Go Figure

[Dphariss]

YEARS ago. It was proven in India and Africa that a HARD cast RB would work better on “hard” targets than soft conical bullets. All these things, for the most part are modern constructs to be sold to people who think their ML ought to shoot a bullet that is more like what their 270 shoots. Ignorant gun writers in the 60s and later did not help. The drivel they started writing about the RB was just that. People that were already hunting with the round ball and had for some time were like “#$! over?”  Reading Forythe, Selous and Baker all tells the same story.
Soft lead is not a good idea on this critter of this size IMO.
Further, in slow twists they may not track straight it they encounter something “hard”. The really blunt ones might be OK. But I have “trust issues”.  Expansion is irrelevant in this case and in most cases with calibers 50 and over.
If I were going after something capable of great bodily harm I would make something like this in a caliber over 20 bore. But I already have one for a one ounce ball.
Works as well with wheel weight alloy as with pure lead. But it has very wide and fairly shallow grooves. .008 or so 80” twist. Forsythe states that in his opinion was the minimum for large game in India.  Finally John Taylor in “Pondoro” tells of killing a number of African Elephant and some Rhino with a 10 bore smooth gun using (IIRC) 6 drams of powder and hard RB.
And I am very familiar with elongated lead bullets of various shapes, types and alloys on deer and elk just not from MLs. BP velocity and otherwise.

Well that's delicious. Bbl diameter/ swamped? Designed after any particular maker?

Its sorta patterned after a Tatham trade rifles of the 1820 era. You can find them in Dewitt Bailey’s “British Military Flintlock Rifles”.
However, it is heavier than most English rifles would be having a 1 1/4” breech and 1 1/8” muzzle 29 3/4” with the breech.
Nock breech and a recessed breech Manton rifle lock from The Rifle Shoppe.  Really good lock, maybe the best I ever shot, but required making a number of internal parts from bar stock and a 1095 face on the frizzen. According to Forsthe its the lightest (16 gauge ball) that anyone would use for heavy game in India. With 140 gr of FF Swiss it duplicates Forsythe’s 14 bore (69 caliber) percussion rifle velocity using “Halls #2” powder and I think his barrels were 26” or so. I ran his trajectories though a ballistics program years back and came up with 1600 FPS.  Given how the Europeans label power granulations he may have been using something like Swiss FFF.  But at this point its impossible to really know. #1 today is FFFF IIRC correctly. Remembering that some shooters DID use finer grained powder at the time than we might expect today and Forsythe states this.

[Daryl]

In my .69, I found 3F to give slightly lower velocities than 2F - both GOEX, all the way from 82gr. on up to 6 drams (my 6 dram measure throws 165gr., rather than 163.8gr.).
I do think the 3F kicks more, though cannot be sure.
This is 140gr. 2F GOEX in this rifle. Taylor caught the firing picture at almost "full recoil".
Note that this gun design, drives the shoulder down as well as back. This direction of movement, down and back (the elbow has dripped in recoil) tends to raise the cheek off
the stock, rather than smacking it.

[smylee grouch]

I'm thinking the drop, cast off and Pitch of the but angle creates that downward movement "Nuge" which is IMHO one reason the English stock style is a more comfortable style with " real gun-real kickers".

[Daryl]

I agree pitch has a lot to do with it. This is my 'target' rifle.

[Jeff Murray]

Maybe MM should take one of you mega bore boys along to back him up if he stalks a 4-500 LB "poor man's grizzly".  Don't want him ending up like Hatchet Jack.

[Daryl]

His .54 will work just fine, as long as he feeds it well.

[MuskratMike]

Well Monday I am off to Colorado for the boar hunt. It will take 2 1/2 days to get there (with gas prices the way they are not going to be fun paying this). I have made my decision my first shot will be with a .530 traditionally patched round ball over 75 grains of Goex 3F. Any follow up shots will be with the round nose hollow base bullets (as I can reload quicker with them). Will post results and photos when I get back. Wish me luck!

[Daniel Coats]

Good luck Mike!!

[Daryl]

Well Monday I am off to Colorado for the boar hunt. It will take 2 1/2 days to get there (with gas prices the way they are not going to be fun paying this). I have made my decision my first shot will be with a .530 traditionally patched round ball over 75 grains of Goex 3F. Any follow up shots will be with the round nose hollow base bullets (as I can reload quicker with them). Will post results and photos when I get back. Wish me luck!

That should kill a pig.
best wishes

[flinchrocket]

Might as well reload with a roundball, because there’s a good chance you won’t get a second shot.

[Darkhorse]

I only shoot patched roundballs. But if you need a second shot and feel comfortable with a bullet and can load it faster, then I see nothing wrong with it.
Because....
If you need a second shot you probably needed it a few minutes ago.
But for the record, I'm going on 70 years old and I've lived and hunted in wild hog infested land since I was about 20. In all those years hunting with a recurve and compound bows, and with my black powder guns and conventional guns, I have only had one hog actually charge me to do harm. Fortunately I was a lot younger than 70 and still able to shinny up a tree.
My age is a major reason I carry a backup in a shoulder holster.

[Jeff Murray]

Saw a video clip the other day of a wild hog in a town (don't remember where) run into a store and jump the counter trying to get after the folks behind it.  Trees are your friend when hunting critters with cutters.

[Daryl]

Mike- have you tried paper ctgs. for a fast second shot?
I found I could reload and shoot an aimed shot, 8 seconds after the first, using my .69 cap lock.
I did practice this a few times to get the speed up.