At Last - Pic of the Big Buck!

[leadball]

Hey! Great pic! Fantastic buck! Terrific write-up! Thanks for posting all that. Encouraging to read of your success. You guys will convert me to PRB yet.
Bob

short start, when i first bought a muzzleloader, i was practicing with conicals because i thought that little pea roundball could not possibly kill a deer(at least one of any size). But the cost of them and the amount of powder plus recoil I decided to play with the prb. Fun, fun, fun!!
Ok, admittedly they are probably the worst of the 3 projectiles for muzzleloader, But if you keep your shots <60 yards or so they are deer killers. All 4 of my deer shot with prbs never went far, with the big doe i shot sunday was knocked off her feet. Do the prbs, you wont be disappointed :m2c:

 

[ryoung14]

I'm a-lissenin leadball. They're certainly fun for punchin' holes in paper and off hand practice. Knowing they'll go where they're pointed puts the blame for misses where it belongs, on the shooter.

Having been a centerfire reloader for decades before stumblin' onto muzzleloading, I guess I'm a slave to ballistic charts and to trying different permutations and combinations to get good performance. There's always another bullet, another powder, another primer, another... that hasn't been tried. Trouble is, with muzzleloading there's way more variables and the permutation/combination game quickly gets out of hand. Hunting season rolls around and either the gun isn't performing or there's so much monkeying involved that it isn't practical.

But conicals do tease you. Every once in awhile, things come together and they shoot really well. Trouble is, they won't next time out.

In the past I've used PRBs in my .54 GPR as a sanity restorer, but only on the range. It shoots so well it's almost boring. Maybe it's time to take the old girl huntin'.

But first I gotta wup up some of that Moose Snot. Anyone know where to get the beeswax? ::
Bob

 

[RMillet]

You can get cakes of beeswax at WoodCraft.

Dick

 

[KyFlintlock]

Great deer there, I'm sure you are STILL flying high.

I agree with the comments that PBRs do the deal! I have taken at least 12 deer with my Flintlock/PBRs and most haven't gone 50 yards.

Congrats again on your FINE buck. A definite HAWG!
Wess

 

[NoJacketRequired]

Short-Start,

The first deer I took with a M/L was also taken with PRB from this same rifle at a range of 50 yards. It went about 25 yards before piling up. While many folks posting on this forum will sing the praises of their particular "favourite load", there are a few with enough experience to realize that shot placement is far more important than the type of projectile one uses. In my case, this particular rifle shoots PRB very well, and it makes a nice light rifle to carry and produces mild enough recoil that I don't flinch. Plus, because PRB is cheap, I get to practice a lot with it!

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you've got a gun that will shoot PRB well, then practice lots and build your skills and confidence. When that trophy buck walks out in front of you, you'll know what to do, and the PRB will do its job once you've sent it properly on its path.

On the other hand, if your rifle doesn't shoot PRB (I've got a T/C Renegade that doesn't shoot PRB worth a hoot) then find a projectile and load that does work, and again, practice all you can.

By the way, for those who are interested... I recovered the ball from this particular deer and weighed it. It started out at something like 178 grains and after ploughing through this barrel-chested deer it still weighed 158 grains.