How Many of You Shoot Roundballs?
 

How many of you all shoot roundballs? If so, what do you like about them? What caliber of roundball do you shoot? What have you killed with a roundball?

RE: How Many of You Shoot Roundballs?
 

i shoot patch n ball out of my 50cal TC hawken flinter....i would kinda like to shot a big ole conical...just for the weight/shock/damage factor...but my tc LOVES to shot round balls...and absolutely hates to shot bullets of any kind ive tried..dont know why...but i can shoot touching groups with balls...only killed 2 groundhogs with them...one at 45yds straight through the boiler room like a deer off the sticks...the other was 10-15yds standing...i was standing freehand....perfect hole through the neck....

RE: How Many of You Shoot Roundballs?
 

Sharp Shooter,
Everybody shoot roundballs at one time or another and if they don't there missing out.
My 1st ML deer was a doe at 90+yds using a .54cal round ball in my T/C Hawken rifle. It was many years ago and I can remember it like it was yesterday.
The deer was gone by the time the smoke cleared. I didn't like the fact that the smoke blotted out her reaction to the hit and I didn't have the foggiest ideawhat direction she ran off. When I got up to the spot where she was standing there was a litttle blood, but not much of a blood trail.I was glad that we had somesnow to makethe tracking easier. I followed what little blood I had over the top of the hill and there she layed. She piled up less than 30yds. from where I shot her.
I had harvested many deer before withmy bow& shotgun and I don't ever remember being that excited before. I didn't know it at the time,but I was turning into a "blackpowder junky"

RE: How Many of You Shoot Roundballs?
 

I've shot roundball for 25 years or more. My favorite used to be the .54 caliber (and still is a favorite) butI do like the thump of the .58 caliber roundball. My first deer with a roundball was a doe at 30 yards. She came walking down the trail (tree stands were illegal then) and I was laying prone on the ground under some brush. I took her right through the brisket and shot all the way through her. She ran about 20 yards and I watched her fall.

I did hunt black bear with a .54 caliber but never saw one that was worth taking. I saw a tiny yearling, and a sow with cubs, but nothing of size that year. The next time, I never saw a bear the entire season. I have a person I know that bear hunts with a .50 caliber roundball and he claims that is the best close range weapon he has ever used on bear. He said the ball penetrate excellent, does a lot of damage, and usually makes its way out the other side.

RE: How Many of You Shoot Roundballs?
 

I've shot 2 deer with a roundball from a Charles Daly Hawken. 90 gr Pyrodex. The first was the standard double lung hit with pass thru, good blood trail, etc. The 2nd was more memorable: I shot her in the front shoulder, quartering to me at about 40 yards. I found hair where she was standing, but no blood or blood trail, but snow made tracking easy, where I found her about 100 yards away. I found the roundball had broken into at least 4 pieces, but they made it into the boiler room, one piece was lodged in the heart.

IM jaybe :)

RE: How Many of You Shoot Roundballs?
 

we all have t/c hawkins .50 cal. AL of them shoot the MAXI-BALL not those MAXI-HUNTER real good. i use .370 gr maxi-ball. thompson told me they get on test rifles ,3/4 inch group with the MAXI-BALL. i can touch holes at 50 yards with 80 grs.of 2f with a wonderwad and bore butter and a 370 MAXI-BALL. they should shoot well out of your gun, if not, send it in to THOMPSON.

RE: How Many of You Shoot Roundballs?
 

I use roundball almost exclusively. I play around with some lead conicals in a couple of stock T/C Renegades but most of my rifles have slow twist roundball barrels. Roundball is all I use hunting because that is what shoots best in the rifles with which I hunt and because it gets the job done for the hunting I do. I have rifles in .32cal, .40cal, .45cal that I use for small game, mainly rabbits and squirrels, with an occasionalwoodchuck, fox, coyote and a few gophers. I use .45cal,.50cal, .54cal & .58cal for whitetail deer and take an occasional fox and coyote with them, while deerhunting.

RE: How Many of You Shoot Roundballs?
 

I shoot round balls more than any other projectile , they're relatively cheap , get the job done , and they perform predictably . I shoot .50 and .54 calibers , the .54 is my favorite . I got two deer this year , a buck fawn(mistook for doe) , and a good sized spike . The fawn was taken with a 3/4 oz. 20 guage slug , the spike was taken with a .54 round ball , the first ran considerably further . I do try sabots occasionally , but I always come back to round balls . My preferred brand is Remington .

RE: How Many of You Shoot Roundballs?
 

I've taken deer out to 90+ yards with a Renegade in a .54cal and roundball. It's not something you should do unless you've practiced at that yardage andare very confident. But that's close to being the max. I would comfortably shoot in hunting conditions. Shooting powder,patch,ball is a very rewarding feeling and I enjoy it alot. There cheap to shoot and it gives the feeling of what muzzleloading is all about. I've also shot maxiballs with good success.

RE: How Many of You Shoot Roundballs?
 

I like 54 cal for hunting and 45 cal for target.25 deer 3 at 150+ 2 bear 1 at 150+ and 1 boar. I do most of my hunting with bow orX bow .Lee

RE: How Many of You Shoot Roundballs?
 

