What caliber is the flattest shooting?

[frankie]

Look up Idaho Lewis on YouTube. He has some videos about his long range shooting with muzzleloaders.

great reply

 

[M. De Land]

great reply

I've seen his posts, get him on a 1k range competing with folks who know about wind and mirage shooting and you will probably not be so impressed !

 

[Dutch7]

I don't agree with that statement? I have shot a few different Caliber rifles and once dialed in they all shot close to the same. I also know if you shoot at long range and/or there is a wind blowing you need to leave the little caliber rifle at home.

LME, to each his own but in my experience a .40 out performs a .50 for accuracy but in the wind I will concede that a .50 is superior.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

I honestly don’t know that I’d say one calibre of PRB is more accurate than another. I’ve had guns, that were incredibly accurate, and I’ve had guns that I’d have a hard time hitting a barn if I were standing next to it…

I would say that the smaller calibre RBs can be more finicky to get the highest accuracy out of the gun…the .32 calibre can be very “finicky”; but once you learn to be consistent in your loading procedure…it is deadly accurate.

That ”finikyness” seems to decrease as calibre increases…bigger calibres are much more forgiving of variances in a person’s loading procedures.

 

[sheriff john]

Shooting a .45 with 60 gr of 2 fg, I shot a doe further than I should have. Normally, I do heart shots, just behind and above the "elbow", but she was facing me, so I tried to shoot her in the head ...and did. She dropped in her tracks, just folded up, plop. I had to slide down a mud bank, wade the creek, get up another mud bank and walk a bit.

She was still breathing and there wasn't much blood, at all. Put another shot through the head, sideways. Turned out the first shot had bounced off her skull. Cured me of shooting deer at the fringe of my comfort zone. Patched round balls lose kinetic energy rather quickly after a certain point. No wasted meat, though.

 

[M. De Land]

Shooting a .45 with 60 gr of 2 fg, I shot a doe further than I should have. Normally, I do heart shots, just behind and above the "elbow", but she was facing me, so I tried to shoot her in the head ...and did. She dropped in her tracks, just folded up, plop. I had to slide down a mud bank, wade the creek, get up another mud bank and walk a bit.

She was still breathing and there wasn't much blood, at all. Put another shot through the head, sideways. Turned out the first shot had bounced off her skull. Cured me of shooting deer at the fringe of my comfort zone. Patched round balls lose kinetic energy rather quickly after a certain point. No wasted meat, though.

I used to shoot steel silhouette with my .54 Hawken and when we got to the bear at 200 yards I could plainly see the ball " really" curving downward and this with a 110 grain load of Goex 2F. It looked more like a meteor trajectory than a shot lead ball ! I was really shocked to see it's trajectory path .

 

[deerstalkert]

this thread got me thinking about the flinter i just built, fired for function and put up. it is a .45 TMR with a Ashmore warrented lock.
Green mountain barrel, straight 7/8ths , 42 inches . 1-66 i think, haven't checked.
i got it out and with 60g fffg, .010 spit patch shot it at my 150 yard 6x10 inch steel. the cast balls i used were about as ugly with wrinkles as Maxine Waters. now i haven't ever hit that steel with my 50's or 54's.
flints or percussion. i think i am in love with the .45.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

this thread got me thinking about the flinter i just built, fired for function and put up. it is a .45 TMR with a Ashmore warrented lock.
Green mountain barrel, straight 7/8ths , 42 inches . 1-66 i think, haven't checked.
i got it out and with 60g fffg, .010 spit patch shot it at my 150 yard 6x10 inch steel. the cast balls i used were about as ugly with wrinkles as Maxine Waters. now i haven't ever hit that steel with my 50's or 54's.
flints or percussion. i think i am in love with the .45.View attachment 146254

3 shots into a 6”X10”…at 150 yrds. Awesome

 

[deerstalkert]

i was so giddy after that i had to take a nap! been trying to hit that dang thing with my muzzleloaders for the better part of a year!
from shot to ploink seemed like minutes though. tomorrow i will chrono that load. i would have kept shooting at it until i missed but the dinner bell rang.
to bring this back to the OP's question, there is not a chance i would use this load and distance on anything bigger than a turkey, and those hard shelled buggers might shrug it off.

 

[M. De Land]

this thread got me thinking about the flinter i just built, fired for function and put up. it is a .45 TMR with a Ashmore warrented lock.
Green mountain barrel, straight 7/8ths , 42 inches . 1-66 i think, haven't checked.
i got it out and with 60g fffg, .010 spit patch shot it at my 150 yard 6x10 inch steel. the cast balls i used were about as ugly with wrinkles as Maxine Waters. now i haven't ever hit that steel with my 50's or 54's.
flints or percussion. i think i am in love with the .45.View attachment 146254

Yeah, both of my .45 cal match rifles ( one flint the other underhammer) like 65 grains of 3f Goex so 60-65 grains seems to be a sweet spot in .45 cal ball shooters. Both have Green Mtn. barrels in 66 twist..

