youth load

[jatopa]

am looking for a good light load for my 10 year old grandson. Would like to use bh209. Any help will be apppreciated.

 

[Lee 9]

Assuming an In line that a good enough breach plug to use Blackhorn I would recommend a 50 / 40 200 gr bullet and 70 gr of powder. The 200gr XTP or the 200gr Shock Wave would be a good starting point if hunting is likely other wise a cast bullet of around 200 gr in 40 caliber with a 50/40 sabot assuming a 50 caliber rifle.

 

[GM54-120]

The 40cal 200gr bullets are going to be one of the softest shooters with a reasonable range. My friends son liked a 45-250gr GoldDot with 80grs. In the Accura that should be fairly soft too. It was very mild in a Kodiak. I think they also offer a 45-230gr and .429-240gr GoldDot.

 

[frontier gander]

shoot, even 150gr of pellets was light recoil with a 200gr lehigh :lol:

 

[greatbasin]

My 12 year old girl used 60 gr. of BH209 and a 250 Barnes MZ slug to hunt with. Recoil was not an issue and it worked great.

 

[BuckDoeHunter]

My 10 yr old uses 80 grains of BH209 with a Barnes 250 gr TEZ bullet out of his Triumph. It is extremely accurate at 100 yds and has enough energy out to approx 130 yds to harvest a whitetail. He has taken 6 deer with this load and has no complaints with the recoil even during summer shooting only wearing a T-shirt.

 

[GM54-120]

greatbasin

The Barnes 250gr Expander MZ does seem to function well at velocity as low as 1100fps at impact. So it is probably a good choice too. It is my favorite Barnes in the 250gr class. Even though i use the 185gr Lehigh IMO its best to keep it moving a bit faster. Their site even recommends 1400 or 1500fps minimum for best results. IIRC Barnes also offers a similar Expander MZ type bullet in the 225gr range in the XPB line.

The Lehigh DOA is quite impressive so far.

Im sure a youth load can get this done, The question is how far will it carry that much fps with a youth load. Ive been experimenting with the Barnes 40-155gr TAC-XP and recoil is extremely mild even over 2000fps. Ive also modded them with 30gr of soft lead swaged/pressed into most of the hollow point. This mod still leaves a shallow cavity. Sofar they have proved to be deadly at 150+ yards on a kill this year.

BTW with lighter bullets and loads of 80grs or less T7 might yield better FPS in this application. BH209 shows its best fps gains with a tight fitting sabot and/or a heavier bullet.

 

[GM54-120]

BuckDoeHunter

My friends boy is about the same size and age. We all tried 80gr and 250gr class bullets. Everyone agreed it was a cream puff to shoot and accuracy was outstanding.

BTW that is a nice buck and his shot looks like he placed it very well. :yeah:

 

[jatopa]

Thanks to all for your input. It's nice to know a place where a person can get so much info.

 

[Confederate rifleman]

I know you'd like to use BH209, but you might try a T/C Cheap Shot ( 240gr all lead .45cal h.p. with sabot) and 40 gr ( volume) of 3f Triple 7. my daughter and i have both used this load in her Traditions Tracker .50 cal and have taken numerous deer at ranges from 15 feet to 115 yards. all 1 shot kills. Muzzle velocity from the Tracker's 24 inch tube is 1350 fps, or roughly what you'd get with a 44 mag revolver. Accuracy is excellent, averaging about 2 inches for 3 at 100 yards.Penetration is no problem either.The bullet has only failed to pass through twice. I've used the Cheap Shot with up to 70gr of 3f T7 and ( 1700 fps) it does NASTY things to a deer's chest. With that 40 gr charge you can shoot all day and a can of powder lasts a long time!

 

[greatbasin]

FYI...Today I shot my daughters youth Wolverine with some 250 gr. Barnes Expander MZ's over 60 gr. of BH209 and Win. standard shot shell primers. My avg. velocity was 1385 fps. at 8 feet.

 

[GM54-120]

FYI...Today I shot my daughters youth Wolverine with some 250 gr. Barnes Expander MZ's over 60 gr. of BH209 and Win. standard shot shell primers. My avg. velocity was 1385 fps. at 8 feet.

That sounds about right and is well into the 44mag territory. TB did a youth load with the new 240gr PT Gold with 60gr and got just a little more fps. It was for a 10yr old girl IIRC.

 

[Omega45]

IIRC it was for his girlfriend.

 

[GM54-120]

IIRC it was for his girlfriend.

Yep the 240gr PT was for his 110lb girlfriend. He had two sections and i got them confused. Anyway it does look like a 240gr-250gr with 60gr-80gr would make a decent youth load. Ive shot a couple with a Ruger 44mag and never felt under gunned within its range. The ballistics should be very close.

Just to keep it simple though a light PowerBelt with that amount of powder should be fine for paper. It might even hold together on deer but i wouldn't bet on it. A test with the new 250gr AeroLite may prove me wrong and might be worth a shot although i would stick with true premium priced bullets if they shoot well.

Those Barnes 250gr Expander MZs are hard to beat for mild to average fps performance. They never failed me with charges that would be considered mild by today's standards.

 

[greatbasin]

Anyway it does look like a 240gr-250gr with 60gr-80gr would make a decent youth load. Ive shot a couple with a Ruger 44mag and never felt under gunned within its range. The ballistics should be very close.

Those Barnes 250gr Expander MZs are hard to beat for mild to average fps performance. They never failed me with charges that would be considered mild by today's standards

That combo made quick work of my girls bear last year...like a hot knife through butter.