bullet lube?

As I said, the deer and elk I killed did not show any signs of the maxi changing direction in the animal. I have heard the same thing as Dan though (probably from the same people ) regarding this tracking problem. FWIW, they were shooting moose.


regardless of the tracking characteristics, the nose shape of the maxi is not, IMO, conducive to a good wound channel. Animals hit by my wife's Lee target minie (a flying trash can shape ) were much more effective. The Great Plains bullet looks like it would have the same effect what with the large flat meplat.

My recollection is that you shoot with a fast twist, no? A faster twist is supposed to overcome the tracking problem.

It has always seemed to me that bullet casters should have learned something from Thompson and Elmer Keith, who were writing about, and designing wide meplat " semi-wadcutter" bullets for hunting game in both handguns and rifles MORE THAN 60 years ago. Yet, we see still see bullets with round noses offered, and advocated. RN bullets do buck wind well, and are great for long range Target shooting. However, they should never be a first choice for hunting game.

Just as the notorious .38 spl. lead bullet loads sold to Police for decades were famous for ricochetting off hard surfaces and going who-knows-where, ROUND NOSE bullets hitting heavy bones( Moose, bear, and sometimes Elk), have been reliably reported to have ricochetted off the line of travel, and taken a different path.

I have not heard that happen with bullets that are flat nosed, and have wide meplats. As IdahoRon notes, they have a wonderful habit of continuing to travel on a straight line even after nicking bones.

Why don't you go to a home improvement store and get a wax ring used to seat a stool on.I think that those are mostly bees wax.I have used the thompson maxi round on several occasions and found them very reliable in a 1-48 or faster twist.The last time I used them, I wrapped them in teflon tape and harvested two whitetails in short order.The tape did not appear to hurt the barrel, and I discovered very little residue in the barrel when I cleaned it.All of the deer that I have harvested with the maxi were shot through and I have never recovered a round to check even after penetrating several bones.When you make your lube use your bees wax very sparingly and slowly work the product to the consistancy that you desire.A small chunk will make it very hard in a hurry.I have often though that paper patched maxis would be the way to go, but I have never experimented with them.They have a section on how to paper patch on the Greybeard outdoors site if that instrest you.

SmokyMtnSmokepole said:

Dan Phariss said:

"The problem exhibited by the TC Maxi is very poor performance on game due to lack of expansion and failure to stay on track after striking game with the 48" twist."

?????????????????????????- Not trying to argue, but that's definitely news to me, I've shot probably 25 deer with TC maxi-hunters out of my .50 CVA Hawken with 1 in 48" twist, and over half of them have dropped in their tracks, and the rest were short, easy recoveries- most of them falling in sight and the others leaving a trail of blood that looked like it was poured out of a bucket.Don't see how they could get much deader.I have a friend who shoots maxi-hunters also and has probably killed more deer with them than I have, with the same consistant results.From what I've seen, they're one of the deadliest bullets I've ever used on deer from any gun, except maybe a 12-gauge slug.

Click to expand...

Forgive me sometimes I forget there is a "Maxi-Hunter" as well as a "Maxi-Ball".
The Maxi-Ball and Maxi-Hunter are radically different designs. Comments applied to one do not necessarily apply to the other. The deficiencies of the Maxi-Ball were corrected as far as possible with the Maxi-Hunter. You must also remember that deer in the lower 48 are not as big as moose in northern BC Canada where most of these reports to me came from. But there have been reports of serious failures with Maxi-balls on deer as well.
Conicals shot from slow twists deflecting when striking flesh and bone is well documented back to the Crimean War. The Maxi-hunter appears to be shorter and blunter than the M-Ball. This makes it more stable in slower twists. The nose is designed to expand and I doubt it will collapse into the front grease groove as is reported with the M-ball forming what is a spitzer shape nose.

I prefer to shoot round balls for several reasons.
I don't consider the bullet used in MLs to be worth the risks and problems they create in a hunting rifle.
If I feel I need more power I go with larger round ball (a 54 Maxi-hunter is the same weight as a .662 RB in pure lead). They are largely free of the problems the conicals exhibit. They stay on the powder, they shoot flat, don't produce excessive pressures and they kill well.
Whats not to like?
But if you are a gun writer getting money from the various conical makers and the makers of the various zip gun MLs then the traditional ML with a RB is "deficient". Has to be. There is money involved after all. Gotta keep them advertisers happy.

I hunt with a flintlock because I like flintlocks, it connects me with my forefathers. I shoot RBs because thats the proper bullet for a ML hunting rifle. It hung on long after the conical was well known (right to today) check history, the conicals, even the cloth patched picket bullet, never caught on for general use till the advent of the breechloader.

What people hunt with is personal choice. But in my experience the killing power is about the same at least on the smaller species like deer. Bigger critters or bigger teeth/bad attitude, you need a larger bore size.


Dan

I forget sometimes that TC makes both, also. I have heard bad things myself about the maxi-ball, but the maxi-hunter seems to be well-liked by everyone who hunts with it. Not many moose here in NC, so I don't know anything about shooting those. :wink: I prefer roundballs myself, too, and that's all I shoot in my flintlock, but they just don't shoot well out of that Hawken with the 1 in 48" twist; the maxi-hunters do, so that's what I use in that gun.

Well I like maxiballs and usualy have accuracy problems with the maxihunters. I use a lot of prbs also so no flames please. But to be HONEST one time I hit a running buck in the chest. NO shoulder prob 40 yards 90 gr 3f 50 cal 370 gr almost sideways. The maxi took out the top of the heart bottom of the lungs (you all know the area). But the exit was at the front edge of the rear quarter. It was a CVA with 1 in 66 twist. Dead in about 40 yards. But 1-66 might not be a good idea. have killed lots of deer with the maxi. This was the only one to turn. BUT almost all were 1-48 twist. I like and use the maxiball for the penatration on not perfect angles for big rack hunting.(flame suit on) I don't take risky shots. Passed on a good buck twice with a bow this season. Larry

Get beeswax from bee keepers. They are usually most appreciative of the opportunity to do business with the public instead of some buyer.

Lube recipe:Beeswax, Olive Oil and Lanolin.
Keeps your fouling kissing soft and my better two-thirds says it's great for her quilt finger.
Oh yeah, and yall can get attitude adjustments down at the red arrow store.

Why don't you go to a home improvement store and get a wax ring used to seat a stool on.I think that those are mostly bees wax.

Click to expand...

I don't think they have very much if any bees was in them. Check the labeling to be sure. even if there in so bee's wax, it could still be a good lube ingrediant?