Your Best Caplock Deer Hunting Powder/Bullet/Primer Combination???

[Rogue Ram]

 

MY GOD Ron....now THAT is a trophy of a lifetime!!!  Public land hunt??

Congrats.....have to pick up my jaw off the floor. Wow!

RR

[Idaho Ron]

Rogue Ram, Yes that was public land on both of the bucks. With all honesty I missed a bigger buck the week before and this was the second choice buck. Some of Idaho's  Traditional ML hunts are good for big bucks.  Ron 

[Rogue Ram]

"I missed a bigger buck the week before and this was the second choice buck."

     

Wow. That's the only word I can think of. Wow......   I don't know if I could hold still enough to shoot in all that excitement! 

Regards,

RR

[JBlk]

I use a .490 ball with a lubed patch and sixty five to seventy grains of 3 F BP.I am shooting a 1 in 66 twist in that rifle and have killed many whitetails.You really don't need allot of powder, shot placement is much more important.I really think that my muzzleloaders kill deer quicker than shotgun slugs.The round ball is a real killer no matter what the experts say.

[stevev]

T/C renegade 80 grains ffg black powder cci 11 cap pillow tick patch with bore butter .490 rb works good for me.

[Swampman]

In a .50 I use 60 grains of 3F GOEX and a .485 PRB.  In a .54 I use 60 grains of 3F GOEX and a .520 PRB.

[nw_hunter]

I am curious what everyone else has found to be the best muzz gun powder, bullet, and primer combination for deer hunting at average distances?

Have read on many hunting forums where many are displeased with this bullet or that bullet for one reason or another.  Insufficient penetration and collateral damage, no pass-thru/no exit wound/no blood trail, lost deer, etc. are common complaints of "some" hollow point style bullets users.

Pointed poly-tipped bullet complaints have been; tiny pass-thru hole with little or no bullet expansion and energy transfer, little or no blood trail, lost deer, etc. are common complaints of this style bullet.

Some have found that what performs well on deer at close range, does poorly at longer range.  I suspect these issues of poor bullet performance on game are related to the low/slow velocity typical with muzz BP guns.  It seems the bullet mfgs may not be able to construct a muzz bullet that can/will perform well on game at both close and longer ranges and the varying velocities.

In my old 50 cal TC Renegade side hammer gun I shoot 100 grains of FF black powder, standard #11 CCI primer cap, and use a Hornady 240 gr XTP-HP sabot.  This combination shoots about 4" group at 100 yards and has proven deadly on deer but at the longer ranges of say past 70-80 yards, I usually do not get complete pass thru and/or good blood trails from a middle shoulder shot.

I am just wondering if there is a better hunting load combination for my old gun.

Dave 

I use heavy soft lead bullets in my TC's I stay away from the light weight pistol sabot bullets.
I use a Lyman shocker 424 gr bullet with 80 grains of Goex 3f, which is equal to about 95 gr of 2f.
 You need that extra weight with slow velosity muzzle loaders.

Try some maxi ball's or  Hornady Great plains bullets. I think you will find your Renegade will like them, and they are proven deer and bigger game stoppers.

[sabotloader]

Dave1

One of the loads that i use, cause i can not talk about the other really good ones, and this from a 50 cal 1/48 Renegade or from from my 50 cal 1/24 GM-LRH barrel, is a .503/460gr. MTNex Bull Shop Conical.  That big chunk of lead has a much higher BC than one would imagine, tons of energy.  It can be shot to 150 yards aiming right on if you use a 6" point blank range.

I shoot it with 80 grains of T7-3f from the 1/48 Renegade and 90 grains of T7-3f from the GM-LRH.  Because of the heat that T7 generates I do put a .510x.125 shot card between the Bull Shop and the powder.  Not only is this an insulation factor but it prevents contamination of the powder by any conical lube.

It is a slip fit conical and loads with a study thumb pressure - no short starter needed.  The conical will obturate to the lands and grooves right after the trigger is pulled.  Just a great projectile for deer, elk, and bear.

Here is a computer generated ballistic sheet worked from the velocity I was getting across my chrono..



To be honest with you i am not the best shot in the world with open sights - my eyes are really old... but they really do well for me.  There are some velocities shown on the target also.  Most people on DWB's are shooting these with 70 grains of real BP



Check this thread out if you choose TNHagies - he harvested a nice Colorado cow with one...

http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=3054220

[nw_hunter]

I am curious what everyone else has found to be the best muzz gun powder, bullet, and primer combination for deer hunting at average distances?

Have read on many hunting forums where many are displeased with this bullet or that bullet for one reason or another.  Insufficient penetration and collateral damage, no pass-thru/no exit wound/no blood trail, lost deer, etc. are common complaints of "some" hollow point style bullets users.

Pointed poly-tipped bullet complaints have been; tiny pass-thru hole with little or no bullet expansion and energy transfer, little or no blood trail, lost deer, etc. are common complaints of this style bullet.

