It finally happened....

[New bp shooter]

Today I finally took my 1st deer with a side lock using a PRB .495 pushed by 90 grains of triple 7 2f ball entered top of shoulder and was stuck underneath the hide on opposite side... The shot was 40 yards away... The rifle is a traditions deer Hunter my kids got me for Father's day a few years ago as a kit ... I have hunted with it since then and today I finally took this buck

 

[William Lincoln]

Congratulations. While budget-priced , do not underestimate the traditions
barrels from the bergara factory. They get the job done.

 

[Skychief]

Congratulations! Hoping its just the first of many....

 

[Crockford]

Congratulations on the hunt! And nice Father's day gift, the gift that keeps on giving.

 

[azmntman]

GOOD EATS! Nice kids, ya raised em right!

 

[zerosprk]

SWEET, congratulations!

 

[Britsmoothy]

Awesome.
That's a humdinger of a load too

 

[3Setters]

Congrats on a fine deer.

 

[ILoveMuzzleloading]

Well earned! Nice work.

 

[toot]

a rely nice deer, congratulations to you!!

 

[Daveboone]

Thats great!

 

[Loja man]

So glad you got your first one with PRB!! Great that it was a buck to! Did the ball hit much of bone other than ribs in its jurny through the deer?

 

[McClura]

Outstanding! That is a nice deer. It's great you finally got to take meat with the smoke pole. Hope you take many more with it.
My neighbor shoots a Traditions and using the round ball I cast for him and 777 powder he has taken several deer with it and a
javelina in TX with ti. Good shooting.
Mike

 

[New bp shooter]

So glad you got your first one with PRB!! Great that it was a buck to! Did the ball hit much of bone other than ribs in its jurny through the deer?

It hit the top off the shoulder blade and barely caught the bottom of the spine I believe went in between two ribs on the other side and was stuck right inside of the hide .... I would have thought it would have passed through at that distanced.... Not sure why It didn't... Need to figure out how to get better penetration

 

[windini]

Effective shot, that's what counts. Congratulations on your successful ML hunt!

 

[Loja man]

It hit the top off the shoulder blade and barely caught the bottom of the spine I believe went in between two ribs on the other side and was stuck right inside of the hide .... I would have thought it would have passed through at that distanced.... Not sure why It didn't... Need to figure out how to get better penetration

Just curious. I shot a buck this week at about 40y with .490 PRB with 60g of Tripple 7 3F. Clipped its lower jaw, threw one side of ribs, lung, other side of ribs and stuck to the hide on the other side. It was broadside to me locking back the way it had come. So it’s neck and head were covering some of the vitals. Since you were using 90g of powder I was just curious if it hit any major bones.

 

[Flintlock]

It hit the top off the shoulder blade and barely caught the bottom of the spine I believe went in between two ribs on the other side and was stuck right inside of the hide .... I would have thought it would have passed through at that distanced.... Not sure why It didn't... Need to figure out how to get better penetration

If you can find it, real black powder might just give you more velocity and penetration with the same charge. And congrats on the nice buck.

 

[Okie Hog]

Congrats on the buck taken with a patched round ball.

 

[johnraleksa]

It hit the top off the shoulder blade and barely caught the bottom of the spine I believe went in between two ribs on the other side and was stuck right inside of the hide .... I would have thought it would have passed through at that distanced.... Not sure why It didn't... Need to figure out how to get better penetration

I have a Thomson 50 cal. I load it with 50 grains of very old Hodgdon pyrodex RS or triple 7. i have used 490 RB ,
350grain max-hunter with this load. it would shoot through a 3 to 4 in. phone book(yes I still have some) and the 1/4 in. plywood that was holding it at 50 yards. killed more then 5 with ball passing all way through the deer. always try less then go up

 

[Spikebuck]

If you can find it, real black powder might just give you more velocity and penetration with the same charge. And congrats on the nice buck.

New BP Shooter. First, congrats on a fine deer and a quick, clean kill. You don't need to do ANYTHING with your load. It killed your deer perfectly well. Your penetration may be a pass-through on the next one based on what that ball hits or doesn't hit, so don't give it a second thought.

I used Triple 7 extensively in my caplocks and it was one of the best BP substitutes I've ever used. It's powerful powder and by my chrono test, several hundred FPS faster that real black powder at the same load of 90 grs by volume in my .54's. When I switched to mostly shooting flinters, I worked up loads with real black in my caplocks just so that I didn't have to have different types of powder sitting around, but if I was only shooting cappers, I would probably still be shooting Triple 7. With 90 grs of T7 and a .530 PRB, I have shot completely through big midwestern deer as far out as 115 yards, and that included breaking ribs on both sides. While a .495 is a tad less weight, your load is PLENTY. No need to mess with something that works.