Round Ball Expansion

[Zonie]

I note that a lot of you successful deer hunters used patched round balls so I have a question for those of you who recovered the ball: How much (if any) did the ball expand or deform?
Appreciate hearing from you.

 

[RJR]

The last one I got with a .50 PRB was hit at about 60 yds in the shoulder blade. The ball was recovered under the skin after passing through the other shoulder blade. It was kind of mushroomed back and measured 1 1/8 inches across the outside of the curve. Made mush of everything in between. Take care, Rick.

 

[roundball]

Recent examples on deer:

A .45cal (Hornady.440) heart shot at 50yds hit a rib going in and stopped just under the skin on the far side;
One side/half of the ball flattened out so when laid on a table it looks like an igloo...the flat measured a half inch wide.

A .50cal (Hornady .490)went through a shoulder and lodged in the far shoulder, flattening out to 5/8" wide.

If you think about it, a .50/.54cal lead ball in the 180-230grn weight range, driven around 2000 fps equals / exceeds the energy of a .44 magnum which anyone would use on deer to 100yds.

With the typical ML shot being 25-75 yards, the round ball is a powerful / reliable projectile, and has been for a few hundred years

 

[tg]

The few I have found showed some deformation in the spectrum as described above, there is a possibility of much variation caused by range, velocity, and whether bone is struck, the exit wounds on some have suggested that some flattening had occured on the balls that passed through on some animals and not on others.

 

[musketman]

Here is a civil war lead round ball, don't know what it hit but it sure expanded...

Flattened Lead, a round ball of some caliber at 1.5 X 1"

 

[Plains99]

By and large on Whitetail deer there is seldom much if any expansion. Round is round and about all they do is flatten some if heavy bone structure is encountered.