Patched round ball for elk mountain

Loaded with a patched round ball or conical nonjacketed projectile comprised wholly of lead or lead alloy. In my circles it was very common for elk hunters to step up to the 54 cal. I learned some years ago after many lessons that i do a lot less chasing after i hit a deer with a round ball. Most fast twist guns have shallower grooves than are usually seen with slow twist rifles primarily meant to shoot round balls. In our local woods most of my firearm kills are under 45 yards. Percussion ignition for thompson center hawken rifles.

Black powder deer hunting using a patched round ball from the ground. Id think that if the patched round ball in those calibers was ineffective they would have gone to guns with larger bores. While i personally feel it is great that the hunter who wants the challenge of getting very, very close and taking his or her elk with an old style muzzleloaded rifle and patched round ball has that opportunity, i also feel that it is not only wrong but unethical for a game department to prohibit the modern day muzzleloading hunter from going. The smoothbore would be for hunting elk and deer in our local area, because it is now shotgun only.

Hunts are 7 days one day in,one day out and 5 days of hunting. The patched round ball group was two inches and the maxi ballet group was. Nov 10, 2017 black powder deer hunting using a patched round ball from the ground. Legal hunting methods and weapon restrictions oregon.

Bullets are not an option, since the rifling is slow twist and very deep old sharon barrel. It was the lackluster performance of the old patched round ball rifles that opened the. For me, round ball loads tend to shoot higher than point of aim in a revolver and lower than point of aim from a rifle. Concerning patched round balls, its prudent to measure the actual bore diameter and, after deducting the. Poking a long hole in any animal smaller than a fullgrown holstein will put it. Stock up your favorite black powder supplies like round balls with the wide selection of items we have here at. An old rule of thumb for black powder starting loads using round balls is 1 grain volume per caliber ie. During the muzzleloading firearms seasons for deer, elk, pronghorn, bear, and. Faithful reincarnation of a civil war era cap lock muzzleloader.

The big flintlock rifle fired without any hesitation at all and i saw the dead coyote go skidding out from behind the rifles cloud of smoke. My elk load, at docs recommendation, is 200 grains of ffg but i have yet to use that load in the field. From the field muzzleloader regulations idaho fish and game. Poking a long hole in any animal smaller than a fullgrown holstein will put it on the ground. But, when i decided to hunt elk with a muzzeloader, i decided to switch to a 54 because i heard a lot of stories about hit and lost animals with the 50. When i hear of hunters who lost an elk after shooting 4 or 5 shots from their rifles at 500 yards, im glad that i use a muzzleloader and actually hunt my elk.

Patched round balls, leave a big entrance hole and a 12 exit hole. Any experience with shooting elk with a 50 caliber patched round ball. Small game hunting mountain man style bushcraft usa forums. Includes 1200 grains of extra fine black powder, 10 flawless. Prbs in 45 and 50cal may do just fine on deer, but until you shoot an elk or buffalo with a 175gr round ball and report back on it, i dont care what book you read, says. Major ferguson of the british army was killed at kings mountain by a 40 ball. My forty ball shooter has taken many deer with 65grs. Ive shot 10 elk with blackpowder and a bunch of deer.

Those heavier conical bullets are a little better suited for longer range shots as well as for use on bigger game like elk, bear, and moose than round balls. Probably the best description i ever heard or read about the lethality of the round ball was coined by sam fadala, i believe. Additionally, the great plains hunter rifle still shoots a patched round ball pretty well for those hunters who want a little bit of flexibility with their bullet choices. Because it is such a tight fit, i run a wet patch and a dry patch after every shot. While thats not exactly 100percent correct, the number of shooters and hunters who still do has been in a serious downward spiral for most of the past 20 years. I personally like a big boolit with a decent meplat, they hit like the hammer of thor round ball would be my last choice for elk, other than bangin targets i have zero use for round ball, a turd would have a better ballistic coefficiency, ill stick with my paper patched and sized hammers for game.

