Getting back to the question of high power VS moderate power.. when I first started shooting, most of the traditional style .50 caliber rifles were rated at 100 grains max. My friend used to shoot 70 grains of Pyrodex RS in his .58 caliber CVA Mountian Rifle, and never had a problem taking a deer. Although he used to get complete pass through with that.

My first rifle was a .54 caliber Renegade (I still own) and I found that it liked 90 grains. I can remember him laughing at me for shooting such a magnum load. And then when Knight came out with their inline rifles and rated them at 110 grains of powder.. we laughed thinking anyone would ever have to shoot such a powerful load. Now 150 is the max in most rifles and some of the custom I heard can shoot 200 grains of powder. That book I was talking about, the person liked 50 grains of powder and a patched ball out of his flintlock. He thought that was the perfect deer load. Once I can walk around the yard, I am going to try that 50 grain load and see if it will penetrate 2 one inch boards.