Shooting distances with .50 patched ball

At what distances are you shooting your Lyman GPR or other Hawken-style rifle .50 patched round balls (paper and/or metal targets)?

 

100 yards with my 50 & 58 calibers. The fastest & most accurate way I got there was thru 777 FFF sub-powder. Much better luck with 777 than Goex or Pyrodex in all my sidelocks. You're likely to notice better accuracy at that 100 yard distance if your barrel twist is between 1-60" & 1-70".

 

[Doc Arroyo]

RobW-

My club has access to a trail walk every month. After paper punching at 25 and 50 yards we head for the trail. Targets range from cutting a drinking straw at 5 yds, a tack out board at 10 yds, a piece of 5/8" rebar at 15 yards to a bear at 165 yards and a long gong at nearly 200 yards!

My GPR was able to hit them all, but I never was able to shoot the trail clean on any given day. Now I shoot a flint longrifle, and it is also capable of any of the shots. Now if I could just do my part!!

 

[roundball]

9 out of 10 Saturdays I practice at 50 yds...with the occasional Saturday at 75 or 100 yds

 

When a round ball gets past 100 yard it starts to drop like a rock . So if you're wanting to shoot any farther than that you'll need to either start running any ballistics calculator in your head or put a better set of sights on your rifle (the long-range adjustable kind). /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[cayugad]

I have two Hawkins style rifles in 50 caliber. Both are accurate to 100 yards, but it takes practice. I normally shoot them at the 25, 35, and 50 yard stations.

I did one afternoon hold 10 out of 10 shots with open sights in the bottom of a #2 lb coffee can shooting 70 grains of Pyrodex P and patched round ball with my 1:66 twist Tradition's Woodsman Hawkins off a set of shooting sticks. I was actually very happy with that group.

I think I am going to have a real shooter in my .58 caliber with the 1:70 twist and 32" barrel. So far it has been giving some real impressive groups with patched round ball.

 

[Ohio Joe]

I have two .50 caliber cross stick rifles both of the Hawken style and weighing in at 11 1/4 and 13 7/8 pounds that I built myself for NMLRA Buffalo Cross Stick Competition... I practice five shot groups as often as I can with both and I shoot at 50 and 100 yards with good accuracy... When I say good accuracy, I expect from myself scores of; 48, 49, and 50, with some X's thrown in at fifty yards... At 100 yards I expect scores of; 47, 48, 49, and 50, with some X's thrown in... I enjoy all areas of muzzleloading, but cross sticks and chunk shooting are by far my favorite shooting sport... I like the discipline of the sport and contest... There's always a special feeling when you nail a score of "50" with some X's..... I have practiced so much over the last three years at this that 49's and 50's have become a common score for me at 50 yards, and 48's and 49's at 100 yards are becoming more common too... It's great fun!

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences. It looks like 100 yd is the maximum.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. It looks like 100 yd is the maximum

Shooting what? I've been sitting this one out as most of my shooting of roundballs is a .54 (or a .66). I have a .50, but it prefers conicals. With the .54 I enjoyed several days afield for woodchucks and could connect often enough at 160 to 175 yards to make it worth trying (30%). A marginal hit on a woodchuck with a .54 is still effective. With T/C's open sights that's about equivalent to a 350 yard shot with a 9X scope. It is amazing what a bit of good-natured competition can do to increase your range. That is from a sitting position with crossed sticks or else lying prone and using a rock or a log as a rest. (Not to mention 25 year old eyes). With my .36 the distance came in a bit, but 125+ yards was still doable. As Roaddog said, past 100 yards a roundball drops rapidly. Sighted 2" high at 50 yards the .54 is a foot low at 175 +/- (which is hard to tell 'cause they're dispersing about that much :winking. If you've got the room and a spotter (because of your own smoke) it is great fun and practice to set a 3 lb coffee can out at 200 yards on a dusty surface and take turns shooting; first hit wins. Once you know where to hold for elevation you can work on wind drift, and the finer points of doping it out successfully.

For deer hunting the 100 yard limit is sensible.

 

I read a book some years back that was devoted entirely to the Hawken and there was an account of a fellow that fired an original rifle for groups at 200 yds. I cannot recall the particulars but I think it was around 60 cal and the twist was quite slow, like 1-90. He used a very large charge of powder (maybe 150 grs?) and was shooting 4-5 inch groups from a bench rest. Not too shabby for accuracy and would still have killing effect. Maybe someone on the forum has this book and can verify the specifics.

 

[Rebel]

Stumpkiller ( Not to mention 25 year old eyes) Was that supposed to be 52 year old eyes? LOL If not, what's a young'un like you doin' complainin' about their eyes. Heck i'm going to be 51 next month. Lets talk about OLD eyes. As for maximum range, there are a lot of variables involved, cal., shooter, load, wind, etc. But long shots are obtainable. A couple years ago i killed a coyote with a .32 cal. Traditions Crockett rifle at what was, as close as we could pace it off, between 150- 175 yds. Hit him in the ear and he never moved. And this was with a real small bore. I wouldn't try a shot that long on a deer, but i don't like coyotes, and figured i had nothing to loose by trying the shot.

 

[Ohio Joe]

RobW,,, One hundred yards isn't the maximum your .50 caliber patched roundball will shoot... I was just relating my personal favorite shooting sport that only requires 100 yard shooting... Friends and myself routinely shoot offhand at different size gongs that are set at ranges of; 150yds (12x14), 175yds (14x16), 200yds (15x17), 225yds (16x18, 250yds (17x20), 275yds (18x22), and 300 yds (20x24)... I use my .45 for this while others are using anywhere from .40 calibers on up... This too is great fun, but this is also a lot more forgiving then shooting for groups or number scores... This kind of shooting comes down to windage and elevation and we don't do to bad helping each other read the wind and estimating the elevation... As for hunting, I feel 100 yards is my personal maximum, though I've taken deer at 137 yards with my .54...

 

[Stumpkiller]

? LOL If not, what's a young'un like you doin' complainin' about their eyes.

That's 'cause my current 44 year old eyes ain't as good as they once were. 24 years of accounting takes a toll. Bigger butt, weaker eyes, etc.

My hunting buddy and I were once walking a 'seasonal' road (that means spring/winter/fall it is a muddy creek or an ice flow hereabouts) and a rabbit hopped out and stopped in front of us. He said "bet you couldn't . . . " Mr. Wiggly did a double somersault and plopped down dead. Centered him at 220 honest paces. Best shot I ever made. (Hope the statute of limitations has expired).

I certainly wouldn't try to put five on a paper target in front of witnesses at that range. Sometimes even the wisdom that comes with age and well applied treachery can't overcome youth and natural ability.