Blackpowder load for 50 caliber?

[Gary W. Roland]

I have a 50 Caliber CVA Mountain Stalker muzzle loader. I am using 384
Grain lead bullets. What is a good starting charge? what is a a Max
charge? any Ideas?

Thanks GR

[Bob Ross]

Gary,
I shoot a .50 cal Hawken using Maxi Hunters which are somewhere around the
same weight (I don't have the box handy to verify). I load with 80 grains of
Pyrodex. I was shooting last weekend and am shooting about 2 inches high at
50 yards. I figure this should be good out to 70-80 yards and be pretty much
DOBA (Dead On Balls Accurate, an industry term ;) I won't shoot at another
deer that is out to 100 yards or beyond. Bad experience last year; 4 shots,
no deer.
There are several books which will give you exact figures for max charges. A
friend of mine does the civil war re-enactment shooting and they shoot .58
cal using only about 30-40 grains BP.
You will need to experiment and see what charge will work best for your
rifle. I would suggest starting at about 70 gr and then 80 gr. Somewhere in
that area should give you good starting results. I'm sure someone will
differ with me on this, but that's my $.02.

>>>>-------Bob----->