A patched round ball kills all out of proportion to its paper ballistics. This evening i skinned and quartered the carcass of the. Ive used balls cast from wheel weights and havent found a great deal of difference in accuracy between them and pure lead balls. Experience how it was done back in the days when all you had was one shot, a bang and a wall of smoke.

Now im not sure if the patch gets spun off the ball or if patch and ball just skims the rifling but either way a round ball wont shoot for squat out of a fast twist barrel unless you cut the powder down to an absolute minimum which makes it impractical for most purposes. Out of a 36inch barrel, this load is capable of 1,960 f. Ff powder, pillow ticking patchbore butter, from a deer. Out of a quality bore, a properly loaded patched round ball can prove deadly accurate at the ranges it was truly intended for and that is 25 to 50 yards. Please note that what patch thickness you use will also play a part in what ball size to use. Fully assembled, this nice barrel assembly is newin. That ball isnt made for big game all the typical brain washed fubar where some think you need plastic, ss, scoped and high priced pretty shaped bullets in order to. What started as a small dream has become a multimillion dollar international business selling ammunition, reloading supplies and accessories. Most muzzleloading hunters would consider the pedersoli. It is a round ball gun and my standard load is 100 grains of ffg with a patched round ball. Money cant buy you happiness, but it can buy you a hunting license and thats pretty close. Virginia used to have moose and elk and even bison. Shenandoah 36 caliber cap an ball 20 shots no cleaning and a squirrel to boot duration.

Patched round ball gun and game the friendliest gun. Several side hammer round ball guns are available in. Equipped only with a flint, percussion cap or musket cap. That ball isnt made for big game all the typical brain washed fubar where some think you need plastic, ss, scoped and high priced pretty shaped bullets in order to down game. No sir, the paper ballistics do not indicate a very effective projectile. Hello, im looking for guidance on loads for my recently completed. I have read many postings on various sites, in addition to your own, regarding the outstanding accuracy that shooters are getting from your bullets in their muzzzleloaders. Mine was shot on opening morning of my third deer season back in 1964. It is still a popular choice in the rocky mountains for elk and dangerous game. Loaded with a patched round ball or conical nonjacketed projectile. A conical or a saboted projectile is a much better killer at longer ranges.

The future of traditional muzzleloader hunting by toby bridges north american muzzleloader hunting association during a phone conversation with another muzzleloading writer earlier this week, i mentioned the decline in traditional muzzleloader shooting and hunting. How to build the best muzzleloader rig for western biggame. Equipped with only with flint, percussion cap or musket cap. When i said traditional i ment that on muzzleloader only hunts you have to have open sights, scopes are prohibited, sabots are prohibited, your projectile must fit within ten thousandths of the barrel or something like that, most conicals are okay, and of course the old patched round ball is good to go. My current rifle is a reproduction lemen plains rifle made for me by doctor gary white. The future of traditional muzzleloader hunting mule deer, elk. I am a 75100 max range shooter that is the speed limit i believe a blackpowder muzzleloader puts on the hunter. In other words an equal amount of powder especially for target shooting. Most of the elk i have killed were hit in the lungs and immediately dropped with a 54.

We limit our deluxeguided hunts to four hunters per camp unless your group has more than 4 hunters in it. I shoot a 50 cal flintlock tennessee mountain rifle. This evening i skinned and quartered the carcass of the deer. Experimenting with patches and lubes is one of the fun things about round ball shooting for me. Not much has been written recently about the effectiveness of round ball loads on deer and larger game.

Also, traditional muzzleloader only shooting orgnizations generally require the use of patched round ball only during official muzzleloading target competition. It was by far the most accurate load in that gun, and while labeled light by a lot of guys, it killed with alacrity. More recently, i installed one of the green mountain rifle barrel co. This should be a mild load, i ended up with a 90 grain load for my 50 cal using round balls. What matters is the rate of twist coming out of the barrel. But i did find wheel weight balls were more particular as to patch thickness. With 8 ounces of pressure, the hammer fell, sending the 45grain patched round ball skyward in a plume of white smoke. Apr 15, 2009 the round ball is very effective if youre a good enough hunter to close up on game. Big game in this state, as in most states, means whitetail deer and black bear.

