Thorman: My first question is what are you going to hunt? If you are only hunting whitetail deer, then a round ball will do all that can be done with that rifle. Start with about 60 grains of FFg powder, and work your way up in 5 grain increments. Many people seem to find 80 grains works great in their TCs. A 54.cal. 32 " barrel will only burn about 85 grains in it, and more than that, its going on the ground, using a PRB. Now if you increase the weight by using a conical, or use a faster burning powder like FFFg powder, you can probably burn more, but a chronograph will tell you that you have reached the point of declining benefits when you stuff the gun with more powder, and that is usually around 80-90 grains. Again, it can depend on the length of the barrel you use. Declining benefit means, simply, that for each increment of additional powder( say 10 grains) you get proportionally less velocity, than from the last increment of that same powder. So you compare the increase in velocity from 60-70 grains, from 70 to 80 grains, and so on. to the prior increase in velocity. When the increment begins to drop precipitously, you are beyond the gun's ability to burn more powder efficiently. That means more residue, and unburned powder falling out the muzzle to the ground. It also means that about all that you get from adding more powder is MORE RECOIL, since you have to take into account the weight of the powder charge along with the weight of the projectile, and any wads in front of the powder in determining recoil forces.
A 230 grain round ball will expand to about the size of a quarter in a deer on a broadside hit, and usually exits if the shot is taken at less than 125 yds. You don't need a lot of powder in the barrel to get that result. Certainly not 100 grains, or more! Once you get that huge ball moving, it does not slow dowm easily, and certainly not in the soft tissue and bones of a whitetail.
Now, if you are going to hunt Elk, Bear, Caribou, Moose, or similar big boned animals, then one of the short conicals, like the REAL slug, is going to deliver more punch. If you cast your own balls, you can always cast a round ball from an alloy of lead and tin, say 1:20 mix, and that will toughen the ball up to allow it to penetrate deeply on heavy boned animals. Balls with Tin in them will be slightly lighter, so you should expect them to hit at a different POI, from where a pure lead round ball will hit. So, sight your gun in for these harder balls. Wheel weight, if you can find them, are about 30:70, and will produce very hard balls. But they also will stay together on impact, except where a pure lead ball will flow as it expands, the harder balls will develope cracks, and may loose weight as they travel through bone and tissue. You learn those things by examining recovered balls from carcasses, and comparing them. I don't know too many members here who feel undergunned in hunting Elk with a Round Ball, in a .54 cal. rifle.
