I wouldn’t worry about max loads, you should not bother playing in that territory unless you start from the wrong end when working UP to an accurate load. Literature on this is sparse and innocent bad advice can steer you wrong. I once tried figuring the same and in hindsight probably was flirting with an over pressure load. So your goal should be your best accuracy with the minimal charge suitable to create the energy needed to pass through an elk. It’s lower than you think! That said, there’s a couple things to consider for your colorado hunt.
With 1/28, you can shoot a long, heavy conical. I think the 460 grain No Excuses bullet is about as perfect as it gets.
You will probably settle on a load anywhere from 70 to 85 grains. I killed my last CO elk elk out of a 1:28 TC Omega with 70 grains 3F 777 and the 460 bullet over a dry wool wad. Drove through nearly lengthwise and exited.
With 777, I’d reccomend 2F for you since it’s a hammer gun and you want to keep pressures slightly lower. 3F will be hotter than 2F and pressures can build fast with huge conicals. You don’t need to stuff tons of powder to kill.I’ll bet your best load is no more than 80 grains. Watch out for excess smoke, weird sounding shot, excess recoil, blowback on hammer. You are over the line already if that’s happening.
I need to do some more testing of sized bullets. No Excuses can give you a test pack of various sizes to try. I’d go for the one that isn’t too hard to load but gives a little resistance still when nearly seated. Some bullet sizes may load too easy in a given bore and it makes me nervous they could move. Every gun is different. A LIGHTLY snug bullet should shoot great.
Check out this thread where this discussion is held, includes info for both 54 and 50 cal. Good luck.
I'm having a hard time finding info on the safe max load for a 54 TC Renegade (sidelock) 1:48 using from 430 to 535 grain lead conical and Triple 7 FFG. I will be hunting elk with it so want to start around 70 gr I suppose and work up to a bit on the stiff side, but not anything that will put...
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