Maxiball loads specify the use of maxilub as a lubricant. I generally save the patched balls for new shooters not hunting loads. Poking a long hole in any animal smaller than a fullgrown holstein will put it on the ground. When the thought finally occurred to me that i might be able to load the gun like a rifle, with just a patched round ball over the powder, no wads, i tried it out, but. Not much has been written recently about the effectiveness of round ball loads on deer and larger game. You dont want to miss identify a fantastic load because of a light weight ball. The patching material is the key to be accurate with a round ball load. An old rule of thumb for black powder starting loads using round balls is 1 grain volume per caliber ie. I read in few places on the internet it is absolutely safe to shoot a patched round ball using a 12ga shotgun providing the bore is a cylinder not choked and the ball fits. The 4045cal were the preferred deer round ball in the eastern half of the usa. Of the larger bore round ball rifles suitable for taking big game, more.
The patch makes it possible to load the ball tight enough so it takes the rifling. 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. It is a round ball gun and my standard load is 100 grains of ffg with a patched round ball. Ive hunted deer with swaged hollowbased conical bullets such as the hornady 525 grain great plains, buffalo bullet 525 grain or the 405 grain. To load you dump the powder in first, then place the patch over the muzzle, then place the round ball on top of the patch, then using the ram rod you push the ball down until it touches the powder. I am somewhat confused about the maxi ball, as this is my only bp gun that is not a smoothbore. Shot off a bench with an ithaca 37 smooth bore deer slayer barrel with rifle sights. The other nice thing is that it doesnt care which side comes out first as it flies through the air. I lube my own patches and experimented with patch thickness, round ball size and powder charge until i found what my old traditions shoots the best. Hello, im looking for guidance on loads for my recently completed.
Accuracy is plenty good within 50 yards or so to put the balls in the boiler room. Loading the plr or muzzleloader with a patched round ball. My elk load, at docs recommendation, is 200 grains of ffg but i have yet to use that load in the field. Jake and i discuss ball diameter, patch thickness and patch lube. For deer, the round ball is imho, a terrible choice.
Traditional muzzle loader developing an accurate load. Cut patches by sharp lands in new barrels is something ive experienced, solved by coning. 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. Muzzleloader wads, rifle wads, cap and ball pistol wads. My normal ffg loads are 100 grains for patched round ball and 120 grains with a 600 grain conical. Killing power of patched round ball prb the high road. Serious target competitors commonly load with a ball thats just. We load one of our precision long rifles with a patched round ball. Start at 70 grains and work up 5 grains at a time to find. These recipes are touted as deadly, but surely many good ones are not included.
A load of 20 grains of fffg with patched round balls usually gives excellent results on both turkeys and squirrels in. With 6070 grains of powder it took an evilly tight patch and ball combo that was heck to load to get reasonable accuracy. Ever since i started hunting with a muzzleloader about 15 years ago, ive been using patched round balls. What kind of accuracy can i expect out of this gun with round balls. Does most people shoot round ball in thompson center.
When wyatt earp was hunting buffalo, he used a 10ga doublebarrel shotgun loaded with round ball shells. I use basically the same load i use for lead ball except i use a thicker greased patch. When loading a patched ball, position the sprue up and centered. Several side hammer round ball guns are available in. 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. An old rule of thumb about round ball is that if you push them above 1800 fps muzzle velocity you are wasting powder as deceleration increases with increased velocity. Neither will afford you olympic or wild bill hickock. I know a couple guys that use wads under and over the ball and no patch in their smoothbores. In my experience, most round balls run undersize for their stated size so i usually bump them to the desired size to insure a good fit and to enable me. Find the load your gun likes and have a ball pun intended shooting.
Linen patches resist burning much better than cotton with heavy loads, if that is a problem. This should be a mild load, i ended up with a 90 grain load for my 50 cal using round balls. Patched round balls are best bet for hawken or any flintcap lock rifles. Most fast twist guns have shallower grooves than are usually seen with slow twist rifles primarily meant to shoot round balls. It was by far the most accurate load in that gun, and while labeled light by a lot of guys, it killed with alacrity. 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. The lubed patch should be thick enough to hold the ball snugly on top of the powder charge and keep it centered in the bore. My forty ball shooter has taken many deer with 65grs.
I have fired round balls from my ml shotgun and would consider using it on deersized game. In other words an equal amount of powder especially for target shooting. They can be just as powerful as many high power pistol loads and are plenty potent at close range. Arguably the single most critical part of the load chain. If shooting patched round balls is considered too much trouble, buffalo bullets ballets, are available in both. It takes up the windage between the undersized ball and the bore. Is there any consensus on a round ball mold for 12 gauge. Pour the measured powder charge down the barrel and load a patched round ball directly on top of the powder charge omitting all the cards and wads.
Something that would give pie plate accuracy at 2550 yards. Maybe not exactly what youre looking for, but my buck and ball load is plenty accurate at 30yds using remington sts premier hulls, winchester primers, 23 gr. 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. But you still may want to have a bit of an edge in trajectory if you hunt in open areas. I was reminded of this fact last month when i used an original. Patched round ball gun and game the friendliest gun. Id think that if the patched round ball in those calibers was ineffective they would have gone to guns with larger bores. So, my load for all round ball shooting is 80 grains of fffg goex, a. You can buy good quality patches in your local blackpowder shop, but you can also make your own. With a gun of that length and bulk, recoil is very pleasant. How about a similar post regarding powder loads for certain calibers and. At 25, a patched ball powered by 90gr of black went through four 2x6 pine boards and lodged in the fifth. Stick them where they are meant to be stuck and that load does the job.
Shot loads and snake loads can be loaded in revolvers using wool wads. Round ball ballistics calculations for muzzleloaders the nice thing about a round ball is that it doesnt care which way you put it in the barrel. Round balls in fast twist rifles white muzzle loading. Major ferguson of the british army was killed at kings mountain by a 40 ball. A good patch is made of good quality, dense natural material. Just wondering what everybodys best accuracy load is for a hawken rifle using a regular 50 caliber round ball with 1. The little cva frontier rifle is a tack driver with 490 ball, 15 patch and 30 grains of goex. Using this method, i have shot my flintlock 100s of times without a full cleaning. A muzzle velocity difference of 200 fps can be as little as 70 fps at 100 yards in a 54. Please note that what patch thickness you use will also play a part in what ball size to use. Use this simple five step sequence every time you shoot and groups will shrink and velocities will stay constant, shot after shot.
Tough pioneer fellows such as daniel boone were served well with the patched lead round ball. Lay a lubricated cloth patch over the muzzle and place the round ball in the center of the patch. Step back and ram that load down the barrel and imagine what. Like nicodemus said, many deer as well as other game have fallen to a prb since the white man came. No pointsense in magnumizing a ml firing a patched round ball. It is no secret and most books and manufacturers recommend the same loads. Stock up your favorite black powder supplies like round balls with the wide selection of items we have here at. As with any cast bullet, the round ball must fit the bore to get any accuracy out of it. Granulated black powder, pyrodex, 777, or any other bp sub. My wife and i shot some informal muzzle loader competition many years ago with 50 cal. Im gonna do a ladder test from like 60g of 777 to 90g of 777 2f. Each one is different and ive yet to see one that didnt have its own load preference. This habit has been cause for derision from some of my hunting companions, who believe that round balls are marginal andor obsolete, and that i must therefore be daft to use them. Getting accuracy and enough energy for hunting with round ball takes a lot more tweaking than today s inlines.