After reading your post, I broke out my .50 Thunderhawk, and shot it with 90 grains 777, with a green Hornady sabot, and 240 grain .44, XTP's. My range is 50 yards, and I got excellent results. I have a T/C 1.5-5X32 scope on it, and was shooting under 1" groups, after adjusting scope for the load. At 50 yards, it was punching holes in 1/8" steel. Who says you need magnum loads !! I will hunt with this, this coming fall. I really like this in-line ML, better than my newer T/C Triumph, and Encore ML's. The fact that it is short, and lightweight is a huge plus for me, and the recoil is hardly felt, not an issue.