Seneca Load

[COTNTOP]

Would 60gr of Goex FFFG be too strong for a 45 Seneca shooting .440 RB? Playing around with diff loads and 60gr reaches out to 100yd with my Hawken 45 really well. Just not wanting to damage my Seneca stock. THANKS

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Would 60gr of Goex FFFG be too strong for a 45 Seneca shooting .440 RB? Playing around with diff loads and 60gr reaches out to 100yd with my Hawken 45 really well. Just not wanting to damage my Seneca stock. THANKS

No.
In fact it would be the lowest legal load allowed for deer in Maryland.
I would suggest that you experiment, and see if 70 or 80 grains gives you a better group from the bench out to 100 yards, and then use whatever load you find is the most accurate.

LD

 

[Rifleman1776]

This input may not be helpful, so take it FWIW: My wife has a TC Seneca with a Douglas barrel. It is set up with target sites for competition but they can be removed allowing use of open sites. For competition we use .445" or .457" balls with ticking patch. The charges were in the 45 to 55 gr. range of 3Fg. For hunting she used a 65 grain charge that was an effective deer downer. Good luck with your Seneca, they are fine little rifles.

 

[ElkStalker]

I could be wrong, but I think the damage concerns with these rifles were a direct result of the heavy recoil when shooting connicals and stout loads. I don’t believe that a patched round ball and max load would be near the same stress on the stock.

 

[kelljp]

TC recommendation attached.

 

[kelljp]

Guess my question is why TC used FFG in a 45 ?
I grew up hearing anything under a 50 caliber used FFFG.

 

[ohio ramrod]

For many years most people used FF in anything larger than 36 calibers. Now many people use FFF in all of their rifles.
i know one person who shoots very well who uses FF in his 40 caliber and has won many matches.

 

[lonedave]

I’ve taken a doe mule deer with 50gr of 2F Goex and .440 ball from one of my Senecas. The doe dropped in its tracks. 60gr of 3F would be a hotter load and should work just fine, unless it’s not a legal load as per LD’s comment above.

 

[Bassdog1]

With a PRB I would keep my load to 60 grains or less and definitely avoid conicals. You will find several folks who have shot hotter loads and conicals without damaging anything but I will not risk it. I have went to using FFF in all of my weapons even though I have FF on hand and have had success developing some really tight groups in all but one 45 Cal Seneca. If I cant get it to shoot this spring it will be relined.

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

I never exceed 50 gains with PRB in my .45 T/C Hawken. I don't think you'll hurt your Seneca with that load, but unless you are after more power for some reason, there is no real need for it. 100 yards is beyond what I would shoot at anything alive with that gun using a PRB. I'm just not that good a shot. My seneca is in .36 and I sight it in at fifty yards. I can hit soda cans, and that is good enough for me.

 

[user 48679]

FWIW, I've been using 70gr of Holy Black FFFg under T/C Maxi-Hunter conicals on deer for over 40 years in my .45 Seneca, effectively & w/o any issues.

 

[nhmoose]

No.
In fact it would be the lowest legal load allowed for deer in Maryland.
I would suggest that you experiment, and see if 70 or 80 grains gives you a better group from the bench out to 100 yards, and then use whatever load you find is the most accurate.

LD

Would 60 grains of 2ffg or 1fg also be legal just for perspective of what idiot made that law? please

 

[kelljp]

Never heard of a powder volume rule just a caliber minimum. Would hate to be a game warden there.
Here in Tennessee you could use a 36 caliber ( not that I would) but you would be legal deer hunting.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Would 60 grains of 2ffg or 1fg also be legal just for perspective of what idiot made that law? please

OH it'a whackadoodle down here...,

So until recently, it was 60 grains minimum charge of black powder for a rifle or shotgun when hunting deer, BUT 40 grains for a handgun. No granulation specified. Caliber minimum was .40.

HOW is it OK to take a deer with a 40 grain load with a handgun, BUT not ok to do the same with a rifle? Range limitation would be the same for that load, but the rifle would be easy for accuracy due to the longer sight plane....

Many counties forbade fixed ammunition rifles, allowing only shotguns and muzzleloaders for deer. The reason for this was too many goofballs had hit houses with bullets from modern fixed ammo, by not paying attention to having a backstop when shooting at a deer. BUT it was perfectly OK for folks to buy something modern that fit the "muzzleloader requirements" and launch a 400 grain lead alloy .45 caliber bullet while using four pyrodex-30 pellets (120 grains) or two to three pyrodex-50 pellets (100-150 grains), ... yep that was fine...,

So the guy with a fixed cartridge using 70 grains of BP and a 405 grain lead alloy bullet was verboten, but the same guy could exceed that cartridge with his muzzleloader load.

NOW, they have decided that modern stuff with "straight walls" is OK during "regular" deer season, not just pistol cartridge carbines..., so there are some guys out there with some serious firepower AND there is a LOT more encroachment on hunting lands by home builders....

They went to a phone-in deer "checking" system, instead of the old "checking station " policy. So the hunter takes a buck, and is legally supposed to take two doe before using that extra-antlered-deer-stamp..., and IF you're like me you leave the "Patriarch Buck" alone because a) you can't eat antlers b) 3 year old doe are tasty while a 5 year old buck not as much, and c) that Patriarch Buck likes to keep his harem on the hobby farm where I hunt while he skulks around across the street... as long as he keeps his does where I hunt, we have an "understanding"...

So IF a poacher checks in the first buck as a doe, who is to know? IF the poacher checks in his first buck legit by phone, what's stopping him from calling in two bogus doe kills, and then the next deer he actually takes is another buck? We can take a large number of doe where I am, but some guys love antler. They've found guys in possession of too many bucks but they are "checked in" to the old man in the nursing home who didn't go hunting,....,

So I think our deer numbers are too high for my state, which would explain why we don't dent the deer overpopulation problem... BUT what does one expect from the state that instituted the "rain tax" ?

LD

 

[kelljp]

Some things are true across state lines. Poachers will figure out a work around.
As far as loads several shotgun loads are more accurate at 100 yards today than a lot of the old rifle loads in the 70s. Yes more emphasis is on legislation than on hunter education and boots on the ground enforcement. Common sense should allow one to know what is an effective,humane load for taking an animal.

 

[chorizo]

Common sense should allow one to know what is an effective,humane load for taking an animal.

Unfortunately, the reason some of these stupid laws are written is that common sense, like Elvis, has left the building.

Stupid people do stupid things and stupid legislators writing stupid laws can't fix it. But they can make our life miserable.

 

[chorizo]

My response to clueless Legislators, when something happens and they get the legislative urge and say , "We got to do something!" is "Doing nothing is something."

Sometimes the best thing is to leave it alone.

 

[nhmoose]

Wow LD, I thought our F&G was messed up in NH. That is a lot of Politik you have to handle there good luck on you doe harvest!