thanks Dan
Not having that much roundball experience Ive been worried hearing stories about lack of penetration with roundballs especially at farther distances. I was concerned that if I hit the shoulder I would lose the deer.. Is not uncommon for whitetails where I hunt at to dress out at 200. Plus the fact my are is loaded with flooded timber making blood trails very important. So no matter what I have hunted with over the years I allways wanted to achieve total penetration for good blood trails. With conicals total penetration was almost allways achieved.
I hunt now mainly with either a .54 Pedersoli Hawken or a Don Stith .58 S. Hawken or a .58 green mountain barrel in a TC stock. I'm looking forward to my first flinter. I like both Hawkens but both are pretty heavy especially the Stith.
I'm leaning towards something like a Isaac Haines or a Virginia style.
I very seldom have a RB stay in deer. Its either when fired from a pistol or on shot from the the front.
My son's first deer was killed with a 45 caliber FL using 45 gr of powder and about 40 yards or so. MD buck made it about 40 yards, ball failed to exit making it to the off side hide but apparently the hide rebounded it into the chest cavity as it was not in the deer when skinned and I figure it went out with the hear and lungs.
A 50 caliber RB at 825+- fps penetrated all the heavy shoulder muscles on a MD buck passed through the lungs and stopped under the hide back by the diaphragm have passed through the chest at about a 45 degree angle.
Shot through an Antelope side to side with the same load at about 25 yards and created a large plume of dirt in the sage brush beyond.
The friend who bought this pistol killed a cow elk with a head on head shot at close range, ball penetrated the forehead, passed through the brain, out through the back of the skull breaking a vertebrae and lodging under the skin. 5" barrel.
Lung shots on elk will be a pass through with a 54 rifle.
The myth that the RB would not kill game was the result of companies making the bullets you have been shooting. The modern ML shooters buying TCs and such had a hard time figuring out the patch and ball, pretty complex I guess and it looked nothing like the bullets their 30-06s shot. So the Maxi-ball was born. Since it was new and improved
and the makers bought advertising the gun writers immediately made the RB useless, in print anyway, (kinda like the 30-06 becoming useless with the advent of the 300 and 7mm Win mags back a few years). The public was grossly mislead.
I started shooting MLs before these things were "invented" and never even thought about anything but a PRB. Being something of a history fan I figured if folks like Lewis and Clark, Daniel Boone and a host of others managed to stumble along with the PRB and not starve I figured I could make it work too. L&C had to ORDER their men not to shoot any more Gbears. They thought hunting them was great sport and their rifles were likely 54 caliber, next option is 50 caliber.
The amazing deficiencies of the Maxi-ball were somewhat fixed by the "Maxi-Hunters", "REAL" bullets etc. I have read of pass through shoulder shots on deer with a 45 maxi and the hunters husband killing a deer the next year and in butchering found the healed wound channel.
These have their own list of problems. They make pressure to the point that the cheap locks on the mass produced MLs would 1/2 or full cock after shooting a few of them, they lacked the power to hold the hammer on the nipple and there was rapid gas erosion of the nipple. So we got the vented nipple
. These vent enough gas to keep the gun from showing this SIGN OF EXCESS PRESSURE. So the pressure problem was neatly solved. But of course they blow gas and cap fragments around, some of which got stuck in peoples faces
There were other problems as well that do not inflict the PRB.
The BS associated with their marketing is a pet peeve of mine if you can't tell, has been for quite some time...
There is a book available for download on Google books, IIRC, called "The Sporting Rifle and Its Projectiles" by James Forsythe. Anyone hunting with a traditional ML should read it.
It has some 19th century science that is well, 19th century. But his trajectories, accuracy and effect on game is easily duplicated.
If you are worried about stopping power get a rifle in 62 to 69 caliber. This one shoots a .662 ball.
Its by far the best pure hunting rifle I own. But it does use a lot of powder and lead compared to the 50 and the 50 kills deer just fine to 140 yards or so.
Its all in where the ball is placed.
Most Hawken "mountain rifles" were in the 10 to 12 pound range some were heavier by a considerable margin. My 50 caliber swivel breech weighs 11 even.
Dan