Never hunted with anything else, when using muzzleloaders. from .310 for small game, to .440, .490, and .530. All work fine. never lost an animal when hit with a ball.

RE: How Many of You Shoot Roundballs?
 

Sharp Shooter-I never hunted with a roundball,but have shot lots of paper.At 30 yds with 50gr of powder,it's a great load for the kids to shoot.Not much kick and accurate enough to keep the kids interested.

Charlie

RE: How Many of You Shoot Roundballs?
 

I swear I thought I already answered this question...

I use roundballs;

They're accurate, deadly, and they're thereal deal;

.440/.490/.530/.570;

Agood number of bucks and does;

Shoot them almost every weekend year round...

RE: How Many of You Shoot Roundballs?
 

I shoot round balls in 375", 457"(revolvers), 445", .490", .495", .500", .526", .530", .535", .55", .570",and .735". Thus far, the only RB I've killed anything with is the home-cast .500" I use in my .50 for high-accuracy loads. It weighs 185 grains, and has a MV of 1850 FPS from 120 grains of FFg.This load will stay in 1" at 100 yards on a calm day. I have only killed deer with it, but overall, the RB is just as deadly as any ML bullet, provided you don't try to stretch the range too much and are careful where you place your shots (as you should be anyway, regardless of your bullet type.)

RE: How Many of You Shoot Roundballs?
 

I shoot roundballs in two rifles. With my 58 caliber 1-70" twist, I use patch & ball. In my 1-48" twistDeerhunter that I'm passing to my grandson, it sees a Harvester 45/50 black sabot with .451 revolver roundball.

RE: How Many of You Shoot Roundballs?
 

I mostly shoot roundballs. My percussions, and flinters seem to shoot them more accurately, than other projectiles. I shoot .45, .50, and .54 caliber, and they like roundballs. I never really had good, consistant accuracy with lead conicals.I shoot almost every weekend, and roundballs are inexpensive. I prefer .54 caliber, for deerhunting.

RE: How Many of You Shoot Roundballs?
 

Shot my first BP deer this year with a .54 PRB. It was a doe, quartering away from me at about 30 yards. Shot her behind the left front leg and got both lungs and the top of the heart. Ball went exactly where I aimed.

She hunched up and sprinted 100 yards and crashed. Was surprised how far she went with a solid hit. The ball didn't pass all the way through. The offside was badly bruised, but I never found either an exit hole or the ball. All kinds of blood got blown out the entrance hole and the snow was red for about 20 ft. to the left of her trail. Used a .535 RB patched with .018 T/C pillow ticking prelubed patch and 90gr. RS. Rifle was a .50 T/C Hawken rebarreled with a .54 Green Mountain drop-in barrel. Same load shootsvery well in my .54 GPR.

I also like to target shoot with my .50s using PRB over 30gr. Pyro P. Very accurate and economical load. Even the fast twist Black Diamond shoots that load accurately. Would probably work well for small game. Normally I shoot conicals or sabots in the .50s when hunting big game.

In my .32 and .36 I shoot nothing but PRB and light charges of Pyro P. I try to duplicate .22 rimfire ballistics and get .22 accuracy in the bargain. Deadly on squirrels.

I shoot PRB because it's easy to get consistently good accuracy. Conicals and sabots are much more finickey and unpredictable.
Bob

RE: How Many of You Shoot Roundballs?
 

My 1st deer with a ML, Renegade 54 cal. used PRB about 65 yards. When smoke cleared i didn't see anything, i walked over to area Doe had been at and she was laying right there in a small depression. Have harvested several others with same ML and a PRB! It works very well i like to keep range short not over 75 yards. If i know i will be shooting longer distance i load up a conical and adjust my sight for it.[&:]

RE: How Many of You Shoot Roundballs?
 

i have harvested about 6 bucks with .50 cal hawkins t/c back in the 70s.with rb.never shot over 50 yards here in pa.when the maxi-balls were legal here in pa. i went to them. much more knock down power and i could load my gun lighter,like 80 grs of 2f instead of 90 grs for roundball. more deer are missed because of lack of practice and recoil.the best bullet, i feel out there for deer at low velocity of our muzzleloaders,is the POWERBELT BULLETS.i like the 295/348 gr ones for my t/c hawkins .50 cal over 80/90 grs of 2f geox. i only hunt bucks, no doe as we dont have doe here in pa. anymore,so why kill off what is left. but every buck i shot over 45 years ,around 35 or so, none in last 3 years do to the lack of deer here, all went only short distance with a maxi-ball or powerbelt. roundballs should be ONLY for us that take time to practice,work up loads and dont shoot over 75 yards with them.from what i see MOST dont do this and wound or miss a lot of deer.so, i would not recommend a roundball for average once a year hunter on deer.stick with POWERBELTS, they are real nice shooting bullet.

RE: How Many of You Shoot Roundballs?
 

i have a 54 cal renegade but i have yet to shoot it yet. i haven't had the money to buy anything for it but hopefully i will soon.

RE: How Many of You Shoot Roundballs?
 

I shoot RB in .45 (rifle) and .457 (pistol); .50, .54, .58, and .735". What I like about them is they are accurate and kill well at reasonable ranges, but a miss will not end up in the next county!