.54 Power & Range?

Guys for whitetails, assuming a crack shot with a .54 caliber round ball slow twist rifle with a
large charge of powder, what’s the range you wood feel comfortable hunting the white tailed deer?

Have read to keep it at 50 yards or under, some say all the way up to 150 yards??

Just what is the answer? And what range could you also hunt a yote with it?

-Smokey

Just how good are you with iron sights? Most rifles iron sights cover a whole deer at 100 yds. See how that affects your question?

poker said:

Just how good are you with iron sights? Most rifles iron sights cover a whole deer at 100 yds.

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Good answer!

What size charge and what's the barrel length and velocity?

I use a 54 cal and am comfortable at 70 yards for a deer sized target, meaning I can hold well with the size of it's heart. The yote, well,,,, I would take a poke at it out to 150 any day...

It totally depends on your accuracy vs. range. My .54 flintlock is pushing the ball 1734 FPS MV. I have good sights and good vision. Off the bench, I can get 2.5-inch and sometimes smaller 5-shot groups at 100-yards. I practice on a life-sized deer or antelope target from the standing, sitting and prone position (standing and sitting using sticks). I can keep my shots under these circumstances within the animals vital zone at 100-yards consistently and repeatedly. I shoot in the wind and use a wind-meter and I shoot to 150-yards. I feel I know the rifle's accuracy, my capability and how to figure drop and windage out to 150-yards. I do not feel comfortable shooting an animal at 150-yards as a routine. However, with a totally steady kneeling rest off sticks with light wind, I did shoot an antelope at 137-yards. On other occasions, I have shot whitetail deer at 100 - 110-yards with a rest or sticks. I've taken two elk that coincidentally were both 80-yards. After these accomplishments, I have decided to keep my maximum range to 120-yards under ideal circumstances on game animals. The real drop at 150-yards with a 100-yard zero is 20-inches. That means holding off the animal quite a bit. The wind at 10 MPH at 100-yards moves the ball 4-inches. 20-MPH moves it about 8-inches. That's too much already to be shooting further and trying to compensate, in my opinion. I think the question is, "At what range can you keep your shots in an animals vitals considering the wind" ? When considering Coyote, the vital size is going to be somewhat smaller than a deer and I think it deserves the same respect for life to make shots that you know will hit vitals. The range may be less or the same as for deer, but I don't think it should be longer.

34” barrel, 100 grains of 2Fg, .530” 230 grain roundball.

About 60-70 yards with old eyes here.
Having said that, I will say this. I have learned the hard way that it is much better to sit, unnoticed, and let him walk. Might take an hour, might take 3 days. But when he comes back you may get a chance at only 20 yards cause he never knew you were there the first time.
And the second question about a yote? Sitting as I just said, I watched one come in through the drizzle and curl up for a nap 15 yards from me. Under a fir tree. Not wanting to spook deer, but needing to move him out of my spot, I just stood up. He dropped a brick and was gone!

Smokey Plainsman said:

34” barrel, 100 grains of 2Fg, .530” 230 grain roundball.

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Brother with a 34" barrel and 100 grains pushing you're probably throwing a fireball out of that barrel lol!
I'd say about 75 yards would be your best range with a softball sized group offhand.
Past 100 you're accuracy probably goes to minute of pie plate

Smokey Plainsman said:

Guys for whitetails, assuming a crack shot with a .54 caliber round ball slow twist rifle with a
large charge of powder, what’s the range you wood feel comfortable hunting the white tailed deer?

Have read to keep it at 50 yards or under, some say all the way up to 150 yards??

Click to expand...

When I read your post it seems like the subsequent replys are answering different questions! maybe I am too but I interpreted your question as what is the maximum effective range assuming the shooter can accurately make the shot. So, my answer, based on actual observation of a shot made on a mule deer is at least 180 yards. Done with a 54 RB and 80 grains of ff.

I'll stick my neck out and say that I think 700 fps on target is adequate.

I killed a coyote at 147 yards with a 50 ball at a muzzle velocity of 1425 fps.

