Does anyone have any experience with these while hunting, good penetration, knowckdown power etc? I was testing some out yesterday preparing for the season and was getting good groups at 50 yards over 90g of FF goex, however i practically had to use a hammer to get them started down the bore, after about 6 inches they went down no problem. Also, any suggestions on what lube to use, i used bore butter but had a hard time getting it to stick in the ridges.
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R.E.A.L. bullets for hunting
- Thread starter elbanma1
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Knock down is a flawed concept. If you don't hit the spine or jamb the shoulder blade into the spine you could hit them with a 20mm cannon and not knock them off their feet. That's Hollywood stuff.
Only deer I ever "knocked down" with a muzzleloader fell to a front-on shot with a .50 round ball. Reared right over backwards and the hind legs collapsed it it's tracks. Zero distance from shot to gut-pile. :thumbsup: I think I have two that fell to R.E.A.L.s out of a .50 and both went 40 yards or so. In the past I have used conicals in my percussion rifles during regular season. I think the T/C Maxi-Hunters perform better, though I have not recovered any of either to examine. From the wound channel I'd say the R.E.A.L.s are like stabbing the deer with a length of re-bar. Just a deep hole right on through. Sufficient. I think they had a lot more energy left that went into the trees behind them. Not much good putting it there.
I used a lube made of of equal volumes of beeswax, mutton tallow and Crisco on my R.E.A.L.s. Old Zip (from Dixie) works well, also. The Maxi-Hunters came pre-lubed with N/L 1000. I rubbed Moose Snot on R.E.A.L.s and they shot well, but did not hunt with them. I'm a round ball "convert" for hunting.
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I've shot a bushel basket of REALs through an assortment of 54 cal rifles at paper, plus killed a few deer with them. I'm surprised you are having to put so much effort into seating them. With all my 54 rifles and both REALs (300 and 380 grain) seating requies a sharp smack on the short starter, but after than they go down the pipe about as easily as anything else.
For accuracy I've had the best luck putting a felt wad lubed with NL 1000 between them and the charge.
They're fun to shoot and a whole lot more accurate (especially the 380) at long range (200-400 yards) than an RB, but that's purely a paper exercize. I'm not shooting them or RB's further than 100 yards at game, and 75 yards is more like my true field limit. At those ranges the difference in groups between REAL and PRB aren't enough to think about.
On deer I've actually had quicker kills and larger wound channels with PRB than with REALs or any other conical. The PRB is a lot more prone to expansion, and if you want to call a quicker kill knockdown power, I'll agree with you.
The REALs and other conicals might be the order of the day for Texas heart shots on deer, but I don't take those. I've only recovered two PRBs from game (a moose and an elk), and no conicals. Entrance and exit from conicals were basically the same. Exit holes from PRB definitely show expansion.
I don't see any reason not to use REALs, but for broadside shots at deer, I'd be extra careful about what was behind them. That conical is going out the far side with enough geewhizz to do lots of damage to anything else in the way.
For accuracy I've had the best luck putting a felt wad lubed with NL 1000 between them and the charge.
They're fun to shoot and a whole lot more accurate (especially the 380) at long range (200-400 yards) than an RB, but that's purely a paper exercize. I'm not shooting them or RB's further than 100 yards at game, and 75 yards is more like my true field limit. At those ranges the difference in groups between REAL and PRB aren't enough to think about.
On deer I've actually had quicker kills and larger wound channels with PRB than with REALs or any other conical. The PRB is a lot more prone to expansion, and if you want to call a quicker kill knockdown power, I'll agree with you.
The REALs and other conicals might be the order of the day for Texas heart shots on deer, but I don't take those. I've only recovered two PRBs from game (a moose and an elk), and no conicals. Entrance and exit from conicals were basically the same. Exit holes from PRB definitely show expansion.
I don't see any reason not to use REALs, but for broadside shots at deer, I'd be extra careful about what was behind them. That conical is going out the far side with enough geewhizz to do lots of damage to anything else in the way.
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Mr. cville hunter,
We have used the REALs quite extensively. The only ones we found hard to start were those not made from pure lead (such as wheel weights).
Then again, perhaps you mold is slightly oversize or your barrel is on the tight side.
Best Wishes
We have used the REALs quite extensively. The only ones we found hard to start were those not made from pure lead (such as wheel weights).
Then again, perhaps you mold is slightly oversize or your barrel is on the tight side.
Best Wishes
I cast my own REAL's and they expand fine with 90 grs. If I use pure lead they are fairly easy to start with a short starter. Hard ones like with wheelweights are much more difficult to start but shoot as well as soft ones. However they don't expand in soft tissue well. A .50 caliber hole is still a .50 caliber hole tho, more than enough to bring down a deer. You don't have to expend all a bullets energy inside an animal to kill it or bring it down fast. A heart shot and he goes down right there. A good double lung shot and he ain't goin far.
I have shot a bunch of them also. I quit using them because my current guns prefer other bullets. Several are easily deer hunting accurate with them. On smaller deer and such, they tend to just fly on thru unless big bone is hit. The hole is plenty big for clean kills tho. I mostly used them for target and other than deer hunting use, but we did kill a few with the REAL. I always went to the 385 Hornady in 50 caliber for a conical. The Denver Bullet Co. 385 before them. The large hollow point 385's are just about perfect for deer sized game out to 150 or so, or farther than most of us will be shooting. I use the Lee Target Minnie if I need a conical these days. I have a barrel sighted with them that fits my shotgun stock. That almost wadcutter front works very well at the same ranges the REALs are good for.
