I shot some loads I worked up for a new rifle I bought for myself when I passed my NERC test.
I'm not bragging or anything but I did manage to hit an 8" diameter steel plate at 500 yards; twice! And I only shot at it 3 times!
For Christmas I bought myself a Sharps rifle in 45-70 (I was a very good boy last year!) I've wanted one for years and finally bought one. They have a competion where you shoot steel targets at 200, 300, 400, & 500 yards with the type of guns that were used by the buffalo hunters in the 1870's-1890's. Most people shoot 45-70's but some shoot 45-90's and 45-110's because the 500 yard target weighs 50 pounds and you have to knock them off their stands in order to score a point. So you have to use a big heavy bullet and black powder as the propellant. My most accurate load is 68 grains of 2f black powder with a 500 grain lead bullet. This is a big heavy bullet that hits the 500 yard target with a lot of power; more than a lot of modern rifles have. But the bullet has to be "lobbed' into the target because at 500 yards, in order to hit the target you have to aim over the target by 300 inches.
So anyway about 3 weeks ago i'm shooting the rifle at 300 yards to get it sighted in. I shot about 30 rounds and my shoulder is getting pretty sore so I thought i'll just shoot a few more then call it a day. I took one more shot and felt something like an electric shock deep in my shoulder so I thought "that's it, I'm done." I hung around the range for a while talking to some friends then drove home. By the time I got home my shoulder was swollen, so I put some ice on it and then went to bed. When I got up the next morning I had a bruise that circled my arm all they way down to between my wrist and elbow, and across my shoulder and chest. And such a lovely color of purple too! So I haven't shot that rifle since but I did buy a shooting pad that goes over my shoulder to help reduce the recoil. And I'm going to add a pound of weight to the rifle to reduce the recoil too. I may sound crazy to some but I really enjoy shooting this gun.
Regards,
Booner