Greenmtnboy
62 Cal.
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2005
- Messages
- 2,582
- Reaction score
- 12
Morning brothers and sisters,
Well I officially got three and three quarter gallons of oil off my bear! that has to be some kinda record. A couple of things about soft lead round balls that I have been shooting for years I would like to impart to you. Some may already know this some may not and find this information invauable.
I have recovered many round balls over the years from animals I have harvested. I use between 100 and 110 grns of FFG and FFFG Goex black powder for my 50 and 54 cal large game rifles.
I try never to hit bone with a soft lead ball first and for most.
I will get into that in a bit.
My 54 cal Leman with 110 Grns of FFG Goex chronographs at 1860 FPS and will give me flat trajectory out to 100 yrds. At 30 yards or less on a heart/lung shot my soft lead ball flattens out to a quarter and will stop in the first lung. At 60 yrds the ball will not disrupt/obturate and you will get clean pass through( my favorite for blood trails) at 100 yrds( the farthest I will shoot a lg game animal) the ball will not disrupt and will be caught by the hide on the opposite side the animal was shot on. So as your ball slows down and does not hit bone it will pass through vital organs and will not flatten out as it does at higher speeds and goes farther into the body of the animal creating more/quicker blood loss.
Hitting bone with a soft lead ball is a bad idea IMHO, but I have done it and recovered the ball and the animal. A few years ago I killed a elk in high winds at 90 yrds. The wind deflected my ball into the shoulder blade and I only caught one lung. The ball was almost cut in half.
This year I shot my Bear in the side of the head as she was popping her teeth and swaying her head back and forth. The ball caught her right in front of her ear going through her brain and into the neck and spine. I was shooting a 54 cal round ball with 110 grns of FFG Goex. I was hoping to recover the ball but all I found was lead fragments in the neck. THE BALL HADE COMPLETLY DISINTERGRATED! the shot was at 20 ft. Note the 54 cal roundball infront of the bear skull and the hole it made.
Now on a seperate topic. This fall and most falls,summers and winters I sleep in my bed roll and do so in cold weather very comfortably.
One of the secrets is my canvas rock bag. As a young boy all I had in the woods was a surplus wool blanket. My grandfather told me about what he and all the old times did back in the day and that was to have a small heavy canvas bag and before you get into your blanket you put a double fist size rock in the fire and when it's hot enough you take it out and cool it until it passes the spit test. That is where it does not sizzle any more when you spit on it.You then wrap it in your canvas bag and put it in the bottom of your bedroll,blanket,hide etc.. I have used this method all my adult life and have been warm even on the coldest nights. I used this method at a winter camp on the old CO land with the RMO and after the first night I had converted more than a couple of brothers to this method. A lot of you know this some may not.
Adios for now.
Well I officially got three and three quarter gallons of oil off my bear! that has to be some kinda record. A couple of things about soft lead round balls that I have been shooting for years I would like to impart to you. Some may already know this some may not and find this information invauable.
I have recovered many round balls over the years from animals I have harvested. I use between 100 and 110 grns of FFG and FFFG Goex black powder for my 50 and 54 cal large game rifles.
I try never to hit bone with a soft lead ball first and for most.
I will get into that in a bit.
My 54 cal Leman with 110 Grns of FFG Goex chronographs at 1860 FPS and will give me flat trajectory out to 100 yrds. At 30 yards or less on a heart/lung shot my soft lead ball flattens out to a quarter and will stop in the first lung. At 60 yrds the ball will not disrupt/obturate and you will get clean pass through( my favorite for blood trails) at 100 yrds( the farthest I will shoot a lg game animal) the ball will not disrupt and will be caught by the hide on the opposite side the animal was shot on. So as your ball slows down and does not hit bone it will pass through vital organs and will not flatten out as it does at higher speeds and goes farther into the body of the animal creating more/quicker blood loss.
Hitting bone with a soft lead ball is a bad idea IMHO, but I have done it and recovered the ball and the animal. A few years ago I killed a elk in high winds at 90 yrds. The wind deflected my ball into the shoulder blade and I only caught one lung. The ball was almost cut in half.
This year I shot my Bear in the side of the head as she was popping her teeth and swaying her head back and forth. The ball caught her right in front of her ear going through her brain and into the neck and spine. I was shooting a 54 cal round ball with 110 grns of FFG Goex. I was hoping to recover the ball but all I found was lead fragments in the neck. THE BALL HADE COMPLETLY DISINTERGRATED! the shot was at 20 ft. Note the 54 cal roundball infront of the bear skull and the hole it made.
Now on a seperate topic. This fall and most falls,summers and winters I sleep in my bed roll and do so in cold weather very comfortably.
One of the secrets is my canvas rock bag. As a young boy all I had in the woods was a surplus wool blanket. My grandfather told me about what he and all the old times did back in the day and that was to have a small heavy canvas bag and before you get into your blanket you put a double fist size rock in the fire and when it's hot enough you take it out and cool it until it passes the spit test. That is where it does not sizzle any more when you spit on it.You then wrap it in your canvas bag and put it in the bottom of your bedroll,blanket,hide etc.. I have used this method all my adult life and have been warm even on the coldest nights. I used this method at a winter camp on the old CO land with the RMO and after the first night I had converted more than a couple of brothers to this method. A lot of you know this some may not.
Adios for now.
