Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Roundball shot placement

Assuming most hunters shoot either a .45,.50,or .54 cal., where do you like to place under 50yd. shots with a roundball. I'm gonna try one in a .45 Cherokee this year. My only previous roundball kill went badly.

This is for SC Whitetail.

I lung shoot most of my deer with .54/.58 cal rb. Head shots work too. Most people try for too much powder in my opinion and they don’t get good penetration. If you insist on hi powder charges, consider adding tin to your lead for a harder ball. Pure lead balls mushroom with ease and over expansion leads to less penetration.

I shoot a .54 with a .530 ball and 90grs of 2f. I’ve not killed many with the combo and they have been heart/lung shots. I would punch a shoulder if given the opportunity with my set up.

Same place I shoot with all projectiles and arrows
Behind the shoulder through the pump house.
All animals require blood to the brain.
Wreck the pump house and you collect your animal.
Lots of people today are critical of P.R.B.'s , but I've
never lost an animal because I was using one.

Good Luck

Have shot loads of Texas whitetails with 50 cal round ball and 60 grains 3-f. Through both lungs, large exits, heavy blood trails, down within sight.

.50 RB's/50gr. FFFg, .45 RB's/60gr. FFFg. I shoot them like I would a .30-30 and then roll up my sleeves and whip out the knife. Don't overthink this.

My experience as well except I use 70 gr.'s Goex 3 FG.

Must be doing something wrong.

I'll never use a RB by choice again.
For years we were forced to, I eventually started using Ball-etts.
Illegally.


Lung shot deer can cover 100 plus yards and not lose a drop.
They might only go another 50 or 75, but without snow finding them isn't always easy. First few deer shot dropped, then ran. We recovered them. Over time there were several I couldn't believe I missed. Looked and looked,trailed as far as possible. Gave up.
Wasn't until later that I learned how far they could go before losing blood. Even then, I feel some were lost that died.
Hence, using illegal bullets.

Sabot pistol bullets, Barnes Expanders, Power Belts, there is little BS.
DRT, or a blood trail to follow.

Sure this will start a S-Storm. Seems everyone but me sees RBs as lightning bolts.

^^^^^^

Double lung

Center chest. I cast ball from Wheel Weight and it's harder then pure lead. They go through and exit and the kills are quick. I can hit bone too, and still get the good penetration I like.
I have killed big game with several muzzleloaers in my life, 50s 54, 58 and 62 calibers. I have used bullets in the 58 cal (Lee REALs) but have found a semi-hard ball to be better for hunting. Cast semi-hard they give full penetration and shoot flatter from the muzzle to about 125 years than bullets do, and in all cases I have tried they were somew2hat more accurate then the bullets. IN dedicated bullet rifle (I have made many of them for customers) the hewavy7 bullets are more accurate, giving the same degree of accuracy as the breach-loading 40-65, 45-70 and 50-90 with the best barrels and twits rate. So a bullet rifle shoot bullets best, but shooting short bullets in round ball twists seems to give me no real advantage in hunting and has a more curved trajectory with all loads that shot well enough to hunt with.
SO in ball barrels I shoot balls.
For the last 30 years I have shot a 62 caliber flintlock for all but 2 of my muzzleloader kills. A 310 grain ball gives me all I could ask for from it. I killed a moose with that rifle and the ball when clear through after breaking the shoulder.
If that's not good enough, I could not say what is.

I tend to stay forward in the shoulders, seems to give my quickest kills.with a .54 RB.

20-25.yard death runs. When I was shooting behind the shoulder runs were longer.

^^^this should be etched in stone, anything around 12 Bhn at reasonable ranges, at conventional velocity is a death sentence.

IMO, you are going the wrong way for ethical kills, use the .54 or .58 or .62, WW lead, then shot placement is not critical. Of course you can kill cleanly with a .22 rimfire, but shot placement is absolutely critical, and let's face it, few of us shoot as well as David Tubb, offhand, at a live animal. Another little detail to think about, pour a measured charge, say 70gr of BP in a scale pan, leave it outdoors, over a couple days, watch the scale pointer move as the relative humidity affects the powder. We all know the effect absorbed moisture has on BP, there goes your repeatable precision you need for smaller bore sizes.

Have killed deer with .40,.54 and .60 PRB's. If I cant get the neck or head shot that I want, I go for the shoulders.

Pretty much same thing if I'm hunting with a centerfire too.......

Shoulder or double lung with a .54 ball in front of 75grs of powder works for me.

For deer, shoulder or just behind it, depending on the situation. I use Hornady RB's and 90gr of FFg Goex. Though I just started trying FFFg Goex, looks great on paper. Never had a problem with killing or penetration with the Hornady. One large pig, only shot was the ol Texas heart shot at about 50 yards. Hit just left of center, through the lower cavity, through the upper cavity, through the shoulder and neck into the head. Didn't poke around in the head cavity to find it. I load powder, seat a wonder wad on top of the powder and seat the .530" roundball using an Ox-Yoke lubed .015" patch. Load has worked very well for me over the years.

I have never lacked for penetration with a soft lead round ball. Judging by the exits being twice the size as the entrance, They must be flattening some on impact yet they always exit.

Well if you're asking a traditionalist, he'd say the important thing is to get the shot into a place that's gonna bleed real good-- back haunches are a good place to start. That way you and the dog have a sure trail to follow. It's also gonna wear him down. When the dog finally brings him to bay, that's when the fun begins. You hop on his back and use your left arm to hold onto the neck while you repeatedly plunge your knife into the buck's chest and ride him until you feel the life leave him. A big buck will give you quite a ride, but a big bear is even more fun.

Anyhow, that's how it used to be done. Me? I poke them in the boiler room.

i shoot a left hand flintlock CVA Hawken in 50 cal with round balls and maxiballs with 70gr of Goex FFg. i like to shoot deer behind the shoulder. the deer will usually run about 20 - 30 yards and fall over. i use near pure lead and the bullet always exited the deer.

i have a TC Encore with a 50 cal inline that uses a sabot with either a .429" 250gr penta hp (9 or 10 bhn) or a 280gr WFN (14 or 15 bhn) with 70gr of Goex FFg. i shoot the deer behind the shoulder and they will usually run about 20 - 30 yards and fall over. they exit too.

i used to have an Wolf inline in 50 cal with 2 or 3 pellets of pyrodex and PowerBelts HP and Aero Tip bullets. the power belts caused too much damage to the deer (front leg being blown off, bloodshot meat, etc...) so i don't use them.