Omnivore
12-08-2013, 02:48 PM
Or "Where theory and reality collide"
Here's an excerpt from my account of this year's hunting experience. Northwest white tailed deer in this case.
I was using 110 grains Goex FF behind a patched ball in a Lyman Deerstalker 50 cal percussion rifle (24" barrel with a 48" twist);
He was about 35 - 40 yards away standing stock still. I don't remember working the lock, but I distinctly remember the sight picture. This is the closest thing to "snap shooting" in that I was walking along not particularly expecting any action. It was my first day out, I had plenty of hunting season left and was just getting a look at the conditions when all of a sudden I had a perfect target that was going to disappear any second. Although I'm standing on the edge of wide-open territory, he was down in heavy brush and woods. If he moved at all I wouldn't have a shot.
The soft lead, 50 caliber ball impacted high on the left shoulder, passing through the top of the scapula in its thin, softer area. In a broadside shot on level ground, this would cause it to exit high on the right scapula, just nicking both lungs but not obliterating them as I intended. Since I was above the deer, shooting downward, the ball then shattered two ribs, nicked the left lung, went dead center through the trachea between the lungs, destroyed the right lung, broke another rib, then grazed the heavy stem of the scapula (I don't know my clinical terms) just above the joint, busting the whole scapula into several major pieces utterly destroying it, and exited lower on the right shoulder. Now you'd think that with both shoulders hit and one destroyed, the animal would stay put, but you'd think wrong. He lumbered off awkwardly and expired some 40 yards away from where he got shot. It took probably less than ten seconds.
Getting the carcass out of that brush-tangled ravine over frozen ground was the most physically demanding thing I've done in a long time. If you ever have to move a dead body, try to have some help available. I am VERY glad that this took place in the morning-- It would have been a real pain finding and dragging that carcass out in the dark.
Anyway; the soft lead ball, weighing about 180 grains and driven to around 44 Magnum velocity, held together very well. Its exit hole, as far as I could tell, was the same size as the entry hole, suggesting very little deformation after punching one scapula, shivering three ribs and destroying the off side scapula. You could look inside the emptied heart/lung cavity and not be able to tell the difference between the entry and the exit holes without extremely close inspection.
The black powder forums are rife with discussion of lead ball or bullet deformation, even from pistols in the 700 to 900 fps MV range, and it is generally assumed to be inevitable. I too had assumed, from the talk in reloading manuals and bullet manufacturer literature, that major deformation or even break-up of pure lead would be inevitable in the 1000 to 1600 fps impact velocity range that I've been working with. It's just that I've never seen any evidence of it.
The 50 caliber, cloth-patched lead ball driven to the mid teens seems to me an excellent deer round at up to my longest shot so far of 85 yards, and probably out to 125.
So there it is for 2013, and this experience of finding little or no difference between entry and exit holes has been repeated year after year after year. Back when I first started I was using Pyrodex RS and my measured velocity at 15 feet was over 1900 fps. I shot my first deer with that load at less than 15 yards distance. Same results.
I haven't tried it on wet phone books, water jugs or gelatin, so I wouldn't know what happens to the ball on those targets.
So if I look at it from that perspective, I would have to ask;
"How well does a projectile's performance on game predict it's ACTUAL performance on wet phone books, jugs or gelatin?"
(Yes, I'm being a smart as, so sue me)
Here's an excerpt from my account of this year's hunting experience. Northwest white tailed deer in this case.
I was using 110 grains Goex FF behind a patched ball in a Lyman Deerstalker 50 cal percussion rifle (24" barrel with a 48" twist);
He was about 35 - 40 yards away standing stock still. I don't remember working the lock, but I distinctly remember the sight picture. This is the closest thing to "snap shooting" in that I was walking along not particularly expecting any action. It was my first day out, I had plenty of hunting season left and was just getting a look at the conditions when all of a sudden I had a perfect target that was going to disappear any second. Although I'm standing on the edge of wide-open territory, he was down in heavy brush and woods. If he moved at all I wouldn't have a shot.
The soft lead, 50 caliber ball impacted high on the left shoulder, passing through the top of the scapula in its thin, softer area. In a broadside shot on level ground, this would cause it to exit high on the right scapula, just nicking both lungs but not obliterating them as I intended. Since I was above the deer, shooting downward, the ball then shattered two ribs, nicked the left lung, went dead center through the trachea between the lungs, destroyed the right lung, broke another rib, then grazed the heavy stem of the scapula (I don't know my clinical terms) just above the joint, busting the whole scapula into several major pieces utterly destroying it, and exited lower on the right shoulder. Now you'd think that with both shoulders hit and one destroyed, the animal would stay put, but you'd think wrong. He lumbered off awkwardly and expired some 40 yards away from where he got shot. It took probably less than ten seconds.
Getting the carcass out of that brush-tangled ravine over frozen ground was the most physically demanding thing I've done in a long time. If you ever have to move a dead body, try to have some help available. I am VERY glad that this took place in the morning-- It would have been a real pain finding and dragging that carcass out in the dark.
Anyway; the soft lead ball, weighing about 180 grains and driven to around 44 Magnum velocity, held together very well. Its exit hole, as far as I could tell, was the same size as the entry hole, suggesting very little deformation after punching one scapula, shivering three ribs and destroying the off side scapula. You could look inside the emptied heart/lung cavity and not be able to tell the difference between the entry and the exit holes without extremely close inspection.
The black powder forums are rife with discussion of lead ball or bullet deformation, even from pistols in the 700 to 900 fps MV range, and it is generally assumed to be inevitable. I too had assumed, from the talk in reloading manuals and bullet manufacturer literature, that major deformation or even break-up of pure lead would be inevitable in the 1000 to 1600 fps impact velocity range that I've been working with. It's just that I've never seen any evidence of it.
The 50 caliber, cloth-patched lead ball driven to the mid teens seems to me an excellent deer round at up to my longest shot so far of 85 yards, and probably out to 125.
So there it is for 2013, and this experience of finding little or no difference between entry and exit holes has been repeated year after year after year. Back when I first started I was using Pyrodex RS and my measured velocity at 15 feet was over 1900 fps. I shot my first deer with that load at less than 15 yards distance. Same results.
I haven't tried it on wet phone books, water jugs or gelatin, so I wouldn't know what happens to the ball on those targets.
So if I look at it from that perspective, I would have to ask;
"How well does a projectile's performance on game predict it's ACTUAL performance on wet phone books, jugs or gelatin?"
(Yes, I'm being a smart as, so sue me)