Need some help guy's......
 

After reading (blackpowdersmoke's) thread about his wifes MLer Doe I got to thinking about my wife Connie. As you know she's had a couple of operations on her wrist, this last one was in May and she was out of work for about 6 months. She's had to give up Bowhunting wich she used to love and now Im worried she may have to give up Mling also, her tiny wrist just cant take it anymore.
Our Rifle Season does'nt open untill Nov 17, if she goes she'll use her Accura 50.cal MLer. Im trying to talk her into it as for the last 20+ years or so she's been right along side of me on opening day, minus a year or so when it was pouring rain and I let her stay home.
For my question, what's the smallest load I can load for her that wont have a kick to it and she can still take a deer cleanly out to 50+-yds?
Both she and I have used the 240gr XTP's forever, so if she can still use that bullet that would be great. She wont get out execpt for Opening Day and I'll have to carry her MLer for her.Eveen though her last operation was on her right (trigger) hand, her left wrist is still bad also. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
(BP)

Ever think of getting her a crossbow? No recoil to speak of, and for her short distance, it should work.

Not sure if you can use one during ML season. You can't here, but you can in rifle season.


Not sure what powder you use for her. If it's BH 209, i'd say 70gr with that bullet.

My personal favorite bullet for low fps/recoil is the Barnes 45LC-225gr XPB. Its made for 45 Long Colt speeds and expands very easily. I think there is also a 45-200gr XPB but i never tried it. The Speer 45-250gr DC also performs excellent at low fps.

I find that 80 grains of Pyrodex RS and a 240 grain does not have that much recoil, but then I am a large man so I might not feel it the way a smaller person would. I really hate to suggest anything.

Have you considered say a 200 grain 40cal XTP with a light powder charge? I find them no recoil hardly. And at close range that should do the job.

All good suggestions BP. Remember that if you go with the xbow you can get a hand crank to reload the bow. I bought one for my bow for up in my climber after the first shot. If you want to stay with the 240 gr. XTP, the BH209 with about 75 - 80 grs of powder would be very mild for the bride. good luck.

Thank's for the replys guy's, a crossbow is out of the question, not legal here. I was hoping for a powder load or around 60grs+- or so and hoping someone on here had had some experience with a light load that still would take a deer cleanly out to 50yds+-. I may look into the 200gr XTP, that sounds like it would do the job with little recoil. Does anyone have any Stats on what a 200gr XTP and 60grs of Powder would have for Foot Pounds of energy out to 50yds?
Thank's!
(BP)

Breech plug,
Several years ago i think it was the late 80's I had a white mountain carbine. I played around with it quite a bit and developed a load of 53 gr of Pyrodex RS and a 385 gr buffalo bullet and CCI primers and got fairly go accuracy. I actually killed a big doe with that load around 45 yards. I don't think that I would go lower in powder. cayugad has said in a couple of posts about using a heavy bullet and I think he said he used 60 gr of powder. If was to go back to a low powder charge it would be with a heavy bullet. I would think a 300 gr SST and say 60 gr of Pyrodex would do the job as long as you have accuracy. I hope this helps with your delimia.

Breech plug,
Several years ago i think it was the late 80's I had a white mountain carbine. I played around with it quite a bit and developed a load of 53 gr of Pyrodex RS and a 385 gr buffalo bullet and CCI primers and got fairly go accuracy. I actually killed a big doe with that load around 45 yards. I don't think that I would go lower in powder. cayugad has said in a couple of posts about using a heavy bullet and I think he said he used 60 gr of powder. If was to go back to a low powder charge it would be with a heavy bullet. I would think a 300 gr SST and say 60 gr of Pyrodex would do the job as long as you have accuracy. I hope this helps with your delimia.

Have taken a deer with a 50 cal round ball,60 grains 3f,about 70 yards.(1-66"twist.) Took out rib and vertebrae. Trying to work up a light load for a friends inline we had poor bullet performance (recovered from backstop),he used roundball that year but large bullets would have left a wound channel sufficient?given proper placement. Not to crazy about roundball in a fast twist.
Maybe sabots for smallest effective caliber with squab load of powder for her?
Frm an enclosed blind a leadsled or similar on a table or turret would help on recoil,positioning it by herself could be a challenge.

Ive found it easier to get better accuracy with 50x45s and 200gr bullets than using the 50x40 sabots with reduced charges. Granted you are keeping the shots close so it may not matter very much. 60gr of BH209 will easily beat the fpe of a full power 10mm or Ruger 45LC load at that distance.

Hey BP don't let the big bullets bother you any. If you lower the powder charge, they are sweet to shoot. I shoot a 550 gr. lead bullet in my Zouave with only 42 grs. of Goex ffg. Now I know this is a load normally used by the N-SSA guys in their civil war guns, but have had friends tell me that these charges are not *****cats. They will take deer sized game. I do have a friend who hunts with his Enfield 3 band .58 cal. and he only loads 60 grs. of ffg of bp.

Now as to an inline I would look for a load of 240 gr. XTP with about 70 grs. of powder, say maybe Goex Pinnacle or Pyrodex. That should work nicely pal.

A load I shoot for fun in my Triumph is a 300gr for the 45-70, under 70gr of 2F Goex. Very accurate, under 1" at 100yds, very little recoil. I have not used it on game, because of it being a rifle bullet. But say a 300gr xtp, with a similar load would do the trick.

