What kind of bullet to shoot

In a .58 caliber Hawken style cap-lock do I have to use a round ball for the bullet or can I use the lead Mini-ball conical bullet?

You goin' after heffalumps? 58 round ball will knock any north american big game on its a$$. Big conical in there will knock you on your a$$ :haha:

It depends what twist your barrel is. If a long twist such as 1 in 66 you need roundball. If its say a 1 in 24 you will need a conical. :thumbsup:

What is the Rate of Twist of the rifling in the barrel? What is the depth of the grooves? The answers to those two questions will help you decided if this is a Round ball gun, or a conical bullet gun barrel.

There is an article up under " Member Resources" that tells you how to determine the ROT for any MLer. Go back to the index page and find the article and read it.

Generally RB barrels have slower ROTs- 1:48 and slower( 1:66; 1:72, etc.). Conical bullet barrels have faster ROTs-1:32, 1:24, etc.

Conicals work best in barrels with shallow Grooves- .002-.003" deep.

RB barrels will have grooves that run .006- .008" deep.

The barrel will tell you what it wants to shoot the best. Any barrel- shallow grooved, or deep grooved, fast or slow twist can shoot PRBs well, if you find the right combination, and velocity.

A .58 caliber Lead Round ball weighs in at about 6 tenths of an ounce, and is one HEAVY chunk of lead to be throwing at anything living in N. America. You rarely find a PRB recovered inside any animal shot with one. Unless you intend to hunt moose, or Large Brown bears, I can't see the need to shoot a conical in that caliber to hunt anything else. And, if you are hunting large bear, you don't want to do it with any Mler! :shocked2: :idunno: :surrender: :hmm: :hatsoff: :hatsoff:

You don't have to use a round ball but it might be the best thing to start with.

Roundball Roundball Roundball :slap: :rotf: and in .58 cal? Grizz is yours (unless you miss)!

rgreen
good advise to start with the roundball and check for accuracy.

Add another vote for the round ball. Dont worry about the things you've read over the years questioning it. It was designed to sell other stuff is all. Granted, the RB isnt as good as a conical at long range, but the consensus here seems to be that kept to about 100yds or slightly over, the RB is king. I know I prefer my .54 over most if not all of my suppository guns for hunting purposes out to about 125. Now past that, I wont take the shot because I dont trust myself with it just yet, and getting close is part of the fun. And, just to state the obvious, your .58 will outperform my .54 assuming equal shot placement. You have nothing to worry about, just try it and see if your worries dont go away immediately afterward. Good hunting. :thumbsup:

thanks to all you guys, I think the general consensus is that I will start with a round ball and probably continue with the same. I have ordered a 100 pack of Hornady .570 round balls. Planning on firing for the first time this weekend so I will report back to all of you my mentors.
thanks again,

If you work up a load for the 525gr Honaday great plains ( I likE 90grs FFg over a wonder wad) 1-48 twist

It will wup your shoulder, but be happy when you look at your mark.

Iyman barrel.