Mini / maxi balls

[Padre]

Can anyone tell this greenhorn whether anything other than a roundball is period correct for the time of the Kentucky longrifle? I prefer to shoot roundballs only but the regulations here for hunting sambar deer require a projectile weight of at least 230 grains, and I can't justify buying another rifle at the moment. Thanks in advance for any help!

Padre

 

[tg]

That is a tough one, the round ball was the mainstay untill after 1840-50 then it was still standard fare for civilian guns. there were some early bullest like the sugar loaf and lozenge and a few other solid lead bullets but the only available bullets now offered that are in any way PC are probably the minnie ball and whitworth, I think these are of the late ML period I have not seen anything to suggest that these bullest were used in longrifles or mountain rifles, considering how low the PC/traditional bar has been set most use whatever they like in the way of a modern design conical and call it good.

 

[SCATTERSHOT]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but if your rifle has a roundball twist, it may not stabilize an elongated bullet anyway. Try a few that are available to you, and check it out. Good luck!

 

[PreglerD]

Hello, having the same problem with law in GE, it is not possible to use PRB's because they don't bring the per law ruled energy at 100 meters. So I use maxiballs in my RB-twist GPR, kal. 45. Works good and the Maxiballs have weights from 220 to 240 grs.Minies don't work becuase they are to long and to heavy for the slow RB twist.There are various Maxiballs especially for hunting.

 

[faw3]

Afraid your out of luck on PC other than round ball's, but you can shoot a bunch of different short minie or maxie bullets out of the 1X66 even 1X70 twist and get good results, I was to lazy to use RB's since 1971 till a few years ago and now I dont even own anything but RBs. Had best luck with CVAs DEERSLAYER's ? , Buffalo's Ball-ets, and REAL' also some T/C's Maxie Hunter and Hornady's Plains I belive it was worked real good in most 1X66. Try useing less powder to start with. Fred :hatsoff:

 

[J.D.]

What caliber and what twist are we talking about?

Mini, maxi, and REAL bullet moulds are available in many calibers and bullet weights.

Check with Lee Precision for their line of ML bullet moulds.

If your rifle has a slow twist of 1 turn in 66 inches, a short mini or REAL bullet might work. If the rifle has a faster twist of 1 turn in 48 inches, you should have a wider range of bullet choice.

I don't know what import laws you have to deal with regarding ML projectiles, but you can order several different bullets styles and weights, to test for power and accuracy, from companies in the U.S.

Some sellers on e-bay offer quite a few different bullet styles too.

IS simply buying a second barrel for your rifle an option?

A .530 Round ball, for use in a .54 cal rifle weighs right at 230 gr.
J.D.

 

[rice1817]

Hey Mate!

Check out this outfit...They have designed a conical projectile that is said to work fine in roundball twist rifles. They ain't cheap, and I have not used them. God knows what shipping would be to the Outback, but it may be worth a shot for you.
[url] http://www.prbullet.com/ulp.htm[/url]

 

[Padre]

Thanks everybody for the replies! And sorry I haven't answered sooner; I've been away from the computer for a while!
My rifle is a Pedersoli Kentucky .50 cal with a 1:48 twist, so maybe I have a good choice in projectiles for hunting. I just wondered what was actually used back then, and I do like shooting the PRB. I can get Lee molds here without any problem, though I did order one from TOTW for my CVA Squirrel rifle in .32 cal.
Any way, thanks again, and Happy New Year to you all!!

 

[Blizzard of '93]

They allow you to use 2 PRB's loaded over powder there in Ozz? Old timers here in the Eastern U.S. used that load fer bear, hence 'loaded fer bar'. I've shot 'em in my .50, quite a wallop, but never needed to use 'em on deer. Not much for accuracy past 50 yards tho.