Shot placement for Patched Round Ball on deer

[smo]

Charlie it's like falling off a log . Put the shot in the normal heart/lung area a squeeze ...... :thumbsup: Follow through in case of a slight hang fire. Those TC's are deer killers . I bet there are not far behind an old 30-30 lever gun when it comes to taking deer. The most important thing I can tell you is keep your powder dry :hatsoff: I always would pop a cap or two prior to loading the rifle. I always picked the nipple after I popped the caps to make sure it was clear. Then I would load and place a folded patch between the nipple and the hammer until I was ready to put the cap on. I can guarantee you will like the Darkside better than just waiting inline. :haha:

 

[nit wit]

Charlie:
Practice cocking the rifle, press the trigger and pull back the hammer, release the trigger. You want no noise when you do this. If it has a set trigger that will make a click also. Deer are sensitive to little clicks. I also agree with lung shot.
Nit Wit

 

[wattlebuster]

In my neck of the woods we call it "Busting their yellow" or a double lung shot as most call it. I have never come across anything that could take a big hole thru both lungs an go far. An what little distance it goes there will be a good blood trail to follow

 

[Mad Professor]

Right behind the shoulder. I go for just below the middle so you don't blow up that tasty heart muscle.

 

[necchi]

Its understandable to ask others about their experience when trying a new gun or projectile. The experience of others will help build your confidence in how effective it is until you can gain your own experience with it. I commend you for asking because it shows that your concerned about making a clean kill.

Well said pab, :thumbsup:

for a .530 patched round ball sitting over 100grains of Pyrodex RS? Acccuracy at those distances is not an issue,

Uhm, accuracy is kind of always an issue isn't it?
You should get plenty of practice with your rifle before hunting,, 100grns might not be the best load for you patch/ball combination.
It's typical for folks new to traditional ML's to think they need large loads for the gun to be effective, when the truth is placement is just as important with these as it is with any firearm.

With the 54 as little as 50grns would be plenty,, but you may find your best accuracy to be in the 70-80grn range.
Spend some time shooting 50-100 ball experimenting with different loads,, just like CF, shoot 5 round groups and give the rifle a chance to find it's favorite load.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Uhm, accuracy is kind of always an issue isn't it?

FOR SURE! :grin: However, we the folks that use sidelock muzzleloaders are often few and far between, and so the new-to-sidelocks person is surrounded sometimes with folks who are using modern guns or rifles, and don't quite "get it".

Since we have only one shot per se..., we know how valuable are accuracy and making that shot "count". Yet there are a lot of well meaning, good people, who were taught to get something into the deer to slow them down and then follow up with additional shots. :shocked2: If you don't see them doing this you hear them on opening day..., bang.........bang......bang...bang, bang, bang. :shake: Within this crowd are the guys who advocate whoppingly huge cartridges for mere whitetails. I've had guys tell me that that in "their camp" you're under gunned when using a cartridge smaller than [insert large Moose killing cartridge name here] when hunting in PA or Western Maryland :shocked2: They try to make up for an inaccurate load and their lack of practice with impact energy :youcrazy: . They also think that what they are using translates to the patched, round ball launching sidelock, so they tell you to use a huge powder charge, or simply denounce the patched round ball as unable to harvest big game.

So an accurate load, with which one has practiced, and which carries enough impact velocity to harvest the deer is enough. Hitting the deer with enough energy that you could go through two deer at that range standing next to each other, makes no difference to your harvested animal.

LD

 

[CharlieTN]

Its understandable to ask others about their experience when trying a new gun or projectile. The experience of others will help build your confidence in how effective it is until you can gain your own experience with it. I commend you for asking because it shows that your concerned about making a clean kill.

Well said pab, :thumbsup:

for a .530 patched round ball sitting over 100grains of Pyrodex RS? Acccuracy at those distances is not an issue,

Uhm, accuracy is kind of always an issue isn't it?
You should get plenty of practice with your rifle before hunting,, 100grns might not be the best load for you patch/ball combination.
It's typical for folks new to traditional ML's to think they need large loads for the gun to be effective, when the truth is placement is just as important with these as it is with any firearm.

With the 54 as little as 50grns would be plenty,, but you may find your best accuracy to be in the 70-80grn range.
Spend some time shooting 50-100 ball experimenting with different loads,, just like CF, shoot 5 round groups and give the rifle a chance to find it's favorite load.

Apparently my wording about accuracy not being an issue at those distances is a bit misconstrued. I'm very comfortable with those distances so not worried about my ability to hit what I'm aiming at. I appreciate everyone's comments.

Last year I lost my first deer in 4 years of hunting. Made me very upset to no cleanly harvest one. I don't like the waste and the potential for the deer to suffer.

Thanks.

 

[nhmoose]

Deer have very large X-rings, When you can hit a paper plate on demand at the distance it is at you can kill a deer with a round ball.

