Terminal Effect of Roundball?

[1Hawkeye]

I know a lot if ground hogs I hit with a .36 or .40 cal round ball from 20 to 80 plus yards just kinda shuddered and fell over dead. Lots of the time there was no exit wound. At over 100 yards the round ball does run out of steam fast but on the other hand its small sectional area means that the crosswinds don't have as much effect on its path. When NASA does impact studies in a vacuum environment they use small steel round balls because of something to do with physics and impact force. I wrecked a friends steel target one time because he insisted I shoot at it with a .45 caliber flintlock. "It won't hurt it its an inch thick and rated for.44 mags" At 25 yards that .440" dia round ball with 60 grs of 3fg put a better than 1/2" deep 1/2"diameter crater in it. When he saw the crater I said "I told you so, round balls and steel don't play well together" Then I explained about the NASA thing he's got an engineering degree so it made sense to him I guess.

[rodwha]

I know a lot if ground hogs I hit with a .36 or .40 cal round ball from 20 to 80 plus yards just kinda shuddered and fell over dead. Lots of the time there was no exit wound. At over 100 yards the round ball does run out of steam fast but on the other hand its small sectional area means that the crosswinds don't have as much effect on its path. When NASA does impact studies in a vacuum environment they use small steel round balls because of something to do with physics and impact force. I wrecked a friends steel target one time because he insisted I shoot at it with a .45 caliber flintlock. "It won't hurt it its an inch thick and rated for.44 mags" At 25 yards that .440" dia round ball with 60 grs of 3fg put a better than 1/2" deep 1/2"diameter crater in it. When he saw the crater I said "I told you so, round balls and steel don't play well together" Then I explained about the NASA thing he's got an engineering degree so it made sense to him I guess.

Actually the ball has the worst BC because of its poor sectional density. It’s more effected by a crosswind than a bullet. Look up similar caliber bullets and compare that to the round ball.

A .451” ball has a BC of .064. A 185 grn XTP has a BC of .139 and a 230 grn XTP has a BC of .188. The higher the BC the better it defies the wind.

[FrontierMuzzleloading]

BC is modern day **** for pointy bullets and LONG range shooting.

Our state allows a 85gr .243 for elk and moose. Shows how much sense they have. Then again, if treated in a responsible manner, like most traditional hunters out there, a .243 will kill elk and moose, just not wise at long range.

[rodwha]

BC is modern day **** for pointy bullets and LONG range shooting.

What??? BC just is and it certainly means something to a RB even to 50 yds all depending.

My ballistics calculator is set for 900’ elevation for where I am. This is roughly what I estimate 70 grns of 3F T7 to do for a 177 grn .490” patched ball with a zero set at 100 yds with figures for every 25 yds. This gives me an 1830 fps velocity. Granted the low BC value doesn’t negatively effect the drop too much to be concerned about out to 125 yds but it certainly effects the wind drift, which is what was mentioned, even with a light 10 mph 90* crosswind.

With a very light 5 mph crosswind it drifts 0.3”, 1.2”, 2.8”, 5.1”, and 7.9”.
At 10 mph it drifts 0.6”, 2.4”, 5.6”, 10.2”, and 15.9”.
At 15 mph it drifts 0.9”, 3.6”, 8.4”, 15.3”, and 23.8”.
And at 20 mph it drifts 1.2”, 4.8”, 11.2”, 20.3”, and 31.8”.

Pretty drastic when it gets a bit breezy actually. But even at 10 mph, which isn’t real that bad it makes a 100 yd shot a bit questionable. Even a 75 yd shot is a bit much. I can estimate distance we’ll enough but judging wind speed and direction not so well.

[triggerhappy243]

BC is modern day **** for pointy bullets and LONG range shooting.

Our state allows a 85gr .243 for elk and moose. Shows how much sense they have. Then again, if treated in a responsible manner, like most traditional hunters out there, a .243 will kill elk and moose, just not wise at long range.

