Ball or Conical

Hello,
In your opinions which are more accurate, balls or conicals, providing the barrel has the right twist? I'm thinking of getting a Lyman Great Plains flintlock and I can't decide which one to get. Thanks for the replies. PaLuke

Stretch the range and the conicals will win hands down. But we're talking long-range target shooting and such. At normal ranges a ML will be used (100 or ess), I doubt most of us shoot well enough to distinguish between them. In my hands anyway, a conical in a traditional flinter is kind of like a jet engine on a cropduster airplane. Move to a capper intended for target shooting or long range game, and you have my attention.

Some folks here are going to drive you out of the church for asking the quesiton, though.

BrownBear is right. My .54 GPR flinter is very accurate at 100 yards with round ball. A ball within this range will expand better than a conical. I'd start with a GPR and if you'd like get a GPH barrel later.

Thanks for the replies. I'll probably go with The Great Plains Rifle and enjoy shooting round balls. Thanks again. PaLuke

PaLuke said:

Thanks for the replies. I'll probably go with The Great Plains Rifle and enjoy shooting round balls. Thanks again. PaLuke

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The advantages of the conicals are greatly over rated. Some are poor performers on game and all increase pressures and need a lot more pressure to get anything like a flat trajectory.
The trajectory past a round balls effective range of 120-150 yards makes the use of a range finder and adjustable sights necessary to use the increased range. Oh yes you need a range table based on previous shots to know where to set the sights to.
There are other problems the round ball does not have as well...
Dan

Yep...stick with a round ball in a Flintlock ...you will be Traditional
and ,more happy !

started with a gph barrels 50- 54 tried many different comicals.. ok at 50 and went down hill from there--went with the 1-60 54 cal rb barrel and very happy..see my post"targets working through the flash"..at the end are pic's of the 1-60 .54 cal barrel groups .best 117.00 dollars I've spent yet! go with the 54 cal. more mass on target.Enjoy your GPR! They work!

I agree that at 100yds and under, you won't be able to tell the difference. In that case, shoot what you want, but just realize that conicals cost much more to shoot and recoil is a great deal more compared to a ball of the same caliber.

Groups as good as a roundball at 100 are the norm with twists of 1/32 or faster. The conical will have more recoil for sure and much greater pressures. It will be less affected by the wind but have a bit more trajectory. All said; the bigger roundball caliber of the same weight is probably a better pill. For most big game hunting with open sights it's tough to beat the roundballs. The 45/50 caliber fast twisters do make a pretty nice long range conical shooter though; I have a couple and wouldn't part with them but favor the roundball rifles for most of my shooting/hunting. To me; a fast twist 45 rifle is quite a nice setup to have around and are very difficult to find.

Game the size of big deer/elk with 50/54/58 and small game/target with smaller calibers. Roundballs win in my opinion. I have done a great deal of conical shooting and my preference for the roundball is because it works and belongs in the barrel more so than a conical. If one were to shoot at ranges over 150 yards at say Buffalo I would choose the conical with a vernier tang sight set-up. A big soft roundball makes a big hole and anything hit right with it doesn't have much of a future. Don't look at energy tables and such they just don't apply to roundballs.

You have to match the projectile to the rifle. If you set out to make an accurate ball rifle it won't throw a conical well. And vice versa. A round ball twist of 1:60 to 1:72 will throw a ball much more accurately at any distance than a conical. But a 1:12 to 1:36 won't throw a ball worth spit.

In between you have the mug-whumps that try and make a compromise and won't throw either to best advantage. Though I have a 1:48" T/C that prefers round balls to ranges out to 80 yards. But then, as BrownBear stated, the conicals catch up.

That said, I haven't loaded a conical since 2003 and use round balls for all of my deer hunting, regular and muzzlaloading season.

I just keep my shots less than 80 yards . . . sometimes as close as 8 or 10 yards. Hunt to your weapon's strengths (scouting, cover and patience pay off).

There are LOTS of better choices if I just wanted to add a season. I like the challenge of using traditional firearms. Same with recurve bows & cedar arrows. :wink: Much more satisfying to me whan I do have success. ANYTHING is a trophy. :haha:

At the limited effective range of using iron sights, the PRB will retain most of its energy. After 100 yards, the round ball loses its energy fast, but then again, using iron sights, who shoots farther than that anyway?

PaLuke---Whew. No one ran you out of the church (yet) for asking! :grin: Yet it seems you received a virtual unanimous endorsement for the round ball over the conical. I'm also a big fan of the round ball and have special affinity for the .54 and the .725. With my aging eyes I keep my shots to 60 yards or less and as long as I do my part I get ragged holes from field positions... I can't shoot any better than that and yes it is with round ball. When I shoot my modern cartridge guns with iron sites and ballistic-tip-this and core-that I simply do not shoot any better than I do with a round ball in my flintlocks. So my hat is decidedly in the ring for the round ball in a traditional gun.

BrownBear said:

Stretch the range and the conicals will win hands down. But we're talking long-range target shooting and such. At normal ranges a ML will be used (100 or ess), I doubt most of us shoot well enough to distinguish between them. In my hands anyway, a conical in a traditional flinter is kind of like a jet engine on a cropduster airplane. Move to a capper intended for target shooting or long range game, and you have my attention.

Some folks here are going to drive you out of the church for asking the quesiton, though.

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Got to agree with Brownbear!If buying a flinter, it makes sense to get the slow twist RB barrel.

I shoot caplocks, but since I can only see good enough to shoot accurately out to around a hundred yards, the Conical's purdy much just gather dust.The 1/48 twist barrels shoot the round pill real good out to a hundred, and so does the 62 smoothie...my new barrel of choice. :grin:

Due to differences in cost and recoil, you will shoot more and flinch less with roundballs.Don't underestimate the roundball's effectiveness on deer--I have killed quite a few with it.

First of all, Thanks for all the help. I'm new with tradional weapons and saying that I have a in-line but I want to get serious with a flintlock. My boys have deerstalkers and honestly I really couldn't shoot them well. Actually pretty bad. For the last month I've been shooting one and suprisingly I'm getting better. I mean 3" groups at 50 yards. I would like to get a flintlock and I just want to make a right decision. Thanks again. PaLuke

I agree with Brownbear. I can't see that far anymore so balls are doin just fine for me. :thumbsup:

I suspect you will find another level of enjoyment and appreciation if you step back in time and use the old technology, it can be quite rewarding to many who have a sense of our history and how life was lived in the past.

tg said:

I suspect you will find another level of enjoyment and appreciation if you step back in time and use the old technology, it can be quite rewarding to many who have a sense of our history and how life was lived in the past.

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Well said! :v

Our season opens here in Pa. tomorrow and it looks like rain in the morning. We can only take doe here for a week but buck or doe the late season after Christmas. Thanks again for the replies

Go whack one! That three inch group is going to be more than adequate.