Power is not a substitute for that.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Accuracy may not be as big an issue at close range but REMEMBERING TO AIM is. When you shoot "at a deer" instead of focusing on a tiny spot it is possible to blow a 10 yard shot.

 

[BrownBear]

And don't get carried away looking at the rack! Twice over the years I've killed nice bucks and found a bullet hole in the rack. Got another with a broadhead in the antler.

It's clear that some guys get so wound up about the rack, they shoot right where they're looking.

 

[CharlieTN]

Accuracy may not be as big an issue at close range but REMEMBERING TO AIM is. When you shoot "at a deer" instead of focusing on a tiny spot it is possible to blow a 10 yard shot.

Now that is very good advice.

 

[Vaino]

Whether I'm using a MLer or CF, the lung shot is what I aim for. No meat loss and I also like the heart.

When I was living on my grandparents survival farm in northern Minnesota during the "Great Depression", we raised a young beef and a hog and because we had no electricity, the meat was preserved by salting and packing it into earthen crocks, but come spring, the meat was a little "old", but still barely palatable.

In the spring at the age of 12 while trying to shoot some squirrels for fresh meat, saw 3 does coming up the hill and waited 'til they were 15 yds away and the .22LR dropped the largest doe w/ a frontal head shot.

Went back to the farm and had difficulty convincing my grandfather that I had shot a doe....he spoke only Finnish which I hadn't caught onto yet. But because of my excitement, he thought it best to follow me. He expertly gutted the deer and dragged it to the farm.

The taste of that fresh meat still lingers in my memory. Deer were very scarce because everyone was "poaching' to survive.

The reason for the above, is that I'm a meat hunter so don't shoot if meat is to be destroyed whether it be squirrels or rabbits which are only shot in the head.


On deer and elk, I don't eat lungs so they're expendable.....Fred

 

[Michael Chambers]

Hi Charlie! Don't be nervous about hunting deer with a .54 cal. patched ball. That was big game medicine back in the day. I've shot a number of deer with my Lyman Great Plains caplock .54, and they drop just as quickly as they would if hit by my .270 Winchester. The main thing, as everybody has been saying, is to make sure you make an accurate shot. And as they also say, your biggest sure target is a double lung shot. I wouldn't try for anything else. Best of luck, and have fun!

 

[mnbearbaiter]

No worries to be had at all. I shoot a .530 ball pushed by 95gr ffg T7 out of my Leman and I will openly admit I take quartering towards shots, full frontal, and any other angle when shooting at deer. Recovered ball from last years buck found on far side hide after going through shoulder on enttance at 40yds was almost 1" wide and weighed like a grain less than an unfired ball on my scale. On elk and such I limit it to broadside of course and stick more to an archery mentality but on deer round balls are way underappreciated if you ask me :surrender:

 

[Michael Chambers]

........... round balls are way underappreciated if you ask me.

Absolutely agree there! :thumbsup:

 

[Walks with fire]

Most have suggested a heart/lung shot but I use a shoulder shot and they don't move more than a couple yards if at all. Used a heart lung shot for years with a patched ball and had to track a few. No tracking so far with the 4 deer taken with it. Patched 50/54 balls. The .54 with a shoulder shot really slams them down.

 

[nwtradegun]

regardless of the game I take neck shoots. it will kill or imobilize the animal. I have not lost any game by using a neck shot. it goes bang animal goes down.

 

[pab1]

regardless of the game I take neck shoots. it will kill or imobilize the animal. I have not lost any game by using a neck shot. it goes bang animal goes down.

The only thing I don't like on a neck shot is the amount of "non-vital" muscle, etc. there is around the spine/jugular. Rutting bucks with swollen necks and larger animals make missing the spine more likely. Years ago a friends son shot his first bull elk in the neck using a .54 cal and a conical. The elk dropped on the spot and they were excited and celebrating. Suddenly (before he had reloaded) the bull jumped up and ran off and was never found. I've killed deer with neck shots years ago and all dropped on the spot. I just don't go for neck shots anymore. Not trying to change anyone's opinion, that's just why I don't take that shot anymore.

 

[Michael Chambers]

While I said earlier that I only take double lung shots with my caplock, and that is true, I did pay particular attention to a bunch of deer hunting videos a few years back, and noted that deer would fold up and drop on the spot with a high shoulder hit. I did that with my next deer, using my .270 Winchester, neat as could be. When we skinned the deer, my bullet had shattered the spine, which is quite large in that area. I'll have to try that with the .54 Lyman. It sure saves having to track them down.

 

[cynthialee]

as much as I love seeing them go down the second they are shot, dressing out a carcass with shattered bone blows goat, you find bone fragments everywhere and last time I was doing the job I jabbed my finger on a sharp bone piece.