hard cast round balls

[ihunts2much]

I know hard cast round balls were commonly used in large bore rifles for large or dangerous game to ensure penetration. Why isn't it a more common practice for smaller bore rifles when hunting medium size game.It would seem to me a hard cast 45 prb would give you a little insurance if bone was hit.My experience even with a .50 prb is they can use a little help once in a while. Wouldn't an alloy cast ball out penetrate and out perform a pure lead one? Anyone have experience with this to share?

 

[silent sniper]

last year i cast some .311 round balls with hard wheel weight lead because thats all i had. well my load was only 20 grains of FFF and the hard cast PRB. i made a hail marry 77 yard off hand head shot on a groundhog with my 32 rifle. the ball hit the groundhog directy through the bottom jaw bone, which is very thick and tough on a groundhog. the ball went through both jaw bones and stopped at the skin on the other side. the ball wasnt even dented, and could of easily been shot again. There is definetly more penetration with hard cast PRBs, no question about that. but i dont know if they have more shock power then the soft lead PRBs.probably not sense they dont expand much,if any, but i dont have any scientific proof to back it up :haha: . hopefully the forum members more experianced then me will have a better answer. cheers SS.

 

[longcruise]

Wouldn't an alloy cast ball out penetrate and out perform a pure lead one?

Penetration and performance are not always complimentary. Harder will penetrate further but may not make as good a wound channel.

Have never thought that penetration needed to be enhanced with any of my big game calibers or loads. Experience has shown me that a .50 with a soft lead ball over anywhere from 60 to 90 grains of powder will always penetrate adequately on deer size game out to my accuracy limits. For elk size, the .50 is probably ok too but I opt for a .54 for the increased mass of the ball. Only .004 inch gives you 21% more mass.

One could increase the penetration aspect of balls from the smaller calibers in the .45 and less range. How that would actually play out in the field would be interesting.

 

[texcl]

I shot my bear last year with a hard .58 ball and was pretty impressed with the penetration and killing power. I know a hard .36cal ball will fully penetrate a deer broadside with 30grs. of powder, so for some things it does help to make the small calibered gun more effective, but I'm sure it loses shock value. depends on what you are doing.

 

[dwarvenchef]

I don't like hard cast out of my guns. with the balistice of a roundball it slows down much to fast to allow much "thump" at target. Head shots don't care hard or soft though lol. But body hits leave me wiggly in the legs, I'd rather have the ball flatten and tumble around than just worm through.