Talk me into a patched round ball for whitetails...

[Razor62]

Alright folks, I'm in the planning stages of a .50 cal build. I've been leaning toward a .50 cal with a fast ROT for use with conicals but I'm having trouble locating a source for a .50 cal barrel blank with fast twist. I see allot of folks here having success with round balls and slower twist so tell me about it. Can I expect to consistently drop deer with PRBs and will I be able to reach out to 100 -150 yards and still have decent energy / accuracy.
Let's hear your thoughts.

Thanks

 

[Black Hand]

They work fine, though expecting 150yds (with a 50cal) might be a little unrealistic without considerable practice. 100yds or less, not a problem. If you do your part, things will fall down.

 

[Shifty]

have you checked the gun works muzzel loading emporium?

 

[graybeard]

Open sights, shifting light at dawn and dusk and aging eyeballs make anything over 100 yards a bit dicey. If I remember the figures correctly, a .50 prb with reasonable powder charge will carry enough energy out to 100 yards to kill whitetails. Bullet placement is very important. I've hunted most of my 80 years and recall only a couple of deer taken at more than 50 yards. graybeard

 

[BillinOregon]

My thought is that if it was good enough for great-great granddad and his father and his father and his father and his father it is good enough for me.

 

[Black Hand]

Also remember that patched round balls have been feeding people for better than 400 years. I'd say there is sufficient evidence that they work....

 

[roundball]

Can I expect to consistently drop deer with PRBs

Absolutely.

will I be able to reach out to 100 -150 yards and still have decent energy / accuracy.

Not in my opinion...not 150yds with a .50cal PRB using iron sights.
Not saying it can't be done, just saying I don't believe it should be viewed as a routine normal expectation from a 50cal ball out of a sidelock muzzleloader with iron sights under the variety of hunting conditions that usually accompany such shots.

 

[cynthialee]

if you wanna do those longer range shots then maybe you should go back to the fast ROT barrel with conicals train of thought

 

[George T.]

In my case I view the iorn sights as the biggest handicap! I have never shot a deer with a MLR at over 65 yards and (knock on wood) I have never had one go farther than 40 yards or lost one. Two were with 50's but the rest were a 40 cal. a 96 grain ball in front of 90 grains of FFF. The round ball sheds velocity faster than spire point modern bullets so I might limit my range to 100 yards. In a traditional rifle shooting the conical bullets you have the rainbow flight path so again I would limit the range. Geo. T.

 

[jamesthomas]

I think you should forget about shooting a PRB or a conical at 150 yards. If your gonna shoot that far just stay with a modern rifle. Like a buncha folks here have said keep your range at 100 yards or less with a PRB. BTW at 150 yards those iron sights would pretty much cover up the kill zone on a deer, unless you plan on using a scope.

 

[SmokeEater2]

I don't shoot as far as you plan to when I'm hunting, Mostly 60 yards and under (mostly under) but I've been killing deer with .50 RB's for several years with no problem.

2 deer with the .50 and one with a .62 so far this year,all with RB's. I really have no desire to try conical types since the PRB's have worked so well for me.

 

[Matt85]

as the others have said, i wouldnt make a shot outside of 120 yards with any rifle using open sights. a round ball will get the job done out to 120 yards if you put it where it needs to go.

i try to limit my hunting range to 100 yards or less.

-matt

 

[Razor62]

if you wanna do those longer range shots then maybe you should go back to the fast ROT barrel with conicals train of thought

Thanks everyone for all of the helpful and solid advice. Cynthialee's advice above is the way I think I'll be going. Can't talk too much about my build due to forum rules with regard to modern muzzleloaders. I love traditional smokepoles too but this one's gonna be a hybrid. My every day meat gun if you will. Once that freezer is full I can relax and do things the hard way. :grin:

 

[Black Hand]

if you wanna do those longer range shots then maybe you should go back to the fast ROT barrel with conicals train of thought

I suspect the shots won't be any more accurate at 150 yards with iron/open sights than a PRB....

