Fear has nothing to do with it. If 150 grain loads were the most accurate in the rifle and necessary for the kind of animal or situation I was hunting then by all means I would be shooting it. I never shoot pellets, so maybe 150 grains of pellets are the most accurate out of say my Black Diamond XR. Since I shoot loose, I found that 110 grains of loose Triple Se7en give outstanding accuracy and all the down range powerI would need for the kind of hunting situation I encounter.

If I were planning an elk hunt out west, I wouldbe trying some of the magnum loads and really looking into whether the accuracy from the pellets would justify the use of it.

My real concern over 150 grain magnum chargesis people that use them in rifles that are not manufactured to handle them, or not able to handle them. Older inlines are not magnum rifles. There have even been some recent events that suggest some rifles even though claiming to be magnum capable, have failed. So in these cases, unknown to them, a person is using a potentially dangerous powder charge in a situation where the benefit of such a charge is really not justified. Had a lesser powder charge been used there would have been no problems.

Another problem with 150 grain charges is, many people are under the impression that their magnum rifle is able to handle 150 grains of powder. Whether that 150 grains comes in the form of pellets or loose powder and whether it is Pyrodex, Triple Se7en or Black Mag3. This just is not the case. Just as many rifles are different, so are powders and their potency. Read and know your manual and rifle. When you thenfactor in the different grades of powder such as FFg and FFFg it becomes a quagmire of confusion for many and a dangerous situation just waiting to happen for the magnum shooter.

Many rifles will not handle magnum charges even though they are said to be magnum rifles. The flaming pellet is very pretty in the late afternoon hours flying down range but hardly living up to its potential, just as the unburnt powder spread all over the snow was really needed.This is just due to barrel length. Out of all my inlines, I believe the Black Diamond XR and maybe the Knight Disc are true magnum rifles. The Wolverine on the other hand with a 22" barrel would be just foolishness to attempt to shoot with 150 grain loads. Besides, it is rated at only 120 grains according to the manual recommendations.

I will admit the recent event with a CVA Kodiak may have changed my outlook a great deal on magnum loads in certain brands of rifle. Whether it was a magnum load or not that blew the rifle I am not really certain. I do think many people are buying inline rifles with expectations that they displayvery impressive ballistics. Manufacturers are trying to sell this point to many shooters. The real truth is, some ofthem will not shoot the 150 grain loads efficiently for one reason or another. Whilethey are effective at dispatching an animal at some great distances, they are still only a muzzleloader.