Pure Lead?

[nkbj]

Some people shoot wheel weights 'cause it's what they have and they figger out how to make it work.
And then there's some what shoots hard ball in a gun 'cause it is what works in that gun.

:hatsoff:

 

[smoothshooter]

There's no way I'm buying the story of an 80 grain powder charge behind a ball OF ANY DIAMETER bouncing off a deer at 40 yards and only leaving a bruise UNLESS the deer was length-wise to the shooter WHEN THE BALL STRUCK, not when the hammer fell. ( they are not the same thing ).
If the deer was lengthwise to the shooter when the ball struck, the ball could have passed close alongside the deer's body, possibly glancing off a bulge of skin and muscle as it zipped by.

Sometimes deer can change their orientation to the shooter unbelievably fast when startled. This one may have been broadside when the shooter pulled the trigger, then whirled, or jumped about the time the shooter yanked the trigger.
Maybe the shooter shut his eyes and flinched while firing, and the deer's movement was not seen.

 

[smoothshooter]

How much of a powder charge were you using?
Did you see where the ball hit the tree/target?

 

[necchi]

There's no way I'm buying the story,,, a ball OF ANY DIAMETER bouncing off a deer at 40 yards and only leaving a bruise

It don't matter, it was a story from a friend, of a friend of a friend, that got transposed to "I saw it myself" when my friend told me about a friend of his that,,,,,,,

 

[coloradoclyde]

There's no way I'm buying the story of an 80 grain powder charge behind a ball OF ANY DIAMETER bouncing off a deer at 40 yards and only leaving a bruise UNLESS the deer was length-wise to the shooter WHEN THE BALL STRUCK,

You make an excellent point! :thumbsup: .....I once shot a deer with a bow and swore it was broadside until I recovered it.....actually it was facing me....
When a deer is facing you and they look over their shoulder to see what's behind them, they look like they are standing broadside...
I also did the same thing on a coyote.

The deer I killed with a longitudinal shot entering the brisket, passing through a lung and lodging in the rear quarter.

The coyote just got a flesh wound on the right shoulder.

 

[Rifleman1776]

How much of a powder charge were you using?
Did you see where the ball hit the tree/target?

Don't recall the charge, I usually used charges in the 50-70 gr. range in the 'Bess.
Yes, I saw where it hit. a few more would have taken the tree down. :shocked2:
My theory (guess) is the big slow .715" punkin' ball had more bounce than a higher velocity small ball would have had. Pure lead, BTW.

 

[jrmflintlock]

Thanks Guys!!! That was more like what I was looking for!!

A lot of Rational I had never thought about.

Shrinkage for one. Great point!

I had thought about consistency of weight. I usually melt my wheel weights in batches and then mix it in batches with the "pure" lead I have. That way while each batch may be different, there is consistency within the batch. Consistency enough for me.

A lot of us are learning and I like to hear why we do what we do not just do it this way.

I guess my statement that Wheel weight were easy to come by was based on the fact that I have two five gallon buckets worth of the good old fashioned kind wheel weights. And they were easy to come by when I got them.

Thanks again Guys for all the great Info!!

Keep yer powder dry!!

 

[jrmflintlock]

And as Far as the bruised deer, Yes a lot could have happened. I was not there but only for the recovery and Skinning So I did see the bruise and My buddy has never been one to lie but you all made very valid points that I will bring up with him the next time I talk to him. the deer may have well moved as he pulled the trigger. Them Whitetails are quick!

Thanks again for all the great responses!!

I hope many others besides me learned something!!

:hatsoff: :hatsoff: to all of you !!

Shoot Straight!!

 

[Gene L]

Me and a friend were shooting at a dead tree with a .38 Special, 2" barrel, round nose 148 gr. bullet. The bullet hit a knot (the aiming point) and came back and hit my buddy in the leg. Stung and left a welt, but didn't penetrate.

Pure lead for me because it is soft enough to grip the rifling through the patch. I have wheel weights that I use for cartridge rifles which start off under-bore to begin with. I'd hate to try to stuff a wheel-weight round ball down the muzzle of a ML.

 

[blackpowder shooter]

I never noticed a difference of point of impact - wheel weights vs. pure lead. I would question the knock down power of wheel weights on deer. The major difference between the two is removing a wheel weight made round ball after dry balling. The screw tip just does not want to bite into the harder lead.

 

[Patocazador]

For decades my source for lead was dental xray film backings. They were free and a bit harder than pure lead. I hunted with maxiballs cast from them and they were super killers as well as being very accurate. I never recovered one from a deer although I shot about 20 with them.

Wheel weights are very hard and have drawbacks as stated above. Now I cast with pure lead with a couple of used recovered hard-cast .44 bullets thrown in the mix. It's a little softer than the xray backings but it works fine.