Semisane

Getting back to the .50 caliber. Here's an interesting chart that helps understand the ballistics mystery of round balls.

bronko22000

Now those numbers are really pretty accurate considering a 29" vs a 32" bbl. (plus a bit of extra powder in the 32").
That should be a pretty good bear thumper. I can't wait to find out come late November. God willing and he puts one in front of me.

Blackpowdersmoke

Says you...

Why don't you come out here and huff your scrawny butt up some of these PA mountains then tell me (or bronko) we're at sea level.

BPS

super_hunt54

LMOA@ BPS. Have to kinda sorta agree with MD on that one BPS. I lived in Pa for a good bit and been hunting there for decades. Altitude is minimal compared to Colorado and other western mountainous states. I'm thinking the highest elevation in Pa is close to 4k.

MountainDevil54

that just means you are out of shape. I know round is a shape but its just not the right shape for mountain climbing!

At 12,500 theres no mountain in PA that can compare to a stroll in the mountains like this one was.

bronko22000

Well I've hunted several western states (not yet above tree line) and although you are higher in elevation from all I've climbed in Idaho, Montana and Colorado, I can honestly say that our mountains here in NC PA are just as steep. Then you compound that steepness with fresh fallen autumn leaves with some rain or worse, snow on them and you can have a miserable time trying to claw your way up to the top. The rockies are a bit more forgiving in that regard than our little appalacians. And coming down is worse yet. One slip and you can become a human toboggan very quickly.
I recall one time being a younger lad. My parents had bought me one of those "Hot Seats" for hunting. It hooked to you belt via a "S" hook, was basically a vinyl pillowed filled with styrofoam balls. It did a great job of keeping your butt warm on those cold rocks/logs. One day coming down on one of those said snow covered mountain sides I mis-stepped and slipped, landed squarely on the Hot Seat which immediately transformed into a rocket sled. I believe I was close to approaching Mach II when the seat departed from my belt. I continued on for another 30-40 yards before my feet dug in deep enough to stop me. I turned around looking up at the hillside seeing hundreds of tiny styro balls rolling down. The tattered seat laying on top of the snow. Needless to say I never used one of them again.

OldBob47

Hi, new member here. I was doing some ballistic calculations the other day. My granddaughter has accompanied my son hunting (woodchucks, mostly). I don't know if she will want to hunt, herself, but if she does, I hope she will take to muzzleloading. So, I did some calculations, based on the caliber .54. Other calibers would be proportionally similar. I looked at the 230 Gr PRB with 120 Gr of black, and the energy at 100 yards. This distance was mentioned as a practical hunting distance, and I agree. Now, take this 100 yard energy, and achieve it with a bullet 230 Gr in weight, say a 230 XTP. The increased ballistic coefficient of the bullet will allow you to get that 100 yard energy figure with a much lower muzzle velocity, using half the powder charge (60 Gr), and a lot less recoil. So, why would we subject my granddaughter (or anyone) to more recoil than necessary, to achieve the same result? Well, not exactly the same result; the wind drift would be less, also.

I suspect some people would object to the use of sabots, but they're nothing more than a thick patch, in essence.

Anyone see a fallacy in my calculations?

OldBob47

MountainDevil54

sorry bout round balls just do not complete in energy like a conical or sabot. I've never heard of anyone complaining about their round ball fragmenting on an animal LOL.

Balls just straight up kill by cutting what ever is in their path, plus bone fragments ( with any bullet actually)

If we went by ft lbs energy and whats needed, the eastern forests would still be full of elk from 2-300 years ago.

I know, "you" (not directed at anyone on the forum - just in general) lost animals with balls,You've lost 'em with powerbelts, you've lost'em with xtp's, or you just didn't get a blood trail.... Uh huh...

As for a young shooter and sidelock, You can't go wrong with a 50 or 54 and 60-70gr of powder behind that ball.

OldBob47

That solves the recoil problem, all right, but it makes the wind drift problem even worse. The 60 Gr load was what I had in mind, giving a MV of about 1450. At that speed, though, the wind drift at 10 MPH, which is by no means an unusual condition where I live, will be about a foot at 100 yards. Even at 50 yards, the windage will still be enough to drift the ball from the center of the whitetail kill zone to outside that zone. This means that even if the hunter does everything perfectly, you can still wind up with such a poor hit that the animal is lost. That's not sporting. Most hunters I know are honest enough to take the blame for a poor hit, but I wonder if many of these poor hits are not a fault of marksmanship, but a failure to use effective munitions.

BTW, I picked that 230 XTP for a purpose. The bullet has a good reputation, the velocity range is well within the "best terminal performance" range, and the lack of a cannelure might reduce the chance of fragmentation. The ballistic coefficient is much higher than a PRB; its all good.

I haven't read anything that the terminal performance is inferior to the PBR, so again my question is, why use round balls?

OldBob47

rafsob

I also have the T/C Renegade in .58 cal. and love e it. It seems to shoot the PRB better then conicals. This is what I ended up with when trying to come up with a good load:



Seems like the gun likes PRB. I'm good with that and expect to nail a nice juicy doe this year with it.