Hunting with Tennessee rifle

[rawhide]

Ok looks like I'll be hunting with my Tennessee rifle this year for black tail deer here in wa. Most shots are under 100 yards do to thick brush. The gun is a traditions Tennessee rifle 1and 66 twist 24 inch pipe. 50 cal I found it likes 70 grains of FFg and a cast .490 ball with a .015 patches.do you think this would be enough for a black tail? Or should I go up to say 80 grains of powder?

 

[hanshi]

No way he won't go down after being hit by your current load. No need to change a thing.

 

[cynthialee]

That is a great load in that rifle and only a few grains away from the load a friend used in the same gun to take a nice buck a few years back.

 

[azmntman]

I'd develope the best load for accuracy and hunt. 55-85 grains....dont matter. Hit the buck and go fer the truck, he be down (heck even 50 gr, but know yer trajectory)

 

[Critter Getter]

I have taken several Iowa Whitetails with 50 grains of black and a .490 prb. My shots are close and I get complete pass through in the lung area. 70 should be fine if that is what the gun shoots accurately. Greg

 

[nwtradegun]

where you place the bullet is what counts.

 

[tenngun]

It's been 20 years since I have used any more then 70 grains in a .50 or .54 on deer. I used to think you had to load for best to get killing power from a PRB, not so.
When Dixie gun works started to market its Tennessee rifle back in the early 80s it designed it to shoot with 60 grains and it's more then Bambi needs to turn French ( go from deer...english to venison... French.)

 

[Boomerang]

As long as a Tennessee rifle will work in Washington 70gr is plenty. :grin:

 

[mooman76]

Really it's what you feel comfortable with. 70 is plenty if you do your part but if 80 will make you feel better and it's still accurate enough for the kill, I'd sacrifice a tiny bit of accuracy for a little more power.

 

[cynthialee]

I wouldn't sacrifice accuracy for more fps just for the sake of more power. Shot placement is paramount.
70 grains will be plenty.

 

[tenngun]

That's true. A prb looses velocity in a short distance. An extra 100 fps works out to 10-20fps at a hundred yards. A prb at 2200 fps slows to about 1100 fps at a hundred yards. A prb at 1100 fps slows to about 850 at a hundred yards.
Trajectory is improved with higher MV, accuracy may not be effected enough to matter when hunting, but loading for bear only helps if the bear is close.

 

[Zonie]

For those interested in what happens when they boost the muzzle velocity of a lead roundball, take a look at this graph.

The dot on the left is the muzzle velocity.
Each dot to the right represents a distance of 20 yards.

Notice that the velocity of the 50 grain (red) and 100 grain (green) load at 120 yards (last dot on the right) are very close to being the same velocity even though they started out with over 400 feet per second difference at the muzzle.

The velocities 100 yards are also very close.



The .54 graph shows a similar curve.

As far as energy goes, the .54 has more than the .50 at any equal velocity due to the difference in weight but at 100 and 120 yards the velocities are quite similar.

 

[jrmflintlock]

Thanks for those graphs! Very interesting information! I've always wondered what taking more punishment was buying. 100 grains of powder packs quite a wallop to the shooter! I've always been s proponent of best load for accuracy then keeping my shots close regardless of load! Your graphs tell me I was on the right track! Thanks again!!

 

[dragnetbill]

So, another way to look at it, is to say that a 230 grain RB pushed by only 50 grains hits your animal at 100-120 yards with approximately the same velocity as a 230 grain .45acp load would if you could press the muzzle against its chest and fire. (sorry about the modern ammo comparison)
Sounds like enough power to me.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

. 50 cal I found it likes 70 grains of FFg and a cast .490 ball with a .015 patches

As said that's plenty...
According to the GOEX chart, and using Beartooth Bullets' energy calculator, you are generating 1003 foot-pounds at your muzzle, and my .54 caliber shooting 70 grains is generating 1027 foot-pounds at the muzzle. Trust me the Blacktails won't notice the difference of 24 foot-pounds.

:wink:

LD