.50-70 hunting bullet alloy

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beltfed
Posts: 1962
Joined: Sun Jun 03, 2007 10:07 am
Location: Central Wi

Re: .50-70 hunting bullet alloy

Post by beltfed »

20+1 or whatever, that 50-70 certainly will kill whitetail well,
after all, its already twice the diameter of a 30 cal to start with.
Just use a flat nose bullet.
I killed lots of big whitetails with my 45-70 with 385 gr FP bullet.
even relatively hard cast.
beltfed/arnie
George Babits
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Re: .50-70 hunting bullet alloy

Post by George Babits »

With most black powder cartridges the hardness can be just about anything from #2 to 30:1, especially so with the 50-70. I generally use 25:1. in the 50-70, but I've never hunted with it. In the 38-55, which I have shot deer with, I use 15:1, but that is with smokless powder. I think the bottom line is that the alloy doesn't lead the bore.

George
SchuetzenDave
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Location: St. Albert, Alberta

Re: .50-70 hunting bullet alloy

Post by SchuetzenDave »

John Taylor Knock Out Formula:

KO = Caliber x Bullet Weight x Velocity / 7000

.321 x 210 x 1400/7000 = 13.5
.321 x 236 x 1526/7000 = 16.5
.379 x 310 x 1200/7000 = 20.1
.379 x 360 x 1200/7000 = 23.4
.408 x 410 x 1250/7000 = 29.9
.408 x 460 x 1200/7000 = 32.2
.459 x 500 x 1200/7000 = 39.3
.459 x 540 x 1300/7000 = 46.0
.512 x 330 x 1200/7000 = 29.0
.512 x 450 x 1250/7000 = 41.1
.512 x 600 x 1175/7000 = 51.6


A .30-06 KO compared to the above Cast Bullet rifles.

.308 x 180 x 2700/ 7000 = 21.4

Hunting bullets generally are of a softer lead alloy of about 30:1 to expand upon impact.
But a .50-70 is going to punch a big wound channel without having to expand much.
And have more knock out power than a .30-06.
cat1870
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Re: .50-70 hunting bullet alloy

Post by cat1870 »

When going on a buffalo hunt with Lee Hawes in Kansas in 2005 I used a 50-50 Sharps New Model 1863. Lee suggested a pure lead bullet.
I got my Buffalo and the 450 lead bullet was recovered on the other side of the buffalo just under the hide. That 450 pure lead bullet did a complete penetration.
Just my experience..
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beltfed
Posts: 1962
Joined: Sun Jun 03, 2007 10:07 am
Location: Central Wi

Re: .50-70 hunting bullet alloy

Post by beltfed »

Pardon my "pikey", but complete penetration would be thru and thru,
including the far side hide, thereby providing another "leak spot" for the
animal to bleed out more rapidly.
and more blood trail, if needing to be tracked
beltfed/arnie
cat1870
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Re: .50-70 hunting bullet alloy

Post by cat1870 »

beltfed wrote: Thu Sep 05, 2019 11:28 am Pardon my "pikey", but complete penetration would be thru and thru,
including the far side hide, thereby providing another "leak spot" for the
animal to bleed out more rapidly.
and more blood trail, if needing to be tracked
beltfed/arnie
I knew I'd get called on that.
The 450 grain bullet was just inside the hide on the exit side of the buffalo. All they did is skin the buff and there the bullet was.
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bruce m
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Re: .50-70 hunting bullet alloy

Post by bruce m »

taylor's knock out formula is interesting.
it is not connected to killing power directly.
taylor came up with this formula for the ability of a bullet to render dangerous game unconscious.
it is really about stopping a charge, and having done so, you might have to act again, possibly quickly.
bruce.
ventum est amicus meus
Orville
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Re: .50-70 hunting bullet alloy

Post by Orville »

OP Hanna wanted the softest lead he could get, he hunted buffalo an scouted with Buffalo Bill said Buffalo Bil made a better showman then a scout. He wanted to recover the bullets under the hide so he could reuse the lead.
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Distant Thunder
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Re: .50-70 hunting bullet alloy

Post by Distant Thunder »

Back when my eyes were good enough to hunt living flesh with iron sights I carried my Sharps .50-70 on many hunts. It ways killed every efficiently on whitetail deer, antelope and one buffalo. I used the same bullet on all of these critters and it was cast from 20:1 lead/tin. The bullet was an NEI 525 grain semi-pointed bullet, I do not have the number handy. It always penetrated completely from all angles and left a wound channel that would be hard to distinguish from a modern high rifle except for the lack of blood shot tissue surrounding the wound. The channel was always 2 - 2 1/2" for it entire length through the chest. All deer sized critters were down within 30 yards, very quickly. The closest was about 30 yards and the farthest was lasered at 190 yards after the fact. The load I used pushed that bullet at 1230 fps and would allow as many as 5 shots with good hunting accuracy without blowing or wiping.

I had a bit of trouble on the buffalo, but it was not the fault of the bullet or caliber. It was a misunderstanding of how a BPCR kills on the part of the people providing the hunt and their insistence that I shoot the buffalo in the neck. Had they allowed me shoot him through the heart only one shot would have been necessary I'm sure.

I have been most impressed by the killing power of the .50-70 out to 200 yards which was about as far as I ever shot an animal. I only ever recovered one bullet and that was from the sizeable furrow in the ground some distance behind the whitetail buck that hasn't enough to more than slow the big slug down a bit. Accuracy was very good and within 200 yards the trajectory was easy to manage, but I practiced a lot. The .50-70 is a wonderful hunting cartridge within its limits.
Jim Kluskens
aka Distant Thunder
Michael Johnson

Re: .50-70 hunting bullet alloy

Post by Michael Johnson »

Bottom line, I want thru and thru performance with a cast bullet. That gives me at the least bilateral pneumothoraces (bilateral collapsed lungs). Hopefully you have taken out part of the heart as well. The game ain't going very far after that. Most of my BPCR bullets are cast in 40/1. Harder cast works just as well.
Stephen Borud
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Re: .50-70 hunting bullet alloy

Post by Stephen Borud »

It doesn’t matter if the bullet is pure lead or some kind of harder mix. It will kill if it punctures the vitals. Good luck hunting.

SB
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