I will be hunting deer and black bear this year with ranges to 50 yds. I am using a .54 T/C renegade with 100 grains of 2f behind hornady 425 grain great plains bullets, my back up rifle is a .50 cal. using 90 grains of 2f with hornady 385 grain bullets. Has anyone used similar loads what do you guys think.

Trust me, 100 grains of 2F and a 425 grain Hornady Great Plains (or my favorite, the 425 grain Buffalo Bullet) is a great load in a .54, as long as it's accurate.

And with a 50 yard max, you should have zero problems.

If you are only shooting out to fifty yards, then are you having problems with accuracy?

If so, then experiment with other conicals and patched ball. Also try different brands of blackpowder.

Can't comment on the .54. 90gn. with the 385 is a bit much. Good load, but more than you really need to shoot Whitetail & Black Bear at those kind of ranges. 80 is plenty with that bullet and noticebly less recoil with those hard-butt rifles. If you shoot the 50 w/ that load in it well....go with it. Most blackpowder hunters shoot waaaayyyyy more powder than they need. My standard load for Whitetail with my .50 Hawken is 90 gn. powder behind a patched round ball. Pleasant to shoot, very accurate and pokes holes thru both sides of every Whitetail I've shot at with it. My ranges are short...never had a shot over 100 yds. Hope this helps...
Cheers,
Don

My grandson's load for 50 yards is a 180 gr XTP & MMP-3P (three petal sabot) with 40 gr of Schuetzen blackpowder. My 100 yard load with my Renegade is 70 gr. 777 with 460 gr. No Excuse bullet.

I use 100 gr of RS in my 50 with a 410 gr Hornady.
This is my best group, but out of 10 groups this gun's average is 1.25"


This is the gun


it is a TC renegade with a Green Mountain Stainless 1-28 twist barrle. It has lyman 57 sml and 17 aml sights.
I am getting 1500 FPS with this load. It has over 1100 foot pounds of energy at 200 yards. This gun is sighted in out to 300 yards. I use a range finder, set the sight, and hit the target. My limit for hunting is 200 yards. While I can hit farther than that, I am more comfortable at 200 or under.
This load is WAY too much probably for deer but it shoots so well I would not think of shooting anything different. Ron