Sharp Shooter

With a 54cal traditional rifle how far could I shoot at elk with:

90gr Goex and a PRB
100gr Goex Maxi-Ball
90gr Goex and 310gr Ballet
100gr Goex and 460gr Buffalo Bullet
100gr Goex and 435gr Buffalo Bullet

*Thethey are all round nose but on the bottom two the 460gr is flat base and the 435 is hollow base.

lemoyne

Sharp Shooter, those are not long range loads.I would stay @ 100yd or less. I have shot Bear and Elk at 150 with PBR with a 36 inch barreled Hawken and 130 gr.RS and not come out the other side the ball was flattened out to the size of a quarter and bulging the skin on the far side of both and that was with 130gr RS which is more than you should put in most guns. Be sure to check your operators manuel for max load especally if you have a spanish barrel some of them have a lower max load. Lee

Sharp Shooter

120gr max.... The thing is recoil can get brutal with my Renegade. I can't shoot much over 110gr. Cayugad.... What do you think is good for the renegade considering the recoil?

Sharp Shooter

By the way.... What if I was shooting a 58cal PRB and 110gr of powder? Just currious.

How about that 535gr No Excuses?

cayugad

Since you are talking about elk, I would look at how well the Renegade shoots a maxiball or Great Plains Conical. I would also consider a roundball. You just have to get closer I guess. And push then as hard and as accurate as you can take it....

Since you're shooting open sights another question should be "how accurate am I with the above mentioned loads." If you can place those projectiles, you can take elk.

As for a .58 caliber roundball and 110 grains of Goex, I would think 100 yards would not be unreasonable. But you see that is all the further I care to shoot with open sights. Although elk do have a larger kill zone then deer...

Redclub

I have shot elk and I feel 150 yards is about it for the loads you suggested.
If you sight in at 120 yards the drop of the bullet will be about 6" at 150 at 200 yards it will be close to 2 feet.
Ken

eldeguello

For elk, I would limit myself to the use of the Maxi Ball, or theBuffalo Bullet, and use not less than 120 grains of powder in a .54. No shots over 150 yards, preferably within 100.

If you decide to use the PRB, 75-80 yards would be my limit due to velocity loss by a round ball.

I have a 36" hawken .58 in which I use a 570-grain, .575" Minie ball or a .570" PRB, both with 120 grains of FFg. It is quite pleasant to shoot with a round ball, but the recoil is 'sumpthin' with that Minie slug!

Tahquamenon

For elk, bear or other larger game, load upwards towards the maximum allowable for your ML that still holds accuracy be it conical or PRB. Don't leave any velocity on the table. If PRB, then use a tighter ticking patch and a wad for a gas-check to obtain higher velocities.

I'll also add that whatever range you intend to include as a viable hunting target (75, 100, 125, 150 yards)that you practice at that range to ensure shot placement.

Get yourself a good shoulder recoil shield or shooting rest to absorb recoil for load developing and target practice.

The PAST Super Mag Plus Shield
http://www.battenfeldtechnologies.com/330110.html
The Caldwell Lead Sled
http://www.pastshooting.com/820216.html

or here is my shooting rest:
HySkore Ultimate Sighting Rest
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp;jsessionid=2KIEYINXSMAQRTQSNOISCNOOCJVZII WE?id=0024152226083a&navCount=0&cmCat=srch dx&cm_ven=srchdx&cm_ite=srchdx&CM_REF= http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%3Fp%3DHySko re%2BUltimate%2BSighting%2BRest%26ei%3DUTF-8%26fr%3DFP-tab-web-t%26x%3Dwrt&_requestid=31246


Tahquamenon

cayugad

Tahq - with that rest, do you even have to shoulder the rifle or just line it up and touch the trigger? That is really a nice rest.

Tahquamenon

Once you are on the paper, you lock the rest to the bench, you remove the rifle from the rest, load place it back in the rest, lock it down, verify your cross hair if scoped, fine adjust the rest if requiredand fire remotely. Takes shooter error almost completely out of the equasion.