Got any supporting documentation?
 

MD54,

Its true that I'm old, but not old enough to have conversed with the Hawken brothers. Maybe we can ask Pete.

OldBob

A pure lead ball will expand on an animal 100% of the time. A 100% is a bold statement, and i'd never say it about any other bullet.

The problem is to make sure it doesn't over-expand, and not penetrate enough. This is done by too heavy of a powder charge.

I've shot round balls since 1980. Expanding is never a problem with them.

I'm not a fan of newspaper, water jugs etc. Show me what it does on an animal, and i'll take notice.

A couple of nice guys who built the best gun ever made. I had lunch with them all the time.

No....
 

Pete,

It translates well, though. Many CF hunters are using calibers with a military origin. We're many years past the butchering/sporterizing of former warhorses to get an inexpensive deer rifle, but the calibers live on. Isn't the 30-06 the #1 best seller? Used to be.

OldBob

You're fighting a losing battle with me. I have no interest in modern firearms.

We don't all enjoy the easy way of hunting.

How about catching up with the posting? You're as slow as a round ball.

Two different things.
 

Pete,

The problem is not the terminal ballistics, it is all the environmental factors that can cause your shot to go where you never intended. When that happens, ofttimes the hunter laments, "I pulled the shot!" Maybe not. I'm not saying this to give anyone an alibi. What I care about is that this misplaced shot can cause unnecessary suffering and lost game. This is due to predictable factors, and is correctable.

OldBob

Isn't that true for any round/gun? Just because you have a modern gun is no excuse to make a bad shot.

I already commented on this 50 pages back. I see more risky shots taken with big magnums than a hunter using a PRB. If anything a PRB shooter should be extra careful, because there's less room for error. It doesn't mean they don't work, but if they don't have the discipline to just take good shots. They shouldn't be using a PRB.

That's the bottom line, and you can't seem to see it. You seem to think if someone should fail with a PRB that nobody should use them. Couldn't you say that about any gun, and any bullet? One failure means failure for everybody?

Rotational velocity
 

Pete,

I think the spin is what's hurting roundballs out of quicker-twist rifles, Take your PRB out of a 1-60 at 1800 FPS. Now, if you want to shoot this out of your 1-48 twist rifle, you need to reduce the velocity to about 1440, to get the same RPM. Makes for an economical load, too, as it only takes half the powder. Probably only gives you half the energy, though.

OldBob

It's only imaginary if not in evidence. You have been on that soap box preaching the unethical practices of those choosing to use a PRB when you have absolutely zero experience with it. I feel it is supremely high headed of you to come onto a forum that contains many people with actual real life experience with a PRB and it's actual performance on LIVE GAME, not a stack of newspapers, and try to preach the unethical practice of a time honored tradition using traditional equipment.

Is it a perfect ammo to use? Absolutely not. Show me a platform that is! You can't because no such platform exists. You put a slow twist rifle designed for PRB loaded up in the hands of someone that knows it's limitations as well as their own and hunt well within those limitations and I will show you a person that is an ethical hunter. Many of us on here hunt well within 100 yards of our quarry. Me closer than most since I primarily archery hunt with both traditional stick and string as well as high speed compounds. I can lay claim to hundreds of whitetail, elk, moose, caribou, black bear, brown bear, and literally thousands of hogs. I've tested hundreds of different ammo varieties and firearm platforms. I've been called on by many "experts" in the field as well as manufacturers for testing of various instruments for hunting. What can you show in evidence to your book reading theory of the unethical practices of hunting with a PRB? Shooting it into some dry newspaper? When you have people on here that have killed hundreds of animals with them cleanly and effectively and you come on here with no experience whatsoever talking out of your rear end about the unethical practice of using this ammo/rifle combination then noone needs to "knock you off your soapbox". You are effectively knocking yourself off of it with no need of help from us.

That isn't any problem. It's just developing a load your gun likes. No two muzzleloaders shoot exactly the same. Too many variables.

My gun has no limit on powder load. It's made for the PRB, and will shoot the fastest powder charge that's still accurate in it.