Round Ball Shooters...........

[ETipp]

Trying to find information on this but it is fairly scarce.

For all of you out there that have hunted with round balls, what is/was the average distance a critter traveled after being hit. Please list the caliber, type of critter, distance shot and shot placement as well.

 

[Rifleman1776]

All the whitetail deer I have taken with my .45 cal. flinter have gone down within a couple strides. Ball placement was in the classic 'kill zone' for deer. I have taken up to 75 yards but would shoot one as far as 100,

 

[tenngun]

I’ve had them drop right there, and run. I don’t think I’ve had one go two hundred yards

 

[LME]

Trying to find information on this but it is fairly scarce.

For all of you out there that have hunted with round balls, what is/was the average distance a critter traveled after being hit. Please list the caliber, type of critter, distance shot and shot placement as well.

I use a .54cal. rifle all but the very first deer fell where they were shot. The first one was shot before I had figured out the rifle. The deer, a doe, was standing behind a iron wood tree which was six inches in diamenter or close to it. It covered most of the spot I needed to hit. I aimed at the tree knowing my shot would not hit the tree at the estimated 70 yards ? I was wrong! The ball went through the tree and the deer high tailed it out of the country! LOL!

 

[springfield art]

I’ve had them drop right there, and run. I don’t think I’ve had one go two hundred yards

The old-timers would say the same thing....

 

[Dave Marsh]

I use a .58 caliber on whitetails. Shots generally not more than 75 yards. I do not pull the trigger unless I have a standing broadside shot. Through the lungs is my aim point and I think one went 20 yards once. Most drop right away or within ten yards.

 

[ETipp]

I’ve had them drop right there, and run. I don’t think I’ve had one go two hundred yards

Caliber, distance?

 

[ColonialRifleSmith]

Trying to find information on this but it is fairly scarce.

For all of you out there that have hunted with round balls, what is/was the average distance a critter traveled after being hit. Please list the caliber, type of critter, distance shot and shot placement as well.

I can and have dropped a deer looking face on at 125 yards with my .50 cal. flintlock, .490 round ball I mold from wheel weights, .010 oiled patch with 65gr FFG Goex powder. I use the same powder in the pan as in the bore. The ball entered the chest, bounced off the spine and broke the femur on the way out the back. I think the furthest I've had one run is about 20 yards. However, I'm very cognizant of bullet placement.
Here is the rifle I hunt deer with. I built this rifle when I was 16, I'm now 67. It's a tack driver. In the years I've replaced the barrel and lock from the original barn finds I originally built the rifle with. It now has a Green Moutain Barrel and L&R Lock.

 

[tenngun]

.45.50, .54 and .62, pretty much all under fifty yards, best was seven

 

[Bushfire]

It doesn't matter whether it's a round ball or more modern projectile. Animals are all filled with water, poke a hole in the right place and they drain quickly irrespective of what you use. Don't over think it.

 

[ETipp]

It doesn't matter whether it's a round ball or more modern projectile. Animals are all filled with water, poke a hole in the right place and they drain quickly irrespective of what you use. Don't over think it.

Not over-thinking anything. Simply looking for input specifically round balls. Been killing critters since the 70's with all kinds of critter killing tools.

 

[ETipp]

I can and have dropped a deer looking face on at 125 yards with my .50 cal. flintlock, .490 round ball I mold from wheel weights, .010 oiled patch with 65gr FFG Goex powder. I use the same powder in the pan as in the bore. The ball entered the chest, bounced off the spine and broke the femur on the way out the back. I think the furthest I've had one run is about 20 yards. However, I'm very cognizant of bullet placement.
Here is the rifle I hunt deer with. I built this rifle when I was 16, I'm now 67. It's a tack driver. In the years I've replaced the barrel and lock from the original barn finds I originally built the rifle with. It now has a Green Moutain Barrel and L&R Lock.

View attachment 198870

Nice looking rifle you have yourself there.

 

[centershot]

I've used .50 and .54 caliber rifles for whitetail deer. With lung hits they usually drop within 10-15 yards. The average shot is around 30 yards, one as close as 5 yards, none farther than 40 yards.

 

[ETipp]

I've used .50 and .54 caliber rifles for whitetail deer. With lung hits they usually drop within 10-15 yards. The average shot is around 30 yards, one as close as 5 yards, none farther than 40 yards.

Good information. Thank you.

 

[Grimord]

I use a .54 or a .58 for deer. Farthest shot I have ever taken at a deer was a measured 83 yards. The deer went 10 yards and dropped. I will only take standing, or very slow walking, broad side shots and i aim for the crease behind the shoulder about a 1/3 of the way up from the brisket. The furthest I ever had a deer run after the shot was 80 yards, but he was a dead deer running as his heart was completed destroyed. I have yet to recover a ball from any of the 35 or so deer i have shot over the past 10 years.

 

[longcruise]

I have used 50 and 54 balls. Mostly 50 for deer and antelope. Shots from 15 to 80 yards. One deer went about 20 yards but the rest less and most dropped on the spot.

I have lost one deer with RB. About a 30 yard shot. The deer had it's head down and was feeding. Was shooting a 54 . For some inexplicable reason that deer hopped forward pretty much simultaneously at the shot. I know I wasn’t spotted and made no sound. Maybe the springing forward of the hammer made a sound that caused the hop. In any case the deer was hit in the gut. The exiting ball sprayed a whole lot of stomach content on the opposite side. I and my partner looked for hours without any luck. We gave it another search the next day. Never found that deer.

 

[T Gregory]

I've killed 4 deer with .50 cal roundball. All shots were broadside at less than 50 yards. 3 dropped where they stood,and the other walked about 15 yards and leaned against a tree and died. I have got one with my .40 and round ball. It ran a half circle about 60 yards total and fell over. I use 60gr 3f in both guns.

 

[kyron4]

50 cal. ,70gr. FFG ,.490" ball, 80 yards broadside high double lung. went about 50 yards.

50 cal. , 50 grs. FFFG .490" ball, 20 yards, quartering away through shouldered out neck, dropped in tracks.

 

[Matt85]

Shot a deer at about 60-70 yards (cant remember exact distance) with a 50 cal rifle, was a double lung, deer ran about 100 or so yards. Was a bear to find as there was no blood trail and the woods were dense!

 

[TDM]

.50 cal is what I’ve hunted with. RBs and conicals. There was a time when I wasn’t that concerned on shot placement, that was many years ago. Now, the little that I hunt now, it has to be close to a perfect heart/lung shot. The quick death of the animal means a lot to me now. But even so, it depends on the individual deer. I’ve had them drop straight down and with the same shot placement had them run 100 yards. As to what is going on to cause that I don’t know.