.54 penetration

[Steve Patterson]

.54  Hornady RB with .20 pillow ticking, spit lubed with 80gr. 3F at 40 yds +-. I'd say the penetrate fine! Hit right lower quadrant. Steel spinner target.

[Daryl]

Rounds balls, even pure lead ones, when given a bit of speed, do penetrate considerable mild steel.

We have a lot of gongs on our bush course of fire, many with holes finally punched through form multiple hits in the same place.

The spinners meant for .22 RF's don't stand a chance.

I shot the eye bolt off one end of our hangers once, with a single shot, using my .40 longrifle.  As my load was 75gr. 3F and LHV lubed patch, the MV

velocity was 2,240fps av. At that speed,  that rifle actually pocked divots on the outside of that solid 2 1/2" round stainless bar.- at about 50 yards.  It's soft steel 3/8" bolt did not stand a chance.

[longcruise]

I've seen that same load shoot all the way through elk twice and more times through mule deer.  It's a good All around load.

[snapper]

I must be doing something wrong, my wife wont let me shoot inside the house.   

Fleener

[OldMtnMan]

That's pretty much my elk load, except I use cast balls.

[Mike Brooks]

I must be doing something wrong, my wife wont let me shoot inside the house.   

Fleener

Yep, same here. Had to change my ways and make a shooting range outside just to keep the peace around here.

[Daryl]

Yep, same here. Had to change my ways and make a shooting range outside just to keep the peace around here.

yeah - saw that in the video, Mike.

[Steve Patterson]

I must be doing something wrong, my wife wont let me shoot inside the house.   

Fleener

Yep, same here. Had to change my ways and make a shooting range outside just to keep the peace around here.

What fun is that? They must be spoil sports. 😂

[Pukka Bundook]

Mike and all,
(Re shooting in the house)

Once when we were newly married, we got a mouse in the bedroom of our little street house.
Couldn't catch it, so loaded up the 14 bore shotgun and shot at it under the bed!
Linda went up in the air, (she was in bed) and I missed the mouse, (hard to aim when the bed is near on the floor.)
Blew a good hole in the baseboard.
Mouse was shell-shocked after that and I ran him down.
I always wondered what the new owners thought when they saw that hole in the baseboard.  :-)

[longcruise]

Well, Fleener you aren't going to get 1000 yards in the house anyway.

[Turtle]

   #12 shot and lite load works on mice inside my steel siding hunting shack and only makes a small dent, BUT---wear earplugs!

[Davemuzz]

When we first moved into our newly constructed house 13 years ago, the builder had neglected to concrete in blocks that were supported by a steel beam. So, in the next two weeks I killed over two dozen field mice that found their way into my basement.

I loaded up some #7 shot in 44 mag cases (yes....I know....not a historical firearm). These shot capsule's work great out to about 15 feet.....but are just as loud as any 44 mag.

I have three areas where the mice were shot "up close and personal" which left permanent lead BB marks on the concrete floor.    And one where the angle was such that the mouse was....well....cut in half and ricocheted little pieces of shot and mouse into the 2x4 that was expose.

So.....I named the mouse "Jimmy."  And I remind my wife that......"Little Jimmy the mouse.....he's a permanent part of the house!"

She never seems to be amused.   

[Eric Krewson]

I have shot a lot of skinny Alabama deer with that load, most of the time the ball is under the skin on the far side, I get a pass through every now and then.

[rich pierce]

A couple years ago I had been deer hunting and kept my rifle loaded, planning to hunt again in 2 days. In between I broke my back. When I was well enough to shuffle around I had a loaded gun and no strength to pull the ball. Best solution seemed to be to shoot it in a small room in the basement into a chunk of wood. Of course I might not have been thinking straight. There was a huge concussion in that small room.

Back on topic: I think we overload sometimes thinking a round ball is not that deadly. Sometimes a barrel needs a heavy load to shoot well also. Then I’d pick that heavy, accurate charge.

[WadePatton]

I have shot a lot of skinny Alabama deer with that load, most of the time the ball is under the skin on the far side, I get a pass through every now and then.

Same here, nearly same load and on a quartering shot into far shoulder at 17 yards left the ball under the hide on Saturday. Then a high broadside at 100 yards left the ball under the hide on Sunday a couple seasons back.  Have yet to get a pass through on TN bucks, but prefer finding the ball anyway.

No shot this year. I'm done hunting though-got too much work to do.

[Daryl]

My last moose, took the ball just behind the elbow, broke out a 5" to 6" piece of rib and drove that through both lungs, sticking it between 2 ribs on the off side.
The ball, after going through that rib, holed both lungs with a 3" diameter permanent hole, then smashed into the leg on the far side. It broke that leg into shards,
and stopped against the hide on the off side.  The range, was about 95 yards, load, a .682" WW ball from a paper ctg. loaded with 165gr. 2F GOEX.  Except
for not exiting, it was a perfect result- dead moose. The ball had only a few marks on it, perhaps from the 1/2 dozen willows it hit on the way, or from the bones
which is most likely. The leg bones that high a good 3" thick and the ribs are 3/8" thick, by about 1 1/2" wide. Even a 5 1/2 month old bull moose calf, has 2" leg bones.
Here is a nice bull being "worked on".




Here's a 5 month old bull calf's back legs.

[Daryl]

Oh - about that .54 and penetration & what it means to big game. I witnessed a nice bull moose being shot with a 28" barreled .54 with a .535" patched round ball driven by 100gr. 2F powder.  The moose was 170yards away.

yeah- too far?

That was my "guess".

The ball hit behind the leg, low in the chest, centered a rib, bottom of first lung small hole, holed the heart making a 1/2" permanent hole, through the off side lung, just a slit then between 2 ribs and stopped against the hide. Note - the meat between the ribs is close to an inch thick, and the fat (not much during the rut) and tissue, another 1/2" or so after passing through the off side hide, tissue, fat and 3/8" thick rib, then lung, heart, lung and meat/fat/tissue - about 30" side to side.

Yes - it was a very lucky shot and if I was the guide, I would not have allowed it. However, that the ML round ball was capable, is obvious, and was not a heavy load for a .54. Most guys around here use 120 or more grains of 2F in their .54's for hunting.

If you want, you can run fpe numbers from normal velocities, right out to whatever range you want. That load was running from 200 to perhaps 350 foot pounds of energy at that range. This should go to great lengths to show you fpe and actual killing power, are two entirely different things.

Near as I can formulate, the impact velocity might have been as high as 800fps - maybe, likely not from that short barrel. That would make 335fpe or less at impact.

Forgot to note - the moose took off at a dead run, flat out for 40yards and piled up dead mid-stride. 40 yards - DRT