Author Topic: Good bullet and load for .50 staghorn mag.  (Read 1128 times)

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Offline gus

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Good bullet and load for .50 staghorn mag.
« on: January 13, 2003, 03:31:01 AM »
I'm new to the forum and muzzle loading.  Would appreciate suggestions for good bullet and load for whitetails.  Am shooting CVA Staghorn .50 mag.

Offline Bob_K

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You have to Workup a Good Load
« Reply #1 on: January 13, 2003, 09:50:25 AM »
Gus..
     You'll really have to figure out what your barrel likes to get a good deer load.  My criteria is accuracy.  Most any load I've come up with that groups well has had more than enough power for deer.

   What powder do you want to use?  Some like black powder, but others reject it and opt for either Pyrodex or some of the other replica powders (CleanShot, Clear Shot, American Pioneer, Hodgdon 777).

    Another consideration is what you will set off the charge with.  #11 caps do well with black powder.  The replica powders seem to need a hotter ignition source such as a musket cap or a 209 primer.

   Having said all that, some loads that work for me are:
          Musket cap, 100 grains CleanShot, Knight sabot, Sierra 300 gr JSP, fired in a Knight BK 92.
          209 Primer, 2-50 gr CleanShot pellets, 370 gr MaxiBall, fired in a Knight BK 92
          Musket cap, 100 grains CleanShot, 370 gr MaxiBall, fired in a Knight BK 92
          209 Primer, 100 grains Black Mag3, Knight sabot, Sierra 300 gr JSP, fired in a T/C Firehawk.
          209 Primer, 2-50 gr CleanShot pellets, 295 gr Cheapshots bullet/sabot combination, T/C Encore 209X50

     I haven't achieved an accurate load with Clear Shot, perhaps because I haven't gone with a large enough charge.  I haven't open my container of 777 yet, but I hear I will get good loads at a 10 percent reduction in charge weight.

     I've taken deer with all the Knight BK 92 loads, with the bullet routinely passing all the way through the deer.  Only the 370 grain Maxiball has ever been recovered, and that was an angled shot with the bullet found under the hide on the far side.
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