Those "little" .50's

[longcruise]

GM boys hunt story got me thinking again about how we have so many preconcieved ideas of what is adequate for big game. Did not want to intrude on his topic so I'll toss it out here on it's own.

The picutre below is of a grown mulie doe I took last Monday evening with a .50 caliber Deer Hunter loaded with a .495 ball over 60 grains of fff. The shot was 80 yards and what you see on her side is the exit wound of a double lung shot.

Here is some of the country we hunted.

Here is what a near total kill of lodgepole pines looks like when the bases rot and they begin to fall. Dang near impossible to move around in!

 

[wattlebuster]

Congrats on the deer :thumbsup: and you will never hear me say a 50 aint enough gun. I built a 45 for a friend a few yrs back an he has taken 3 deer with it so far. All one shot kills

 

[ddoyle]

That took the air out of her quick! Better penetration than most modern cartridges.

There is really nothing short of griz and maybe antelope that you would be handicapped hunting if you can make that shot at 80 yrds every time.

Thanks for sharing it is nice to see examples of K.I.S.S putting meat on the table.

I am backing my lyman 50 load back down based on this post.

My guess is that her liver was beyond fantastic?

 

[Britsmoothy]

Great story and yes funny how a negative can become a lore when really it is just an opinion. So fear takes president and some end up thinking they need a mortar to get their deer!

May you walk that forest many more times.

B.

 

[robinsroost]

It's had to argue with success, congratulations sir on a task well done. My first rifle was a .50 caliber percussion hawken replica kit. I still have that gun and still hunt with it. I have been loading a .490 PRB over 65 grains of FFFg, but with your report and success, I will try 60 grains.......robin :bow:

 

[Skychief]

I used 50 prbs on Whitetails for years, big corn fed Indiana bucks included. Never failed to get a pass through no matter the range. My load was usually 80 grains of 2f.

Best regards, Skychief

 

[hanshi]

You did well; congratulations. I've dropped most of my deer with a couple of .45s and got through and through penetration at 75 yards on one of them. Various .50s have taken deer for me also; a couple at about 95 to 110 yards. I can't imagine a .50 being too little gun except in g-bear country. I used a little "DeerHunter" .50 for nearly 20 years and took plenty of deer with it.

 

[Spikebuck]

Nice pictures and congrats on the doe. :hatsoff:

A projectile a 1/2" across and traveling 1500 - 2000 fps at the muzzle is definitely "capable!" :grin:

 

[htredneck]

Someone forgot to tell him a .50 isn't big enough. Taken last November in Missouri using 80 grains of 2F to push a round ball. Range was about 50 yards and he went maybe 35 after being hit through both lungs and the heart. He died within sight of the truck, and by the time he was in the bed, he weighed about half a ton!

 

[palonghunter]

A .50 is plenty for deer. Heck, a .45 or even a .40 will do the job as long as you do your part. People have been killing deer with pointy sticks (arrows) for thousands of years. Deer aren't all that tough to kill :hatsoff:

 

[BrownBear]

Only deer I ever came close to losing was shot at about 15 yards with a .610 round ball atop 110 grains of 2f. Bum shot with bum results.

Goes to show it's not the size of the hole, but the measure of the man poking the hole.

 

[Grumpa]

BrownBear, you're not supposed to shoot them in the bum.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. :slap:

A lot of things can contribute to a bad shot, it has happened to most of us.

My best outcome in that regard - I shot at a nice doe while sitting on a blow down and turned sideways. Edging dusk. She took off down the hill. I found tracks, and blood in the leaves. Darkness fell, and no deer.

I went back next morning with a friend (who had shown me the blow down). I showed him the blood, and he started laughing. He had shot a deer on that spot, two days before - the blood was from his deer. Then he noticed a four foot high broken sapling about 2 thumbs wide, with a slug hole right through the center. It was right in line with the deer I had shot at, and the same color - so I never saw it when I shot.

We followed the tracks of "my" deer far enough to be sure it had not been hit, to my relief.

And marmotslayer, I didn't mean to hijack your thread. That's a nice deer, a nice shot, and a nice rifle. That deer thought she was t-boned by a locomotive.

I hope you didn't have to drag her out over those lodge poles. :grin:

 

[tenngun]

I know when I started ml I thought you had to load for bear. I hunted with 120 grains in a .54 prb. Looking at the ballistic data it just didn't look like the prb had any umph unless the charge was at least half the wt of the ball. Hunting deer with a .45 prb was on a par with a .22. Well I learned a bit since then. Powder charges came down after a few years then I got a .50, as my first ml was. The gun I thought was too little then was plenty big enough.
I dont know how something that looks so enemic can be such a good killer. People who swear by minnies will say there is nothing magic about a ball. The numbers dont lie. I cant argue with them, but can say my PRB turns good american deer french(deer in to venison)

 

[Juice Jaws]

Same here, I have kill many wild hogs with my CVA 50 using only 60 grains, and if I place the shot right they all drop dead.

 

[mr.flintlock]

A 50 caliber is MORE than adequate for deer. I have little 45 caliber southern mountain that I built specifically for using at out monthly shooting matches. I hate to have a rifle that I have not taken a deer with so I hunted with it only one day and bagged a nice six point buck. I was using a patched round ball ,.018 pillow ticking , greased with bear lard and pushed by 50gr of GOEX 3f. Dropped him in his tracks. 25 yard shot.

 

[Katahdin]

Firepower will never over come poor shot placement..45 does the job,, if you do yours.

 

[grndhntr]

Not only deer, but elk are not too big for the .50 PRB. The nice bull I took a few years back (in the hunt story forum here) hadn't read the ballistics charts or the "experts" opinions 'cause he didn't repel my measly little lead pellet that I threw at him.

 

[grndhntr]

Here's the little feller:

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[grndhntr]

.490 PRB and 80 gr. Pyrodex P took out both lungs. He ran about 100 yds. and died in sight.

 

[Vaino]

I've killed deer using. a .54 a .50, a .45 and a .22RF...and w/ a well placed shot, the deer were all killed. But to stretch a point, would I prefer to deer hunt w/ a .22RF neglecting the fact that it would be illegal? No.

After many years of deer hunting, is the .50 PRB sufficient for killing deer...you bet it is. But, my preference for elk hunting is a .54 PRB because some shots won't result in perfect hits and the more powerful .54 does lend some degree of cover for a less than perfect hit.

Nice going and thanks for posting the pics...beautiful country.....Fred