energy at 100 yds?

[caplock]

My hunting partner on my NM elk hunt this fall is worried that his gun may not have enough energy at 100 yards. He will be using a .50 cal rifle shooting a .45 300 grain sabot bullet on top of 120 grain loose 777. So to put him at ease does anyone know the approximate speed and energy of this combination? It would sure help me convince him that he'll be just fine. thanks

[MountainDevil54]

your friend is nuts if he thinks that doesnt produce enough energy at 100 yards. In fact, hes got plenty for 200 yard shots.

[Gm54-120]

That load "should" be well within the recommended FPE at that range. Good bullet selection will have an even greater effect but that should be near 1950fps at the muzzle.

They have some load data in a Adobe pdf file listed on their site for powder and pellets. BlacKHorn does also if you want to compare them but IMO they are a little bit inflated.

If that much shoots fine..... great but even 110grs will get it done with a good bullet like the Nosler Partition at even longer ranges.

[Big Z]

Roughly, enough.

[nchawkeye]

A 45/70 was a .45 caliber bullet with 75 grains of black powder...How many buffalo were killed with those???

[ronlaughlin]

Here is a chart generated by the Lee Shooter program for the data i collected whilst shooting my Triumph. It was loaded with 105g of Black Horn 209.








Here is a chart from the same Lee Shooter program with suggested energies required for different critter.

[txhunter58]

Your friend is definately good to go out to 200 yards.

You can NOT use foot lbs of energy to tell the whole story for big, relatively slow bullets. Foot lbs is a mathmatical formula devised to mainly assess smaller, faster bullets. It is weighted very heavily toward speed (it squares the speed)

A guy who has killed a lot more game than I, you or your friend (Jim Shockey) has repeatedly made this comment (paraphrased): "100 gr of powder and a 300 gr well constructed bullet has plenty of energy to take any game in north america." He uses the 300 gr nosler partition And remember, with that bullet, you are going to be creating a 3/4 inch hole in that elk!

A better formula for comparing big slow bullets is the Taylor index: http://www.loadammo.com/Topics/July02.htm Have your friend read this, it is very interesting.

Using the Taylor formula, at 100 yards you will get a value of 32.6 and at 200 you will get almost 27. This index recommends at least 20 for elk

My elk load is 95 gr of BH 209 and a 350 gr Hornady FPB. That load has a Taylor index value of 31.3 at 100 yards and 27 at 200 yards, but a ft/lbs of only 900 (at 200). I have no doubts in this load having enough power. Just hope I can shoot straight!

[gearheart]

Shot placement. Put the round in the boiler house and Mr. Elk is not going very far.

[lemoyne]

With out Knowing barrel length ect. I can not say how close the match his gun will be. This is from my Triumph with a good snug fit.
Gold Dot 300gr Chronograph was a chrony the gun was "0" at 100yd and has 8 inches drop at 200 yds

Yds Velocity -----ft #
0 ----1951----avg 2535
100---1916------- 2446-----"0"
200---1882--------2359----- 8" drop

With a well constructed bullet with a BC of over 2.3 this should be as accurate as the barrel length and fit of the bullet sabot permits.
I recommend care in choosing the bullet and placing the shot.
A Gold Dot 300gr ,A Lehigh 275 or 300 gr or a Nosler would be the first choices for me , in a state that required conicals a 350 gr FPB or Thor.
Hope this helps. Lee

[caplock]

Thanks guys I thought he was getting worried about nothing.