• This community needs YOUR help today. We rely 100% on Supporting Memberships to fund our efforts. With the ever increasing fees of everything, we need help. We need more Supporting Members, today. Please invest back into this community. I will ship a few decals too in addition to all the account perks you get.



    Sign up here: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/account/upgrades

deer load for my tennessee

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

rawhide

45 Cal.
Joined
Jun 5, 2010
Messages
685
Reaction score
7
Ok I just got my self a tennessee rifle .50 cal flint lock.it mostly will be used as a rondy gun. But I want to hunt with it to! So I mostly will be hunting black tail deer or black bear here in wa. Most shots are 80 yards or under. In brush. Lots of thick brush here. Do u think 70 grains of FFg and a cast .490 ball with a .015 patch lubed with crisco and beezwax will be enough? I mostly hunted with maxis so hunting with a ball is new to me. Thanks rawhide
 
I'd ramp it up a bit just to be safe. Maybe 70gn FFFg or 80 of FFg as a minimum. I am looking into .50 cal loads as well. What amazed me was how little difference there was in downrange velocity between loads. Having said that, not all our shots are at the maximum range are they? I am looking to work out an accurate load around 75 - 85gn of FFFg so that I can use the same powder for prime.

Looking at the info in a Gun Digest blackpowder loading manual for a .50cal Green Mtn barrel, the muzzle velocity with 50gn of FFg is 1250fps. With 90gn FFg it is 1710fps. That is 460fps difference, but at 100yards the difference is only 190fps. At 100yds the difference between a 70gn & 90gn load is only 75fps but 200fps at the muzzle.

The law of diminishing returns kicks in pretty hard as you increase powder charge so any real benefit of heavier powder charges probably only exists in the first 50 - 60 yards.

I don't even bother looking at energy figures any more. I know that pure lead ball will flatten out perfectly every time and do the appropriate amount of tissue damage, so I am more interested in accuracy and penetration.

Hope that helps.
 
In my .50 early Lancaster I haven't needed to go over 70 grains of 3F; the load gives 1700fps. Even 60 grains approaches 1600fps and might be the load I use this season.
 
rawhide said:
.50 cal flint lock. I want to hunt with it........mostly will be hunting black tail deer or black bear here in wa. Most shots are 80 yards or under. In brush. Lots of thick brush here.
A lot of things will work under certain conditions.
And in reference to 'thick brush', while powder charge & velocity really can't compensate for a PRB 'hitting brush', a higher velocity / flatter shooting trajectory might let your POA slip a PRB through a tiny opening at distance with more reliability than a lesser powder charge.
With the variety of hunting conditions that can present themselves hunting any big game, my personal approach is:
"I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it"
So my minimum powder charge has always been 90grns Goex 3F...others mileage may vary.
 
If your rifle shoots accurately with 70 grains then it is more then enough.

my .50 eats 60 grains each time I pull the trigger and I would not hesitate to hunt any NA game with it. (grizzly/polar bear) excepted. Not that I would'nt but I would hesitate a bit LOL.

You do not gain any useful hunting trajectory or useful terminal performance by blowing more powder out the barrel.

Blacktails do not have alot of themselves betwixt the atomosphere and thier cardio vascular system. put a ball in thier lungs and they will feed you.


If you need 'confidence' in your load. Go shoot a tree with 100 grains of powder. Then shoot it with 70 grains. Both balls either passed thru or both balls are with in a hairs depth in there when measured with piece of coat hanger. Might even find the slower ball made it in farther


:hmm:
 
My deer hunting load in my .50 caliber Hawken/Hunter Carbine (24-inch barrel) is a .490" Hornady swagged ball over 70 grains of FFFg Swiss with a .016" lubed (bee's wax & vegetable oil) cotton denim patch & a thin vegetable-fiber over-powder wad (.060").

This very adequate (out to 80 yards) deer load shoots one-hole, 3-shot groups at 25 yards off the bench if I do my job.


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.
 
I think the dixie tennisse rifle in a .50 came with a recomended charge of 60 grains. I shoot 70 in my southren rifle and have put more then one deer in the pot with it. I have never failed to have a through and through shot. My hunting is usualy less then 50 yards, but I wouldnt hesitate to go to a hunndred.
The most important advice is to feel comfortable with your load. Some folk may tell you to shoot bigger charges then I would. I wouldn't say thats wrong. Better too have to much then too little. Experiment on your own and you will find your sweet spot.
 
Back
Top