Sep, 2016 i have been mulling over building a couple of muzzleloaders. His load consists of 225grains of ffg black powder behind a patched 480 grain ball. And they have some advantages over conicals that outweigh their. Light muzzleloader loads for patch and round ball, a lot of ole timers used to tell me that for a patch and round ball all you really need was just enough powder to cover the ball in the palm of your hand. I harvested a black bear a couple seasons back with a 54 cal flintlock. American rifleman cabelas pedersoli blue ridge rifle. Using this method, i have shot my flintlock 100s of times without a full cleaning. The ads clearly imply that a round ball will bounce off a deeror at the very. Equipped with an ignition system in which any portion of the cap is exposed or visible when the weapon is cocked and ready to fire. More than anything, it is the lackluster performance of patched round ball loads that make. Btw i have killed deer and elk at closer at 100 yds on occasion with rifles although, i limit myself to about 50 yds with my smoothbore trade gun. Killing power of patched round ball prb the high road. Youll find your gun will be a lot more accurate with patched ball with a 1 in 66 to 1 in 70 twist barrel. I was reminded of this fact last month when i used an original.

For elk, i use a 290 grain barnes tez sabot and bullet with 120 grains of pyrodex. Round balls in fast twist rifles white muzzle loading. My particular rifle is sensitive to the patch lube used, but not to the extent you are talking about. A round ball doesnt touch the rifling itself, the patch does. I am somewhat confused about the maxi ball, as this is my only bp gun that is not a smoothbore. Its well known that round balls loose speed and energy quickly and arent the greatest penetrators. Mountains were originally settled by people armed with rifles shooting round balls. Use this simple five step sequence every time you shoot and groups will shrink and velocities will stay constant, shot after shot. The 4045cal were the preferred deer round ball in the eastern half of the usa. During the idaho muzzleloader hunting season, including general anyweapon seasons and shortrange hunts, it is unlawful to pursue or kill big game animals with any muzzleloading rifle or musket that is less than.

Elk, on the other hand need a lot more penetration than a round ball can give unless you are very close yes i do use roundball on combined hunts in the elk jungles of the washington coast but a bayonet will occasionally work there. Bumping a round ball to the proper diameter is the only way to get any accuracy from them. How much powder should i use with roundballs, 435gr. Traditions hawken woodsman muzzleloader deer hunt youtube. The patch round ball challenge long range hunting forum. You dont have to shoot many elk out near 100 yards with a 50 cal round ball before your left wanting more penetration. I thought it would have been reversed, but it is not so. That would echo my experience as does frontiers pictures and experience. That was a mistake, mister squirrel, i thought to myself as i shouldered the rifle. Back during the 1960s and early 1970s, when interest in shooting and even hunting with a muzzleloader began to win over more and more modern day shooters, the patched round ball was still the most widely used muzzleloaded projectile. Stoked with upwards of 100 to 120grains of ffg black powder behind a tightly patched 230grain. Traditional hunters in ca appreciate having a patched roundball option for their old slowtwist rifles my jim chambers isaac haines flinter was not made to sit on the rack during hunting season.

With having filled my doe tag, the ultimate tag left to fill was my bull elk tag, which i felt would be impossible due to the bulls not reacting to the calls. The barrel, plug, adjustable rear sight, bead front sight, rib, rod pipes, and underlug are blued. Snapping the settrigger, i eased the hammer back to fullcock and settled the front bead low into the heavy buckhorn rear sight. Patched round ball on paper, the round ball s ballistics are pathetic, but it kills far better than it should at ranges inside 100 yards. I dont know from elk, but ny whitetails closer than 120 yards are in trouble or they used to be when i could see the iron sights better. A kit with all the high quality components needed to fire 10 traditional round balls with your favorite. I use basically the same load i use for lead ball except i use a thicker greased patch. The patched round ball challenge hunt page 2 hunt talk. This powder measure was made from a alabama whitetail deer antler and throws exactly 50 grains by request.