275 Maxi-hunter vs. 250 REAL

[WildShot]

During a pretty intense shooting session, I made a very interesting discovery. I was shooting some lead conicals, partial boxes, that I have had good success with in other guns. I was shooting a T/C Firestorm (FL, 1:48, 26?) and trying to develop a deer load around the Hornady Great Plains 385 grain bullet. No matter what charge of FFg I put behind them I could not get respectable accuracy. I found that I had a box of 275 gr maxi-hunters, so I tried them with an 80 gr charge. Three shots off sand bags at 25 yds go through the same hole! OK, so?no brainer, I have a deer load but ? I have been casting slugs and balls for shotguns and wanted to cast for the Firestorm too. I don?t think that T/C ever sold a mold for the 275 gr. .50 cal maxi-hunter. The only thing that I can find in current production moulds that comes close dimensionally is the Lee REAL in 250 gr. How would the two bullets compare? Have you ever shot both in the same gun? How did they perform?

 

[rat trapper]

I've sgit the REAL bullets and they are ok, but my rifles prefer the Hornady great plains bullets. The REAL bullets are good enough for plinking at gongs. Found my rifles also do not do their best with maxi hunter or maxi balls either. Make sure you put a felt wad under the bullet if you want your best accuracy.

 

[excess650]

not a Firestorm, but a 1-48" Grey Hawk....tried various powders and charges. My Grey Hawk shot 370gr maxi-balls very well with 80gr Swiss ffg but NOT 80gr Goex or Elephant ffg. It also shot them well with 100gr Swiss ffg, and Goex fffg. I suspect that it would have shot the maxis OK with heavier charges of Goex or Elephant ffg. Swiss ffg definitely makes more velocity. The fact that Goex fffg worked in the 100gr range makes me suspect that heavier charges of Goex ffg might work because of higher velocity and/or pressure. I DO NOT shoot BP substitutes in my MLers.

My Grey Hawk doesn't seem RB friendly either .490" or .495" regardless of patch thickness or lube. It does shoot very well with TC sabots with 240gr 44cal XTPs and Swiss in 80gr or 100gr charges.

BTW, the 100gr charge of Goex fffg seemed to make softer fouling than did the Swiss ffg. It seemed to be a more hunting friendly load less apt to need wiping between shots.

I have shot both weights of Lee REAL bullets, but need to revisit those. The bullets on hand were cast of a too hard alloy, but the lighter bullet showed promise anyway.

 

[cayuga]

I have shot the maxi hunters out of a number of T/C rifles and never got any accuracy. We were shooting Pyrodex RS back then. I bought the REAL molds and with 80 grains got very acceptable accuracy. We then used them on deer and found them to be an excellent deer load. It really plants them.

Another good projectile was the maxiball. I could get good accuracy out of them too. I have a friend that I cast for occasionally and all he hunts with is REAL conicals. He's shot some nice deer with them and swears they plant them better then his 30-06. I think the reason he claims that is the muzzle loader slowed him down and he takes only high percentage shots with it.

 

[WildShot]

I to have shot many 350 gr. Maxi-hunters and not had the type of accuracy that I wanted. The main reason that I was looking at the 250 gr REAL was that I wanted to make my own bullets and it is the only mould that I could find that is similar to the 275 gr. maxi unless I have a custom mould made. Since the original post, I purchased the REAL mould and cast a few. I found the REAL?s to be slightly more accurate than the maxi?s. I did comparisons in both my firestorm and a friend?s greyhawk. Both did better with the lighter maxi compared with the heavier/longer bullets and still better with the homemade REAL?s. The lube that I was using did present some problems with fouling build-up. I intend to do some more testing but I?ve been distracted by deer season the last couple of week. I have not yet found a willing subject to test terminal performance.