Hunting with Roundballs

[JoeC]

BS
If you can handle the recoil ,,,,,,,and want to push the
powder charge up to 400+grs of 2ff (can you say REAL nasty recoil ) you get about 1300 fps , that pushes the TKO to 328 !!!!!!!
Of course the recoil is in the 190 ft lb range.....compare that to the recoil of a .458 Winchester
Mag at 55 ft lb. , or the 460 Wtby.Mag.(i have owned a 460 . for about 25 years) at about 100 ftlb
Joe.

 

[BS]

I shoot 170FF, and have tried more, maybe 250. My glasses nearly fell off, good thing I have spring action arms or they would have.

Ever seen a deer shot with a golf ball? Cause that is what it looks like! , cannnot immagine what a 4 would do?

At 1100 fps, it is like using a 22LR with a 1000 grain ball!

 

[NORD]

Thats with a 1700 gr , 1.040 " diameter ball , 250gr of 2 ff (out of a 30" barrel) 16 lb. gun
Joe.

HOLYCOW!!!!!

That is something you would use on an elephant!

 

[Bob J]

Can anyone say "Detached Retina"?

 

[Rebel]

Or Torn Rotator Cuff?

 

[roundball]

Or Torn Rotator Cuff?

Sounds like a "punt gun" with no boat attached !!
:crackup:

 

[Bob J]

Having had a problem with my right shoulder in the past, I've decided to stick with roundballs in my MLs. You know, 100 grains 3f behind a .535 prb is pleasantly mild compared to 100 grains 2f behind 555 grain .58 Maxi-ball :imo:

 

[dryfly]

Hoyt:

By the time the smoke clears the deer is either laying there or gone, depending on the shot presented. I like to shoot the neck if I can get it, heart/lungs if I cannot.
First off call your shot, where was the sights when the gun went off? Second always go look. There will be blood and hair if you hit it. If not still track it a couple of hundred yards to check for blood trail. If a deer has a marginal hit, especially high, it may take a while for the blood to hit the ground.
Also use enough powder to assure that you blow a hole in both sides. I use 100 frains FFG in my 50 cal long rifle for hunting. It do put um down.

 

[leadball]

When I first bought 50 cal rbs I thought,"This is too small to be effective." But with 80 grains of 3fg behind it, it works. It's probably true that prb is the worst projectile for deer hunting but because of that it forces one to become a better hunter(tracking, being aware of wind direction, ect). I have never had to track a deer yet with prb in 50 cal. It's like bowhunting(I assume). An arrow will kill a deer but you have to be sure of shot placement and limited range and power. Yet tons of game are killed by arrow each year. I wanted to hunt with bp originally to get away from the "Blaze orange Brigade" but i also wanted a challenge. BP and prbs delivered

 

[oomcurt]

Sorry for jumping in here...but "TKO"...where does one find more information on that..years back I believe Elmer Kieth had something along the same line.

 

[laufer]

.530 RB over 90gr of ff or RS worked every single time for me on elk and deer, ~50-80yards away. Kills them every time, hart/ lungs shots.
Traditional, isn't it?! :front:

 

[deerhunter]

Ive been looking into getting a .50cal flinter for hunting. Probably a pedersoli country hunter or scout carbine. There seems to be a large variation in .50cal loads for PRB. Is 70-80 grains of 2ff better than 100-110 grains of 3fff? What load would give the best knockdown? And does anyone go for a shoulder shot with PRB or Hilar shots?

 

[roundball]

Ive been looking into getting a .50cal flinter for hunting. Probably a pedersoli country hunter or scout carbine. There seems to be a large variation in .50cal loads for PRB. Is 70-80 grains of 2ff better than 100-110 grains of 3fff? What load would give the best knockdown? And does anyone go for a shoulder shot with PRB or Hilar shots?

As one trusted reference, TC's load data chart lists 50-110grns of Goex 2F for the .50cal patched round ball.

The rule of thumb for using 3F is to reduce 2F load data by 15%.

Example:
I prefer Goex 3F and use 90grns of it as my .50cal flintlock deer hunting load...I believe 3F to have slightly faster ignition, and it definitely fouls less than 2F for me.

Im my case, 90grns is actually a 19% reduction from 2F max...if I was going to use 2F instead, I'd use 100 or 110grns 2F...I believe in max / near max loads for deer hunting.
:m2c: :front:

 

[Dale D]

I use 90 grns in my Renegade.It has plenty of power and the accuracy is good right out to 90-100 yards.The deer I shot with this load(double-lunged at 40 yards) only ran about 35 yards and dropped.Ball exited on the other side leaving a good blood spray on both sides of the trail, just in case tracking would have neccesary. DALE

 

[deerhunter]

Thanks for the info, 90 grains of 3f seems like a good place to start. Do you still get good mushrooming with pure lead round ball? Friends of mine who hunt a lot are very skeptical about hunting with blackpowder, they tend to think that they haven't really got enough knock down power and that if I have to use black powder then I should at least use conicals or even sabots with a decent mushrooming rifle bullet. Got any decent arguments I can use?

 

[Rebel]

Try shooting a .490 rd ball over 90 grs of powder into something you can recover it from, and see just how much it expands. A lot of times they will be nearly flat. Yes, you can argue with your friends that yours and their ancestors kept food on the table with them for a long time before any conical was invented.

 

[roundball]

Do you still get good mushrooming with pure lead round ball?

Got any decent arguments I can use?

Absolutely they expand a lot...remember, the lead round ball settled this country and fed familes for a couple hundred years. That a lead ball is inefficient is a common mis-understanding many people have until they get first hand experience with them.

For example, in a lifetime of deer hunting with fine rifles, calibers, and scopes...and unless you make a good shoulder shot, it was not uncommon for deer that were double lung shot with a .30-06 to still bolt 75-100yds before falling.

By contrast, every deer I've shot with .45/.50/.54/.58cal round balls has dropped where it stood or fallen after a short 25-35yd sprint, so far always in sight of the stand.

Examples: a couple taken with .50cal round balls 30 minutes apart during the rut, 40-60yds, fell in plain sight.

Remember, due to the caliber size, a round ball is already quite large to begin with...then add some expansion and you have a potent projectile.
Even a little .45cal ball is good size to begin with, and I shot one through 3 gallon jugs of water, stopping inside the 4th jug, flattened out like a nickle...water erupted and hit the ground 20 feet away.

But I don't believe in little enemic target charges...if I'm going after big game, I use big charges...improves velocity, trajectory, and "the whompability factor" !

:redthumb:

 

what type of conical would work well with a 1 in 66 prb barrel? :thanks:

 

[Rebel]

The Buffalo Ball-ett or possibly a Lee REAL bullet

 

[Tahquamenon]

what type of conical would work well with a 1 in 66 prb barrel? :thanks:

Yep a ball-et or possibly a shorter length, light conical might hold some accuracy such as a T/C Maxi-Ball or Hunter or a REAL or other short conical.

The Ball-et is really a hot ticket in a slow twist rifled barrel. Very accurate and offers more energy down range.

:m2c: