How much powder

Tom A Hawk said:

120 grains under a 555 maxiball - Ouch!! Might be tolerable in a 12 lb. Quigley.

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Recoil is just as brutal in my 12# Sharps. Stock design doesn’t help much.

I use 80-90gr 3F with a LRB in my 58 cal. At 1400FPS it has sufficient accuracy, energy, expansion, and penetration for Elk to 100 yards..............Without the nosebleed! IMO.

I'm not in the Hysterically Correct group who always seem to pop up and ridicule the use of anything but a round ball, but. . . . . I will attest to the efficacy of round balls on big game especially in the 54 and 58 class but I've shot enough conicals in 50, 54 and 58 guns to to say that the recoil can take the fun out of it.

100 lbs?????
Well Bill Raby is making a four bore rifle that he is documenting on you tube. Maybe you can PM him and talk him out of it. If you don’t shoot too far away a four hour ought to do it.

I have a .58....buying several boxes of maxi ball and maxi hunters from a forum member.

I may never shoot any of those but will be nice to have.

I shot a 9.3 x 63 once....nailed the target but the stock shot under my shoulder and I nearly dropped the thing. (Bench rested shooting).

I've never hunted with anything other than a prb regardless of caliber. My two .45s have accounted for a lot of deer with only one shot each up to 75 yards.

hanshi said:

I've never hunted with anything other than a prb regardless of caliber.

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Me too, I've never harvested a deer with anything other than a PRB. I don't get much practice tracking when I use a PRB either.

LD

Loyalist Dave said:

Me too, I've never harvested a deer with anything other than a PRB. I don't get much practice tracking when I use a PRB either.

LD

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I shot a few with a 54 cal great plains bullet from a TC Hawken many years ago. DRT. I remember being disappointed with my 3 inch iron sight groups at 100 yards. LOL. I'd be happy as can be with that group today, with my current eyesight. Also, only PRB these days...

I have killed deer and elk with balls and maxi balls. My standard load in 50 was a 370 gr maxi and 100 gr of 2f. Downright painful to shoot and no more effective than a ball.

Nutnfancy said:

Here is the pic of a page out of my 'Shooting Thompson/Center Muzzleloading Firearms'manual that came with my gun. It suggest starting from the lowest charge and work your way up. Also it said you will find the best accuracy somewhere around the middle of the chart. Hope this helps.

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Ask yourself How big of a flinch do I want?
Rounds that actually hit where you want them to count.

The worst flinch I ever developed was from a .54 Renegade and 120 grains of 2fg. It took a full year of shooting small unmentionables to get rid of it. Just how hard is the game you hunt? I killed 2 moose with a 54 RB at smaller charges with complete penetration.

The biggest charge I ever dumped in my .50 cal. Renegade was 200 gr. Pyrodex RS with no round ball, just a patch. Made a hell of a lot of noise, a lot of fire & smoke but very little kick..........Was celebrating the 4th. of July.

akaMOTU said:

I shot a few with a 54 cal great plains bullet from a TC Hawken many years ago. DRT. I remember being disappointed with my 3 inch iron sight groups at 100 yards. LOL. I'd be happy as can be with that group today, with my current eyesight. Also, only PRB these days...

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I use 110 grains of pyrodex rs under a Hornady great plains bullet I think it's 425 grains or so. It's the most accurate load for mine. It actually beats some of my other rifles at 100 yards