Jon, Use a more polite word in place of**** so I can understand what you are trying to say.

[FrontierMuzzleloading]

Starts with a c and ends with a p.

[triggerhappy243]

Starts with a c and ends with a p.

B.C. is modern day excrement?

B.C. stands for ballistic coefficient. Do you Not understand where B.C. comes into play?

[Good Cheer]

Short boolits (round ball) accelerate quickly which generally makes them a good choice for muzzleloaders at open sight distances because it ups their rate of displacement on game. That's cubic inches per second not foot-pounds.

[Bigslug]

A 54 cal. patched RB entered through near shoulder quartering on and found in front of the off side ham looking like a little flying saucer for the 1950's movies. It was about the diameter of a quarter with about half the ball looking untouched.
The deer never moved a step.

Sounds like a soft tissue broadside on a moose won't stop one, but an initial bone hit and a long pass through most of a deer will. . .and that weight retention is not a concern.

Good intel guys! Keep 'em comin'!

[KCSO]

I have saved recovered round balls for years and have a small drawer full. Depending on what they hit they may or may not expand but over 50% show full penetration side to side on game as large as Buffalo. They will break into the brain cavity of a buffalo with a 490 ball and 90 grains of FFG. With 75 grains of FFG the same gun will shoot through a buff side to side and leave a 2" hole on the off side. If you PM me I will send you some pictures but I lost my photo program and can't shrink to fit here any more.

[Soundguy]

Nice ballistics software. Would you mind running a number for my 69 cal PRB? It shoots about a 461 grain ball over about 70 grains pyrodex RS. My max range is 70 yards. Thus I'm shooting at 25, 50, and 70. In florida if you need that for sea level calcs or anything.

What??? BC just is and it certainly means something to a RB even to 50 yds all depending.

My ballistics calculator is set for 900’ elevation for where I am. This is roughly what I estimate 70 grns of 3F T7 to do for a 177 grn .490” patched ball with a zero set at 100 yds with figures for every 25 yds. This gives me an 1830 fps velocity. Granted the low BC value doesn’t negatively effect the drop too much to be concerned about out to 125 yds but it certainly effects the wind drift, which is what was mentioned, even with a light 10 mph 90* crosswind.

With a very light 5 mph crosswind it drifts 0.3”, 1.2”, 2.8”, 5.1”, and 7.9”.
At 10 mph it drifts 0.6”, 2.4”, 5.6”, 10.2”, and 15.9”.
At 15 mph it drifts 0.9”, 3.6”, 8.4”, 15.3”, and 23.8”.
And at 20 mph it drifts 1.2”, 4.8”, 11.2”, 20.3”, and 31.8”.

Pretty drastic when it gets a bit breezy actually. But even at 10 mph, which isn’t real that bad it makes a 100 yd shot a bit questionable. Even a 75 yd shot is a bit much. I can estimate distance we’ll enough but judging wind speed and direction not so well.

[rodwha]

Nice ballistics software. Would you mind running a number for my 69 cal PRB? It shoots about a 461 grain ball over about 70 grains pyrodex RS. My max range is 70 yards. Thus I'm shooting at 25, 50, and 70. In florida if you need that for sea level calcs or anything.

So Lyman’s Blacklowder Handbook only goes up to .58 cal and the site I find the BC values just goes up to a .570” lead ball. However I found a formula for figuring the BC of a lead ball which is:

Weight /(10640*diameter in inches*diameter in inches) = BC

You mentioned a weight of 461 grns which I figure to be a .675” ball as a .678” ball weighs 493 grns. Using the formula it has a BC of about .0951. However Hodgdon’s site doesn’t give velocities for their powders above .54 cal. You’d need to use a chronograph to figure that out.

The ballistics calculator I use is a phone app called Bullet Drop. It’s free.

[Soundguy]

Thanks, and yes you were correct. I use a .675 ball and ticking. Makes a great fit.

Thanks for the info!