PRB or Modern Projectiles

[Chase.50.Cal]

Hi, I am trying to get ready for PA Flintlock season. I am looking at a 50 Cal. Traditions Kentucky Flintlock, or a Lyman Great Plains. I was wondering if anyone had any rifle suggestions for first time flintlock deer hunters. Also, I was wondering if a 50 cal 1-66" to 1-72" Twist and only shoot PRB is practical for deer hunting, or should I get a 1-28" Twist and ONLY shoot Sabots and Conicals.

Thanks,
Chase

 

[Cattman]

both will get the job done. most likely your shots wont be at long long ranges. ive taken antelope with 50 cal round ball at 150 yards. my son took a nice buck at 213 yards with a sabot and 300 grain bullet. the 1/72 twist needs more powder to shoot good. the 1/66 for 50 cal roundball is better. however the best twist for a 50 cal roundball is 1/60 twist.

 

[tenngun]

Killed my first deer with round ball in ‘77, killed at least one deer most years since, never had used nought but a round ball. Most taken this century have been smoothbore.
Conicals have a ballistic advantage that doesn’t really kick in till past a hundred yard, and generally folks with ml shoot less then that. Should you want to go longer a larger caliber guns like a .58 will do the job then in round ball.
Lots of big game taken every year with conical, some guns shoot better with conical.
However many of us don’t like the extra lead and recoil.
I had a .54 Leman style that beat me to death with ball. I sure would have hated conical.
Deer really die pretty easily if you put a hole through their chest. A conical with 60 % more energy after it leaves the deer compared to the ball after it leaves the deer won’t make Bambi any deader.

 

[rafterob]

I believe you will find the majority of us will recommend round ball. Its the cheapest and easiest to shoot and is more than capable of taking deer. The Lyman Great plains would be a better choice. Lots of practice is recommended before hunting with it. Flintlocks have many idiosyncrasies that are best worked out before you have that prize buck in your sights.

 

[Tom Compton]

PRBs

 

[TerryK]

PRB are pretty clean. Sabots, conicals usually leave lead or plastic in the barrel. PRB is simpler maintenece.

 

[EC121]

Energy is wasted after the ball goes all the way through. Either one will punch a .50cal. hole and keep going. One just kicks harder doing it. More important is to see if the Traditions lock will work properly and to get used to operating it. I don't shoot over 100yds. so conicals are a waste for me.

 

[Phil Coffins]

Often the new muzzle loader shooter can’t believe that a primitive gun will perform well as it is. The quest to cross breed modern technology that they are accustomed to soon has them trying to reinvent the sport that they haven’t learned. Only the person that will listen will learn.

 

[337]

I would go with the Lyman 1:60 with PRB.

 

[Jaeger]

That funny French word that starts with an "s" and ends with a "t" keeps popping up on this forum, even though mention of it or discussion about it is forbidden. It's kind of like an annoying fly that keeps buzzing around your head and won't leave you alone. Since we keep seeing it, I hope forum members are at least reading and pronouncing it the correct French way: It's pronounced "Sah...Bow".

 

[Phil Coffins]

I’m not French!

 

[Kansas Jake]

Another vote for PRB.

 

[longcruise]

Think it's more saaabo.

 

[Eterry]

IMHO, if your gonna use iron sights you probably wont shoot past 100 yards, heck I think the average shot for deer in the US is under 50 yards, IIRC. That being said, A 50 cal PRB will work fine...IF You can accurately place the shot in the vitals. If you can't, no bullet will save you.

I was a 100% prb guy, until I bought a 58 cal rifled musket. They're designed with shallow grooves to use a minie or conical. So I use both. The others are correct...conicals will recoil more; at the bench you'll notice, I never feel recoil in the field.

There definitely is a learning curve going from centerfire guns to a flintlock, You will have to spend time at the range and at home getting used to it. Another thing, in a flintlock you must use real black powder, substitutes wont cut it. Please don't confuse Black Powder with modern Smokeless Powder, they truly don't mix.

 

[longcruise]

That funny French word that starts with an "s" and ends with a "t" keeps popping up on this forum, even though mention of it or discussion about it is forbidden. It's kind of like an annoying fly that keeps buzzing around your head and won't leave you alone. Since we keep seeing it, I hope forum members are at least reading and pronouncing it the correct French way: It's pronounced "Sah...Bow".

On the plus side of that, it's a clear indication that some shooters who are new to the sport are choosing trad and some new trad shooters are coming from the "modern" side. We are here to help.

 

[Zonie]

Out to 120 yards, there isn't anything a bullet can do that a patched roundball can't do. Patched roundballs are great for taking deer.
The important thing with muzzleloading hunting is to make a good shot.

Learning the best powder loads to get the best accuracy out of the gun can only be done by shooting it a lot. By a lot, I mean running at least 50 shots thru the gun to find a good powder load and to get it sighted in. Most shooters will say you need to shoot at least 100 rounds just to get the barrel broken in.
That's where costs become important.

A box of lead roundballs can cost about 10 to 15 cents per ball depending on the caliber. A lead bullet like a Maxi-ball or Minie' can cost about .50 cents each and many of the modern bullets we don't talk about on the forum cost somewhere between $0.85 and $1.50 each.

At 50 shots, the lead roundballs will cost between $5 and $7.50. With the high priced bullets that could cost $75, and that's just for the bullets.

Powder can cost around $20 to $30 per pound. Using $25 as an average a pound of powder will give about 85 shots with a 80 grain powder load. That adds another 30 cents per shot. Add in another 7 cents for a percussion cap and we end up with a cost for 50 shots of around $$24.75 for patched roundballs or $77.38 for bullets. If the shooter uses the recommended 100 shots, the price for ammo is double that amount.

 

[nkbj]

Couple of things...

Round ball will be out of the barrel sooner and less prone to induced inaccuracy due to a lack of follow through or a difficult position when you have to take the shot.

The .49 caliber round ball fairly hot loaded in that 66" twist almost three foot long barrel is going to flatten the trajectory about as good as is going to be had with any rifle. And that ball can be moving so fast that the rate of displacement when it hits deer will be humongous (percentage wise much greater than what you get with a heavy long slug) making it very effective as a hunting bullet. That's what makes people surprised at the killing power of round ball and as it was said long ago, out of all proportion to it's weight.

My advice would be to develop a hunting load with FFFg in barrel and in the pan. Go with something near to maximum charge for the rifle with round ball, and then tinker with patch material, with lube, with over powder card or paper layer, until that heavy charge of powder shoots accurately enough for the maximum distance you expect to be faced with.

So OK, three things...
And, look up discussions on smoothing the muzzle on your barrel. You're short on tinker time so do that first.

 

[Jaeger]

I’m not French!

And yet....you pronounce Chevrolet the French way....I hope.

 

[tenngun]

Shoe me, shoe a horse but not something in your gun.
We would chuckle in our heads if we heard chev-er-let, but say Pair-ess, or France, or Spain and worse Germany

 

[Art Caputo]

I like a PRB...