Round Ball Trajectory

[drumgool]

First off I would like to say hello to every one .

Last friday I purchased a realy nice T/C Hawkin and I bought a .54 caliber GM. Barrel 1/70 twist . I shot it last night for the first time sighting it In :grin: I am sighting in at 50yrds. because 95% of my shots are at that range & closer .Very rarley I see a deer at around 100Yds or so my question is how much drop will I have at that distance. I only asking because I probaly will not have a chance to shoot that distance before season starts in 1 week.(then again I might I hoping i will) Right now Im shooting a rounball 80 Grns. of Black Powder I may try 90 grains . Thanks

 

[rafterob]

I wouldn't change your load, that 80 grains is plenty and upping the load just adds another variant into the equation. All rifles will vary somewhat on drop at 100 yards and sighting in at 50 makes the drop more significant because at around 50 yards your ball is climbing towards its apex. If you were to sight in at 15-25 yards where the trajectory is still near flat then your 100 yard drop will be less as compared to that 50 yard sighting. You can expect anywhere from a 6-10 inch drop with your sighting. So a 100 yard shot I would aim center at the upper 1/4 of the animal. I would want a rest and an unhurried shot for those circumstances though. Without practice at the longer range, any shot you take would be a gamble.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Eighty grains will give you about 1500 fps, give or take a hundred. If sighted dead on at 50 you will be roughly 6" low at 100. For that reason I prefer to sight in 2" high at 50 which will leave you only about 2" low at 100. Thus sighted you can expect to hit within 2" of your point of aim anywhere from the muzzle out to 100 yards and I've never seen a situation where 2" would cost you a deer.

 

[Dphar]

Where I live it is better to sight dead on at 120 or so. A 50 with a load making 1800 or so will stay on the kill zone of a deer to about 130 yards this way.
But I live in the west.
Dead on or 1" high at 100 is best in the east.

Dan

 

[nw_hunter]

Ditto! I like mine to be hitting about 2" high at 50 yds.

 

[bobman]

2 inch high at 50 is what I do also and it works well

 

[necchi]

This just got talked about alot,,here's a link for good reading.
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/239490/all/1/

 

[hanshi]

Same here, a couple inches high at 50. At 100 it's only about 2-3" low. I've taken two deer at 100 - 100+ with no problem in placement.

 

[William O.]

Hello and welcome. Here's a suggestion, at 50 yards hold your sights at 6 o'clock low, in other words, let the center of the target sit just above your sight plane, instead of partially or fully covering it up. That way you can hit near the center of the vital area of your game, which is usually the size of a pie plate. As has been stated, 80 grains is a good working load, although it may not be the best target load for your rifle, you aren't trying to shoot the center out of a target right now, and you can develop the most accurate charge later. The soft lead round ball will take down the largest deer, use it with confidence.

 

[Zonie]

drumgool, Welcome to the Forum.

I'm still trying to figure out why everyone is telling you to set the sights so you have to aim low at 50 yards to hit the center of the target.

Maybe they didn't notice that you said, "...because 95% of my shots are at that range & closer ."?

I would say that sitting your sights for 50 yards would be the way to go.
As for how much drop will the roundball have at 100 yards that will depend on your powder load, the patches you use and a few other things.

If you use a 80 grain 2Fg powder load under your patched roundball the velocity will be around 1440 fps.
If the gun is sighted at 50 yards that load combination will hit about 7 1/2 inches low at 100 yards.

 

[jan buck]

why not sight it in for 75 yards? about 1 inch high at 50. dead on at 75 and 3.5" low @ 100.
i sight 2" high at 50 but could have the 125 yard shot.

 

[Ken Rummer]

My experience with a 54 prb using 90 gr 3F is when zeroed for 50 yds, the balls land 3.5" lower at 100 yds.

 

[Dphar]

This is a 50 caliber trajectory with about 1/2 ball weight of powder.

I get 1900 from my 38" barreled 54 with 90 gr of fff Swiss.
Heavy loads are often very accurate. This 54 will shoot 6" to 8" at 200 with this load if wiped every shot.
The advantage to shooting a HV load is not in killing power. It is in trajectory.
A rifle sighted as the table shows requires no change in hold from 40 yards to 120. Hold center and the deer/elk/bear is properly hit.
Sighting the rifle too close results in excessive drop at ranges beyond about 75-80. This is unacceptable in a hunting rifle.
There is no disadvantage to sighting a 50-58 caliber for 110-130 yards *for hunting* if the game is the size of a coyote or larger and in fact there are many advantages.
Anyone with doubts should try it.
If the rifle is sighted for 50 superglue a small steel shim to back of the rear sight and file it down to give a 110 yard zero. Increase the powder charge to give 1800 fps or a little more in the 50-54. Then shoot it at 65 yards. See what it really does. Ballistic programs are no always "perfect" with RBs and velocities under 1000 fps.

Dan

 

[necchi]

and I bought a .54 caliber GM. Barrel

Welcome to the site,

I have that barrel, and it became a tack driver!
Don't be discouraged if it doesn't shoot sweet right away, most barrels need to break-in. Mine was OK right out of the box, but 150 shot's later, it REALLY dialed in.

Read my post in this thread; http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/239490/all/1/

I shoot almost that same load, .535 over 70grns 2F T7 (so add 15% for BP) and a tight dryish lubed .020 patch.
Zeroed at 50yrds, it drops about 5" and 2" right at 100. My advise for hunting is to get your group centered at 100 best you can, and just hold on the kill zone for anything at that range or closer.
More powder than that isn't needed, the groups open up.
I guess I could have worked up a load for .530, but it just shot those .535 so well I never took the time.