ORIGINAL: gandilamont
How far do you think a .54 cal. ball will drop from 50 yards to 100 yards?
This is taking for granted that you are sighted dead on at 50 yards.. correct?
The BC of a .530 round ball is .061 and the average fps speed with moderate powder charges can be figured at 1700 fps. I ran a ballistics program and if sighted dead on at 50 yards it claims it will drop -4.2 inches. In my shooting I find the actual distance closer to -3 inches.
What I do is take a 2" bull and at 50 yards sight in so all the roundball pack the top of that bullseye using a true 6 o'clock hold. Then I know at 75 yards the balls will be hitting almost dead center and at 100 yards they should be in the bottom or just under that bullseye. Then all you have to do is creep your hold if you are on a target range to make dead center shots at long range.
This way on deer I aim dead center of the lungs and if the deer is 100 yards I am still assured it will hit the heart and possible the bottom of the lungs. If the deer is closer I should take the top of the heart and cut the bottom of the lungs off. At 25 & 50yards I aim for the top of the heart area and it lungs them perfect.
http://biggameinfo.com/BalCalc.aspx There is a ballistics calculator for you to plug in those numbers. Remember, they are only numbers and you still need to test that on the range. Your powder charge, patch and even ball can all effect these numbers. My .54 like 90 grains of Goex 2f a wonder wad and a moosemilk patched roundball. If the target is 100 yards or closer, I will hit that with that combination.
Good luck with your rifle.