Muzzleloader Elk - Roundball or Conical?

[Spot Shooter]

Well fellas this outa get a dual over "penetration"

I've got a 54 Cal GPR with both barrels (slow and fast twist), so I can use conical or Roundball.

It looks like I may just be Elk hunting in Colorado during 2005 Black powder.

So which one, and why.

Spot

 

[sniper68]

:hmm:Legit question. I only shoot PRB'S so I would use the fast twist for rebarb, tomato stake, hood suport etc! :: If I were you I would consieder things like, is it going to be a guided hunt, will the rutt be on,are you wanting get the most out of your black powder hunt, or are you looking to maxiumize your chance of getting an elk with front loader?? Of course the choice is yours. In any case make sure you have worked up a good hunting load and you are confident with your gun. Your time, your money. Just remember, every day afield is a hunt of a lifetime. :imo: Your rifle is no better than you are, thats why you are shooting traditional black powder, I hope! :thumbsup:

 

[Stumpkiller]

It really is your choice. The conical will extend your effective range, especially if YOU lack confidence in the round ball.

The round ball adds to the challenge by requiring you to get within 80 or 90, perhaps 100 yards maximum.

Primative weapons are SUPPOSED to be a challenge.

 

It really is your choice. The conical will extend your effective range, especially if YOU lack confidence in the round ball.

The conical will definitly extend yore range, but you will also have to contend with the heavy conical's "inherit trajectory", wher as a roundball shoots rather "flat" out to 100 yards.

Either .54 conical or roundball will kill an elk,.... if yore talk'n .54 "sabot" with light jacketed bullet,.... I'd much rather use a pure lead roundball for more dependable expansion at various ranges!!

YMHS
rollingb

 

[jgray]

It all comes down to which you are more comfortable using. If you are only going to get one shot at the trophy of a lifetime, in which barrel do you have more confidence? It's your gun, your hunt, and your decision. My only concern would be is a .54 cal. roundball adequate to the task, I think it would be if the range were reasonable and the shot properly placed.
Do whatever you think would make your hunt more enjoyable, more memorable, and more worthwile. Good Luck on the hunt.

 

[Barney]

I'll bet there's been quite a few taken with a rb over the decades but my preferance would be a buffalo bullet for more down range whomp.

Barney

 

[waksupi]

RB's seem to kill the elk around here just fine. The key is location of the shot.

 

[Darkhorse]

How do you know you are going to Colorado for a ML Elk hunt? All ML Elk tags are by drawing only unless you have a source for a landowner tag. I planned all last year for a New Mexico elk hunt with a flintlock but then didn't get drawn. So nothing can be set in stone when going through the draw.
My choice for Elk is the round ball. There have been too many reports and observations from outfitters and guides I know and from hunters, that indicate a conical bullet has a tendency to wander off course after impact. Whereas the roundball just keeps going in a straight line.
True, you give up a little range and ballistic efficiency with the roundball, but Elk in the rut should be a close range affair.
My advice on working up an Elk load is this; Find the fastest load that your rifle shoots the roundball with acceptable hunting accuracy and then hunt with that load. You are not loading for match accuracy here but for terminal performance. And if that big bull is at the 100 yard mark you are going to need all the remaining velocity you can get to effect maximum penetration.
Notice I didn't say "Heaviest load", because a heavy load might give a lot of recoil but not be your fastest. The only way to seperate myth from reality is with a chronograph and a can of 2FG and a can of 3FG and some time on the shooting bench.

 

Couple things here
And I have said this before elk are large game with a lot of power especially bulls in the rut
Now that

 

[Slamfire]

If you want to use a roundball you'll need a .62 caliber rifle.

 

most states say 50 cal or better for elk with a RB a 54 will do the job fine a 62 will of course do it better but dead is dead
I have a 62 smoothy and a 54 rifle . i killed a cow earler this years with the 62 and i have killed many , many more with the 54 . if I had to chose i would go with the 54

 

Dead elk cain't tell tha difference 'tween a .530 or .610 roundball. :m2c: :: :what:

YMHS
rollingb

 

[Ron LaClair]

If the Elk are bugling your chances for a close shot are better by calling. If it were me I'd go with the RB with as much powder behind it as the gun will shoot accurately.

