mauser06

anyone able to give me a good estimate of my loads speed?? i cant find any calculators or any formulas online...found them for everything but velocity......just curious as to how fast my ball is cruising...just for knowledge sake...oh ya.....what about energy at the muzzle and/or 50yds...the load is a .495 hornady round ball and a.015 prelubed tc patch atop of 90grs of 3fg goex...yes...its a tight squeeze...but once its started it goes right down....and man does it shoot.....anyone happen to know a good guestimate ofvelocity and energy...or calculators for BP i can run myself?? thanx alot....just wondering.....

cayugad

According to Hodgdon's manual...

90 grains of Pyrodex RS with a patched roundball is doing 1787 fps. Goex is not quite as fast as Pyrodex from some of the people who have shot it over chronographs but very close. Since you're shooting Goex 3f I think it would make up what little difference in power there would be between the two. So I will guess you at 1787 fps. Without actual range testing, that is as close as I can get.

cayugad

This is an interesting view of the power of a roundball out of your rifle. As you can see, the roundball runs out of power a lot faster then most people might think....

mauser06

dang....them numbers look absolutly horrible!! lol......but thanks alot...figured it was cruising pretty decint...and i knew they ran out of gas pretty fast..just cant see why they dont have more energy.....i read that for deer hunting 800ft/lbs is about minimal....so passed 30yds we shouldnt be putting roundballs in deer?? heck i bet it still exits at that range!! i read that in a book somewhere once.....and guys on here say 1000ftlbs of energy is needed.......i dont know.....im not worried about it i was just curious....i know a deer aint making it far with a .495 hole in one side and ATLEAST a .495 hole or bigger in the other......or a round ball stuck in its boiler room....im not worried about it....maybe sat ill get to test it......dont know yet...dad might change his mind about going hunting.....if he does ill hunt at home for one of the big bucks and will carry the 3006 since i might have longer shots.......but i got all of flintlock season after xmas to hunt with it......cant wait......im not taking anymore does with the rifle this year though......took one monday........head shot 50yds no problem....it was a fun exciting hunt......but when i pick out the biggest doe of 5 or 6 of them......then wait for her to give me a shot and it happens to be a head shot and i take that no problem 50yds through the woods i just need to change it up a little....i wish i had my flinter for that shot.....i would took a body shot at the average sized ones...or wiated for the big ole fat one i shot to give a body shot...but a scoped 3006 made it too easy.......ill still buck hunt with it.....just because i gota count to 4pts on a side and might have longer shots.....but i think im done shooting does with the rifle for the year......meats in the freezer.....time to hunt horns with the rifle or wait till i have the flintlock to add more meat.......thanx alot...ill let you know when i take a deer with it..

cayugad

Although the numbers might look bad Mauser06.. remember roundballs have been killing deer and other big game for a long time and at some incredible distances. I think the shape of the roundball helps in the penetration also. Once they poke through the hide, there is no telling where that devil will go.

I've had roundball pass through deer all the way out to 80 yards so I would not be too worried about the numbers. I would worry more about shot placement. You put a half inch hole through a vital organ like the heart or lungs, and something is in for a bad day. Also as others will tell you, the internal damage the roundball does will astound most people. I've seen them turn to mush internal organs.

Just place your shot, and let the roundball do the rest. You will be getting and eatingdeer.

mauser06

yep im not worried about it one bit...you and many others on here told me they work way better then i could imagine until i try it.......so thats all im shooting from my rifle for now on....ill get a good shot at a deer one day....hopefully this season....cant wait.....i know shotplacement is key...as with any weapon.....alot of guys we hunt with are great missers because they dont wait for good shots......sure getting a shot at a deer coming out of a drive can be hard.....but all i do is give them a little BAH...and they freeze 99% of the time unless theyve already spotted me.....no other shooter in our group can do it like me.....the drivers take deer.....but im seriously one of the few shooters that hit and kill what i shot with one shot...yesterday was my 5th deer with my group of of the drives in 3 years....noone else has done that...and the season just started yesterday!...i dont see whats so hard about getting a good shot...and being smart enough that when you dont get a good shot dont shoot...i rather have a dead deer then a spooked one...and that goes for alot of hunters...not just the guys in my group that cant shoot for beans.....thats ok....more deer for me i guess....everyone was mad about the guy that missed 2 monsters in a field yesterday 10yds away from him....i think i was the only one smiling.....they are alive for another day....and we know where they live!.....id love to get one of them big boys in flintlock season.....we will see......