What can I expect from a .50 ball through a traditional rifle, in terms of effective range for good kills on whitetails? Which caliber would you chose; .50, .54 or .58 and why.

Thanks

I have a 50 and used to have a LymanGP in 54. I don't know how good you are but we used to head shoot gophers and tree rats regularly at up to 50yds. I can't do that anymore(old eyes) but you wouldn't want anyone tossing any of those at you at 200yds or maybe a bit more. derf

patched hornady's helix in my double... won't even bother with em again.

jeffe

I have exactly ONE (1) BP kill with my .54 Hawken. A nice 9 pt that dropped as if pole axed from a single patched round ball over 100 FFG. I plan on shooting a couple more deer this year with it.

I would recommend a .54, JUST IN CASE YOU DECIDE LATER ON TO GO AFTER ELK OR BEAR!! Otherwise, a .50 RB is plenty good enough for whitetail out to 100 yards, IF YOU HIT 'EM RIGHT. But this caveat applies to anything!

Hi I shoot .54 and have shot a 350 lbs black bear and a doe white tail with them. the doe was 60 yards away quartering away and hit her through both lungs and the ball went all the way through that was with a patched round ball with 100 grains of fffg. (max load on the rifle was 120gr of ffg but since I dropped to fffg I had to back off by at least 10%) the rifle was a flintlock cva with 1-66 twist.
My Bear was with a .54 Maxi- Ball in a percussion with 90 grains of fffg but this gun had a 1-32 twist.
If you are only shooting round balls make sure you get a 1/48 or slower twist 1/66 works best for round ball in the bigger calibers. Good luck and keep your powder dry.

I got a .54 so that I could use it on a wide range of big game. With a .45 or .50 I would not have felt comfortable going after bigger animals such as elk or moose if that opportunity ever presented itself. I am a traditional shooter and at the time I was making my decision I was trying to have a representative gun of every type.

Now, I do have a .45 Seneca but I would not use that for animals bigger than whitetails unless pretty close. The Seneca doesn't handle the 500 gr. bullets well. However, it will go 385 gr. conical over 80 gr. of 3F and do very well indeed. Heck it ought to, that is just about the original .45-70 load! But not with RB, strictly deer level with the RB.

Hey Doublegun,

I have shot deer at approximately 50 yards with my TC flint. I wouldn't try a shot longer than 100 yards. The 170 gr. round ball could kill past that distance but a little humane treatment of the beast is called for.

I have read stories about the .54 doing a job on elk at about 125. However, you have a larger diameter and if you're experienced enough with your rifle I guess that shots beyond that distance would be appropriate for deer.

Good Shooting,

Smoker*

Re-read Brent.

Sir: I have used both 54 and 58 rb on medium whitetail with moderate loads in both up to 60 yards range. Both work well, but I now prefer the 54 at approximately 80 grains 2f to 60 grains 2f in the 58. I guess 250 fps velocity difference in favor of the 54.

I have used a .45 round ball quite effectively on deer for 25 years. Load with 70 grains 3F Goex.

That said I am trying to complete a .54 caliber flinter.

The 100 yard limit is a good one.

When shooting the round ball bigger is better to a pt. I would not go above a .72 Zepher. But think that the .54 is a good all around cal. Though the 50 is more popular. When speaking round ball, .54 is the way to go. A .58 is ok but some times hard to find a ball at the local sports shop if you don't cast your own. If you do go with the .58 With the .50 I would limit my shots to 125 yds the .54 200 the .58 225 if you can dope out the trajectory. I arrive at these figures as I have shot a whitetail at 185 with my .54 and that round ball is still out in the woods someplace, and the exit hole was much larger than the entry. Given that the .58 should be able to power through a deer at the stated distance.

i shoot a custom made 10 bore .775 caliber german jager rifle for deer bear and moose and will also use it in africa shortly for plains game

i use a .018 pillow ticking patch a lubed shotgun cushion wad and a 660 grain round ball over 180 grains of swiss ffg black powder.

i also use a 8 bore .018 pillow ticking patch shot gun cushion wad and a 835 grain ball and 280 grains of ffg swiss

Those Pacific Rifle Zephyrs are sooooooo cool. I had an opportunity to buy one (and a "deal" as well) but I passed due to a feeling that we should pay the son's college tuition. No understanding that logic...

That is really a muzzleloading version of the 12 ga. rifles that Ross Seyfried wrote about. You can still get the Kodiak doubles in .72 cal. Some great stuff.

Hey 700 Nitro: If you want to discuss your 10- and 8-bores in additional depth, I would sure love to hear. Are these by any chance made by Jim Gefroh?
What sort of velocities are you getting? And what twists do you have in the barrels?
Thanks.

yes they are both made by jim iv known him for a while now and talk to him at least once a month

the 10 bore has a 31" barrel and has 1-120 rifling

the 8 bore has the same rate of twist

and both guns shoot 4 shot clover leafs at 50 yards with there respective loads.

email me your phone and maybe we can chat

sferguson17@cogeco.ca

700: Sent you an e-mail. I've been following Jim Gefroh's work in Blackpowder Hunting magazine. Beautiful guns!

[ 11-09-2003, 20:43: Message edited by: Bill/Oregon ]

The new Hornady "Hard Ball" should be excellent for the new twist barrels. I prefer the Maxi ball or "Ballet" in my 50/54/58.

"Alaska Bush Man" Is the Hornady Hard Ball like a wheel weight cast round ball?
Swede44mag

Swede

On the Honady Hard Ball, Please visit the Horndy Web page for info reg the Hard Ball....wish they would bring it out in 54 cal.