 

[frankie]

this thread got me thinking about the flinter i just built, fired for function and put up. it is a .45 TMR with a Ashmore warrented lock.
Green mountain barrel, straight 7/8ths , 42 inches . 1-66 i think, haven't checked.
i got it out and with 60g fffg, .010 spit patch shot it at my 150 yard 6x10 inch steel. the cast balls i used were about as ugly with wrinkles as Maxine Waters. now i haven't ever hit that steel with my 50's or 54's.
flints or percussion. i think i am in love with the .45.View attachment 146254

me too

 

[HighUintas]

Here ya go, OP. Plug some accurate numbers in for 200yds and see which is the flattest.

Rb ballistics

 

[LME]

I honestly don’t know that I’d say one calibre of PRB is more accurate than another. I’ve had guns, that were incredibly accurate, and I’ve had guns that I’d have a hard time hitting a barn if I were standing next to it…

I would say that the smaller calibre RBs can be more finicky to get the highest accuracy out of the gun…the .32 calibre can be very “finicky”; but once you learn to be consistent in your loading procedure…it is deadly accurate.

That ”finikyness” seems to decrease as calibre increases…bigger calibres are much more forgiving of variances in a person’s loading procedures.

I can agree with your statement,""Getting the right loading procedure down"" I have owned a few B.P. rifles during my life time and all of them were accurate. I have sighted in many B.P rifles for people and all of them were accurate as well. These rifles were Lyman,T.C., CVA ,Ithaca and the like, no junk. I never had a single one that wasn't accurate. My personal preference was the 54 cal due to its versatility. On my best day I have shot one ragged 3 shot group with it at a 100 yards. How accurate do you want?

 

[LME]

I recall reading this about the .54 many years ago and it shaped my caliber decision on my first Hawken build.

Early this week i was able to do some 200 yard shooting with a. 54 Lancaster on a plowed field. I was surprised to find I had to hold up the entire front blade to get on target. At 100 yards this rifle is dead on.

I think you mentioned something that some people don't understand. the areodynamics of a round ball leaves a lot to be desired if a flat shooting round is what you want. With that said a round ball can be deadly accurate once you figure out how much the ball will drop in a given distance. My favorite B.P. Rifle has to be held over about 8 feet at two hundred yards with the load that I prefer. Can one imagine what the hold over is at 500 plus yards?

 

[nkbj]

Yeah, both of my .45 cal match rifles ( one flint the other underhammer) like 65 grains of 3f Goex so 60-65 grains seems to be a sweet spot in .45 cal ball shooters. Both have Green Mtn. barrels in 66 twist..

Agreed. 65 grains FFFg was my load for the first rifle I ever had, a .45 bore percussion.
Pulled off some amazing shots with that old rascal.

 

[Reno]

I would ask what is it you plan to shoot at 200 yards? If it is big game then I suggest you re - think your distance. But smaller calibers can take larger game. One, you need to be a confident or a good shot and two, make sure you comply with a state’s minimum caliber requirements.
I once witnessed my father take a deer off hand at 230 yards using his 54 caliber round ball.
My father was an excellent shot and experienced shooter and knew exactly where to hold. One shot. One kill.

Not knowing your abilities or your intended target or goal can greatly affect responses.

Dad’s shot certainly was not flat.

 

[Tom A Hawk]

Here ya go, OP. Plug some accurate numbers in for 200yds and see which is the flattest.

Rb ballistics

Thanks for posting that.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

The 1000yd BP meets I attended at Ben Avery Range, AZ were dominated by Sharps, Rolling block or Martini BP type rifles. Like the old Wimbledon matches, you were throwing a decent size piece of lead a lo-o-o-ong way, with an arc like a mortar!

 

[GBG]

IIRC from high school physics, the "flatness" of an object's trajectory depends primarily on two factors: a high initial velocity and low aerodynamic drag. Muzzleloaders and their projectiles have low initial velocities and very high aerodynamic drag compared to modern firearms.

The density of air which the projectile moves through can have a significant effect also, but not at the altitudes and temperatures where humans and animals can survive.

Unless the hunter has exceptional eyesight, skill and experience 200 yards + ethical shot = modern firearms. JMHO.

 

[French Colonial]

The OP never states whether he is interested in shooting PRB or conicals, just that he wants to be able to shoot at 200 yards which in my opinion rules out the PRB due to all the factors brought up previously in this thread and my own experiences.

1874 Creedmoor match fired at 800, 900 and 1000 yards the Americans scored 934 with cartridge rifles, the Irish scored 931 with Rigby muzzleloaders.

All fired with no support (cross sticks etc.) using vernier rear and globe front sights, even though they lost by 3 points I would say those Irish muzzleloaders were pretty impressive.