The heaviest load I've used in my .54 was 120gr FF.

 

[waksupi]

I do know a woman who uses a .45, and 65 gr. 3f. She seems to kill elk ok, and regularly.

 

[sneakon]

Of the guys I hunt with, almost everybody uses 430 gr, .54 cal maxi-balls, although one fellow does shoot RB and kills elk as commonly as the rest of us. I think the convenience of maxi-balls is what influences us to use them hunting. We all cover allot of territory each day, so having a load that will confidently stay put in the gun is desirable. Also, speed loads with maxi-balls are easy. Having said all that, I will hunt with RB next year. Muzzleloader season in Colorado is usually in the early part of the rut. Cows are very wary. Herd bulls protective. Satelite bulls easy to cow call in. IMO.

 

[Rat]

Yes Rolling-B, but, the bigger the hole, the faster the ship sinks. !!!!!!!!

eace:

I'm not sure I understand what "a load that stays put" means. A tightly patched roundball isn't going anywhere...move off the powder charge...if that's what is meant? In fact a loosely patched ball is not gonna roll down the barrel or move.

::

I'm suprised Daryl is AWOL on this, seems he has some first hand experience, or has witnessed maxi-balls going off course after they hit the animal...which could make sense since even the "fast" twists in a front-stuffer barrel are not all that fast, when it comes to shooting slugs. Maxi Balls are not that well stabilized.

I'd go with the round ball, (definately NOT a square ball) just for the bragging rights if nothing else, as I can't imagine a .54" ball failing if the shot is good. And as mentioned don't be afraid to load it up a bit...for elk I'd say 100 grains minimum. (yes I know they have been dropped with less) Remember that hunting accuracy is not the same as target accuracy, and if loading up costs an extra inch or less in group size, that's not a bad trade-off. Of course if your group is already 6" at 100 and it opens up to 10"...that's a whole other story!!!

For sure keep shots within 100 yards, that's a far piece and it's really not a trick to get that close or closer unless you are a road-hunter, slob hunter or a fast-mover, which of course we know you are not. Judging from the way the fast movers walk right by me without ever seeing me, I suspect that when they do get close they just walk right by the game anyhow.

On speed loads, a two-ball loading block worn around the neck, and paper powder cartridges will load a round ball pretty darn fast.

On penetration...well it's six of one and half a dozen of the other...the ball won't penetrate as far as a slug, no argument there, but it will expand or flatten out, and produce more "whompability". A slug might pass through, giving a better blood trail. A ball might tend to drop the animal quicker, more internal damage...but I've never understood the obsession with dropping the animal on the spot. A slug might be better on raking or quartering shots...IF you can count on it being stabilized well enough not to rivet and go off course. I think the mights just might kind of cancel each other out.

Be a man, not a kid, use a ball, grand-dad did.

Rat

 

We all cover allot of territory each day, so having a load that will confidently stay put in the gun is desirable.

I assume you are refer'n to the patched roundball loads, rather then maxi-balls??

YMHS
rollingb

 

Yes Rolling-B, but, the bigger the hole, the faster the ship sinks. !!!!!!!!

eace:

Agreed!!..... but, a .62 roundball should not be considered as a minimum fer reliably kill'n elk. eace:

YMHS
rollingb

 

[strongarm]

The vitals on an elk, isn't much larger than a whitetail. If you can get close enough a round ball is just fine. The conical would have a lot of insurance.

 

[Rat]

Right Rolling, I would not say the .62 is a minimum...!! I'd probably draw the line at .50", but then there's the lady with the .45"!!!

eace:

By the way, I think that was one of Elmer Keith's lines..."the bigger the hole, the faster the ship sinks". Or maybe not.

Rat