Load suggestions for my 54 caliber flintlock

I have a 54 caliber flintlock rifle that has the Colerain 42" C-weight swamped barrel. Right now I am shooting 65 grains of FFF powder under a patched round ball for deer. Next year, I plan on taking this gun with me to British Columbia for a moose hunt and was wondering if I should start messing with my load. Please tell me what you all are shooting in your 54's.

Thanks,

Darren

I guess it will depend on what your gun likes. I have shot a wide variety of loads in my .54 with a Rice Barrel. For deer I always shot 90 gr of 2F, an .018 ticking patch and a .535 ball. Groups were OK but nothing special.

One day I went to the range and started shooting at 100 yards, my holes were almost touching, much better than anything I had shot before. I looked at my powder measure and found I had mis-set it on 80-gr, I had also switched to a .530 ball for easier loading that day.

Somehow I had missed the .530 ball and 80gr, 018 patch combination I was now shooting when I worked up a load. I definitely found my rifles sweet spot.

My .54 Hawken is only used on elk w/ a PRB and has killed a few w/o any problems.

The terrain in Colorado is sometimes fairly open and longer shots present themselves and the last elk shot was at 107 paced off yds. This lead cow was hit in the ribs just behind the shoulder and after being hit came back towards me for 40 yds and collapsed.

Moose are usually shot at somewhat closer ranges and no doubt the following load would kill a moose as it has done w/ elk, but a lesser charge would also kill an elk or moose at closer ranges.

The load is .....535 RB, a .020 patch and 120 grs 3f Goex. My Hawken weighs 9-1/2 lbs so the recoil isn't a factor.

Good luck on your hunt.....Fred

One day I went to the range and started shooting at 100 yards, my holes were almost touching, much better than anything I had shot before. I looked at my powder measure and found I had mis-set it on 80-gr, I had also switched to a .530 ball for easier loading that day.

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80gr 2FF with 530 ball is my target load and is very accurate. My hunting load varies from 90 to 120gr's depending on what I'm hunting.

This buck was taken with 120gr 2ff and 530 ball

Darren Haverstick said:

I plan on taking this gun with me to British Columbia for a moose hunt and was wondering if I should start messing with my load. Please tell me what you all are shooting in your 54's.

Thanks,

Darren

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Your story doesn't mention anything about the time you went to the range and worked up a load for your rifle. If you haven't already done so, please do. It is best to find out what your rifle likes by experimentation, and time spent at the range. There is no substitute for experience and experimentation. And therein lies the fun.

I shoot 80gr FFFg Goex, .18 pillow tick patch, .530 Hornady ball.

My rifle is 1:70 in 38” barrel.

I’ve tried more powder but I do not gain any accuracy. I have a chronograph and from 80 to 100 grains the MV increased less than 100 FPS with less accuracy. 80g MV = 1745 FPS and 100 g MV = 1830 FPS.

I recently shot an elk and a red deer with this flintlock. The ball went lengthwise through the red deer at close range. The ball went shoulder to shoulder on the elk at 79 yards and it went down quickly.

A moose is a lot bigger. My inclination would be to find the most velocity while still keeping excellent accuracy. There’s a much bigger vital area on a moose so if the MV increased significantly a small degradation in accuracy may be acceptable.

Of course you need to spend some time on the range before going on that hunt. Assuming the load you are now using is the best for accuracy, you can increase that charge for hunting without any appreciable loss of accuracy. As is often said, you will still be within 'one minute of deer'. You may not need the extra 'umph' but charges in the 100 to 120 range should be safe and put you on the kill spot just fine.

There is the most accurate load, the perfect cloverleaf shooting spot that we look for, but.... ml are forgiving of what you feed them. The load that you would not use in a match will be great for hunting.
A gun may shoot it’s very best with x load, say 70 grains 3f, .530 and .18 patch lubed with olive oil, but 120 grains .527 ball with tallow can get you a heart shaped group and do well when used on game.
Keep in mind a big load may not payoff down range in terms of power. A .54 at 2000 FPS at the muzzle will slow to 1100 FPS at a hundred yards, a 1100 FPS load will slow to 800 FPS at a hundred yards. A 14-1600 FPS load at the muzzle may be your best load.

Having killed many elk I still use 80 gr 3f & prb. Never yet lost one and several droped. These aint old time 30-06 after all, if ya put a .54 PRB in the boiler room the hunts done and the work starts. SOOOOOO...use what is your most accurate and comfortable load to shoot and stop fretting :thumbsup:

You really could use a load of 5o gr and a prb to like 50 yds and yer still gonna kill the elk :surrender:

SHOT PLACEMENT

I think I'd lean towards the accurate load.

