Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders My 50 cal muzzleloader seems too powerful

I got a 50 cal muzzleloader in a trade. I needed a ML and had a gun that guy wanted. A few days ago I shot a deer with it for the first time. It was broadside shot on a meat doe. When I got the hide off that deer, I was stunned by the damage the 250 gr Barnes saboted bullet had done. I used two Pyrodex pellets. This gun seems unnecessarily powerful for deer. I want an in line because of cleaning issues. I'm starting to think I need a ML in the 30 caliber range or something. What about a saboted 45 cal? I usually hunt with a 30-30 or 243. I wanted to ML so I could hunt more. This 50 was the gun that came along for me, but I'm open to ideas.

What kind of MZ loader you got? sounds like an inline with pellets.

Your using a HUGE bullet 250 grains? Drop down to the regular Ball and Patch (180 grains) and try about 60-80 gr FFg or the equilivent. You will have a lighter recoiling gun (compared to the 250 grains you were pushing) with a very good projectile that will do just wonderfully for you! The lighter bullet should shoot a bit flatter and you can push it faster if you want.

I don't think most states allow you to go less than 45 caliber for deer hunting, be sure to check it out first.

You left out a lot of information you need to give so you can get some good information back.
If your gun has a slow twist rate, 1:48 or slower, say 1:60 or thereabouts, then you can shoot r/b over 70 to 90 grains of powder and do well at ranges up to 100 yards, with 75 and under preferable.
If your guns is an in-line with 1:28" twist rate it likely won't shoot at all well with round ball.
The problem is this: If your shooting an in-line with 1:28 twist over 100 grains of powder then your 250 grain bullet is too LIGHT and is blowing up at close range. If it's a hollow point that is another problem also as h.p. promotes fast expansion and a sudden release of kenetic eneregy equals lotsa meat damage. If you have a 1:28" twist then go to a non saboted bullet in a weight range OVER 350 grains. It might shoot the "maixball" type bullet made by a dozen outfits quite well. Also Buffalo Bullet Co. makes the SSB, a sabot in caliber 50 that shoots a .45 bullet that weights 375 grains of pure lead.
Your first and foremost concern is accuarcy. If you can't put the bullet in the right place consistantly, then everything else becomes a moot point!
If I had a 1:28 twist .50, and I do, I'd shoot heavy lead bullets. I've had very good results with the BlackBelt 405 grain solid. A 405 solid is going to pass thru any deer in the woods, not blow up, and leave a thru and thru half inch hole in the critter.
Lighter and faster is NOT better. Not on big game. You DO NOT want to buy a .30 muzzle loader. They ain't none.
Now how 'bout giving us some details man, it's all in the details! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Hey blammer. The lighter round ball will definitely NOT shoot flatter than the 250 grain whatever it is he is using. Nothing, absolutely nothing , save a cube, looses velocity and range faster than a round ball. With ANY caliber shooting an accurate r/b, shots should be kept to 100 yards or less.
Yeh, I know, we all have the "buddy" that killed the giant buck at 200 yards with a .36 squirrel gun. That might happen, but as a rule it ain't gonna do anything more than wound deer.
Regards,
maxiball <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

And, by the way, Ohio allows any muzzle loader of caliber .38 or larger.
I doubt many people are in the deer woods with .38 and .40 caliber roundball guns unless,
1) they are darned good shots,
2) they hunt at tree stand bow ranges.
3) pass up shots a lot of deer
There THAT orta liven things up around here!

Conversely, one could use bullets made for "magnum" (150 grain or smokeless powder), therefore they shouldn't expand as much as the standard bullet. I use a jacketed hollow point in my inline and I think they expand just right.

Maxi, I have killed many deer with my 50 Hawkin using 170gr patched round ball. The thing that works for me is i have never been offered a shot over 50-60 yards. The round ball is deadly at those ranges. I use 95 gr FFFg topped with a leaf of hornet nest then a thin patch lubed with bore butter. If I had to hunt where ranges were longer I would go with my 54 Renegade. The retained energy is quantum leaps above the round ball at ranges beyond 100 yards. How ever I hunt thick dence timber and brush so the round ball works great.

Bullwnkl.

Maxi-
I guess I should have added "in my guns" when shooting a 333 gr Maxi ball with 80 gr FFG and shooting 180 gr Ball over 80 gr FFG the 180 gr bullet shoots flatter than the Maxi ball. Hence my conclusion that lighter bullets pushed by the same amount of powder will shoot "flatter" than heavier ones.

regards
Blammer

"When I got the hide off that deer, I was stunned by the damage the 250 gr Barnes saboted bullet had done. I used two Pyrodex pellets. This gun seems unnecessarily powerful for deer"

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TnDave



You should read the bullet package more slowly b/4 you get in line to pay for it. That Barnes bullet is the "Mother Of All Expanders"



Go buy some Buffalo S.S.Bs or try this selection of leaded poly-tips over at....



........ Precision Bullets

I appreciate the info from everyone. I'm going to check out a plain, lead bullet. The Barnes are what I got in the trade and they shoot well.
I don't think I need an expanding bullet since it is already 50 cal. I am intrigued by the idea of a maybe 36 caliber ML. I don't think my state has special caliber limit on ML guns.
I will say that the 50 is Big Medicine for deer.

TnDave... Here's a little excerpt from the Tennessee hunting regulations. I'm assuming that you live in Tennessee. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Muzzleloading percussion cap or flintlock rifles, handguns or shotguns of .40 caliber (.40") minimum. These muzzleloading firearms are legal during any gun season or hunt unless otherwise specified. Muzzleloading firearms are defined as those firearms which are incapable of being loaded from the breech.

Like Ironwood said, I'd double check the rules first... many require bigger than the 30-class. They were more or less considered a small game gun.
Remember you can always shoot a sabot unless you are after pure traditional.
Good luck.

While them barnes can be devastating their great expansion can hinder penetration as well. PR bullets 250 QT is hards to beat and does'nt expand anything like that barnes.
Regarding power it really has little to do with caliber unless your shooting round balls. The .45 with heavy bullets hits much harder particularly the further out you go compared to the .50,54 and so on.

TnDave, You said you were thinking about a muzzle loader in the 30 cal range. If you can picture a BB, that is fired from a kids BB gun being only .177 cal, and double the size of this little BB you're up to .354, already bigger than a 30 cal round ball, not really what I'd consider a deer bullet. And even if you could find anything under a 36 cal, it would be a ball shooter as there are no bullet or sabot makers that make anything smaller than .45 for muzzle loaders other than round balls to my knowledge. I think round balls are perfect for deer sized game, notice I said deer sized game. They can be very accurate and they never yaw or keyhole, they always hit the target in the right direction even when they get turned around backwards. Plenty enough penetration without meat damage. I agree it has nowhere near the penetration of a big maxi or a 45 cal pistol bullet in a sabot but still plenty if you aim for the heart lung area and don't try to make it go end to end which you shouldn't do with any kind of muzzle loader bullet. Deer are pretty easy to kill, with a bone structure and bone size and over all weight equal to an adult human. And one heck of a lot of humans have been sent to that "Great Beyond" throughout the civil war and the pioneer and outlaw days by round balls without the shooter giving much thought about the quartering angle. I personally would go with a 50 or 54 cal round ball and a gun that shoots them well and forget all of the hype and ads in the magazines and keep it simple.