how far is too far

I have a flinter 50 cal and I will not shoot past 70 yards> What is your limit? Why? I can hit the target fine But I feel past this range the old round ball lost its killing power.

Just looking for some ideas. :hmm:
:results:
Thanks KOZ

 

[Rebel]

I try to keep shots under 50 yds but have made one longer shot on a mule deer. It was the last day of the season about three years ago. I hadn't had a shot at a buck all season. About an hour before dark the last day i came across a buck with a bunch of does. They spooked and started running off. I gave a bleeting sound and they stopped. The buck stopped broadside and i had a rest, so i took the shot. He went down and didn't get up. I had hit him at the base of the neck and broke the spine. I paced it off at 95 paces. That was with a .50 cal. Lyman Great Plains rifle using a rd. ball over 90 grs of Pyrodex RS powder.

 

[roundball]

I have a flinter 50 cal and I will not shoot past 70 yards> What is your limit? Why? I can hit the target fine But I feel past this range the old round ball lost its killing power.

Just looking for some ideas. :hmm:
:results:
Thanks KOZ

With my hunting loads I wouldn't hesitate at a 100yd shot assuming a solid rest for a clear standing heart shot...just need enough energy to punch into the heart.

Shot a 6 pointer with the little lightweight .45cal/128grn ball at around 60 yds, and it was bulging the hide on the far side, AFTER hitting a rib going in...so a .50cal/180grn ball at 100yds would have plenty of residual energy to plow through the heart the same way.

IMO, once a stout hunting load is settled on so energy is no longer the question, the real remaining issue is the ability to get the ball where it needs to be...

 

[Stumpkiller]

No farther than feels right or 120 yards off a rest, half that offhand, whichever comes first. I've passed up 30 yard shots from a good ground seat that had too much cover, movement or poor light. There is no fixed constant in hunting.

It's also mighty hard to judge distance accurately in dark woods or open ground, or dark open ground or bright woods, or at all mostly when you're excited.

That's why it's so interesting.

 

[guncobbler]

"le tueur des tron

 

[Johnny Tremain]

WIth my Harper's Ferry 100 yards easy

 

[Stumpkiller]

"le tueur des tron

 

[Flint50]

Never underestimate the power of a WELL PLACED BALL. If you can put one thru the engine room at 100-120 yrds-the critter is yours. The key is ball placement :imo: Of course, the closer the better. more energy and knock-down power. We owe a clean kill to the animal we are hunting.
I will not shoot unless I have a reasonable "feel" that I will humanely kill the animal.

 

[WV_Hillbilly]

Muzzleloading patched round ball loads in .50 caliber typically have about 55-60% of their muzzle velocity left at 100yds. That leaves only about 33% of the muzzle energy value to do the job at 100yds.

If you can get the velocity up to about 2000fps at the muzzle, then there is about 500 ft.lbs. left at 100yds. That is a generally accepted energy figure for use on whitetail deer. (Even though the general figure is 1000 ft.lbs. for centerfire cartridges--go figure!?)

BUT, if the gun (or shooter) can't hold 5 consecutive (off-hand) shots on a paper plate target at WHATEVER range they feel comfortable with, then I don't feel the shot should be taken. Exceptions would be shooting from a position with a good rest.

I'm comfortable with taking a 100yd shot ONLY IF; I have a good position--even using the side of a tree to help steady the gun, AND, I know for certain (from chronograph proofing) that my load is 2000fps + or - 75 fps. Typically my shots come a lot quicker, and off-hand are under 40yds. Where I hunt, 50yds is a LONG shot and 25-30yds is more average.

Always know you and your gun's limitations, and try not to exceed them. It's more fair to the deer and to yourself.

Shoot Safely!
WV_Hillbilly

 

[Slamfire]

Ah think the Pennsultucky militia is in trouble for the east/west shoot, we're gonna have to learn patois. :no:

 

[pennsyltucky]

when did i get my very own militia?

 

[slow]

I try to keep my shots under 100 yards. out of 16 deer and one elk all shots but one went clear through all shots were round ball all shots were under 100 yards but two. The shot that didn't go through was a doe looking rite at me at about eighty yards I used a .50 flinter loaded with a .495 round ball over eighty grains of 3f the ball enterd the briscut and came to within a inch and a half from coming out her butt.

Slow

 

[3 stinky dogs]

I do good to keep 5 shots in a pie pan at 50 yeards.From my bob cat I have taken a liking to 60 grains of 3 f's and a round ball.So 50 yeards and closer is good for me.

 

[laufer]

i sight in at 100yrd, all shots i took are <80yards. with open sights i would not go over 120-130 if suprt is available, or not more than 70-80 offhand. :m2c:

 

[slow]

Gee 3 stinky dogs my round ball guns will shoot inside two inches at one hundred yards I once shot a nice buck rite between the eyes at 114 paces rite where the sites were pointing.

Slow

 

i to sight in to 100 yards
however off hand i try to stay 50 or there abouts . rested i have no problem with 100 yards .
you cannot compare BP ballistics to centerfire ballistics unless your using the same bullet even when think on round balls .

Many years back a fella explained it this way to me .
If a car doing 60 hits your car while your parked there is a good chance you will not make it . The cars will be totaled but you can tell they were cars .

Now you take your same car . Place it on a RR track and let it get hit by a train going half that amount and much of what is left will be pieces . If they find you at all you

 

[slow]

I don't think I have ever shot a deer with out taking a rest. I tend to get excited and there isn't a gun made with a fast enough lock time.

Slow

 

[danlwhite]

I'm not near as scientific as most of you guys, and I have a tough time judging distances-so I find a general rule keeps me in line...if the front sight blade covers up the target, it's too far cause I can't be as accurate as I need to be.

Of course, on cans and targets, that's a whole nuther story! :m2c:

 

[Twisted_1in66]

I try to keep my shots under 100 yards. out of 16 deer and one elk all shots but one went clear through all shots were round ball all shots were under 100 yards but two. The shot that didn't go through was a doe looking rite at me at about eighty yards I used a .50 flinter loaded with a .495 round ball over eighty grains of 3f the ball enterd the briscut and came to within a inch and a half from coming out her butt.

Slow

Ohhhh....now that sounds like a mess. Solid kill I'm sure, but a mess.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

The freight train analogy is a very poor one because the locomotive alone has thousands of times the weight of an automobile and thousands of times the kinetic energy. A fifty caliber ball is very similar in weight to common thiry caliber bullets. Kinetic energy is the only measure of a ballistic projectile's ability to do work. There is no quantifiable measure of "killing power" or "stopping power" despite all the wierd formulas gun writers have concocted because there are so many variables aside from the bullet itself. All modern firearms have a great surplus of power.
A critter will go a lot farther with a leg clipped off by a cannon ball than with a .32 round ball in the heart or even in the lungs.
Don't worry about power, if you put the ball in the vitals you'll have meat. I'd not try a shot much past 100 yards with open sights on a .50BMG, accurate placement is the issue, not power.--- :imo: