My hunting gun this year for elk is going to be my Renegade .54. I plan on using the stock barrel instead of the GM barrel. It's a good shooter, and I like the shorter length for hunting.

Now, i'm sure a PRB with enough powder will be fine for elk. I have this little voice in my head telling me I need more bullet. Just in case I need a bit longer shot than the PRB is capable of doing. Maybe a slight quartering shot will be needed.

Anyway, with that little voice in my head that I can't shut up. I went to the gun shop today to look around. The shooting range is on the way home, so I took my gun and stuff just in case I found something.

It had the usual shelf fum of Powerbelts. I looked at the .54 348 gr. I'm not a big fan of Powerbelts, but a 348 gr would surely do a better job than a 225gr PRB. Maybe.

Not a lot of choices for .54, but I noticed a small yellow box over in the corner. I picked it up, and it was some TC Maxi Balls in 430gr .54 cal. They sure had the weight I was looking for, but would they fit and shoot good in my gun? I bought them, and I wanted some powder with a bit more punch than my BP. So, I bought some T7 3F.

I stopped at the range on the way home, and loaded a Maxi with 80 gr of T7. Pretty sloppy to load. They were covered with Bore Butter. They started easy, and slid down pretty easy.

1st shot at 25yds open sights on my knee. Dead center, but about 1" high.

Cripes! It was like getting punched by Mike Tyson. A bit of recoil.

Two more shots at 25 yds, and all shots touching. Very happy with that, and sort of getting used to the recoil. (not really) Renegade has a steal butt plate.

Passed up 50 yds, and went to 75 yds. Everything the same. Three shots dead center, but 1" low. I adjust the sights to shoot up, and three more shots are shooting 1" high.

I wanted to shoot 100yds, but I think at that distance with my eyes and open sights it would be me more than the gun opening the group. I'm more than happy with 75 yds for now. I might mess with a peep sight later.

So, the bottom line is they shoot as well as a PRB. I've read some Renegades don't like conicals. Good to see I have one that does.

I was really annoyed at how sloppy they were to load. It would be a pain in the field. Maybe not so bad with a speed loader.

I'm thinking a 430 gr hunk of lead, and 80gr of T7 3F should put some hurt on an elk. Penetration should be impressive.

I still have that 348 gr Powerbelt on my mind. It should be cleaner to load, but the Maxi ball will sure do the job otherwise.

What do you guys think?


All my mountain man trekks, shoots, rendezvous will still be done with a PRB etc. This experiment with conicals is just one week a year for elk hunting.