Played with my 50 cal Ky Pistol today

[Boerrancher]

I was given a 50cal Ky Pistol about 4 years ago and never messed with it. Today I took it out and was blasting holes in my daughters pellet rifle target, a soda can on a stick. It seems to like 50gr of 2F. I thought that would be too much, but it seems to make it shoot to point of aim so I am going to stick with it. I wish it was a flinter instead of a caplock, but it is still a smoke pole, so that is all that matters. It does kind of make a good companion to my Hawken Rifle.

I also have a strange question for you old timers with muzzle loaders. I had a bit of my 50/50 WW/pure alloy left in the pot and I casted a couple dozen 495 balls out of it. They looked so good I thought I would shoot a few of them, and that is what I was shooting out of that Ky pistol. I shot it at least a dozen times and never had any issues. Is there any reason why I can't use this alloy instead of 100% pure?

best wishes,

Joe

[waksupi]

Joe, I have shot pretty much straight wheel weight round balls for close to 40 years. I've won enough rifle matches, and killed enough game with them, to say I find them acceptable.

[Boerrancher]

Thank you good Sir for that nice chunk of information. I was always told, "cant shoot nuthin but pure lead out of a muzzle loader," for years and never ventured to try anything else until today. I was really impressed with my 50/50 alloy as much as my pistol shooting skills would allow me to be impressed. I can't wait to shoot them in my rifle. That may be a project for tomorrow afternoon.

Best wishes,

Joe

[mooman76]

Every once in awhile someone comes on here and says no or you'll get terrible accuracy with them. But then when you ask them if they tried it, they almost always say no. I did because that's all I had. I now use soft because I have about an equal amount of each.

[Boerrancher]

Well I guess I will just have to keep shooting my 50/50 alloy. It makes it a lot easier than emptying the pot out every time I want to cast RB's. I use it in everything from 30-06's and 30-30's to all of my pistol rounds, so I guess adding the RB to the list won't hurt a bit.

Best wishes,

Joe

[SmuvBoGa]

Just DON"T tell you pistol. Your targets don't lie. Enjoy that soft wooof.

JMc

[Alan]

The only thing you MIGHT have to do w/ WW is to drop .003-.005" in ball diameter, or load a thinner patch. I MUCH prefer WW for hunting - penetration goes way up when the RB doesn't flatten out like a quarter.

[Maven]

Joe, I followed Waksupi's advice re casting RB's from WW's and have found no meaningful difference in loading or performance. Moreover, the increase in diameter in a nominally .490" RB was less than .0005". Weight, as you'd expect, was ~7gr. less for the [.50cal.]WW RB's v. those cast of Pb.

[Boerrancher]

Alan, Maven, thanks for the info. The alloy ones I cast were out of a 495 mold and actually ended up at 495, as that mold tended to cast around 492 with Pb. As I said the alloy ones shot better, which I am sure was due to the fact that they were larger. I was not completely satisfied with my patching material, but now that the ball is actually 495, it seems to work better. It is a tighter fit that is for sure. I would love to find a yard or two of good old fashion pillow ticking. That stuff made the best patching. Now days I am relegated to 12 ga cleaning patches to get the consistency of patch material. Once I run out of that I will have to readjust everything again. I can cut 5 patches out of 1 square, which makes it nice when I am out blasting bushy tails with the 50 cal. Because I can shove a patch in my mouth and I am good to go.

Best wishes,

Joe

[Maven]

Joe, We're fortunate enough to have several fabric stores in my city. However, I get all of my patching and flannel cleaning material from Jo-Ann Fabric: http://www.joann.com/joann/home/home...oann%20fabrics They do sell 100% cotton pillow tick in various colors and thicknesses. I use the blue striped material (compresses to .015") for my rifles and the red striped ticking (.001" thinner) for my smoothbore. I think they also carry ticking made for outdoor use, which is both more expensive and thicker. According to the link, you can order online.

[Boerrancher]

Thanks for the heads up and the link, I will check them out.

