Long Range PRB over 54?

[Heelerau]

I once shot a stand of 4 kangaroos at about 125yards, with my .50 missouri planes rifle. All one shot kills to the chest. I was young and silly and had to pack a lot of meat out, so never shot so many in one hit again. Fairly strong wind so they could not either smell me or hear the rifle going off. A normal long shot for me is about 70 odd yards, much shorter if possible.

 

[BigBoreBLR]

Far as hunting goes, I believe I will limit myself to 100 yards or less. My 54 is zeroed at 100 yards. M 45's are zeroed at 75 yards.

However, I like to target shoot as far as I can and hit a gong a bit smaller than a deer vital shot. I use a 6 inch metal gong.

Going over 54 cal cost alot of powder, lead, and recoil. I was wondering if it was really worth it, or not.

Once my early virginia 45 is all done, I will likely be building either a right handed flinter for my girlfriend, or a left handed 36 cal squirrel rifle. In either case, very likely another humble TVM builder's kit special in late lancaster and 13/16th's 36".

So, I got a little time and experience to build a touch nicer gun.

 

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

There's an outfit called October Country that has rifles of .62 caliber and up. They have slooow twists, like 1:104" and Forsyth rifling.

They are meant to shoot a big PRB at velocities around 2000 fps or better.

That is the kind of PRB gun you would want for 150 to 200 yard shots. You do get better ballistic coefficient with a larger diameter pill. So, if your marksmanship it up to the task, there is certainly a PRB that will do it.

That doesn't mean that the law of diminishing returns won't kick in. I remember looking at the powder doses of some of those, say .72 caliber guns and they were something like 250 grains of FFg to get the ball going 2000 fps. They just get expensive to buy and feed.

And, of course recoil management can be an issue. Those October Country guns are not lightweight. I remember they were around 14 lbs. So they may soak up the recoil so that you can shoot all day, but you may need a native to carry your gun.

I have a .54 D-weight in an Early Virginia and I've shot whitetail at 120yards. It weighs 10 lbs and I can shoot 120 grain charges all day without a problem, except that the powder can goes empty faster.

 

[Rifleman1776]

We have a member here that makes some really big whoomper-stomper caliber muzzle loaders.
Beauties to look at but, personally, I'll pass on an opportunity to shoot one. http://www.stolzergunsmithing.com/

URL won't take. Look up stolzergunsmithing dot com.

 

[Walks with fire]

It's pretty hard to beat a 50 caliber if the largest game you seek is deer. A barrel length of 32" or so will yield a very flat trajectory with 100 to 110 grains of powder. Recoil is not harsh; the rifles are not overly heavy with a 15/16" or 7/8" across the flats. 54's are nice but have more bump on each end for the same trajectory. I like a 54 but the 50 is all I really need. I am respecting the 50 cal. ball more and more over time. They really are a sweet patched ball caliber for deer.

 

[silly goose]

I too, adore the .50, but vow to get more familiar with my .45's in the not too distant future.