.50 Cal TC Renegade Test #3 “Maxi’s”

[Idaholewis]

I would have thought them Maxi’s would shoot as well. They do very well in my GPH, and I am wanting to try them in my 1:28 TC .50 Prohunter once the range reopens. What would be your thoughts on the .50 Lyman Plains pure lead in that 1:28 Prohunter. Thinking about ordering up that mold.
Walk

The Maxi’s Shot Fine in my fast 1:28 Twist I bet the Maxi “Hunters” Will Shoot well there to? I will test them one day Soon. But I definitely find it odd that Neither TC Bullet Shot worth a HOOT in Their Stock 1:48 Twist?

The Lyman Plains is a FLAT OUT AWESOME Bullet in 1:28 Twist, I HIGHLY advise it Here it is in my GM LRH 1:28 Twist .50 Cal, I would put this Bullet up against ANY of My Custom Molds

 

[MSalyards]

You prolly mentioned it before , but what would you suggest for the 1-48 twist to be more accurate? Mold wise that is.

Mike

 

[Hatchet Jack]

That 385 Hornady Great Plains you speak of is a GOOD Shooting Bullet HJ in my opinion it is one of, if not THE Best Store Bought Bullet you Can Buy. They are Swaged, So the Weights are RIGHT ON, and whoever makes them, they Package them very Well for Hornady so they Can’t get Damaged.

Traditions Sells the EXACT same Bullet, But they are in an Open Pack so they can Bang Against eachother and “Self Destruct” This is a SHAME, As it’s a DARN Good Bullet, But POORLY Packaged For Traditions (No doubt to save a Dollar) I would AVOID these like the PLAGUE! Buy the Hornady Brand, They had sense Enough to Package them Correctly

With The Base being what Steers the Bullet, These things don’t stand much of a Chance at Shooting Accurately

Me thinks I might have a box or two of them in my basement. They are packaged well and in good shape. How ever the lube is probably all dried up. I use them mostly for fowling shots and to get on paper. You are welcome to a box if you like.

 

[Saxtonyoung]

You prolly mentioned it before , but what would you suggest for the 1-48 twist to be more accurate? Mold wise that is.

Mike

So far with the range Lewis is shooting (50-60 yards) the Great Plains mold that is readily available from Lyman is shooting stellar. I've had good success with an Accurate 50-345 out to 100 yards. This group was done with the stock sights on a TC Hawken. I modified Lewis's Accurate 50-385 mold to be more suited for a 1 -48" twist.

 

[Idaholewis]

Me thinks I might have a box or two of them in my basement. They are packaged well and in good shape. How ever the lube is probably all dried up. I use them mostly for fowling shots and to get on paper. You are welcome to a box if you like.

Thank you for the Kind offer HJ, I have a New unopened Box of those, I just didn’t think about them or i would have Shot a Group, I will stil do it

 

[Idaholewis]

You prolly mentioned it before , but what would you suggest for the 1-48 twist to be more accurate? Mold wise that is.

Mike

I swear by the Lyman Plains, As I’ve said many times I would put that Bullet up against My Custom Bullets/Molds. I have only seen 1 person Speak Badly of the Lyman Plains Bullet, And to this Day I can’t figure out what he Did, Didn’t do??? The Lyman Plains is 1 of the Best Shooting Bullets i own, in .50 and .54 Cal, That say’s a BUNCH

 

[Idaholewis]

So far with the range Lewis is shooting (50-60 yards) the Great Plains mold that is readily available from Lyman is shooting stellar. I've had good success with an Accurate 50-345 out to 100 yards. This group was done with the stock sights on a TC Hawken. I modified Lewis's Accurate 50-385 mold to be more suited for a 1 -48" twist.

That one Sounds like a DANDY Saxton The #50-385M I had Made has Treated me REALLY Good

 

[eekjellander]

That 385 Hornady Great Plains you speak of is a GOOD Shooting Bullet HJ in my opinion it is one of, if not THE Best Store Bought Bullet you Can Buy. They are Swaged, So the Weights are RIGHT ON, and whoever makes them, they Package them very Well for Hornady so they Can’t get Damaged.

