Shooting shot from a rifled .50 barrel

[TexasMLer]

Has anyone tried to shoot shot from their .50 caliber rifled barrel? Would this be bad for the barrel? Would the pattern be horrible?

I was thinking (I know...1st problem) that, if it wouldn't harm the barrel, it would be a fun and inexpensive way to hunt squirrels.

What are your thoughts? Thanks!

 

[Slamfire]

Rifled barrels don't handle shot to well the spin causes the shot to spread erratically. You might have some success with the shot cups used in .44/.45 caliber pistols and some sabot. Why don't you try it out and tell us the result. :results:

 

[Birddog6]

I have tried it lots of times with several viriaty or wads, cups etc. Results are a oval patern, erratic, you never know how the pattern will end up & full of holes in the pattern. If something is 10 yds away ya may kill it & after that it is a total waste of time. I have tried it in a 50, 54, 58 & 62 calibers and all had the same results. But it was still just funn messing with them...

 

i tried alot of loads with an old CVA 50 hawken i had ,,, seemed no mater what i did i ended up with a donut for a pattern, if the bird flew center he would be alright as i shot all around him lol

 

[Stumpkiller]

You can't get a good pattern out of a rifle. That's why the world still has both rifles and shotguns. The "snake loads" for pistols are only good for about 20 feet.

It's pretty economical to shoot squirrels with a round ball out of that .50. Tone it down to 40 or 50 grains of FFg and you're sitting pretty.

You'd be better off getting into casting your own lead balls if you want economy.

Even if you buy swaged balls they're only 7

 

[TexasMLer]

Thanks for the replies! You confirmed what I suspected. I might try it anyway just for fun. ::

Stumpkiller,

I thought about trying the .50 for squirrels but I figured it would turn the litte critters to mush. Sounds fun...I'll give it a try and see.

What I meant by "inexpensive" was that it would be cheaper than buying a .32 for squirrels, which is what I really want. Track of the Wolf has one that I reeeeally want. Unfortunately, my wife doesn't share my desire. ::

 

[BrownBear]

I use a 36 and a my 54 for hunting snowshoe hares with light loads. Both are accurate as the dickens, an dyou don't want to take body shots with either one. It's head shots or hamburger.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I thought about trying the .50 for squirrels but I figured it would turn the litte critters to mush. Sounds fun...I'll give it a try and see.

I use a .54 for everything from squirrels & bunnies on up. I load way down (42 gr.), and you do want to avoid shoulder shots.

 

[TexasMLer]

I thought about trying the .50 for squirrels but I figured it would turn the litte critters to mush. Sounds fun...I'll give it a try and see.

I use a .54 for everything from squirrels & bunnies on up. I load way down (42 gr.), and you do want to avoid shoulder shots.

Do you sight-in your rifle for 25 or 50 yds. when you are using the 42gr charge? My rifle is currently sighted-in at 50yds. and is very accurate at that distance. I had to file my front sight down to make it that accurate. If I reduce my charge to something suitable for squirrels/rabbits, do you think I'll have to reconfigure my sights? I don't really want to do that because I don't want to mess-up my deer-hunting configuration. Thanks!

 

[Stumpkiller]

Here's my trick. I sight in my rifles to be 2" high with my deer hunting loads at 50 yards. Then, I go to 25 yards and play around with powder volumes in the low-end from 40 to 60 gr or so until I find one that is dead on. My .54 Renegade is 90 gr FFg for deer (2" high at 50 yds, on again at 85 +/-) and 42 gr FFg for spot-on at 25, and my .50 New Englander is 84 gr. FFg (2" high at 50 yds and on again just past 75) and 60 gr FFg to be dead on at 25.

And lotsa times I just load the full hunting charge and hold on Mr. Skwerl's chin.

 

[TexasMLer]

Thanks! Those numbers give me a good starting point b/c our .50 caliber deer loads are very similar.

I might even re-install my Lyman peep sight. I bought a Lyman peep and had very good success with it, but even though I'm not very concerned about being PC, it just looked "wrong" on the rifle, if you know what I mean. However, if I do re-install the peep sight , it will allow me to have two settings - deer and squirrel.

 

[NoJacketRequired]

Just a quick response here to go toward answering the question about bird shot in a rifled barrel... My home defence gun is a Mossberg 500 12ga pump gun with a fully rifled slug barrel. It's my home defence gun because at 7 paces the pattern using #7 1/2 birdshot is man-sized (and coincidentally, vertically oriented!). 'Nuff said.

 

[TexasMLer]

Note to Self: Never, ever, under any circumstance, enter NoJacketRequired's house uninvited. ::

That sounds like a heckuva home defense weapon. I think I would rather take a roundball between the eyes than a body-full of shot. No, wait, I KNOW I would rather take a roundball...

::