stumped.....
 

yesterday i went to sight in my flintlock....50 cal TC hawken.......i had a box of 245gr rd nose buffalo ballets....a box of 270gr HP ballets.....i wanted to hunt with the HPs....because they are HPs..and will do more damage...and weigh a little more..but if the rd nosers were more accurate i would hunted with them no problem(deer hunting..close range) yesterdayi was shooting both bullets with 90 and 100grs of 3fg goex BP...but it was drizzling.....then raining.....and a poopy day period......couldnt get a group or a consitance of hits to save my life...i shot styrofoam dinner plates with a perminent markerdot in the center....i can focus on the small black dot on the white background very well...and the plate is roughly the size of a deers vitals...thats why i shoot those..i think i have an eye problem.....sights are blurry and the targets blurry...im going to get that check out soon!...ive been noticing it alot the past few years shooting the open sighted flinter.....so i packed up and went home.....today it was chilly..damp but not raining....so i went back..to sight in the HPs.....i started at 12-15yds....first 3 shots were touching in a clover leaf...no cleaning.....low and right.....went and cleaned the bore good.....moved the sights...first shot right through my 1/2 inch dot.....NICE...put another one basically in the same hole.......cleaned and moved back to about 40yds or so.....BOOM...no hit...BOOM..no hit......i saw holes WAY high....4-5 inches high....(i backed off the powder and was shooting 75grs of 3fg trying to slow it down and get a better twist) so i went to 20...it was 2-3 inches high.....and 4-5 at 40.....now i understand that the bullet archs and has a trajectory....but thats pretty BAD.......is that because its only going about 1500fps?? i got it good enough to put holes in a pop/soda can every shot at 20yds.....and hit the plate every shot at 40-45yds...hitting high still..clean or dirty it shoots the same......my shots should be no farther then 40yds this sat-next sat when hunting....most my rifle shots are 20-30yds.....so i should be ok.......im not happy...but i shouldnt have a problem hitting a deer in the vitals at that range....im finding out that my rifle does not like to shot bullets of any kind at ALL at any speed...why is this?? it should be a 1:48 twist barrel right?? its a TC hawken but i think it may be older..serial number is 33,XXX....its a round ball tack driver....90grs of 2fg goex, .010 lubed patch and a .490 hornady round ball and i could shot clover leafs at 50yds easy....killed a woodchuck(grounghog) at 45yds with that load..even though you guys told me 100000 times that 50cal rd balls are deer slayers i still have a doubt...and wanted a bigger bullet to do the job......just rather have a big hunk of lead hit a deer moving at the slower speeds of a ML then a smaller hunk moving a bit faster......but for the late season i know one thing......im going back to the old faithul load and shooting round balls.....ill let you guys know how the buffalo ballets do saturday i hope.....i dont think i should have a problem making a good hit....if the deer cooperate.......and even though the bullets slowed down some i dont think it will matter....do you guys think that load will perform good? 75grs of 3fg goex and a 50cal 270gr HP buffalo ballet at 20-30yds?? should i have expect and exit and a good blood trail if i make a good vital lung hit??? thanks guys.....im pumped but a little concerned.....i hope it all goes ok.............

RE: stumped.....
 

75 grains of 3f and a 270 grain Ball-et.. I bet you blow a big nasty hole through them. That has plenty of horse power for close range work like you describe. Also, do not be so afraid of that roundball. It might only weigh 177 grains, but when you put them in the right place, especially with the kind of charge you shoot, that roundball should do tremendous damage..

The big mistake I think people make with a lot of projectiles is they do not wait for the right angle of shot. A broadside shot is nice, but I actually like a slight quarter to the broadside. That way the projectile not only hits the vitals, but also strikes some of the major bones and breaks them down a little also..

Good luck to you this weekend and shoot a giant one for me...

RE: stumped.....
 

Your 75gr load will have no problem putting a deer down at the ranges you mentioned.

When you said 4-5" high did you mean above the plate or above the dot?
Also, how high above the center of the bore are your sights?

To have the bullet rise 4+ inches from 15 yards to 40 yards sounds strange to me, almost like the sights are taller than average or your speed is a lot faster than 1500fps.

At 1500fps and sights 1" above center sighting in dead on around 14 yards as stated, you should be about 1" high at 50 and back on around 80. If the sights are at 2" high you would be about 3.5" high at 50 and back on around 150. Sight hieght can make a big difference. These are approximate based on the numbers you mentioned put into the PointBlank ballistics program.

Personally I would make my sight adjustments at the longer of the ranges you would be hunting at and not rely on the closer zero except to get you on the target.

I hope this helps is some small way.

RE: stumped.....
 

thangs guys....cayugad...im defintently going to give the roundballs an honest try this winter........when i said 4-5 inches high it was that high above the dot.....the sights arent mounted high at all.....they are TCs replacement fiberoptic sights....i dont think they are even an inch about the bore center....i thought that was odd too.....i read someplace if you sight in at 13yds or so dead on it will be on at 40 and an inch low at 80 or something of the sort with a roundball...andpretty close to the same with a conical.....and tested it a few times and it works....my speed maybe faster then 1500fps...not sure..im going by the TC manual fora guestamate....numbers dont mean much to me....the holes in the wood and the exploded half gallon jug of water and the recoil and the 270grs of lead show me that it should knock the hooves off MRS. Whitetail doe on saturday....the manual is using a 275-325gr maxi and 80gr of 2f and its speed is right near 1500fps with like 1600?ft lbs of energy at the muzzle....3f does create more pressure...so greater speed too correct?? thats like shooting 80-85gr of 2f right?? or do i got it backwards?? doesnt really matter...the bullets still cruising.....i just found that to be an ODD and exzaggerated trajectory......but i had no low hits at farther ranges then 20yds........ill aim for the heart at ranges past 25yds...so if it hits high im still right in the zone........and at 15-25yds ill aim center mass of the vitals........cant wait till saturday....im pumped...hope the weather is NICEforbird hunting.....the area is a major grouse hunting area...and thats opening day of grouse...dad found an absolute honey hole when the deer are pressured....the edge of a thicket...but its still thick...and its a bottle neck funnel so ALOT of deer come by...our best morning we saw 20+ deerby 9am and he shot a doe and i shot a doe and my first buck..a nice little 6pt....alot of her reduction since then but grouse hunters pushing the thickets...bow and squirrel hunters on the oak ridges....i should be in a prime spot come 8-9 oclock....but im taking a backpack full of food and water and sitting till i cant sit...then ill stand...then sit back down...we cut a hole out of an old blown down tree...i can move in there all day and not be seen...2 mile hike to get there but its always worth it...havent been there in a season or 2 except to make sure everything was still there last week......i love the smell of sulphur in the morning...smells like....victory!!...here i come Mrs.Whitetailed DOE!

RE: stumped.....
 

I use 3f Swiss powder, 60 grains, .018 patch, .490 roundball, in my .50 cal
with terrific accuracy, out to 100 yds, which is more than I'll need in PA's woods.

RE: stumped.....
 

mauser: you should be o.k. with that load,I read your post the other day about the vent liner a good idea when installing the vent liner DON'T send it home just snug it.
I have a hawkens in a flinter 50 cal. 1 in 48 twist and what I use is goex 3f 100 grains and a wad and a .015 pillow think patch,lubed with a mix of 60/40 beeswax and lard @ a table spoon of olive oil and a hornady RB .the gun shoots better then I can see with this load