1/48 twist shoot round ball,conical,sabot

[deerheaven]

What is more accurate?Also what will give you a pass thru on whitetails everytime.......at 50yds...

note:shooting T/C firestorm

 

[jgray]

Try out different loads with each and try to find the most accurate in your gun. A 1:48 twist should be best with rounballs or conicals that are relatively short these are usually 250 grains and lower. I never used sabots in a flintlock though.

 

[jgray]

Try out different loads with each and try to find the most accurate in your gun. A 1:48 twist should be best with rounballs or conicals that are relatively short these are usually 250 grains and lower such as the PA conical from Hornady or the 245 grain Buffalo Ball-ette. I never used sabots in a flintlock though.

 

[Rebel]

A round ball with the correct powder charge will work on white tails just fine. A complete pass through with any of them depends a lot on shot placement. If you hit one head on in the chest or going away in the rear, or a shoulder bone or such, you may not get a complete pass through with any of them. Also, conicals sometimes have a tendancy to be turned when they hit something wrong more than a round ball. Any of them will work if they are accurate in your gun, and you place the shot in the right spot.

 

[shmrck1]

dave,
what i think everyone is trying to tell you is every gun is different and it's up to you to work up a load. we can give you starting and ending points, but everything in between is trial&error :imo:
a pass thru shot does not gurantee a kill, but shot placement mite even if not pass thru again IMHO.
snake-eyes :m2c: :results: eace:

 

[musketman]

The 1/48 will shoot both well, but neither exceptionally well, it's like a middle of the road compensation...

A round ball will most likely be the best in accuracy, the longer bullets will have more mass and are most likely to pass through...

Do you really need a bullet/ball to pass through?

One hole will be enough, most animals will die if you make a 1/2 inch hole in them, the roundball will flatten out to around 5/8 to 3/4 inch inside the deer causing even greater damage...

 

In order to have exits EVERY time with a muzzleloading projectile, you will have to use a small diameter, non-expanding, highly stabilized projectile that produces less actual killing power than does a simple descent sized round ball. The 48" twist will not shoot a highly stabilized sabot or conical to deliver exits, or even deep penetration, all the time. Ther will be tipping of the bullet, inside the game, which resitricts penetration. A rond ball will be found on the off-side, virtually every time, unless both sholders are hit, showing almost complete penetration - as good as it gets, from a 48" twist.
: On the other hand, a PH Volunteer rifle, shoting 500gr. of lead, might just give the penetration you desire, exirts every time, but that rifle has the proper twist for deep penetrating & exiting, projectiles.
: You haven't mentioned calibre. A .50 RB with that twist or slower, will allow game up to and including Elk and Moose, however a .54 is perhaps the best all round (easily procurable) bore size there is, in .48" twist rifles. I personally prefer even larger bore size for big game, but that is a private thing, which includes slower twists for round balls and faster twists than 48" for slugs.
: For deer, a .45 to .54 or .58 is just fine with round balls for projectiles. No, they won't exit, but then, they don't need to, to kill the game quickly. They also give the flattest trajectory, allowing pin-point accuracy out to 100yds. or so.
Daryl

 

[Stumpkiller]

What is more accurate?Also what will give you a pass thru on whitetails everytime.......at 50yds...

Do you promise to only ever take a standing broadside shot from ground level? :hmm:

A wheel-weight roundball of .50 cal or larger pushed to a muzzle velocity of 2,000 fps will get you through a deer every time at 50 yards. BUT, what you want is a projectile that just barely makes it out the other side.

If a Maxi-Ball pokes a 1/2" hole through a deer, say moving at 1,800 fps, and keeps on going at 1,500 fps on the off-side of the deer, all you have accomplished is to poke a hole straight through the deer. You can do about the same with a field point on a wood arrow or a sharp stick (both of which are horrible choices and hopefully illegal hunting ideas). What you want is something that transfers energy to the bone, tissue and nerves around the projectile's path, causing destruction and hemmoraging as it passes through. And an exit hole is a big plus. But, a blood trail is secondary if the game drops in it's tracks or stumbles after a few staps. One way to guarantee energy release is with a hollow-point, but whenever you use one of these you risk lots of surface damage and little penetration with a leg, elbow or shoulder-blade hit. :nono: The problem is, the hollowpoint that perfoms flawlessly at 120 yards might be a SuperXplosive Varmit blaster at 15 yards; destroying meat while still not compromising vitals.

I am using a very moderate load of .490 ball and 84 gr FFg powder. Last week I took a buck facing me at 40 yards and the round lead ball penetrated about three feet, lodging under the hide on the deer's left hip. One hole, no exit. The deer never moved it's hind feet and dropped after performing a rearing turn. No bone was hit except the sternum "keel". The 0.490" ball expanded to an average 0.523" diameter.

A round ball is a very suitable and reliable projectile at 50 yards. It never has a jacket seperation and never "blows up" on a heavy bone or the shoulder blade. HOWEVER, there is no projectile that self-corrects for a poor shot. Furthermore, a good shot at the muzzle can turn into a poor shot at the animal because of movement or interveining cover/obstructions, wind, etc., etc. And then there's things like range estimation, moist powder, body shakes, etc, etc, that can spoil a shot. My point is that even when you have great faith in the penetrating and killing abilities of your projectile, you should still be prepared to spend a couple hours following up on a good shot that went bad. No one likes it, but it will happen eventually. Practice a lot and shoot when it feels right, pass when it doesn't.

I figure that even with the best shot a deer has 10 seconds of life. I've had heart-shot deer run 150 yards in that time. I definately prefer it when they collapse at the impact.

The most accurate projectile depends on the individual gun and your shooting style.

 

[hairsmith]

Another good point about a roundball is that it will never keyhole..

At least if it does you will never know.

Hairsmith
pure lead is what real bullets are made of

 

[roundball]

: For deer, a .45 to .54 or .58 is just fine with round balls for projectiles. No, they won't exit, but then, they don't need to, to kill the game quickly.

FYI...so far, every deer I've taken with a muzzleloader using a patched ball has been under 75yds.

I've taken a few with a .45cal/128grn ball and they've all stopped, bulging the hide out on the far side;

I've taken many with .50cal/180grn balls and half of the time they gave complete passthroughs;

I've taken several with the .54, and just this year two with the[url] 58cal...in[/url] 100% of those cases the .54/.58cals gave complete passthroughs.

I assume it's because I use stout hunting loads

 

The 'exits'(gun talk), or in archery text - 'passthroughs', don't happen "all the time" with round ball which was my point, no matter the range. Deer size is something not discussed yet, and is important to this thread. There is an incredible diversity of animal size, weight and type from coast to coast.
: For sure, light animals will allow exiting balls whereas heavier bodied animals might not.
: The large guns, in my meager experience with the .69(or larger), with 480gr.(or heavier) ball will exit most every time, even with double shoulder hits, on 250lbs. deer, but not with 80gr.2F. if much bone is hit. On the other hand, 145gr. will generally carry through.
: About the time you say it will exit EVERY time, it will fail, just to prove you wrong.

 

[deerheaven]

Thanks all,Saturday ,Im shooting round ball,conicals and 295 powre pts........Im not leaving until I find the right marriage with the amount powder and projectile....