Traditions Sells the EXACT same Bullet, But they are in an Open Pack so they can Bang Against eachother and “Self Destruct” This is a SHAME, As it’s a DARN Good Bullet, But POORLY Packaged For Traditions (No doubt to save a Dollar) I would AVOID these like the PLAGUE! Buy the Hornady Brand, They had sense Enough to Package them Correctly

With The Base being what Steers the Bullet, These things don’t stand much of a Chance at Shooting Accurately

I see the distorted bases in the photo and they certainly look ugly but my question is , when fired do these bases not expand into the bore /rifling as intended ? Soft lead is supposed to expand and fill /grab to steer , kind of like the patch engaging the rifling in a patched round ball ?

 

[Saxtonyoung]

That one Sounds like a DANDY Saxton The #50-385M I had Made has Treated me REALLY Good

I'm still waiting for the muzzleloader shop that is 6 miles from me to open back up so I can buy some Swiss powder to try and improve my groups ,so far I've been using goex.

 

[Idaholewis]

I'm still waiting for the muzzleloader shop that is 6 miles from me to open back up so I can buy some Swiss powder to try and improve my groups ,so far I've been using goex.

I would be BUMMED if I couldn’t get Swiss Powder, I SWEAR By Swiss, 2F Grade That is

 

[MSalyards]

When you hear me State “i wish i had tried a Group of the Maxi Balls With ONLY the Bottom Groove Lubed” Here is why i said that, i tested that Quite sometime ago in my .50 Green Mountain LRH Barrel, BUT it is Also a Fast 1:28 Twist. The Maxi Ball Showed “Reasonable” Potential above, It might be Worth Re-Visiting with JUST the Bottom Groove Lubed

Here is that Older Maxi Ball Test, BUT this was With my Fast 1:28 Twist 50 Green Mountain LRH Barrel, and ONLY the Bottom Groove Lubed. I have Seen Lube MAKE & BREAK Accuracy!! Not all Bullet Lubes are Created Equal that’s for Sure! The Maxi Balls are HUGE LUBE HOGS, Which is TOTALLY Unnecessary

I was curious if you tried this yet Lew?

Mike.

 

[Idaholewis]

I was curious if you tried this yet Lew?

Mike.

No I didn’t, I stil have them sitting here. Knowing what i do about Bullet Lube, and how DRASTICALLY/Negatively it can Affect Accuracy, I simply don’t have Much use for the TC Maxi Ball, I consider it a Crappy Design. That said, If i were to Get Serious with Maxi Balls, I would Run the THINNEST Bullet lube i could Possibly use, And Likely Only Lube the Rear Groove, I would use a Lube that was Thin Enoug to SHED AWAY from the Bullet Easily upon Exiting the Bore. FACT is, The Maxi Ball carries FAR FAR more lube than Needed, There is simply no way it can disperse that amount of Lube Throughout the Bore, Therefore it is STUCK to The Bullet upon Exiting. Depending on Lube Consistency, and How evenly the leftover Lube is in the Bullet Grooves upon Exiting? Now it becomes a “Balancing Act” on it’s way to the Target.

I just went and looked, but can’t find it anymore. I use to have a Picture of a HORRIBLE Maxi Ball Group that i shot Several years ago using a Stiff Lube Called “GATFEO #1”, You could actually see the Bullet Lube “Spackled” All over the Target, The 4-5 Shot Group was 8-10” and this was only 50-60 Yards.

