Moose with a PRB
02-08-2016, 05:33 AM
#11
Fork Horn
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Southeast Michigan
Posts: 195
Had a 58 Green Mountain for about 10 years. Had a few 54s too in T/C / Pedersoli barrels. I could always workup a beefier load using the 58 and shoot it just as accurately as the 54s.
58 would be my suggestion for use. A 280 gr. roundball will do the job..... just avoid head-on's with shoulders. Try to obtain a work-up load using a wad behind the patch. You don't want any wasted ignition. You want every ounce of energy behind that ball.
If the wad doesn't help / maintain accuracy, discard the trial range-work using it.
58 would be my suggestion for use. A 280 gr. roundball will do the job..... just avoid head-on's with shoulders. Try to obtain a work-up load using a wad behind the patch. You don't want any wasted ignition. You want every ounce of energy behind that ball.
If the wad doesn't help / maintain accuracy, discard the trial range-work using it.
Last edited by GoexBlackhorn; 02-08-2016 at 05:36 AM.
02-08-2016, 05:43 AM
#12
Boone & Crockett
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 12,747
My .58 is a tack driver already. Not sure if the wad will help in that dept. But it might just give me a little more velocity. I'll have to run some through the chrono with and without the wad and see if there is much difference.
Not sure if there will be because the .575" ball and .018" patch is a pretty snug fit.
Not sure if there will be because the .575" ball and .018" patch is a pretty snug fit.
02-08-2016, 06:15 AM
#13
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: River Ridge, LA (Suburb of New Orleans)
Posts: 10,917
I wouldn't lose sleep over trying to gain a little more velocity Bronko. Even a large gain of 100 f.p.s. will yield only a modest gain in down range energy.
What load are you shooting now? The link in your post yesterday at 12:50 PM brings me to the calculator page, but does not show your data.
What load are you shooting now? The link in your post yesterday at 12:50 PM brings me to the calculator page, but does not show your data.
02-08-2016, 09:00 AM
#17
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: River Ridge, LA (Suburb of New Orleans)
Posts: 10,917
Is that with black powder?
I don't have chronograph results for 100 grains of FFg in my .58 GM barrel. But I do have the following data with 85, 95, 105, 115 grain loads of GOEX.
So let's assume you're getting 1400 fps with your load of 100 grains FFg, and switching to a 120 grain load of FFFg will bump you velocity all the way up to 1600 fps. (Although it probably won't go quite that high.)
This is what the down range energy will look like with each load.
..................______Ft. Lbs. of Energy_________
Velocity.......50 yards.....75 yards.....100 yards
1400 fps.........741............636.............554
1600 fps.........881............718.............620
So yes, you get a bump in energy. But it takes a lot of powder (and recoil) to get there. And I doubt the Moose will know the difference.
I don't have chronograph results for 100 grains of FFg in my .58 GM barrel. But I do have the following data with 85, 95, 105, 115 grain loads of GOEX.
So let's assume you're getting 1400 fps with your load of 100 grains FFg, and switching to a 120 grain load of FFFg will bump you velocity all the way up to 1600 fps. (Although it probably won't go quite that high.)
This is what the down range energy will look like with each load.
..................______Ft. Lbs. of Energy_________
Velocity.......50 yards.....75 yards.....100 yards
1400 fps.........741............636.............554
1600 fps.........881............718.............620
So yes, you get a bump in energy. But it takes a lot of powder (and recoil) to get there. And I doubt the Moose will know the difference.
Last edited by Semisane; 02-08-2016 at 09:07 AM.
02-08-2016, 03:11 PM
#18
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 21,193
Is that with black powder?
I don't have chronograph results for 100 grains of FFg in my .58 GM barrel. But I do have the following data with 85, 95, 105, 115 grain loads of GOEX.
So let's assume you're getting 1400 fps with your load of 100 grains FFg, and switching to a 120 grain load of FFFg will bump you velocity all the way up to 1600 fps. (Although it probably won't go quite that high.)
This is what the down range energy will look like with each load.
..................______Ft. Lbs. of Energy_________
Velocity.......50 yards.....75 yards.....100 yards
1400 fps.........741............636.............554
1600 fps.........881............718.............620
So yes, you get a bump in energy. But it takes a lot of powder (and recoil) to get there. And I doubt the Moose will know the difference.
I don't have chronograph results for 100 grains of FFg in my .58 GM barrel. But I do have the following data with 85, 95, 105, 115 grain loads of GOEX.
So let's assume you're getting 1400 fps with your load of 100 grains FFg, and switching to a 120 grain load of FFFg will bump you velocity all the way up to 1600 fps. (Although it probably won't go quite that high.)
This is what the down range energy will look like with each load.
..................______Ft. Lbs. of Energy_________
Velocity.......50 yards.....75 yards.....100 yards
1400 fps.........741............636.............554
1600 fps.........881............718.............620
So yes, you get a bump in energy. But it takes a lot of powder (and recoil) to get there. And I doubt the Moose will know the difference.
02-08-2016, 03:57 PM
#20
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Penns Woods
Posts: 1,628
First off, good luck on that draw, you will need it 
Second, if you are going to use a patched round ball on Moose in a state where you will be one EXTREMELY lucky guy to get drawn, I personally would use the rifle I was most accurate with and could deliver the most lead to target. Either the .54 or the .58 can deliver the weight needed to drop a good bull efficiently so you just need to figure which one you are the absolutely MOST accurate with. It would be a rare thing to get a longer shot than 75 yards in the Main swamps and woods so your range will be fine.
Second, if you are going to use a patched round ball on Moose in a state where you will be one EXTREMELY lucky guy to get drawn, I personally would use the rifle I was most accurate with and could deliver the most lead to target. Either the .54 or the .58 can deliver the weight needed to drop a good bull efficiently so you just need to figure which one you are the absolutely MOST accurate with. It would be a rare thing to get a longer shot than 75 yards in the Main swamps and woods so your range will be fine.I can somewhat agree on that. Having been to Maine for a visit while my son lived in the mid-coast region, I saw how dense some of the terrain can be in and around their streams and lakes. It was late May and all we did was trout fish but some of that area was very dense.
That said, A friend and his Dad drew a moose tag some years ago (2 persons on a permit) and their guide had them hunting clear cuts and I believe the one he shot was somewhere in the 150-180 yard range if I remember right. He shot it with a Colt-Sauer chambered for300 Weatherby?
So I would definitely bring along a decent .30 cal rifle in case the guide can't put me on Moose in a comfortable enough range for a .58 ML. I never did like the taste of "tag soup", especially if it costs a pile of $$. But, it's bronko's hunt, not mine.
BPS