Mini Ball at 430 yds

[Pete Gaimari]

We had the long range thread on the PRB. Here's a pretty cool video on the mini ball.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnz47TgM3JA&feature=related

 

[airmansteve]

Very cool indeed! Thanks for the link, Capper!

 

[Idaho Ron]

Way cool! Ron

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Well, 3 out of 117 thought it was cool anyway.

 

[vern faulkner]

:shocked2: I couldn't even see the target at 430 yards yet alone hit it.

Vern

 

[Pete Gaimari]

No kidding.

 

[vern faulkner]

Nope. I doubt that I could hit the "TITANIC" at that range.

Vern

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Ah forums. They don't always show what you mean.

I was agreeing with you.

 

[Celt5494]

That's some pretty good shooting there. I wonder what size gong he was shooting at? I could be wrong but it almost looked like the target was elevated from the shooting platform. Looks like there was a fairly substantial cross wind as well during those shots. I love to hear people comment about how inacurate and under powered the black powder firearms were.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Not sure it was elevated that much. I think what we're seeing is hold over.

 

[Bill Hall]

I'm thinking he put the target up on the side of the canyon, so the missed shots would show better in the dirt. It looks to me like he's just aiming up, at the target. Bill

 

[mazo kid]

It's interesting to see how much muzzle elevation was needed to shoot 420 yards!

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Yes, the target must have been far above the bench. He would need some hold-over to get there but not 30 degrees of hold-over. He was still trying to get the hold-over right up to the last shot, kinda by guess and by gosh.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Ok, all you slide rule gurus.

How much holdover would you need to hit a target at 430 yds with this load? 505gr mini ball with 90gr of 2F BP.

 

[Don]

I want to know how much he paid the doctor to fix his shoulder. A mini ball on top of 90 grains of powder must have hurt even with that heavy rifle.

Don

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Ok, all you slide rule gurus.

How much holdover would you need to hit a target at 430 yds with this load? 505gr mini ball with 90gr of 2F BP.

Well that would depend on how much range correction was provided by the sights he was using. I don't know what ranges the folding leaves of the Zouave are supposed to zero at but the rear sight graduations would be defeated by the "sniper sight" he had attached up front.
My old Lyman book shows that load as producing 1052 fps. Their range tables only go to 300 yards but at that range the minie would already have dropped 12 feet from a 50 yard zero.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

So, another 130 yds would be quite a drop.

Makes his shot more impressive.

Except he was walking it in. Doing it on the first shot would be a chore.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Well it looked to me like he never did actually hit the target even walking it in.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Yeah, he did. Watch again and you can hear it gong.

 

[Bill Hall]

Ya, they show the gong, then the DING sound. The bullet splatters on the metal and hits one or two places in the dirt, to the left. Bill