Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders anyone shot .54

wife drew a muzzy elk tag - need to figure out an accurate load

Completely depends on the rifle. Mine does real well with a 435gr. Hornady Great Plains over 100gr. 777. It is a Cabela's Hawken, 1:48. I do not hunt Elk, but it is an accurate load, and would have enough steam for an Elk.

I suppose a roundball would be suffice for elk, should the elk get close enough to you to smell it's fart and you packed more powder than you can paper-target at 100 yards.

I like your avatar. Pretty cool!

I use 80 grains of FF with a .15 patch and .530 round ball for all my shooting. This load has worked well for me both for hunting and range work.
My rifle has a slow twist ( 1-72 ) Orion barrel.
Andy

90 grains of 2f and a .530 patched round ball will kill an elk graveyard dead. That load is a killer at 150 yards if you put the bullet in the right place.

My Thompson Center Renegade in 54 shoots a 365 grn maxi with 100 grains pyrodex well. My dad used it to shoot a big Roosevelt cow elk. He used 80 gr of pyrodex with a round ball. Hit her in the shoulder, breaking her shoulder and the round ball split in half. Half of it deflected upwards and broke her back. DRT.

What rifle?

I got a black Knight inline - came with a 1.5x6 leupold scope

looked to be never fired - legal in Az figured it would be easier for wife to handle and shoot.

I also have a cva Kentucky kit rifle that came with both .50 and .54 barrels from the 70's

the .50 took a cow elk with a round ball one yr.

Sounds like you have one of the older Knights similar to a MK85.

Tony Knight liked the Speer 50cal 325gr UniCore HP and the MMP purple 54x50 sabots. Its a good cheap bullet that expands fairly easily without blowing apart at most ML speeds. Speer Bullets #: 4495

Rainier makes a similar 50cal JHP bullet in 335gr that is a little bit tougher. MidwayUSA was selling them pretty cheap too.

$21/100
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/10...plated-hollow-point?cm_vc=ProductFinding

I have a Richland Hunter I bought in 1981. It looks like a Hawkins but has rubber recoil pad. It has killed over 30 deer so far. I use 100g pyrodex and a .530 round ball. Some run a few yards some drop where they are. Have used it at the range in our muzzle loader club. Love the smoke poles.

The Black Knight is a 1-28 twist, hardly ideal for a patched round ball especially with normal hunting charges.

That's a conical or sabot shooter.

picked up some powerbelts and some dead center in .54 to see how it'll group

probably use 100 grain triple seven just to see what will happen

Barrel twist would indicate conical or sabot w/heavy, tough, bullet like a Swift, Partition, or Barnes. Black powder, 777, or Pyrodex, with BP and 777 probably the best, although I would be sure to get fresh 777 and test it just before the hunt. You might also consider using musket caps if you can find RWS ones. That will require a nipple swap, of course.

Spend what you have to for the best chance of success. This is no time to go cheap!

Best of luck.

Wait, you're going to give your wife the .54? Has SHE ever shot the .54 before? What does she normally shoot?

My .54 works just fine with 90 grains Pyrodex RS. Sounds to me like you need to bite the bullet and force yourself to do some shooting to see what your gun shoots best with. It's a dirty job but . . . .

I've used a TC Renegade in .54 since 1979. 430 gr Maxi Ball over 120gr FF. No tracking after their hit. Used it on Mule and Whitetail deer and 1 fairly large Black Bear. Recoil is a bit stiff.

Flyer

most MZ rifle loaded with 90-100 grains have less kick than a standard 12 ga. shot gun

she grew up grouse and quail hunting and during dove season will go thru a box of 12 guage so I see no problem with her shooting the .54

guess some may have prissy ladys for wifes !??

It all sounds good best of luck. Ho and that powder thing grin!

