Bullet suggestions for a 1:48 twist
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Sidney Smith
58 Cal.
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With today's prices anyone considering conicals should also consider making their own. I just saw some T/C Maxi balls for sale at our local hardware store the other day. $24.99 for 20 rounds. I can make 20 rounds myself using maybe $3.00 worth of lead. Yes initial mold cost and cost of lead will set you back probably $100.00, but after making around 5, 20 round boxes worth of ammo, and you've just paid for the gear.
Hawken1820.50cal
32 Cal
I just a week ago shot half a box or so threw my trafitions STL half stock in .50 cal.....used and over recomended load just to see if it would make a pie plate at 100yds of 100g of 777 2ffg.......my barrels recommended max load of Pyro is 110g 2ffg.....so giving that 777 is 15-20% hotter I can say that mu sholder still has a visible bruse from the 10 or so rounds.....all that being said she made clean holes at 25,50,75 and 100yds with zero keyholing.....tomorow if the humidity is down (souther Missouri) I'm gonna shoot the other half and see if it preformes better with a slower powder....but the clean up is just down right nasty.
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Given the incredible price of store-bought bullets/ball everywhere I'm utterly amazed that ANYBODY actually buys them.
The last ball I bought was back in 1982 in Berlin, for a William Moore pistol.
The last ball I bought was back in 1982 in Berlin, for a William Moore pistol.
EXPANSION?!! What you needin that fer? You are already knocking a half inch hole in the animal. You're not needing that tiny quarter-ish bore bullet to open up and help ya. 
I hunt deer with a side lock, Has been a Traditions Kentucky until this season. As was mentioned before the round ball has never left me feeling that I needed something more. And I use a Measly 75 grains of 3F. I do cast wheel weight alloy round ball for hunting. It just gives more penetration in my experience, especially if the ball hits a bone.
I hunt deer with a side lock, Has been a Traditions Kentucky until this season. As was mentioned before the round ball has never left me feeling that I needed something more. And I use a Measly 75 grains of 3F. I do cast wheel weight alloy round ball for hunting. It just gives more penetration in my experience, especially if the ball hits a bone.
you need nothing but a round ball. it will shoot great in a 50 and kill quick. keep it simple,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
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What’s simpler than a bullet?
Do yourself favor and give Maxi Balls a try. Start at 70g 3F and work up to 90g. That load is devastating.
Depending on the caliber and gun weight can be devastating on both ends.
I have a TC Hawken 1:48 .50 cal also, .490 round ball with .018 pillow ticking works ok for me, but not great. I tried the maxi ball when i first got the rifle without luck, I should revisit now that I have a better clue. I also tried Hornady PA Conical, but the lube that comes on them left me with a half rammed bullet in a loaded rifle. I haven't tried them again since but would like to.
I've had good accuracy with lee real 240gr which I powder coat. I use a wool wad saturated with a homebrew Lehigh valley lube ripoff. I've also had good results with DGL lube from TOTF
I have a lot more range work to try but I busted up my knee and haven't shot since early April. Surgery on Monday, hopefully I'll be back out again soon.
I've had good accuracy with lee real 240gr which I powder coat. I use a wool wad saturated with a homebrew Lehigh valley lube ripoff. I've also had good results with DGL lube from TOTF
I have a lot more range work to try but I busted up my knee and haven't shot since early April. Surgery on Monday, hopefully I'll be back out again soon.
what's simpler than a bullet? a round ball. it needs no expansion. it is the diameter it needs to be when fired.What’s simpler than a bullet?
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Yet they often do expand. Bullets may or may not expand. Any soft lead projectile can expand if it lands at a reasonable velocity. A .50 caliber bullet is as simple as it gets, may or may not expand. May require simple lubricant just like a patched ball.
Not picking on you @olskool It’s just funny to me that over all these years of shooting bullets and patched ball I’ve heard so many times that old canard, “keep it simple, use a patched round ball”… sometimes from the same guys who describe trying balls of various diameters, patches of various thickness and composition, and lubes made of all kinds of wondrous and sundry exotic substances. Oh, sometimes a wool wad, or hornets nest, perhaps a bit of tow? 1 turn in 60? 66” 70”? Round bottom rifling or square? And on and on…
I’m teasing of course but still. It just seems that so often our advice to folks to keep it simple doesn’t really reflect the time we ourselves have spent at the target butts, honing our craft. It could be as simple as loading a .490 ball in a .018” spit patch over 70 grains of 2f will produce accuracy which virtually guarantees a buck in the freezer and accolades from our friends. Wouldn’t that be fine?! On the other hand, one might miss out on many pleasant hours tinkering around with guns and loads and shooting.
I think people have been conditioned to have high expectations when it comes to accuracy. It's everywhere in the gun world, not just here in the traditional muzzle loading community. I've seen it in all aspects. People expect bullets and ball in the same hole kinda accuracy then complain and believe their rifle is trash if they don't get it. They will print a 2-4" group and start wailing, lol. When in the real world I have never owned or shot a rifle that was not at least minute of deer or man accurate. I have no idea where people get these bench rest standards but its laughable to me. If you have a rock chucker that can hit an 8" plate at 100 yards you are gonna eat tonight. Now if you are competing then all that other stuff comes into play, and is not the point I'm trying to make.
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When I was a kid, minute of prairie dog at various distances with a 22 was my dream. Sometimes I got lucky, other times I missed. It was an open sights affair and a varmit rifle with a scope was only a dream. These days a 1 MIA target a 100 is still a dream. Minute of deer is realistic with a decent load.
Most Rifles will shoot better than the shooter, but somehow the rifle is always to blame. I know for a fact all my rifles will shoot better than I can shoot them. The Lead Sled proves that point.
hey, you ain't picking on me, i have killed literally 100s of deer in my life. you can shoot game with anything you like, big or small. if you don't hit the spot it won't matter, they will escape. if you do hit the spot with a small round ball or big one, they will die! so that is the key, not the size or shape of the projectile,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
I can tell you that a 430g .54 maxi on top of 110 g 3F will loosen your fillings and keep your chiropractor busy.
My huntin buddy shot a fair sized Muley buck with his TC Renegade 54 last fall using a No Excuses 535 grain conical . He was DRT, about 85 yards. No tracking needed!
Agreed but 4” plate at 100 yds is my goal…..8” is like you say dinner on the table but could involve a wounded animal and a bit of tracking……
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