Just out of curiosity, I have been working up a design for a .32 and .36 caliber conical bullet for the purpose of having a custom mold made and to be used as a longer range coyote and raccoon black powder rifle than the current round ball loads I am using, and while crunching numbers and doing a little math, I have come to around 1470 foot ponds of energy if the bullet can be driven to 1800 feet per second, at 1500 feet per second the bullet would still be rolling along with around 1100 foot pounds of energy, and at 1200 feet per second the bullet would still have around 700 foot pounds of energy. While these numbers aren't particulary impressive while working up a load for deer, it does have better ballistics than a .357 magnum lever action rifle that I do typically hunt deer with. I don't plan on using this loading as anything more than a coyote and raccoon sized game loading but I'm just curious as to what everyone thinks about a Keith style bullet out of a smaller caliber black powder rifle and the bullet being 200 grains and at a velocity of 1800 feet per second being used on deer? To me it sounds acceptable but I know there are probably quite a few people who think anything smaller than a fifty is unethical. Just would like some input on my idea, thanks.

The problem is bullet length vs. rate of twist. A 200 grain .36 caliber bullet would probably (my guess) need something like a 1:18 rate of twist to stabilize at those velocities.

They are called squirrel rifles for a reason.
I admit, though, that I'm fond of experimenting.
Is it legal to hunt deer with a .32 or a .36 where you live?
A .36 needs 40 grains or so of FFFg to push a 65 grain RB to 1800 fps. How much powder will you need to push a 200 grain bullet to the velocity that you want? (even if you could stabilize it). What would fouling be like in that pencil sized bore?
Pete

If you can get the bullet to stabilize, yes you have enough energy for deer. BH 209 will greatly reduce fouling. Your setup would be easily capable of taking deer within reason.

As far as ethics are concerned, I'd say that has more to do with the shooter than the gun. IMO your setup could be used ethically on deer.

Remember to check the laws, most states have a minimum caliber for muzzle loaders and I know it is 40 caliber here and all the other states I know of require 44 or 45 but thats only 5 out of 50. Lee

i've heard of deer being taken with 32 and 36's and expiring quickly. so if it's legal where your at go for it.

You are talking about a bore-sized conical bullet? At those speeds you will quite possibly lead the heck out of your barrel.

What lube would you be using? There are a few lubes that might get you those speeds without trashing your bore. Bull Shop has one named NASA lube that could be a candidate.

If you have a barrel of fast enough twist to stabilize a 200gr bullet of that caliber (must be a custom job as I'm not aware of any factory rifle with that fast of a twist), 1800 fps would make it a deer rifle to reasonable ranges. In general most 36cal rifles are twisted for round balls, and while I'm sure they could kill a deer I would not call it a real ethical combination.

Check your state regs, both states I've lived and hunted in have regs that would make what you are planning illegal for deer.