Some have found that what performs well on deer at close range, does poorly at longer range.  I suspect these issues of poor bullet performance on game are related to the low/slow velocity typical with muzz BP guns.  It seems the bullet mfgs may not be able to construct a muzz bullet that can/will perform well on game at both close and longer ranges and the varying velocities.

In my old 50 cal TC Renegade side hammer gun I shoot 100 grains of FF black powder, standard #11 CCI primer cap, and use a Hornady 240 gr XTP-HP sabot.  This combination shoots about 4" group at 100 yards and has proven deadly on deer but at the longer ranges of say past 70-80 yards, I usually do not get complete pass thru and/or good blood trails from a middle shoulder shot.

I am just wondering if there is a better hunting load combination for my old gun.

Dave 

I have several traditional front stuffers I use on deer and elk,from 50 cal to 62 smoothbore.
The round ball from any of them will do the job on deer and elk.

Most of the shots would be under 50 yrds, but using the bigger heavier bullets will give you the edge for the longer shots. I use a 445 gr. Lyman shocker bullet in my 54, and the same bullet in the 50 cal is 424 gr.

The shocker is a minie type solid nose, solid base bullet. I thing this is a plus when you need the extra penetration for Elk size game. I get good deer size groups with it, out to 100 yds. The Real bullets are another good bullet for big game, and shoot well in every 1/48 twist barrel I have shot.

I prefer Goex 3f to 2f, and use 85 grns compared to 95 grns of 2f. "Less & softer fouling" If I use Pyrodex, I like the Pyro P.

I'll try to post a pic of some of my bullets.

[smokepolehall]

i don't know if its my best. i have the single trigger no QLA TC New Englander 50 cal LH with a peep. shoots 1 3/4" at 50yds using 70 grs 3F Goex Blk. powder 175 gr prb

[blackpowderbill]

I use a Enfield Pattern 1858 Naval rifle loaded with a 596gr Minie lubed with home made lube over 55 grains of Goex 3f. It chronos out at an average velocity of 1040 fps. Sighted dead on at 100 yards it is 4 inches high at 50.

[TNyoteboy]

TC Hawken I had I either used a Maxi-ball, Buffalo bullet, or Hornady Great Plains over 80grs of Pyrodex. I just bought a Renegade for $100 and plan on using the maxi-balls. I didn't like how I had to pound the Buffalo bullets down the barrel.

[jrkrk]

Quick the second pic you have posted  where uour wearing orange hat and camo orange vest is that a t/c hawken? It looks like a pretty long barrel.

[quickdtoo]

Yes, but it's a GM flint barrel, I converted the TC Hawken from persuction to flint with an L&R late English flint lock, I had an extra lock that I needed to do something with since I'd sold the original rifle that is was for, so I made a good gun out of the old TC!! 

Tim

[Ladobe]

I only hunt with flint and capper side locks, shooting real black powder, pushing maiden PRB's and in traditional attire spot and stock.    That's what traditional hunting is to me - what makes it a primitive hunt.   

Don't really care what you choose to use as its entirely your choice, but if you use the modern doohickeys normally used by camo clad modern in-line muzzleloader hunters in your sidelocks, it is not traditional or primitive hunting anymore regardless of what your states game department calls it IMO.

Yeah its a hard line I follow that most of you probably don't want to hear.   But real traditional hunting is dying out fast with more and more folks putting most of the importance of the hunt on making meat rather than the total experience.   If more folks would try it traditional, I'd bet many of them would like the extra challenge and satisfaction whether they make meat or not, and that would help keep the old ways alive.

FWIW-YMMV

[victorcharlie]

TC Renegade, Green Mountain 1/70 twist barrel, .490 roundball with a .018 lubed patch, 70 grains of Pyrodex and cap.

It shoots the same hole at 50 yards off a solid bench and bags.

Groups open at 100, but IMO it's because of my poor eyes and the inability to see the target as well at that range.

[AlbanyCO]

I hunt with a Traditions Deerhunter rifle in .50 Cal that I got as a kit from my dad for Christmas when I was 14. Me and dad blued the barrel, inletted the trigger guard and all that, sanded the stock and put a recoil pad on it. It's a nice gun and I killed my first deer with it. My load for hunting:

95 Grains of Pyrodex RS and a .50 Hornady Great Plains bullet.

LOTS of range time proved that to be the best shooting load. And I tested a TON of stuff. The rifle has a twist of 1 in 48 and did not shoot round balls well at all regardless of the powder charge. I use a CCI No. 11 cap. Every deer I ever shot with it dropped on the spot and the bullet has never exited the opposite side.

[nw_hunter]

.495" PRB, .018" ticking lubed with BoreButter on top of 95gr 3f Goex.

Shoot far Quick! That's a purdy powerful load for that 50.
95 grns of 3f is equal to about 110 to 115 grns of 2f.
What kind of barrel are you launching that prb out of?

[quickdtoo]

Both are GM. 

Tim

[nw_hunter]

Both are GM. 

Tim

Hard to beat those GM barrels.
I have one in a 62 smoothie. I think my next one will be a 54 cal. RB barrel.     Brad