powder charge

[bigmike]

Will 80 gr. of pyrodex or goex black powder have enough power to cleanly kill a deer at say 50 to 75 yards using a patched round ball .50 caliber?

 

[coloradoclyde]

YEP! provided it is an accurate well placed shot.
If you shoot it in the leg it will just gallop away on 3 legs. :grin:

 

[AZbpBurner]

I use 70 gr. 3F Goex or 72 gr. 3F Pyrodex in my .50 GPR 1:60" barrel, and 50-65 gr. Goex in a 1:48" barrel. both give me my best accuracy, and provide plenty of punch out to 100 yards.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Will 80 gr. of pyrodex or goex black powder have enough power to cleanly kill a deer at say 50 to 75 yards using a patched round ball .50 caliber?

I use 65 gr. real bp in a .45 cal. rifle, as does my wife. The deer we have killed were pretty ded. Your bigger caliber and heavier charges might kill them dedder. :wink:

 

[BrownBear]

For years my wife has used 60 grains of 3f in her short barreled 54 cal. She's never lost a deer and we've never recovered a ball. Complete pass throughs. She holds her range to 50 yards, but those pass throughs tell me she could easily stretch her range to 75 yards.

I'm using 80 grains of 3f in some of my 50 cals and 90 grains of 2f in one. Never stretched the range past 100 yards, but never needed a second shot, never recovered a ball.

 

[okawbow]

A.490 diameter lead roundball weighs 177gr. I've always heard that the maximum load for a roundball is 1/2 the bullet weight of 2f black powder. I know there are many more variables involved, but I've found that with slow twist roundball barrels, there is little to be gained by using more powder than 1/2 the ball weight.

Your load of 80gr should be on the heavy side for a .50 cal. Scale that up to a .62 caliber, and it would equal about a 160gr load, based on grains to bullet weight.

 

[galamb]

60 grains of powder and a patched ball in a 40 cal has killed more than a couple deer for me, out to 50 yards.

You have lot's of power there..

 

[Billnpatti]

Yep, 80 grains of powder and a PRB in a .50 cal. rifle is plenty bad medicine for a deer out to about 100 yards. The thing is that you need a load that is accurate in your rifle and you need to be able to place the shot where it will do the most good. If it isn't an accurate load in your rifle or you can't put the round where it needs to go, 200 grains of powder will not be enough.

 

[longcruise]

I usually shoot 70 to 80 grains hunting deer with a .50, but one year I use 60 gr goes ff and 495 ball. Was very effective, taking out both lungs and dropping the deer on the spot.

 

[hanshi]

Yes; and then some.

 

[daniel collums]

yes enough to kill it stonewall dead and if there is another one standing on the other side you can get two in one shot.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

It's like trying to sell Real Estate:

LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION!

80 grains is enough to go clean thru the first deer and well into the second, should two line-up for a shot! And the entrance hole on the 2nd deer will be about the size of a 20 ga. slug or WIDER!

The phrase "Know your target & what's beyond it" should always play a part in an ethical harvest.

Dave
Shootist

 

[jamesthomas]

A.

Your load of 80gr should be on the heavy side for a .50 cal. Scale that up to a .62 caliber, and it would equal about a 160gr load, based on grains to bullet weight.

I hope you aren't expecting people to think that 160gr. in a .62 cal. is what should be used :shake: . I would never even try to shoot 160grs. in a .62 cal. and I hope nobody else does either, its not needed, maybe something around 100gr. but 160? no way. This is where that formula goes wrong Imho.

 

[BrownBear]

I've been to 130 grains in my 9# gun. There's one good reason I settled back to 110 grains. :rotf:

 

[wayne terry]

Is a pigs butt pork?

 

[cowpoke1955]

Remember to measure Pyroex by valume, not by weight.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Will 80 gr. of pyrodex or goex black powder have enough power to cleanly kill a deer at say 50 to 75 yards using a patched round ball .50 caliber?

I would expect that load at those ranges to put your .490 round ball through the chest cavity at the heart/lung aiming point with a broadside shot on a whitetail deer.

My. 225 grain, all lead, .530, patched round ball will go through a deer broadside at 110 yards with 70 grains of 3Fg launching the bullet... yours though lighter will be going much faster, AND be closer...

LD

 

[paul54]

Aim small, miss small. :thumbsup:

 

[palonghunter]

80 grains is what I use. I got complete penetration on all of the deer I've shot with my .50 cals.