I shoot a 50 Knight Bighorn
295 Barnes TMZ with 110 gr T7 fff
I do use the RWS musket caps, but am told the RWS #11 work great also (I have both, as sometimes I can't find one or the other)
Beautiful expansion on my elk last year. 1 shot, DRT

I also shot the SST 300 gr. Was VERY accurate at 200 yards, 110 gr T7 FF. Didn't like the stories of expansion issues, so I changed to the Barnes.

Well, considering that I was the only person to catch and ask about your wife shooting the .54, the veiled insult had to be directed my way. Mine is very pretty, but not prissy. As a good friend who has probably forgotten more about muzzleloaders than you'll ever learn puts it, "she's hotter than Hell and one of those rare ones that will f'k, fight, or hold the light". She shoots everything in the house and that has come through it, and that ain't a small list.

As to the question: it was legitimate. .54s can rap pretty well on the shoulder end, and knowing what the shooter is used to and has used makes a lot of sense.

I'll let you get back to figuring out a rifle you're unfamiliar with to then hand over to another shooter who is at least equally unfamiliar with the same, all the while beating your chest and knowing it all from the get go.

All I have is a CVA panther carbine, 54 cal, 1-32 twist. no elk to it's name, but it has laid to the horizontal a cord worth of whitetails. imo, an elk would be no problem for it. i have tried to get a good print with buffalo bullets and all I received was a sore shoulder. cva had a conical called the deerslayer and with 80 gr. of RS pyrodex, its right on. lee has a 300 gr. that I would like to try.

Currently, I shoot 224 gr. hornady patched round balls, but I only use 60 grs. of RS pyrodex. I have found that the faster I drive that bullet with more powder, the faster twist of the barrel tears the patches to shreds and my accuracy suffers greatly on paper. But, with just 60 grs my accuracy is incredible at 50 and 100 yds. It blows half inch holes straight through deer scapulas and out the other side.

I would never suggest that load would work for an elk, but they are not bullet proof and if you can do your job with a ml you have confidence in they will hit the ground.

You don't need more then 90 gr powder for any hunting of sort .most of the work an killing of animals was with 80 gr of eather 3 f or 2 f of all caliber 45 to 58

You need more than 90 shooting long distances with light-to-medium weight sabots.

90gr olde eynsford is my 200 yard load in my 58cal hawken. More than plenty, especially with sabots and conicals.

It appears a 54 or even a 58 PRB would have less than 500FPE left after 100 yards with a 90gr load.

http://www.namlhunt.com/traditionalmldata2.html
http://www.namlhunt.com/traditionalmldata3.html

That sure would not be my choice for elk. I guess my definition of "more than plenty" is vastly different than yours.

get some experience with patched balls and elk.

80gr pyrodex rs and a 223 grain round ball from a 54cal dropped my last elk from 148 yards with a single shot through both lungs.

FPE IMO matters when you are shooting modern bullets that need to expand in order to cause damage.

Whos willing to stand in front of a 58cal at 200 yards and take a hit just to show that a 9/16" diameter ball won't kill?

So you have killed one or was it two with a PRB? One was a pretty small very young cow if i remember. Im sure your opinion is far more educated than Mr Bridges on this topic.

Your FPE opinion is laughable at best and your hunting ethics are even worse. Shooting a 148yards with that load didnt make you an expert, it made you lucky, appear desperate to fill your tag and unethical.

small my ass LOL. 2 of us had to cut it in half in order to drag it down the side of a mountain.

Please get some first hand knowledge of how patched round ball kills, get a few balls under your belt and then come back and chat.

Don't believe everything writers write A person that shoots game knows what it takes

Exactly! Just like powerbelts are horrible for game.

Bringing up a shill as a source is never a good way to go into an argument.

Using a Richland Arms .54 for 34 yrs with round ball and 100g of P pyrodex. Shot everything from whitetail to fox squirrels to paper at the range. Tried other bullets but trees seem to get in the way. Round balls for me. Wish we had free range Elk around here.

take up coyote hunting ...call em up and smoke em out

Hunt like you got your bow in hand with and Ace up your sleeve....

Then get the gut hook ready