80 or 90 grains of Pyrodex RS (I forget which charge anymore) and a patched roundball penetrated two deer at 80 yards. Well 80 yards and 15 additional feet. I know this for a fact. A roundball has excellent penetration. On a different forum a person told of a friend who shot a moose with 90 grains of Pyrodex RS and a .530 patched roundball, killing it with the one shot. The amazing thing ... the moose was 160 yards away.

During the Civil war it was not uncommon for the defending side to shoot a volley of ball at the other side. Some of these shot were over 300 yards. While the ball might not kill on the spot, there was a high chance that they would cause a mortal wound.

Who ever told you that 30 yard thing was talking numbers. They are talking numbers on paper, not actual hunting experiences. They want X amount of down range energy from the projectileto kill X pounds of animal. Granted a roundball does not look all that well on paper, but in the field they work beautiful. They do not take into consideration that you put a 1/2 inch hole through the heart of a animal, it will be dead sooner or later.

Practice with your rifle and load. If you can place that ball at 100 yards, and get a good broadside shot, let the deer have it. You might have to track it 100 yards, but it will die if you put that ball in the right place. Most people fail in this when they do not track them far enough.

A little story.. I had the opportunity to help a person that shot a deer. He used a roundball. He had tracked it about 50 yards and said.. well I was sure I hit it, since the deer spun out when I shot,then got back up on its feet, and ran off. But I must have missed the vitals. He was about to walk off, when I asked him to hang with me a little longer. About 70 yards further we found his deer. Shot right through the lungs. I was surprised the deer ran as far as it did, but this person was ready to give up... He did not get complete pass through, and we did not find blood for over 70 yards. In his case the deer's lungs had to fill with blood before some would spill out I guess.