Round ball carbines

[Walks with fire]

Do these short barrel (21") 50 cal. carbines have enough energy to take deer cleanly with round balls? Would a powerbelt bullet be a better load?What grains of powder would burn completely in them. Would 3f powder be better? Just curious what the range limit would be.

 

[guncobbler]

You know Mossie it doesn't take much to kill a deer. The hard part is setting up the shot. Don't have the velocity figures off hand but the deer isn't going to notice the difference in barrel length. One way to arrive at a hunting load is to keep increasing the powder (within reason) until your accuracy starts to fall below your hunting needs or the recoil becomes uncomfortable. The upper range limit for shots should be your ability to place the bullet on the deer accurately. My buddy missed a shot today when he lifted his rifle to aim at deer far off and the two deer watching him from 40 yards snorted and bounded off. We learn something new every time we go into the woods. GC

 

[Pork Chop]

Unless I am misreading, the TC manual shows that for the same powder charge and projectile weight, the short barrels give more velocity. The only question is how it affects accuracy.

 

[Finnwolf]

Mossie,
You don't say what kind of carbine you are referring to. If it's a breechloader, I cannot say. But if it's a muzzleloader, I can tell you from experience, they do just fine. My brother shoots a .50 cal Traditions flinter with a 21" barrel and I've seen him make 3 clean kills on good size PA whitetails. He likes the carbine because he hunts from a climbing stand and the short barrel works better for him. He shoots the same load as I do, 90 grains GOEX 2f with a patched round ball and 4F in the pan. The only difference I noticed is a little more recoil and muzzle jump.
Finnwolf

 

[navaman]

i just bought a t/c white mountain carbine and it's got a 1:20 twist. this week i'm going to the range with some 250 gr. lee REAl bullets and triple 7 powder. anyone got any recomendations on a good load for about 50 yds out. thanks guys. i'm greener than snot but i'm trying hard to learn.

 

[Walks with fire]

finnwolf,
Just having a little fun. I have taken deer with the carbine and rb. just felt it's a little lacking on the power side after about 50 yards.