.36 rifle accuracy at distance

[brazosland]

At what distance does the wind start to have its way with a .36 round ball?

50? 75? Reasonable wind, not hurricane force winds. Think minute of coyote or Turkey. I have two .40’s that I am very confident with to 100 in a fairly stiff crosswind.

Thinking I may want a SMR in .36 at some point, just don’t have any experience shooting the caliber in a rifle.

 

[Hermit Tim]

Would love to help but I've only shot my .36 out to about 35 or 40 yards, and I never paid attention to the wind. Mine is just a little half stock CVA but is very accurate under normal circumstances. I think a .36 SMR is a splendid idea though.

 

[Collie]

It's probably just me, but I can't seem to hit anything at 100 yards with my SMR in 36 cal. At 50 yards I can do one ragged hole, but last time I went out to 100 it was 8-10"

 

[The Crisco Kid]

I don't know if the ball diameter has an effect on wind drift. Maybe someone on here can chime in. All I know is that it's pretty amazing how much the wind will drift my 45 or 54 at 100 yds. A 3" group at 50 yds opens up horizontally to 10 or 12 inches at 100 yds with a 10 or 15 mph cross wind.

 

[Hermit Tim]

I don't know if the ball diameter has an effect on wind drift. Maybe someone on here can chime in. All I know is that it's pretty amazing how much the wind will drift my 45 or 54 at 100 yds. A 3" group at 50 yds opens up horizontally to 10 or 12 inches at 100 yds with a 10 or 15 mph cross wind.

Wow that sounds like a jump. Where I hunt and shoot it is so thick I seldom get a shot past forty yards or so. I actually don't know what any of mine will do at 100. Might have to go somewhere and find out one day.

 

[mushka]

I'm one not much interested in wind drift with the .36 cal. I only shoot the distance from ground to the top of a tree and I doubt if that is much more than sixty or seventy feet and breezes don't seem to bother the ball much.
Little and light balls have to be adversly affected.

 

[SDSmlf]

I have played with 32 and 36 caliber roundball loads out to 100 yards, and what I shoot (1400 to 1600 fps max at the muzzle) can be accurate on a very calm day, but a cross wind is not your friend. At an estimated 10 mph (Weather Channel and personal observation), seems 6”+/- drift at 50 yards and maybe 15” to 18” at 100 yards. This based on limited, hey let’s see what happens data. Not a controlled study. I typically shoot 12-15 grains of powder in a 32 caliber, and honestly go from a 5 shot 6” or so group on a perfect calm day to a clean target, and not the kind of clean target we are looking for. Hard to tell what’s really happening unless you have a dry dusty backstop for a spotter to see hits, or a big target.

Personally, figure a 32 is good all day to 25 yards or so, and a 36 maybe to 40. Unless you are really good at playing the wind.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

I've never shot a deer or anything else at over 50 yds with a muzzleloader. My own limit is maybe 100 yds but that would only be on a flat calm day with a very solid rest and an animal that is standing still. Shooting on paper at various distances and wind conditions with a roundball is a real eye opener and anyone who hunts needs to do it. Once you figure out what's going on using a rest, do it offhand. That's when it gets real humbling!

 

[Kansas Kid]

I don’t think there will be much difference from your 40. I shoot a 36 sometimes at local club matches and get some respectable groups at the 100y range, like 4” You can get some pretty good velocity out of it.

 

[brazosland]

I don't know if the ball diameter has an effect on wind drift. Maybe someone on here can chime in. All I know is that it's pretty amazing how much the wind will drift my 45 or 54 at 100 yds. A 3" group at 50 yds opens up horizontally to 10 or 12 inches at 100 yds with a 10 or 15 mph cross wind.

It’s not ball diameter that allows drift, it’s the balls weight.

Lower mass ball is more easily pushed around by the wind.

 

[bigstick6017555]

A round ball is not the most flight efficient projectile.

 

[tenngun]

A five mile an hour wind will move a .350 ballfired at MV of 1500 fps 2.05 inches at fifty yards and 7.87 inches at one hundred
A twenty mile and hour wind is 8.21 and 31.59 inches respectively

 

[Kmcmichael]

According to a ballistics calculator @ 1800 fps, a 5 mph crosswind should move a .35 round ball roughly 3/4” more than a .39 round ball.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

It’s not ball diameter that allows drift, it’s the balls weight.

Lower mass ball is more easily pushed around by the wind.

In the case of round balls we can say that weight and diameter actually mean the same thing when it comes to the effect of wind. A lower mass round ball has to have a smaller diameter. Bullets are different since weight increases with length while the diameter stays the same. How's that for splitting hairs?

 

[HSmithTX]

Velocity is your friend, reduce the time the wind has to work on moving your ball. You still have to know how much it moves but the only way to reduce it is to push the speed for a given diameter.

 

[dave951]

I don't know if the ball diameter has an effect on wind drift. Maybe someone on here can chime in. All I know is that it's pretty amazing how much the wind will drift my 45 or 54 at 100 yds. A 3" group at 50 yds opens up horizontally to 10 or 12 inches at 100 yds with a 10 or 15 mph cross wind.

You think that's a lot, at N-SSA Nationals several years back we had fairly high cross winds thanks to a hurricane having blown through. I had wind drift with my 58cal of about 18in when it would hold steady for a bit. With gusting high winds, 100yd was a fun challenge

 

[The Crisco Kid]

The ability to read the wind is usually what separates the men from the boys. It's one of the few areas where I stay forever young.

 

[smokepolehall]

.36's pill is about 2/3's weight of a .40's. The MV of the .36 at a 100 yards is not good. Calm would be your friend at that distance. They are a blast to hunt with out to 50 yards. I sold my .36 about 40 years ago, when i got my Tn. Poor Boy .40 cal. I found that i liked the .40 much more n its done well through the years.

 

[brazosland]

.36's pill is about 2/3's weight of a .40's. The MV of the .36 at a 100 yards is not good. Calm would be your friend at that distance. They are a blast to hunt with out to 50 yards. I sold my .36 about 40 years ago, when i got my Tn. Poor Boy .40 cal. I found that i liked the .40 much more n its done well through the years.

Agreed. I kill deer and hogs with my .40’s here in Texas.

Just been intrigued by the .36 lately…

 

[smokepolehall]

Agreed. I kill deer and hogs with my .40’s here in Texas.

Just been intrigued by the .36 lately…

Its one of those things. If you can afford one to enjoy it. Then go for it, i had Jack Gardner build my .40. So i found the .40 was a bit better all around, plus my young family. My choice worked out well for me. I reckon if i had funds to buy i would have a shop full of ML's.
Wind will certainly mess with the .36 at yardage past 50, how much depends on how much wind speed is blowing. If its just light breezes 1-4 mph mosltly can keep 5 shots in the palm of your hand. More wind than that you may need a 2.5 gal pail to cover the shots.