I killed a deer at 80 yards with a 50 ball at 1200 fps.

100 yards would be my max, but a lot happier if it is 75 or less. The ball might well kill a lot farther out, but my eyesight limits me to no more than 100 yards.

Limiting factor is PRB, they shed velocity very quickly so 150 is about it, better to keep it closer. Regardless, under 100, it's going to hit like a truck, you won't recover any bullets.

In my limited experience of hunting with open sight flintlocks (20 years), the problem is not with the load or the bullet; it is with the sights. Under Ideal conditions, I can hold "minute of deer" to 150 yards with my hunting flintlocks (50 or 54). The issue is being able to see the kill zone of a deer (or other) with primitive sights under hunting conditions. At dust or dawn, when most deer are hunted, clearly seeing the kill zone, and holding for it, with primitive sights is the challenge. Even the dreaded patched round ball will kill "out there". The issue is delivering the shot to the kill zone...all the time...with those sights. I stay inside 80 yards and hope for the best.

Round ball just dumps velocity as soon as it leaves the muzzle, till it goes subsonic. 2000 fps slows to about 375 at 300 yards. 1100 FPS slows to about 325 at the same range.
We know of round ball kills on people at three hundred or even four hundred yards. White tails and adult humans are about the same size and will die from the same wound.
But, how quick?
People shot at these long ranges died slow nasty deaths. I don’t want my deer to die slow over some hours.
220 grains at 800- 1100 fps turns deer French real quick. A hundred yards os so would be my max with a round ball. Maybe a hundred in fifty if it’s a good shot and you know your gun well. Many have nonadjustable sights, if your zeroed for seventy five yards you will hit good about an inch low at a hundred, about an inch high at fifty. At one fifty you have to guesstimate to be in target on a target that’s covered by your front sight.
A roundball gun, smooth or rifled, get close get meat.

The biggest question I think is how good are you are shooting the rifle? 100 - 120 yards is about my limit depending on a lot of things. Light, wind, off hand or shooting from a rest, gun accuracy, my accuracy.

I am not as good as an off hand shooter today as I think I was 20 years ago.

A minute of angle deer is much different then shooting paper for score.

Fleener

I'll answer with a real world experience I had with my .54.
A few years ago I had a chance encounter with a coyote "up in the morning" while deer hunting. I was able to lip squeak it to 90 yards while just crouched down on one knee before it started acting nervous. I rested my elbow on my knee, held tight behind the shoulder about halfway up, and shot. Instead of behind the shoulder I hit him in the shoulder. The ball went clean through both shoulders, made a heck of a "WHOP!" sound when it hit him, and dropped him with authority. More than enough energy with a fairly low 75 grain charge of 2f behind a patched RB.
With that being said, my own limitations and groups I get out of the rifle have me only feeling comfortable with 50 yard or less offhand shots and over 50, to a 100 yard max, only if I have some kind of rest.

Same here. In my younger days, I'd attempt 100 yard shots. Not anymore. While I can still hit a pie plate at that distance, I prefer not much more than 50 yard shots just to keep things in perspective.

As to 100 grains of powder, you dont need such a large powder charge. I shoot 80 grains of 2fg out of my Flintlocks. Plenty of juice to drop deer.

Like Sidney said...80's plenty of juice for that size setup

In the past I killed deer at the 100 yard (+ & -) range but don't trust myself to shoot that well now. The answer as to how far you should shoot a deer is how well you can shoot and not "can the rifle do it". The maximum distance that you can keep ALL shots of a 5 shot group on a soccer ball will tell you your maximum range. When you start to miss you have exceeded your maximum range.

hanshi said:

The answer as to how far you should shoot a deer is how well you can shoot and not "can the rifle do it".

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The question wasn't "how far should you shoot a deer". The question actually was how far can the described rifle do it.

I thought it was an interesting question. We have discussed ad nauseam how far we can shoot or how we each limit our shots but this question asks us to separate the rifle from the shooter and only examine the capability of the rifle.