who uses patched rb for deer hunting?

[45-70 Ranger]

Dozens fo Whitetails, hogs, three Elk, and unknown number of other assorted varmits and such. Weapon: Kit built T/C .50 Hawken. Round: Patched .490" round ball with loads chosen for the game intended. Never failed me in over 40 years....Inline? Got no use for one. Sabot or conicals? Naw.....Round ball at the PROPER range and careful shot placement has been the order of the day for me.

The thoughts of an oldman and his old gun...we're happy.

Wade

[Shooter]

I used the PRB for years in all calibers.
I do use Minies in my musketoon.
a few years ago, I got a Encore in trade. I have been drawn to the dark side, but still prefer my .54 Lyman GPR with ball and patch.

[Alan]

I've shot a lot of in-animate objects, but no deer, so take this with a grain of salt. If you are worried about penetration, just don't use pure lead except maybe for target shooting. For .45 and up, anything from 50% WW up to pure WW should give PLENTY of penetration. And it casts easier/cooler to boot.

Alan

[405]

This coffee shop, campfire discussion has been cycled a few times

IMO, all other things being more or less equal, a conical is a better game killer than a roundball- if for no other reason than it tends to penetrate deeper.

I've heard all the stories, including, "must of missed, clean miss, or just a flesh wound- no worries" (also really common themes amongst the sharp stick flingers). I've seen and recovered roundballs from deer that were not cleanly killed or were lost and found later. Soft lead roundballs, shot at high velocities where impacts are at close range can literally pancake and not penetrate at all on even thin bones like the flat bone of a deer's shoulder. The smaller the roundball- the less propensity to penetrate. The mass to surface area of different diameter roundballs is not a linear relationship. The bigger the roundball- the better.

I've killed lots of big game with a roundball BUT I've learned to be very careful. Shot placement is critical as is not shooting too far because of the critical shot placement/accuracy issue. Also, not using the greatest powder charge or seeking the highest muzzle velocity is important- sometimes the higher the velocity of impact the less the penetration. IMO for example, other things being more or less equal, a soft lead 54 cal roundball is far superior to a soft lead 45 cal roundball for hunting big game.

[Charley]

Taken 5 of our small Texas whitetals with PRBs....440, .490, and .530. All taken at 25 to 75 yards, all lungshots, all went down within 5 yards of being hit.
What's an inline?*



* for the literal minded, that's a joke.

[thunderthud]

hey 405, that deer must have been ole Ironsides! I've shot some pretty good sized Ohio deer and broke bones & had the ball go through just about lengthwise on quartering shots. All my prb's are pure lead but I'll admit up here in NW Ohio I've never got a shot over 40 yds. Most of the woods are too thick for a clear shot. And...............you are correct shot placement is critical with any boolit prb or conical/ picket ball.

[tuckerdog]

45 cal prb 85grn ff 75% pure lead 25% ww proper shot placement = venison steaks every time. Although I've never in 30 years of deer hunting in central Ohio shot a deer over 50 yards

[mazo kid]

All I've hunted with for the past 20 years is a PRB and flintlock, even in the regular rifle season. A heart/lung shot means a deer; and lots of times the ball WILL exit the opposite side. I don't have an in-line and never will. Nuff said!

[tacklebury]

Don't need anything more than a PRB if you are limiting shot ranges. If you want to have enough impact at longer 100+ yard ranges it is better to use conicals with their greater BC and mass. There is a reason the US Army went to Minie Balls prior to switching to cartridges. It's not a thing for better it's matching the intended projectile to it's intend use and long range, it's gotta be conicals.

[Fly]

My, My I love this thread.It's not what you shoot, it's placement.A PRB will kill any
deer at 100 yards if you place your shot.It make no differance PRB or MAXIE if you
hit him the tail or foot.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Fly

[Flinchrock]

My, My I love this thread.It's not what you shoot, it's placement.A PRB will kill any
deer at 100 yards if you place your shot.It make no differance PRB or MAXIE if you
hit him the tail or foot.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Fly

I am a round ball guy and agree completely.

Idaho Ron hunts some pretty open country and needs the longer range capability
of his slug rifles. And he seems to have his paper patching down to a science.

I have put together a dedicated slug gun and a dedicated RB gun.
The slugger is a 1/28 stainless Green mountain IBS bbl on a cabellas "Hawken" stock, glass bedded and tweaked as mich as possible, shoots like a house afire with 90 gr 1.5 swiss and a 460gr No Excuses bullet. I haven't been paper patching yet,,future experiment maybe. It also kicks like an Alabama mule.

The RB rifle is a GPR stock with a G.M. bbl that I set up from a blank, in .54,
shot right through a nice buck and cut down a 2" pine sapling. 85gr 2f swiss, 70 paces.

I haven't taken any game with the slugger yet,,,seems like the GPR always says "Take ME for a walk in the woods", so I say "good idea"...

[quilbilly]

The problem I always had with conicals and deer was too much penetration. Unless I hit a large bone or did a "Texas heart shot" (no offense to Texans), the deer would wander off and I would have to guess if I hit it or not. My only conclusion was that the round ball deposited all its energy into the target every time. This is always a fun campfire debate but the bottom line is, there are no degrees of dead. Whatever works for you is fine by me whether it is an original flinter with a PRB or the most modern inline with a 500 gr conical.

[ReloaderEd]

I researched this quistion today and I concluded that patched round balls do very good on deer and including Elk. Most of the stories I read had the deer and elk within a 100 yds and usually half that. Most shots were broad side shots. One outfitter stated that most muzzleloader hunters with conicals would take shots well over 100 yds and deer did not die quickly in most cases. He attributed that to distance and that a lot of his clients were not that good of shots. Personally I have used 54 caliber RB's on deer with no problem but would use a minnie hollow base bullet for Elk if I were close enough to hit my mark. Also according to the experts, round balls generally do not go all the way through an animal and do considerable damage to the vitals. One guy was comparing a muzzleloader to a 30/30 however, they will shot as well as a 45/70 which I believe to be superior. Be Safe

[thunderthud]

whatever you shoot good luck this year and stay safe.
whatch yer' back trail.

[Hanshi]

What's an inline?*

* for the literal minded, that's a joke.[/QUOTE]


"Inline"? Something to do with computers, I think.

[Hang Fire]

I shoot tradional muzzleloaders and round balls are all I have ever used.

In pic, both of our daughters took their deer with RB that day in Wyoming. But the youngest at 14 years old got the largest one out of four at a paced 100 yards with her little short .54 percussion ML.

[Fly]

Flinchrock why did you change barrels on the GPR?Is the G.M. bbl really better?Mine
shoots much better than I can.
Fly

[nicholst55]

I normally hunt deer with a flintlock now, because anything else is just deer shooting, IMHO. A .54 patched round ball will kill them DRT, with proper bullet placement.

[thunderthud]

I shoot tradional muzzleloaders and round balls are all I have ever used.

In pic, both of our daughters took their deer with RB that day in Wyoming. But the youngest at 14 years old got the largest one out of four at a paced 100 yards with her little short .54 percussion ML.

can't argue with that!

[Pertsev]

Shot at a nice fat Maryland Eastern Shore doe a few years back. Used 90gr FFg and a patched 50cal RB.Basic CVA caplock rifle.
She was 60 paces away. After the smoke cleared,she was gone. Thought I'd missed.
She had fallen down a slight incline.The ball hit her in the neck,broke the spine. Recoved ball,it had flattened out to about size of a quarter.

If you are 80 yards or less and a good shot with an accurate rifle,the round ball seems to kill out of proportion to it's size and weight.