.60 hardcast balls

[gmww]

I've been trying to save my pure stuff as much as possible. I cast up a bunch of .60 RB from a Lee mould and wheel weights. I've been able to hold a decent hunting group at 75 yrds with 70 grns of Pyrodex.

Going to test them out on whitetail does. Meat hunt. I'm thinking they probably won't be expanding much if at all but the size should be enough. Am I off base on this? :hmm:

 

[rabjr]

I've been trying to save my pure stuff as much as possible. I cast up a bunch of .60 RB from a Lee mould and wheel weights. I've been able to hold a decent hunting group at 75 yrds with 70 grns of Pyrodex.

Going to test them out on whitetail does. Meat hunt. I'm thinking they probably won't be expanding much if at all but the size should be enough. Am I off base on this? :hmm:

Are you testing or getting ready to hunt something bigger? Cause those .60's are plenty big enough for Whitetails.

 

[gmww]

I might use it on black bear but I'm just trying to baptize my newest gun. They all go through this ritual. :thumbsup:

 

[rabjr]

I might use it on black bear but I'm just trying to baptize my newest gun. They all go through this ritual. :thumbsup:

Nothin wrong with that, good luck!

I know for a fact a .58 will slam a Bear pretty damn good, so that .60 should be aces. :thumbsup:

 

[gmww]

I'm mostly concerned about it being Hardcast. Since it's probably not going to expand would it still take down a bear via soft tissue area like the ribs.

 

[LaBonte]

I'm mostly concerned about it being Hardcast. Since it's probably not going to expand would it still take down a bear via soft tissue area like the ribs.

Being hardcast shouldn't be a problem especially with a .60" ball - you just do not need a whole lot of expansion with the big bores when compared to when using "modern" smaller calibers.
I (and many others) here in the west use wheelwight hardcast balls for game bigger (and meaner!) than deer, do your part and they work just fine. During the 19th Century - the English in particular used hard cast balls especially on the big and dangerous game of Indai and Africa.
One of the favored shots on bear especially is a shoulder shot - this breaks them down so they can't get far and will also usually be a killing shot as it will often take out the top of the lungs and the big upper arteries. A hardcast ball really shines for this type of bone crunching shot.
I also like this same shot on deer as it usually keeps them from running far if at all and with a muzzleloader there is generally little meat damage.

 

[J.D.]

IMHO, hard cast balls promote bone breaking penetration. Those large balls don't need expansion to kill large game effectively, so as long as they are accurate enough, they will do everything necessary to bring down game.

God bless

 

[gmww]

To all.

I suspect as pure lead becomes less and less available, this topic will become more and more frequent. I'm also wondering about using hard cast is smaller calibers. Would a .45 roundball be too small in hard cast for deer? I'm thinking lung shots wise. Wouldn't the hard cast rb in .45 have the same problem as the maxiball by simply poking holes? I would assume the solution is taking shoulder shots with such a set up.

 

[Jason Lewis]

what do you call hardcast? unless it's linotype or hardball it should expand just fine.

 

[gmww]

When I refer to hardcast, I'm speaking of wheel weights mostly.

I tested them out on two deer this season and they seem to work quite well. Pass through on both. :grin:

 

[texcl]

Last year I shot a large deer with my .62 fusil with a hard cast ball it was double lunged and went about 30 yards before expiring. The deer was about 15 yards away and I was using 80grns. of 3f I could hear the ball wizzing off through the brush after exiting the deer. I also shot a bear this year with my .58 virginia rifle with a hard cast ball, the ball broke shoulders ribs and even nicked the spine before exiting, so it short they penetrate like crazy, you'd be better off with pure lead for deer, but I don't think it'll change the outcome of a good shot. I too use hard lead for most of my shooting because I have an endless supply.