on deer, that is, at a maximum range of 50 yards

Of course it will.

No problemo, as long as you're not taking a "Texas heart shot".

Yeah, maybe, with the right shot. I'll stick with 110 grains of Blackhorn 209 out of my Knight though.

Yes.

My load for both rifles is 60 gr. fffg Goex.






I used to believe what I read about needing 100 grains of powder for hunting loads. But experience has proven that to be false. In my experience, 60 grain loads give total penetration and large exits on deer size game.

Got one of those too, not my question.

What was the load for the bison?

If you check out The Muzzleloading Forum, and maybe you already have, you'll find all kinds of great information on the use of patched round balls. There are several guys posting over there with some serious field experience with PRB's and it's surprising just how effective they are with what most would consider minimal powder charges.

The PRB has been slaying critters pretty effectively for centuries. Other than an arrow, no projectile has been in use longer.

My 62 caliber caplock likes everything from 50 grains of 2F to 120 grains of the same with a PRB. At 50 grains it's a doll to shoot and I've no doubt it would do great on deer. At 120 grains it's all I want to stand behind. I've yet to take any game with it but got drawn for a late season muzzleloader moose tag this year. Hopefully I'll get time to hunt it. Last time I got drawn for it I wasn't able to go.

Here's a link to the Muzzleloading Forum.

Muzzleloading

That combination will work quite reliably with proper bullet placement.

The particular sidelock I am shooting is very accurate with that load so I was wondering if it had enough to get the job done.

Yes.

Yes, that's almost exactly my deer-hunting load in my older CVA cap-lock .50 caliber Hawken-Carbine with a 24" barrel (6� lbs) using a .490" Hornady swagged, rifle ball with a .016" denim patch lubed with a soft, but fairly solid mixture of bee's wax and Crisco Vegetable Oil and a load of 70 grains of Swiss FFFg.

I limit my shooting range to 80 yards or less... and, at that range, this load shoots through BOTH sides of most deer and is very accurate... usually putting 2 outta 3 rifle balls in a smallish figure "8" hole with the 3rd. shot nearby or touching the other 2 shots shooting off the bench-rest @ 25 yards.

The rifle and load are very accurate. Almost any variation in the bullet strike is usually caused by my old eyes using iron sights.


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

That load will do just fine, and a bit farther than 50 yards too.

Yes your load will do fine . In fact less will also work .. My wife has taken Mule deer with 60 grains in her 50 @40 yards . Just place your shot as you would with and arrow .
Hell I don�t even use 100 grains for elk size game in my 54 , preferring 80 grains of 3F which will drive the ball clear through at 70 yards .
I do use a charge of 110 grain when using conical, but most times the round ball is all I use .
Myself , if you want more info , I would go to the Traditional Muzzle loading Association .
TRADITIONAL MUZZLELOADING ASSOCIATION

I figure I have a muzzle velocity around 1600 fps, any idea on the amount of drop from 50 to 75 yards?

Only one way to find out.

The friends we hunt with in Delta, run MZ too. Round ball and around 62 cal IIRC. Interestingly enough I think that load is something like 60-70 grains only.

Killed the last bull moose he shot just fine and completely dead. LOL.

MY friend drop a doe at 94 yards with 80 gr of FFG out of a TC with a round ball. Found the ball on far side of where it went in. Don't need to use over a 100 gr with anything even those in lines in sabot

http://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/ctml_experiments/rbballistics/rbballistics.html

Thank you, that worked

I was not impressed by 100 gr of FFG on a patched RB through the shoulder of a big antelope buck at 75 yds. Though he did find a place to hide and die after running a few hundred yds.

Years ago I know many elk guides spent a lot of time cursing those RB shooters subsequently to finding them in bulls that were not recovered in ML season. Of course, lately we have discovered the modern elk are not as tough as those years ago and can't really pack any amount of lead. A sign of the times I guess.

PS, I'm not referring to the results obtained by expert elk hunters who put the ball through both lungs and can follow one up.

70 grains of powder should be fine. You run those heavy powder charges and I think you'll find that there's less accuracy, and will realize you're burning part of that powder down the barrel.

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Here's a round-ball ballistics chart, put in your own values and get the answer to your question.

http://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/ctml_experiments/rbballistics/web_apps/rb_ballistics.html

Sighted in to be "dead on" at 25 yard, using a .50 caliber round ball with a muzzle velocity of 1600 fps, it appears your rifle ball would drop 2.9 inches between 50 and 75 yards (3.8" - .9" = 2.9 inches). Muzzle velocity would drop 110 fps (1144 fps to 1034 fps) and bullet energy would drop 100 ft/lbs (545 ft/lbs to 445 ft/lbs).

Yds MV Engy Bul. drop
25 1336 743 0.0
30 1293 696 -0.0
35 1251 652 -0.2
40 1213 612 -0.3
45 1175 575 -0.6
50 1144 545 -0.9
75 1034 445 -3.8
100 954 379 -9.2
125 887 328 -17.5
150 828 285 -29.5

I hope this helps...


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

Thank you. I figure 75 yards is max and 50 is optimum and preferred.

I once put a .490 patched ball into a 235lb buck broadside at 25 yards using 100 grains of Pyrodex RS. Ball went through both sets of ribs but not the skin on the far side skin. I still have the ball. I don't use .50 ball anymore for that reason.

And to elaborate, the deer walked away like nothing had happened. I hit the liver and it took a while for the deer to finally stop and bleed out