• 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

Thoughts on my elk load?

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

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

Oregononeshot

36 Cal.
Joined
Oct 28, 2017
Messages
166
Reaction score
42
After a year of barrel break in and load testing, I'm close to settling on a load for my bull elk hunt this fall. Unless my next round or two of testing produces amazing results, the load I'm going to use in my 54 GPR is 85 grains of 3f, a 535 hand cast ball, and a ticking patch with 1:7 ratio of ballistol/water.

During my testing I tested from 70-95 grains goex 2f, and 70-85 grains 3f. My results with the 2f showed the higher I got in charge size, the bigger my groups got ( all testing done at 50 yards from the bench). 85 grains is the highest charge that still produced the accuracy I was looking for. I do plan on shooting 90 and 95 with the 3f, but the 2f and 3f have had the exact same results up to 85 so I'm expecting the groups to continue to expand. My 5 shot group is 2 inches with 85 grains but expands to 3-4 when I go higher than 85.
My groups at 100 are anywhere from 2-5 inches depending on wind. That gun sure does catch the wind, makes it hard to keep steady sometimes!
I also have some patches made up with mink oil lube on them, and plan to try those during my next range session. I plan on shooting out to 125 yards on the range to test the drop past 100 yards, with the intention of having 125 yards be my max range, given perfect conditions of course (no wind, solid rest).
So what are you guys opinions on the load I have selected?
 
I personally dont care for the patch lube, especially for a hunting load and something that contains water. When hunting, my rifle is loaded until I fire it at an animal and I do not want a water based product in my bore for the full 9 day hunt.

85gr 3fg is a great load. In my 50 I used to use 70gr 3fg, but sadly in colorado our minimum patched round ball caliber is now 54cal. Forces us to use a conical in a 50cal for elk and moose.

The load sounds great, the mink oil lube will be better for a hunting situation IMO.
 
There isn't any actual water on the patch. It all evaporates during the drying process, leaving only the watered down ballistol. The patches are dry to the touch, and there has never been any condensation in the bags I store them in. I'm confident that the powder will be dry even if I have to leave the same load in for the whole season, which I'm hoping not to lol.
 
Do you plan on wiping the bore out in the field after the first shot? If so, then everything should be fine. I don't wipe while hunting, I keep attention on the animal until its out of sight, then continue to listen while i reload. Just different ways. I'd for sure see if you can reload on a dirty bore first, just in case you need a quick follow up shot.
 
I do plan on wiping after my first shot in the field, but I also plan to try and see how hard it is to load a second shot without wiping, and if it affects accuracy. Wiping only adds about 15 seconds to my reload time, but if I can get away without doing it, I will
 
I think your set! Have killed many elk with BP and yer load is perfect. Its all about shot placement anyway. Pics please!!

I have a cow hunt this year and likely be using just about a duplicate of your load. Too many guns.... haven't decided on caliber yet...54 or 58. Likely scout first then if I can hunt water I will do .58 and expect a 50 yd or closer shot. Good hunting!!
 
...the load I'm going to use in my 54 GPR is 85 grains of 3f....

The cleanest kills I've seen on elk at our place have been with 54 cal RB's topping 80 grains of 2f. Shots were held to 50 yards and well placed, but that's kinda the point in any case. Dunno how the load would perform at longer range or with lesser shots, and frankly I don't want to know.
 
I'd have zero issues hunting elk with that load power wise. My hunting load is either 80gr 3f for patched RB or 100gr 2f with a conical.
I use a similar patch lube, but instead of ballistol/water I use a 6:1 ratio of Denatured Alcohol & Castor oil, so the alcohol evaporates out and just leaves the oil. Ballistol is rare to see on the shelf around here, so that's the reason I haven't tried it as a patch lube. I also swab before reloading. These weapons are mainly a one shot deal & I always give an animal time before I start tracking unless I see it go down, so a swab before reloading is zero issue. In my 34 years of hunting I've rarely shot at an animal at a 100 yards or less and had it stand around for a second shot opportunity. The only one I can think of was a whitetail buck at about 30 yards, it just stood there after I shot it for some reason and I could've taken a second shot (unmentionable rifle), but I could see the hole from the first shot and knew it wasn't needed. Maybe if it was really cold an animal might stand around after a shot is taken, but I sure don't get that lucky lol.
If concerned and want a bit faster reload ability, the TC 4-in-1 speed loaders are the fastest setup I'm aware of if you don't mind a non traditional tool. Powder is already measured and you just have to pop the top open, pour in powder, then flip it over and center on the bore (I leave as much of the PRB or conical protruding as I can to aid in this), it acts as a short starter so smack the top of it with your hand (very firmly for it to work very well), and then it's ready for a ramrod. I don't like how the speed loader holds a spare nipple and much prefer to just wear a cap tool around my neck. I bought a couple of these when I first started out, but now it is rare for me to even bother carrying them. I just have my shooting bag with the normal reloading items.
 
Once you settle on your most accurate load, it wouldn't hurt to chronograph a few shots so that you can do your ballistics calculations. Take some note of temperature, humidity, and altitude too (or your calculated density altitude). Changes in those can make some difference in your POI under different conditions.
 
Thanks for the input guys, hopefully I get to test it out! I do have some modern speed loaders I'm going to use that incorporate powder, patch, ball and cap in one unit.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top