I have to agree a heavier bullet, moving slower, would be good to go out to 50yards!

I just got back from Wal-Mart to see what they had for bullets, the smallest ones were the 200gr SST's, they did have some 230gr XTP's too. I've never shot the SST's but I think they were what came with my buddys Triumph but the heavier ones, he had terrible luck with them, any comments on the SST's?
I just dont want to start spending money on a bunch of different bullets that wont shoot well with a low powder charge. I know the only way to tell is to actually try them, again I wa hoping one of you's had a wife who hunted with a MLer and a small load.
I remember my father in law used only 62grs of FFG out of his old TC with a PRB and took some deer with that with no problem under 100yds. But I have to use a saboted bullet because of the Accura has a fast twist rate. Here's another thing I was thinking and I know I should go the lose powder route, but Pyrodox makes a 30gr Pellet, I was thinking of 2 30gr pellets for her?? Her last load was 90grs of pyro rs and the 240gr xtp, the other was 80grs with the xtp. I have 2 mlers set up for her and I dont remember wich one she used last, she has an accura and a cva kodiak, one I worked up a lesser load in for her, I'll have to ask her when she gets home from work tonight wich one she used last.
(BP)
I still have about 3 weeks to get ready for the opener.
(BP)

Breechplug,

I would concentrate on some way for her to support the gun while she is hunting. If she's going to be in a ground blind (as my wife was) she might do well with shooting sticks or one of the adjustable type rests that you can find through Cabela's or other major retailers. Most recoil is felt on the shoulder and not much on the wrists. I think she just needs a good sturdy rest for the gun so she's not supporting the weight with her own wrists and arms. She then should be able to shoot comfortably and accurately with whatever load the two of you decide on. Make sure you have her practice from whatever kind of rest you come up with.

http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/brows...3Bcat104769180

BPS

I'm a little late to the party on this one (weekend at the hunting lease). But I just checked my .45 Renegade target file and found a target with .40 XTPs over 60 grains of T7 FFG. The three-shot average velocity was 1566 fps. That load will still be doing close to 1400 fps at 50 yards, and around 1250 fps (with 650+ FPE) at 100.

A 10mm Auto handgun gets something around 1200 fps at the muzzle with a hot loaded 200 grain bullet. So if you would be comfortable shooting a deer at ten feet with a 10mm Auto, you're good to go out to 100 yards with a 60 grain load in a muzzle loader.

Funny you should mention that blackpowder smoke, yeaterday I went to our opening day hunting land where the Swamp is and built a ground blind where Connie and I hunted last season on opening day.
She took a nice 8pt that morning, I cut 2 2" diameter ashe trees with a "Y' at the top and put them in a good shooting spot and pushed them into the ground deep so there solid. Also there's 2 big fallen down ceders that are part of the blind that are perfect for resting off, so hopefully that's taken care of.
Connie called a few minutes ago while on her break from work and I asked her what MLer she used last year. Boy did I get it, women never forget anything! She only called me Stupid so that was ok, but she used her CVA Kodiak, it was loaded with a 240gr XTP and a 50 and 30gr Pyro Pellet. She told me to quit telling people she could'nt handle her Mler and that the 80gr load was easy to shoot!
So I guess she's staying with that and OL Breechplugs gonna be hiding when she gets home, never ever talk about your wife behind her back:busted:
(BP)

I think you would be fine with 60 - 70 grains powder if you keep the range short. I have used the 200 grain .40 cal XTP on deer with powder charges as low as 70 grains. I took a buck one year at 105 yards with 80 grains T7 and the 200 XTP - the deer was DRT with a double lung shot. From that, I would extrapolate that a 60 - 65 grain powder charge would work out to 50 yards at least.

I have used the 200 SST a fair amount as well. It has worked very well for me with 80 grains T7. I feel that it probably will not open up as well as the 200 XTP at lower velocities, but would probably be okay with 70 grains if the range is kept short.

If you want to stick with the 240 XTP, I think 60 grains T7 or BH would do the job at close range. My hunting buddy's daughter used to always use the 240 XTP with 70 grains of JSG (which is much weaker than T7 or BH) and she took several deer with no problems.

Mine used the 50/40 Shock Wave with 60 grains and took a nice buck at 50 yds with it. It did open up it also exited the far side of the chest. She also had just had an operation and we started at 50 grains and she felt she could handle more.

I would go with the 200 gr SST or Shockwave with the blue sabots. I use them with 80 gr of Blackhorn and the gun is easily shot by a 7 yr old. He even said it feels like shooting the 22 but a lot more noise. lol With 100 gr you can extend your range. More than that your just wasting powder I would think.

You can use the 200 gr 10mm XTP but don't push it too fast. It will come apart on a shoulder hit. The Shockwave is more durable.

My 9 yr old son took his first doe with his TC Impact in Sept.. He used 60gr of BH209 with a 250gr Barnes TMZ bullet. I was a little concerned that the all copper bullet might not expand well at the lower velocities, the entrance hole on the big doe was a nice round 45 cal circle and the exit hole was larger and ragged so expansion took place. I think that XTP would expand just fine. His shot was at 30 yards and it was a complete pass-thru. I would think 1 50gr or 2 30gr pellets would do just fine with that bullet and recoil would be very light.