Round Balls & Light Charges In The .45 GM/LRH Renegade

[Semisane]

Last Saturday (after cooling off following the range session with the .58) I decided to brave the heat again and see what happened with round balls and light charges in the .45 Renegade's Green Mountain 1:30 twist Long Range Hunter barrel.

The gun was sighted in for 200 grain .40 Hornadys in sabots with 95 grains of GOEX and I had no idea where a patched ball might hit. So I shot the first target at 25 yards with 40 grains GOEX FFFg.

Here it is.



That really got me pumped and thinking "head of squirrel at 50 yards". So I adjusted the scope using the 'aim at the bull and move the cross hairs to the bullet hole" method, and shot five balls at 50 yards.

Here's the target.



MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT! That's too big a group for head of squirrel. But it's pretty close.

I began wondering if a lighter or heavier charge would tighten it up. So I shot five more with 30 grains (target below).



That didn't do the job, but those three together are somewhat intriguing.

Would you like to see what bumping the charge up to 50 grains would do?

So would I. But I was so hot and miserable that I quit for the day, cleaned the gun on the deck under the fan, packed up, and headed for home.

[sabotloader]

Semi

Dang! yes I would have like to see 50 grains and what that might lead to... but even then your balls must really be round to stay that tight...

[cayugad]

In my .50 caliber I shoot 50 grains of powder. And have shot squirrel with it. And rabbit using a roundball. next time out try 45 or 50 grain of powder. See what happens.

[lemoyne]

I ended up with 50 for squirrel also. I use 90 in the 1-38 twist System one barrel [50 caliber] and it shoots the best of all the fast twists; I really wish they had not quit making the 1-38 twist.

[Mossie]

I always wondered what kind of accuracy one would get with a fast twist .45 and a 125 grain .357 and a very low charge level. Might work pretty good for small game.

[Semisane]

I always wondered what kind of accuracy one would get with a fast twist .45 and a 125 grain .357 and a very low charge level. Might work pretty good for small game.

Dang ya MOSSIE. You're costing me money.

I just ordered a pack of MMP 45/357 sabots to play with. Somewhere out in the shop I have a pretty good assortment of .357 lead and jacketed bullets. (Range report in a month or two. )

[rafsob]

Interesting report there Semi. The only time I have used a reduced load was in my .58 cal. N-SSA Zoli-Zouave. I am shooting about 41 grs. of Goex FFg.

I have a Hawkens Carbine with a twist rate of 1 in 66". I have not shot it that much I am ashamed to report, but now I will try lowering my loads. I am currently shooting about 95 grs. of Goex FFg with a 490 gr. ball and a .018 patch.

I really appreciate you taxing my brains and skills on these tests. It also gives me something new to work on my range visits.

[Semisane]

Remember my question:

Would you like to see what bumping the charge up to 50 grains would do?

Well, here's the answer.

I arrived at the hunting camp Friday afternoon with overcast skies and temperature down to the mid-eighties. Damn near a cold front for mid July. So I headed straight for the range with the .45 Renegade and loaded up with a PRBs and 50 grains of GOEX FFFg and took five shots at 50 yards.

Here's the target.



No improvement there. It looks like 50-yard "head of squirrel" shooting is not in the cards. I got that great group at 25 yards (target #73 above), but no tiny groups at 50.

Let's see, I've tried 30, 40, and 50 grain charges at 50 yards without success. Maybe dropping all the way down to 20 grains will do something. Five shots later gave me this target.



I could tell right off that the 20 grain load was just too light. It was like shooting a cap gun - didn't feel right or sound right. More "poof" than "bang".

So I got to wondering what the lightest practical charge would be, and adjusted the measure to 25 grains (remember, that's a 25% increase in powder), and took five shots. WELL, LOOKEE HERE!



That's pretty close to head of squirrel at 50 yards. And the shots felt and sounded right. So I would say 25 grains is the lowest practical load for my .45 and PRBs.

Am I going to use that load for hunting?

No sir, I'm not. But you won't find out why in this post. Keep your eyes peeled for my next post titled "Look Out Squirrel".

[nchawkeye]

I'm hoping you'll get a "proper" squirrel rifle...

[Semisane]

Originally Posted by nchawkeye

I'm hoping you'll get a "proper" squirrel rifle...

Well not yet. But the .45 Renne may turn out to be "proper enough".