A 65 Grain Hunting Load?
 

I was playing around with my .45 caliber Green Mountain barreled Renegade today.

My regular hunting load for this gun is 85 grains GOEX FFFg under a Hornady .40 caliber XTP bullet. That load generally shoots five-shot groups into 1.5 to 2.5 inches at 100 yards and blows through a deer on a broadside shot.

So I got to wondering what a lighter charge of 65 grains would do, and shot three five-shot groups at 100 yards with that load.

Here are the targets.







First off, recoil with this load in the heavy 28-inch/1" across the flats GM barrel was almost nonexistent (the gun weighs in a 9.5 lbs.). But would this be an acceptable hunting load? I'd say yes.

The second target was shot over the chronograph. I used the ballistic calculator at Handloads.com to see what kind of energy that 200 grain bullet was producing at 1500 fps. Here's what I got.



Well, at 150 yards it's moving faster and with more energy than Hornady's 180 grain 10mm handgun load has at the muzzle. So If you would be comfortable shooting a deer at five feet with a 180 grain XTP in a 10mm handgun, the 65 grain load of GOEX will certainly do the job out to 150 yards.

I've never tested jack but knock down deer shooting 75grs under a patched round ball in my TC Hawken flinter. Disclaimer I don't shoot past 75 yrds give or take.

My grandson had no complaints with his 45cal White M97 shooting 65gr of Pryodex P and a 350gr HP Gould connical.

Semi - many say 1000# energy minimum for whitetail though many dead deer might argue otherwise. I killed a deer with the 10mm/200 XTP this year and was not impressed. I used 100gr Pyrodex RS and maybe that was the problem. At 25yds, the bullet went out with the same size hole it went in; no expansion. That was literally a heart shot so not much to slow it down. The deer went 100yds, fortunately across open field. I love the flat trajectory of the bullet and it would probably be great at 100yds but I'll be going heavier from here on out. Maybe a 200 all lead would be better?

The 4/70 killed lots of Buffalo

When I was using my .45 flinter in the late 70s and early 80s I started with 65grs FFF Goex under a 128 gr .440 ball...It killed deer...

Yeoman, with all due respect, if you didn't recover the bullet, you don't really know if it expanded or not...I'm sure it looked like it didn't expand but at the slower speeds of muzzleloading bullet you really can't tell...Many think the XTPs expand too easily...

Semi-

in your GreatPlains thread I noticed the heavy powder charges and did wonder.

A few years back powder became tough to get vs pellets and I was unwilling to pay the Hazmat fee( which, frankly, is strictly insurance money for the carrier's premium as it is handled no differently than any other parcel) so I dialed back on the grains from @ 90 to 65 in .50.
In .45, 55-60gr.

However, I'm unsure whether or not I'd use these for hunting loads vs my standard 75-80gr.

I was pleased not only with the economy but the range results as well. Plus, 65gr has little to no kick.

Especially compared to the 100gr+ loads you've been shooting!

Yoeman, I've killed two deer with the 200 grain XTP over 85 grains GOEX and have full confidence in that bullet. One was an 80 yard neck shot which dropped her instantly - no surprise there. The other was a 65 yard mid-chest shot. It expanded well with a pass through that blew lung tissue and blood on a bush ten feet behind the deer. Even though it destroyed both lungs the 105 lb. doe traveled about 90 yards. Sometimes they do that, even with a 30-06.

The biggest whitetail I ever shot (200+ lbs) was with a 200 gr XTP. A complete pass thru @ 75 yds., double lung, and he only ran about 50 yds. My load was 80 gr of Pyro P.
And as johnmorris said, many a buffalo was shot with the .45-70 (and .45-90) using 400 - 500 gr bullets. I see no reason why a 65 gr charge of FFFg will not humanely kill a deer.
As for the 1000ftlb energy necessary - I say hogwash! I've killed deer with the diminutive .38-40 albeit at <50 yds and they did not go far after the shot. It all boils down to shot placement pure and simple. You plug the heart or both lungs and the animal will go down.

That is some good shooting. That first target is impressive. I will have to try that load in my rifle once the snow melts. Although more snow is called for tonight...