Best wishes,

Joe

[Saint]

Here in Utah i get most of my muzzleloader ammo from the side of the road, since I shoot only .50 cal roundball all it takes is a walk of about one mile to pick up enough WW on the side of the road to cover 4 or 5 trips to the range. Probably have plenty of zinc in my roundball mix but it doesnt seem to hurt anything. Its so hard to get lead any other way here without ordering it. If anyone knows a local lead vendor though please let me know.

[Omnivore]

...penetration goes way up when the RB doesn't flatten out like a quarter.

Don't know what you're shooting at, but we've killed five deer with my 50 cal rifle using swaged lead round ball, and the two recovered balls were in good enough shape to reload and shoot again. MV about 1650 fps, range from 15 yards to about 85 yards. Balls that passed through left an exit hole that looked pretty much the same as the entry hole, or even a little smaller. So unless you're using more than 110 grains of Black from a longer barrel, at very close range, you're not getting significant deformation, says I, unless maybe you're hitting heavy bone. Some of the aforementioned balls cut a rib clean in two at each side with not more than a scratch in the lead.

[jnovotny]

I shot a white tail deer a few years ago with a ww round ball, it was a frontal shot the ball traveled all the way down the length of the deer. I found it just under the hide on the rear quarter. It had great penetration but not a lick of exspansion, the only marks on the ball was where it had grazed bone. Did it kill the deer , well obviously yes, but I personally like the flat out walloup that soft lead lays on a deer. I have quit useing ww for round balls, just because I feel that the deer could've just as easily got away as not. Just my 2 cents take it or leave it.

[waksupi]

Strange you get no deformation with pure lead. I have seen plenty balls recovered from deer nicely expanded. I like the harder balls for elk size critters. You can use anything for deer. Most people are using a large enough ball that they are pre-expanded.

[Hanshi]

WW are fine an there is no reason not to use them.

[Boerrancher]

I shot some of those 50/50 balls in my Hawken with a 45LC case as a powder measure at my boy's squirrel sillywet at 25 yards. I was quit impressed with the accuracy. I only missed the squirrel once and that was my fault because I wobbled off of it when the gun went off. It was a bright sunny day and I could see the balls in flight. I just barely missed the thing. 9 out of 10 isn't that bad and most were head shots. I have only had that particular gun for less than a month and it seems to be the best shooter I have owned thus far. It is my first flinter, and I am hooked on flinters now for sure.

I just wish I could shoot that Ky Pistol better. I am not sure if it is me or the gun. I have never been a great pistol shooter. I have to practice constantly. So maybe I just need lots of practice with the Ky pistol. I just hate wasting caps practicing. I use to shoot light loads with those little red ring caps that look like plastic no. 11 caps when separated. I guess I could go back to that. They are cheap enough.

Best wishes,

Joe

[jnovotny]

It was a wheel wieght round ball waksupi. Them pure lead ones really do flatten out when you smack a deer in the ribs. I am in no way sayin that you can't use wheel wieghts I just prefer soft lead for huntin, in a shootin match you can't beat them. Just sayin.....

[waksupi]

It was a wheel wieght round ball waksupi. Them pure lead ones really do flatten out when you smack a deer in the ribs. I am in no way sayin that you can't use wheel wieghts I just prefer soft lead for huntin, in a shootin match you can't beat them. Just sayin.....

Gotcha. Thought you were talking pure.

[mooman76]

I shot a white tail deer a few years ago with a ww round ball, it was a frontal shot the ball traveled all the way down the length of the deer. I found it just under the hide on the rear quarter. It had great penetration but not a lick of exspansion, the only marks on the ball was where it had grazed bone. Did it kill the deer , well obviously yes, but I personally like the flat out walloup that soft lead lays on a deer. I have quit useing ww for round balls, just because I feel that the deer could've just as easily got away as not. Just my 2 cents take it or leave it.

If'n it weren't dead you'd have had a heck of a time skinnin it.