tankerchief

I got tired of the inconsistences with pellets and decided to play around with granular powder. I experimented with Triple 7 and Pyrodex and was very happy with the results. From my TC Optima, using 85 grains of Pyrodex with a 240 grain cheap shot sabot; I kept a 5 shot group at almost one inch. At 75 yards 1.5 inches. My question is will 85 grains of powder provide enough power to ethically kill a deer out past 50-75 yards? I'm going to play around more with different charge loads after the season but don't want to mess with a good set up now. Normally I won't be shooting past 100 yards because not presented with many opportunities to shoot past that where I currently hunt; and most shots occur around 50-75 yards. But, I want to be able to reach out a little more if the opportunity presents itself.

Thanks in advance

Oldtimr

Yes, it most certainly will. I killed deer with 85 grains of 3F powder and a round ball with no problem.

tankerchief

My concern is a .490 lead ball is 177 grains so it's moving a lot faster than 240 grain sabot. I don't have access to a chronograph to figure out kinetic energy to be sure. Thanks for the input!

Oldtimr

I was shooting speer 50 caliber round patched balls. You will be fine. Your shooting at deer, not Rinos.

hunters_life

tankerchief, I commonly use 85-90gr Swiss under a 340gr maxi ball through my Renegade and have never lost a deer. More than a few at 90-100yds. Just make sure you know your hold at 100 and let it eat.

edmehlig

My grandson shot his first deer at about 50 yds with his 45 cal ML shooting a 345gr conical with a load of 50gr of 3F. She never knew what hit her. Since then he shot a few more with that load and is now using 65gr of 777-3F as he is older now and can tolerate more recoil. Not that 65gr of a stout load.

bronko22000

Looks like your question was answered unanimously!

Wingbone

One more voice: My favorite deer load a 385 gr. 50 cal. Hornady Great Plains bullet over 80 grains of Triple 7. Kills them quite dead.