projectiles

[tcsmokepole]

I was wondering if any of you fella's use conicals for hunting? I killed two deer with conicals in a 50 cal. rifle.Mostly I use roundballs in my 58 cal. renegade. No complaints with those.

 

[roundball]

Before moving on into patched balls, I used some TC .45/255grn maxi-hunters, and Hornady .45cal/285grn great plains bullets for a couple years...both are very accurate

 

[Stumpkiller]

Have on occasion during the regular gun season with my .50 New Englander (I'm working on a good roundball load - it prefers Maxi-Hunters, but 84 gr. FFg wiped between shots is finally producing a suitable PRB group at viable power). I'm currently futzing around with Lee R.E.A.L.s but will probably just used patched roundballs for everything this year.

I have never even loaded a conical in my .54 Renegade - and that gun is 22 years old.

Ask on the Modern Muzzleloading Hunting category. Those guys shoot LOTS od conicals.

 

[RussB]

I was wondering if any of you fella's use conicals for hunting? I killed two deer with conicals in a 50 cal. rifle.Mostly I use roundballs in my 58 cal. renegade. No complaints with those.

Conicals are okay. Depends on who you are reading at the time as to their effectivness. I have also taken a few deer with conicals in a fifty, and they do work quite well.
For hunting, I "think" I'm developing a preference for the conicals that I cast. In particular, there is a 380gr HB Lee Mould that I have become quite found of.
I have never shot a lot of the commercial conicals that are available but I would imagine some of them are fine.

Conicals are a lot like a patched round ball when it comes to fit. On the round ball you can adjust that "fit" by changing the patch. Of course you can't do that on a conical, and the "as cast" size is what most end up with. Sometimes a sizer is useful if the "as cast" is over size in diameter, but it's best to find the mould that throws the size you need. And that is a trial & error thing. Same as when buying commerical made conicals, if it ain't a good "just right" fit it won't shoot well. :m2c:

Russ

 

[cayugad]

I started out shooting only .54 caliber roundball and had no complaints with the way they knocked down game. Damage was not too bad and knock down was excellent.

I then started to a Buffalo Bullet 426 grain hollow point conical in my .54 caliber. A bunch of us were going after black bear and wanted something bigger then a roundball for the job. The first deer I shot with it, I ended up throwing away most of the front end of the deer due to bone splatter and blood jel.

I then switched to the maxi-ball and those worked good. The deer were not damaged as bad. Any bone that came in contact with was broken but for the most part the expansion was not all that bad.

I then started making REAL conicals in 300 grain for the .54 caliber. I thought I found the perfect hunting projectile. They flew great, expanded but didn't blew up, and knocked down everything they hit. I also started making a 380 grain conical for the .54 caliber and a 320 grain for the .50 caliber.

Since then I have been drifting back to roundball. Last year I took three with roundball. Now with the addition of a .58 & .62 caliber it will be a roundball for sure.

Conicals are fine for hunting but what I realized after all the years of shooting them is, the round ball does the same thing with only a lot less fuss....

Good luck

 

(Conicals are fine for hunting but what I realized after all the years of shooting them is, the round ball does the same thing with only a lot less fuss....)

WELL SAID, when hunting I use 300 grain conicals in my .45 COLT :crackup: :crackup: R.B. in EVERYTHING else cause thewy work :m2c:...If it aint broke.....