magnum loads

[jimmycrockett85]

I would like to try a magnum load from my bpi cascade magnum. I'm not sure of which is accurate for the load. I use 777 loose powder, hogdon 777 pellets and hogdon pyro pellets. are any of these safe to use a 150gr load? I also have seen "magnum" pellets. is this necessary, or will any do. I shoot a 240 sabot or pb

 

[GM54-120]

That rifle is very similar to the newer one from CVA. Hunterbolt i think it was called but they had others too. I would look at the last 2 numbers of the serial number. Those are the date. If it ends in 95 or 96 call the number on CVAs website. 770-449-4687. BPI and CVA are basically the same company or rather owned by the same company.

Chances are you can shoot 150gr loads but i would have to ask why? They usually kick like a mule and deliver poor accuracy. Plus if you try it with a Powerbelt you might as well be shooting a grenade. Soft lead bullets perform poorly at very high speeds.

The CVA inlne manual says 150gr of pellets. All the loose powder loads for 50cal are 90gr max for the bolt actions. This is very odd though since 3 pellets makes WAY more peak pressure than 90gr of loose powder. I sure would not want 150gr of pellets near my face if 90gr of loose is the max rating.
https://cva.com/wp-content/uploads/2017 ... Manual.pdf

 

[jimmycrockett85]

i took quite a longshot,325yds with a jacketed hp pb. i know thats a cruise but the backdrop is a natural wall. i aimed 6 inch high and hit the dirt 10yds in front of the target. i was told magnum would help resolve that

 

[GM54-120]

What will help even more is shooting a bullet with a far better BC in a rifle capable of far better accuracy. So called MAG loads using a bullet with a poor BC will never get you out to 300 yards with any consistency. Energy needed for punching paper vs enough to ethically take down deer is a whole other topic but should be mentioned if that is your intent.

A 50cal PB at 300 yards simply aint gunna cut the mustard no matter what you do. 300 yards is quite a poke even with the best rifles and bullets offered today.

 

[jimmycrockett85]

i knew it waas quite a shot, thank you. what is bc? im new at all this. it was my assumption that sticking to 100gr, loose or pelletized, would be the safest bet. i was also shooting 195shot that day. is round ball safe to shoot out of an inline. it gets pricey to shoot 30pb or sabot during a fun shoot day.

 

[GM54-120]

You can safely shoot round balls with a patch. The faster twist and rifling depth are not ideal though. Probably need to drop back to around 60gr of loose powder to get them to shoot.

There are plenty of cheap bullets you can shoot in sabots. Several under $25/100 if you just want to shoot ..say....out to around 150yd for fun. The Speer 45cal 260gr for example is around $12/50 and the 250gr XTP is pretty close to that too. Sabots will set you back around $6/50 for Harvester 50x45 at Grafs.

Go check out Grafs. They have $7.95 flat rate shipping and about the best sabot pricing around. Their bullet pricing is pretty low too. 100 shots just for bullets and sabots will be almost $45 shipped.

Sabots Item #: HA5045SB $11.98
Bullets Item #: SP4481 $23.38
Shipping $7.95
Subtotal: $43.31

 

[jimmycrockett85]

thank you for the advice/info. im in another forum but i dont like the feel. i gave advice based on what i have learned in my short time muzzleloading and was criticized for that. i had stated i was new to this whole thing in a post and had commented to another member about bullet lube. i dont believe i will be posting there anymore

 

[jimmycrockett85]

what did you mean by bc in your post, sorry new

 

[Idaholewis]

what did you mean by bc in your post, sorry new

Ballistic Coefficient

the ballistic coefficient of a body is a measure of its ability to overcome air resistance in flight

 

[jimmycrockett85]

essentially this would be aerodynamics then. a lighter load with a round or pointed tip will have better bc than a heavier flat nose sabot or a round ball

 

[GM54-120]

Not really lighter and a 50cal PRB has a horrible BC. Heavier is often better for overcoming resistance. It may start out slower but its less effected by wind. More aerodynamic...yes.

If you were to compare a 45cal that weighs 300gr and a 50cal that weighs 300gr the 45cal will win every time in sectional density and nearly every time in BC. Same weight but a smaller "nose" or metplat so it cuts through the air better.

BC runs into a point of diminishing returns though. Such as your load is never gunna start out fast enough for it to matter much before it no longer has enough energy left. Say i shoot a pointy 250gr Barnes TEZ with 2 pellets. I shoot the same load with a Barnes Expander MZ with the big ole hollow point. Yep the TEZ has a better BC but in the real world its no better than the Expander MZ for nearly any shot you could ethically take.

If anything the Expander is better because its going to expand more reliably as the bullet slows. That tiny increase in BC is virtually meaningless in this case.

 

[jimmycrockett85]

thank you for all that. it makes more sense. it may be wise to keep shots under 200yds simply for knockdown and accuracy.

 

[GM54-120]

Just for grins i ran the numbers with data from Barnes at 1800fps which is a tiny bit faster than 2 pellets but oh well. Hodgdon claims a little less.

250gr TEZ is rated at .195 BC which sounds close or even a tad low.
250gr Expander MZ is .189 BC which sounds maybe slightly high but probably close.

Both sighted in around 3-3.5" high at 100 yards are both within an inch of each other at 200 yards. Very close to 8" low according to Barnes. Both are roughly 15" low at 200 if sighted in at 100 using the Hornady app.

The Expander is still moving along at almost 1200fps and should expand fairly well.
The TEZ will be right at 1200fps and thats getting close to the edge for reliable expansion from that bullet. Barnes claims 1100fps but Ron's test show that could be a gamble.

 

[jimmycrockett85]

hey thanks i do appreciate all this. like i said im new trying to understand all this. 200 isnt such a far cry after all. we have some pretty long alleys where i hunt. i just need to practice and learn my guns a little more

 

[edmehlig]

hey thanks I do appreciate all this. like I said I'm new trying to understand all this. 200 isn't such a far cry after all. we have some pretty long alleys where I hunt. I just need to practice and learn my guns a little more

Definitely get to know your rifle and practice at the ranges where you expect your shots will be. For example, I shoot a 45cal White ML and I shoot pure lead conicals. I sight my rifles in at 75yds as I know most of my shots are at that range or less here in PA. With my rifle sighted dead on at 75 yds, shooting a 465gr conical using a load of 70gr of 777 or Swiss 3-F, my rifle shoots about 1.5 - 2" High at 50yds and about 1.5 - 2" low at 100 yds.

So just don't sight your rifle in at a certain range, confirm where the bullets will hit at various ranges. What you don't want to happen is to wound an animal to have it die an agonizing death. Sometimes that happens even when we do everything right, but it's up to us to spend the time and effort to know our rifles!

 

[jimmycrockett85]

i couldnt agree more about the clean kill. we have found multiple deer that have died from a wound in our area and its disgusting to think why it got left like that. that is the last thing i would want to do. thank you again