But I use 85 Gr FFFg in my .54 rifle (44" barrel). It's effective on 200 lb whitetails and shoots well. Slower twists sometimes prefer a bit more velocity.

My Deer Load is 70 grains of 3Fg under a patched round ball. Moose are the largest of the cervids, so when I went for moose 15 years ago in Canada, My load was 90 grains of 3Fg and a 320 grain conical projectile. (The guide for the hunt had a rule that for moose and a round ball, he had a minimum caliber of a .58 rifle for black powder, and smaller had to use a conical.) I didn't get a shot at a moose as it was uncommonly very warm weather, but I'd been to the range and knew it was an accurate load..., kicked a lot more than a patched round ball though...

LD

If I only had one rifle it would be a .54, I think that caliber is good for just about anything...even squirrels if you don't want to eat the brains. :wink:

When I went for moose in 79 I had a .62 Jaeger rifle. I wanted to use the heaviest load I could so after a lot of range work I settled with 170gr's 2FF behind a .610 ball.

I know that sounds excessive but as it turned out I was glad I did. When my chance came for a shot at a moose, I jumped him from his bed and at about 50yds took the shot as he was running straight away. The ball took him on the inside of the left ham and was recovered just under the hide in the brisket, going through paunch, liver and lungs. He was down in less than 100yd's


I'm not suggesting you use a bigger caliber because your .54 is very adequate, I'm just relaying what I used on my moose hunt.

Darren Haverstick said:

Next year, I plan on taking this gun with me to British Columbia for a moose hunt and was wondering if I should start messing with my load. Please tell me what you all are shooting in your 54's.

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Three of my usual muzzleloading buds are dedicated moose hunters, each with more than 2 decades of experience and kills almost every year. I'm having a little trouble convincing them that they NEED 58 caliber rifles because I'm partial to them myself. But they have good reason for pushing back.

To a man they have all been using 54 calibers all those years. Their long experience trumps my enthusiasm every time. Kinda funny because I know guys who are equally enthusiastic about 62 caliber, and one insists 69 caliber is the only way to go. :grin:

Easy to recall their loads, cuzz it's all they use for mice to moose. One is shooting 120 grains of 2f and the other two are shooting 110 grains. Their choice is as much for trajectory as a little extra impact out to 100 yards. They want the flatter trajectory because it's very difficult to judge range with moose, and they're very precise about where they land their shots.

One thing they've settled on is going to drive the traditionalists among us buggy. They've all taken to using alloy (wheel weight) balls. But they have lots more moose time than keyboard and theory time. Their point is that penetration is everything on moose with such a "small" ball, and if a 54 caliber ball expands at all, you might not get what you need. Moose don't always give you the perfect angle, and even "broadside" shots can sometimes require a lot of penetration to reach the vitals. Their paunch is huge, and if your shot has to angle through it, the mushy veggies absorb a whole lot of energy and it's really good at expanding pure lead. They're basing that on actual poking of lots of moose hair, so I take their word for it.

One other point worth passing along: Using the same mold to cast alloy balls rather than pure lead, the balls are going to come out slightly smaller. They had to use slightly thicker patches for good accuracy. Entirely do-able, but it takes some load testing and development.

I have killed 2 moose 1 in NH one in ME. Both with 54 round balls 42 inch barrel 120 ffg. 1 shot each. The cow went 15 yards, the bull went 40 yards. Both fell over dead.

Can't ask for better IMHO moose do not die when hit, their nerve system seems kind of slow.

Tell you to use it if you want to use a 58 or 62 go for it they will kill very well, your choice.

One thing they've settled on is going to drive the traditionalists among us buggy. They've all taken to using alloy (wheel weight) balls.

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:barf: :shake:

Yup. Poor misguided souls alloy their balls like historic hunters did with round balls in Africa! It'll never catch on. :rotf:

I am surprised to read this. When I pour an alloy into a mold the balls that it drops are slightly larger than pure lead balls from the same mold.

Must be the cold northern air running into global warming. :wink:

BrownBear said:

Yup. Poor misguided souls alloy their balls like historic hunters did with round balls in Africa! It'll never catch on. :rotf:

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If they were using wheel weight alloy it would have been some time after 1911. ;-)

I'm not even sure what the current glue-on "Lead-free" wheel weights are made of. Zinc? Bismuth?

I'm not even sure what the current glue-on "Lead-free" wheel weights are made of. Zinc? Bismuth?

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They can be made of almost anything. No consistency anymore.