Before springing for a new conical mold, shooters should ask themselves “ how many times has a ball failed to kill the animal being shot at, assuming good shot placement ?”.
total agree..
A ball indeed works, but there are situations where there’s no way I’d depend on a ball. If it’s wounded and dangerous I’ll take a wide meplat bullet that will go nose to tail through a hog or black bear every single time. And honestly I’d take my 195 grn WFN over a ball anyway. Being just 0.460” long it doesn’t take up any powder capacity yet has a very wide meplat that’ll likely do more than a ball would.Before springing for a new conical mold, shooters should ask themselves “ how many times has a ball failed to kill the animal being shot at, assuming good shot placement ?”.
Like you, if my .36 balls are inadequate I would simply go with one of my .44’s.
I always liked the higher velocity to be had with balls vs. conicals.
I hear you. I’m fairly frugal and all of my other molds are Lees. But I wanted a great hunting bullet, especially since these guns are rather limited. And I intend on buying one more custom Accurate mold which will allow me to maximize my load utilizing the best powder charge and giving me the extra mass with an ideal nose. And at that I’m looking at roughly standard .45 ACP performance of 850 fps and 370 ft/lbs. Your load in my 5.5” NMA using 25 grns and a 200 grn bullet shows .44 Spl performance of 811 fps with 292 ft/lbs, and needing to expand initially to create a similar permanent wound track. For me this is entry level humane/ethical performance. I’d trust it but I’d rather have a wide meplat, and more powder. I assume you’re using a full sized model which greatly enhances the performance to 890 FPS and 351 ft/lbs, which is standard .45 ACP performance.most of us don't have access to custom molds without breaking the bank. I am very happy with my 200g lee. Wish it had a flat nose but its almost the same profile as RB. not too pointy. Way back when I competed with modern pistols I used 200g semi wadcutter in my .45acp and really liked the combination of higher velocity and weight. That was also my carry round back then. 200g at over 1k fps
Elmer Keith wrote that the civil war vets he knew as a kid always insisted the balls killed better than the bullets in any percussion revolver but of course they were referring to the pointed pills of the era not our flat point, wad cutter designs.
Yeah, I've also just enjoyed setting here looking at, handling and working the actions when not on the range. I'm currently sitting here surrounded by three cap guns (revolvers) and two rifles with in reach that stay here all the time. My wife continually quipping " will you stop making that clicking noise"!. I can't remember not loving anything that shoots !
Have you ever tried some of the heeled ACP designs in your 60s or 58's? I've only tried them a bit in the Walker and was quite impressed with them so far. I had to size the heel just enough to start in the chamber mouth and get them through the loading window in the lower frame. They go 210 grain and are about 12-13 BHN .
I've never killed any game with the bullet but think it would do a good job and shoot really flat as hand gun pills go.
