Q&A for Lyman Black Powder Bullet Mould: 54 Caliber Plains - #548657 2654657 — 1 Questions & 1 Answers

It works well enough "as cast" to hunt with in my 1:32 twist Great plains hunter. On a bench and windless day I get about 6" three shot groups at 200yds with peep sights, a weighed charge of 95 grains ffg Goex, a felt wad and mutton tallow/beeswax lube. Scopes are not legal for muzzleloader only seasons in my state so I have never mounted a scope. With my old eyes I would bet my groups would tighten up if I did mount a scope but then I would be poaching.

One shot kills on a deer and an elk each last hunting season with well-placed lung shots gave good 2x expansion and 92 percent weight retention and immediate kills. I picked up the slug laying against the hide on the far side of the elk and it went through the deer. The terminal performance with pure lead is good.

Be sure to properly prep your mold and use a bottom pour pot with thermal regulation. Drop the bullets on a soft surface so they are not dented. I Keep the ones that weigh within a grain of each other and put the rest back in the pot to re pour. With pure lead I end up keeping around half of them and they weigh within a grain of 460 grains.

You might be able to get better accuracy by playing around with the hardness of your lead alloy and such but then you will also have to size the bullets to load them and risk losing them out of your barrel while you are hunting. There are probably better target bullets out there but I view this as an excellent hunting bullet and that is what I use it for.

I probably would not try it in a slower twist rate than 1:32. Faster twist rates would probably work well with a harder alloy and bullet sizing so it does not strip the rifling.