Cayugad brought up and interesting question regarding powder charges in his Scorpion bullet post.
He had asked "How many actually believe that more powder is better?"

Personally I feel a lot of guys use too much powder.
I am of the opininon that with a .50 cal, anything over 100 gr and with a .45 cal anything over 90 gr. is wasted (assuming a 28" or shorter barrel). I haven't decided on the .54 yet as I've not had enough experience with them. But I think about 120 gr would be the point of diminishing returns with a 32" bbl.
I know I am going to get a lot of flack on this because their rifle is rated to handle a 150 gr "magnum" charge. When I had my Optima Pro I talked to a couple techs at CVA about this and they basically said the same thing as I had thought. Quote: "Yes, your Optima Pro will take a 150 gr charge but you will be wasting powder. Stick to 100 gr or less."
At last count, I have 9 MLs (8 sidelocks and one inline). Of these only one rifle, a 50 cal flinter, likes a stiff charge of 100 gr of FFFg. The other 50s like charges in the 80 - 90 gr range and the 45s in the 70-80 gr range.
Let's hear your opinions on this.

I will say 110grns of 777 or 110grns of BH209 are all i need in a 50cal ML. I also believe in fast clean kills. I think you should shoot your bullet as fast as you can safely and accurately.

110 gr max when shooting BH and saboted bullets and 75 gr max with the full bore conicals. sometimes that extra 10 gr when shooting saboted bullets tightens the groups up.anything more than that and it starts falling off.. Ray

When I was playing around with my .45 GM/LRH Renegade I shot GOEX loads starting at 85 grains and moving in 10 grain increments up to 125 grains. I got velocity increases with each 10 grain bump in powder - about a 250 fps spread from bottom to top. But the 85 grain load was the most accurate. And at around 1750 fps it had all of the killing power I need for my 150 yards or less hunting situation.

I also shot T7 in ten grain increments from 60 grains (1566 fps) to 110 grains (2037 fps). But the 80 grain load at around 1775 fps was the most accurate.

Well I believe you set your sights to low on the powder charge and the chrony backs me up on this as long as the FPS takes a reasonable rise the powder is not wasted.
Also it makes a big difference what powder you are talking about.Black or Pyrodex reach the peak of efficiency between 110 and 120gr but you can still gain quite a few FPS after that. I personally don't care how much powder it takes to make a gun shoot best, actually a lot of people don't realize it but there are two or three accuracy load for most guns with the same bullet, there is often one between 70 and 95 grains [not usually the tightest group but a decent accuracy load just the same good for the kids and the ladies that are recoil sensitive] and an other one between 100 and 120 and yet another one at 130 to 150with Blackhorn.
Now if your allergic to recoil or faster bullets then you will be happy below a 100gr but if you use Blackhorn it won't even reach its burning clean pressure with a light bullet with that kind of a load.
I feel a lot of guys shoot below an efficient load. I know I recommend loads like that some times usually for the kids that are learning to shoot, I just was teaching a 13 year old with 70 gr and a 200 gr bullet yesterday, because he needs to learn how to move with the recoil before he shoots a decent load that's why I would not let him use the bench also. I am afraid from what I have read that there are some people on here that could use 101 in recoil handling.

On the other hand, if a bullet fully expands and usually exits the game it's probably going fast enough. The only real advantage to more speed is a flatter trajectory.

I must admit that I have not included BH209 in this equation. Although it may be a terrific powder, I have not used it nor do I see myself using it in the near future simply because I personally do not see a significant increase in return for the amount of $ increase. Now don't get me wrong. I am not stubborn nor am I opposed to change. But my experience with good old BP and Pyrodex has been very good. And my shooting with open sights pretty much limits me to 100 yds or less. I know they are 'dirtier' but I don't mind the swabbing between shots or the after shooting cleaning.
For now, let's leave BH209 (and White Hots) out of this and limit your opinions to BP, Pyrodex, and T7. I am curious as to all of your opinions.

i shot 777 prior to Bh209, to me there isn't much difference. 110 gr was my max load when using 777 with saboted bullets..i don't miss the crud ring lol.. Ray

bronko22000

I think most already know, but I am set on the 110 -120 grain powder load with T7 or BH - makes no difference to me or the guns that I shoot it in. The Knights and the White handle 120 very well, while the TC's (inlines) seem to function very well with the 110 grain loads.

In my Renegade-GMount LRH barrel I shoot the same loads as I do in the normal Knights. In a real Renegade most often it will be 100 grains of T7-3f except when shooting Bull Shops - the real Renegades like the 75-80 grain range and the LRH really settles down with 90 grains of T7-3f.

I really believe Lee's post is right on but it still comes down to personal preference.

I will add one other factor that I feel figures into the whole equation - 'Harmonics" specifically 'Barrel Harmonics'. Depending on the barrel and bareel to stock fit 'Harmonics' become very important to the accuracy of the load.

This is absolutely false. Kinetic energy on game is increased with speed. There are so many ways to show you but i think this one is the easiest to understand. I do agree a good bullet exiting the animal should do the job at any speed.

The information below is from Hornadys web-site.

In essence, a bullet going through soft tissue has the same effect as dropping a stone into a pail of water - if the stone (bullet) enters the water slowly, the water (tissue) displacement is so gradual that is has little effect on the surrounding molecules. If the stone (bullet) enters the water (tissue) with a lot of momentum, however, the surrounding molecules have to act a lot more quickly and violently, resulting in a splash (temporary cavity). Temporary cavitation is important because it can be a tremendous wounding mechanism.