. Most others, including myself, tend to use the 1" soft pine boards (which usually measure 3/4" or so).

There is a significant difference in penetration (as noted by one of the other posters) when using evenly spaced 1" boards. I don't know many people that use 2x12's, or that don't leave an air space between them... BUT that doesn't mean that you did anything wrong, just that you used a "thicker" target.

Different target = Different Results.

I've used a box of water soaked newspapers as test media before and the penetration results in that are different than in wood. I've likewise tested using boxes of packed potting soil, bags of mulch, cans of sand, in clay, in ice...etc.. The results are all different, but are still good indicators to provide you with a fairly reasonable comparative means of judging the potency of your loads.

Question? Did you also remember to fire a 50gr charge load into your test materials (FIRST) to see the results and establish a baseline? It's always good idea to start your testing by "creating a standard" with which to gauge your increasingly heavier loads.

I am extremely fortunate in that I gained some valuable experience by working in I&C. I learned various means of setup and testing. Doesn't mean that I am an expert or something--'cause I'm not... It just taught me to be consistent in all that I do, and particularly when testing items.

FWIW, I feel that 90gr FFg .50cal 180gr round ball load is a pretty potent beastie... and this is based on the results of my own personal testing.

Shoot Safely, and always use a big enough gun,
WV_Hillbilly

 

[paulvallandigham]

Geat comment. I have a friend who uses sand bags to test bullets all the time. He has used drywall, water soaked newspaper, wood, wood and air( as I did) ballistics gel, and just about everything else you can imagine to test the penetration power of various projectiles. He is mostly a modern gun shooter, and shoots and casts thousands of bullets each year.

I asked him about using sand, and he told it doesn't really matter what you use provided you have a base line, ie. use a bullet that you have used on game, and know what it looks like when it is done penetrating flesh. He keeps the shotgun slugs he digs out of deer each year so he has a continuing base line for perfomance of his slugs and loads at various distances.

Then, when you shoot any other projectile into your test medium, you have something to compare it to, and you have a better idea of what it will do when it hits flesh. Everything is relative. A Ball that goes through 2 inches of sold wood, goes through 6 inches of wood and air. Both will penetrate a deer completly, opening up to about a nickle in size before exiting. That .50 RB will do a lot of damage inside, and the deer will be dead in a short time. If I were shooting Elk, or large bear at over 100 yds, I would want to use a heavier caliber rifle , but for deer, the .50 id deadly.

 

[JackAubrey]

I have a .50 cal. LGPR,perc. aswell.I use 90-100 grains of 2f Goex powder.I've not shot boards nor any other test media,save targets.I have harvested a few whitetail bucks w/ said rifle.I try to keep my shots w/in 75yards give or take.I wait for a broadside shot.I have yet to recover a spent ball either.Poked right through.Best regards,J.A.