I couldn’t resist, had to play at longer distance with the Lyman GP .54 Cal Patched Ball, Lubed with GENUINE SKUNK, SUPER SKUNK that is. Target is my LARGE 20” Steel Plate, 1/2” Thick AR500, This Thing is HEAVY, like 60 pounds, The 230 Grain ball is NOT gonna Swing this, But you can hear the Hits. I pack this CHUNK of Steel up the Hill and get setup, the Wind Starts in, What's a Guy to do? SEND EM!! 👍

On to 500 Yards next,I Need a DEAD CALM Morning for it. I am determined to find where the Ball say’s i Quit? This 230 Grain .535 Diameter Ball from my .54 would stil be LETHAL at 325 Yards from what i seen. No one should EVER attempt such a thing on Game Though!!! But if i were in a Fire Fight up there this evening at 325 Yards, i would have Shot my way out of it and made it home 👍

Do you make your own round balls? Some say they are more accurate.

Not these, i do cast almost everything imaginable for Muzzleloaders Though, From Grease Groove To Paper Patch, but I haven’t started Casting 54 Roundball yet. Reason being, i wanted to test accuracy difference between the .530, and .535 Ball Before I Buy a Mold. These Roundballs are Hornady .535 Diameter 230 Grains

Daniel Morgan might disagree in regards to fair range for patched round balls. Of course his boys were using flintlocks instead of those newfangled percussion caps. It is scientifically verified that what goes up, must come down. Our job is to make it land in the right place. Wind separates the men from the ladies.

So .535 balls with .18 thick patches. Is it hard to drive those home when loading? My CVA .54 Hawkins loads pretty snug with .530's and .10 Ox Yoke patches. I've never taken it out that far, and 2F Goex is my powder of choice, also running 80 grains.

It’s a Tight load, But with my Solid Brass Range Rod they go right down 👍

My old, back in the day, Douglas-barreled .54 plains rifle would shoot .535’s and a .017" patch pretty much all day. Not hard to start either. Busted an 8- point with it at close to 175 yds with 3 witnesses. That was back in ‘78 when I could still see. Thing weighed almost 11 pounds. But I was young

Good post guys. It brings back many good memories. My 54 Hawken that I built back in 79 (I think), had a Green Mtn. barrel. and I used a 535 Hornady round ball with .015 patches and it was easy to load and very accurate. Also used 100 grs. of FFF black powder for the shots 100 yds and over. (hunting loads) . The longest kill I ever made was a Mulie doe at 250 yds. I wouldn't have tried it if I wouldn't have had my 30-06 laying on the seat of my truck for back up!
I still have that rifle and all of the fix'ns. I wonder if I can still shoot it like I used to.
Like kaywoodie, ---I was young,

Great shooting Idaho, like following your video and shooting buddy. It’s a blast watching you hammer steel with those rifles.

Good Stuff

What/whose side mount bracket for your aperture sight are you using??

Lyman 57 GPR on this Rifle

Anyone that might wonder about my Front Globe. It is the Lyman 17 AHB 3/8 (.375) Dove at .404 high, which is the Lowest Globe that Lyman Makes. Lyman Rifles have European Dovetails which are Metric .360, Lyman makes only 1 European Dove Globe, it is the 17 AEU and is .464 High. Since i prefer the lowest AHB Globe and it is American 3/8 (.375) I Opened the Barrel dove with a Dovetail file to Accept American 3/8 Sights.

I prefer my Peep Bridge nice n low When Zeroed at 100 Yards. The Lyman 17 AHB Allows me to do that

That’s awesome!!!