 

[Ninering62]

The above is a PERFECT Example of why i do Short Range Bullet tests at 60-80 Yards or So, If a Bullet will not Shoot here, there is NO REASON to go Farther out. If a Bullet interests me, I will work with it here (50-60 Yards) Til i get it Shooting a Ragged Hole, THEN i Move out and Shoot Distance

Good post Lewis. Those Maxi Balls and Maxi Hunters bring back some good memories. Not that they shot any better for us back in the early 1980's but they were the only thing we had to shoot and hunt with. The groups you produced were about equal to what we shot and we were happy with that. As long as we could hit an 8'' paper plate consistently at 50 to 60 yds that was all we needed to kill a deer. And many a deers we did kill with those Maxi's back than. Those Maxi's would put the hammer down on whitetails for sure.
With all the other selections we have now, I would never even consider going back to them. I really don't know any guys that shoot them any more. Funny thing is, when I do see them for sale they are crazy expensive compared to other lead conicals.
For a while I hunted with Hornady 385 gr Great Plains Bullets. They shoot very well out of my 1-48 twist with lots of different charges. It is a very inexpensive bullet but very accurate for me any way. Was wondering if that conical was on your list of bullets to test in the 1-48 twist Renegade.

I'm from the same state as HJ justa cpl hrs south & exactly like Hatchet said, way way back in the 80's os when I got my 1st .50 TC Hawken kit gun & those dang maxi balls & maxi hunters & them bein all that was avail or all we could find in our states sporting goods stores way back then. I norm do a 50yd test & sight in with any new gun & new bullet at first. I clearly remember neither of them bullets shot worth a darn in the Hawken or the Pa. OR anything else & tried them in. Matter of face I've ran across numerous other guys that all said the same thing. We were on a buddies farm shootin Ml's ( all traditional sidelocks & 2 TC inlines ( inlines had just hit the market ) and in one of my ammo boxes was the remaining balls & hunters & had. A cpl guys wanted to shoot them. It didnt take but a few shots from them to say that they'd prob shoot as well in the super duty redneck sling shot on steroids he made or the potato cannon. They'd serve us much better as fishin sinkers. And yea, why the heck are/were they so dang expensive for what they are? Crazy! I've lost count of how many guys I've met that have 90% of the ones they first bought still sittin in their closet collecting dust.

 

[Ninering62]

Both those bullets sucked in every gun I’ve tried them in. Just using them to foul the barrel now

YESSSSSSS same here.

 

[Ninering62]

No I didn’t, I stil have them sitting here. Knowing what i do about Bullet Lube, and how DRASTICALLY/Negatively it can Affect Accuracy, I simply don’t have Much use for the TC Maxi Ball, I consider it a Crappy Design. That said, If i were to Get Serious with Maxi Balls, I would Run the THINNEST Bullet lube i could Possibly use, And Likely Only Lube the Rear Groove, I would use a Lube that was Thin Enoug to SHED AWAY from the Bullet Easily upon Exiting the Bore. FACT is, The Maxi Ball carries FAR FAR more lube than Needed, There is simply no way it can disperse that amount of Lube Throughout the Bore, Therefore it is STUCK to The Bullet upon Exiting. Depending on Lube Consistency, and How evenly the leftover Lube is in the Bullet Grooves upon Exiting? Now it becomes a “Balancing Act” on it’s way to the Target.

I just went and looked, but can’t find it anymore. I use to have a Picture of a HORRIBLE Maxi Ball Group that i shot Several years ago using a Stiff Lube Called “GATFEO #1”, You could actually see the Bullet Lube “Spackled” All over the Target, The 4-5 Shot Group was 8-10” and this was only 50-60 Yards.

I just shot cast lead conicals .401 175gr rnfp that willfish4fud sent me with the .40 Seneca. I havent shot cast lead conicals in decades & never messed with lubing my own bullets before either. The lube I used was SPG & this Florida sun in no time flat ( literally by the time I got all set up to load up & shoot - 10min or so ) all the lube was now a gooey mess like freakin finger paint, bullets completely covered in it along with the entire inside of the plastic box I had neatly stacked them in. Whudda freakin H of a mess!!! & like any 5yr old with finger paint LOL it got all over everything/me in no time flat as well. I shot 15 of them with 70gr bv Goex fff a .060 .45 vegi wad & got 3-5" group @50yds. Thats terrible, but I had fun noneetheless. I may try that green lube after I clean the remainder of them up ( they all need to be wiped off completely with a towel & started over ) but IDK if that will hold up any better in Fl sun than the SPG did. I'll need one of then sizing luber thingy's too. NO MORE Corky the retard bullet lubing mess for meeeee.