 

[Lonegun1894]

I practice out to 200yds at the range, and out to whatever range is available to me on private land when friends allow it. This includes some shooting out to 1200 yds in the past, so I know some shooters can do some amazing shooting with irons, since I used to be able to keep 9/10 rds on a human silhouette at 1k with irons, but I won't take shots at over 125 yds (and prefer much closer) with anything firing PRB due to the way the RB slows and drops at those ranges. I'd say practice out to as far as you possibly can, but limit shots to 100yds or maybe slightly over if perfect conditions present themselves. It isn't anything against you or any of us, just a matter of the ballistic characteristics of a RB, no matter how fast you choose to try and drive it. The good news is that the same lousy aerodynamics that limit range also help anchor the animal once you hit flesh, so it's a double edged sword. You can take longer shots with conicals, IF you know the exact range and know the exact drop you will get at that exact range, but it will take a lot more lead, powder, and pain in your shoulder. Some choose to put up with it the extra cost and pain, while the rest of us just sneak in a little closer and enjoy more range time. Another advantage is it is easier to clean a PRB gun since cloth doesn't leave leading for you to have to clean out. Here is my take on it, and worth every penny you paid for it. If I was wanting a long range competition rifle where I was shooting at 500 to over 1K yards, I would go with a conical bullet and a barrel appropriate to it, but since you specifically said this is for hunting, I would stick with a PRB and not even consider the conical and the extra costs and trouble it presents because it just isn't the least bit necessary within the ranges you mentioned. Here is my thinking as far as range goes, if you can get inside 150, then you can get inside 100-125, after all, what's another 25-50yds closer to your target. You may have to pass on a few shots, but will easily be within range for the vast majority of them. The lower cost of shooting PRBs will allow you to shoot more and be a better shot, in addition to the satisfaction of doing things the old traditional way and being successful. Like others have said, a PRB works very well, in fact, much better than people who haven't used it would believe.

 

[armymedic.2]

I dont think irons limit less than 100. Im lucky and have young eyes. If yours are as well, you may be up to the task. I feel comfortable using irons on deer to 300 or so.

Your limiting factor will be trajectory. Look at roundball ballistics. That is what will keep u short of your goal.

 

[Herb]

Here is my friend Carl with a .50 flintlock I built for him. He saw this buck walk out of a gully and start up the hill. Carl thought he was about 100 yards away and knelt down and held on the back of his head, expecting to hit there. But the buck was really 160 yards away, as proved later with a laser rangefinder. The .490 ball, pushed by 80 grains of Goex 2F, about 1700 fps, dropped about 12" more than Carl expected and hit the buck about two inches to the side of the anus and penetrated about 18 to 24 inches, stopping inside the hide. He walked about 75 feet, laid down and bled out. I saw this scene about two weeks later, and can verify the shot location, gut pile and laser range.

 

[crockett]

Well everyone has given good advice but that advice might be rooted in where they live to some extent. I've lived in Colorado, New England, and the Deep South. I see you are in Rhode Island. I think if you take a long shot the deer might be in Connecticut or Massachusetts :grin: . In any event I think I might strongly think about a PRB. First, the PRB starts out the muzzle at a faster velocity than the conical. The faster velocity and the pure lead means that ball can flatten out like a quarter at a reasonable range. I'm not sure where the conical starts being the better choice but maybe around 50 to 70 yards. Inside 50 yards the PRB might actually be more destructive. The PRB is easy to reload, a big issue in the field for a follow up shot, and the patch around the ball prevents any lead build up in the bore. In any event a PRB in 50 caliber in Rhode Island ought to be MORE than you'll ever need unless you are in a farm field with a long shot.
On the range issue. I once took a cardboard box (that's about the color of a deer) and cut out a lifesize deer shilloutte and stepped off 150 yards and plunked the target in a field with some scrub and brush. I walked back to my starting point without looking and when I turned around I had a real task just seeing the target, getting the sights on it took some time. At 150 yards with dead grass and scrub that target was really hard to see; so, IMHO 150 yards with open sights is a long shot in an eastern forest or field. The open range or agricultural land- that's different.
On the twist, a 1 in 48 isn't that bad. I had a 1in 38 that actually shot PRB's pretty good with a slightly reduced powder charge.

 

[feyx0006]

Let me show you just how effective. Look at the "Trophy Time" forum topic not far below this thread.
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showpost.php?post/1219918/

 

[Herb]

You asked about whitetails but this was a mule deer. I was up on the mountain today and passed by where Carl killed that deer. I walked out through the sagebrush and found some bucks. There are two bucks in this photo. See them?

Three more, the same ones.

This is where I walked up close to them. A hunt was going on and three or four pickups drove by on the trail a few hundred yards away and did not see these. I was not hunting.