54 cal impact on steel

[Thing]

Yesterday I was shooting my 54 cal flinter at a 12 inch round steel AR500 steet target. I have used this same steel target with a 357mag.44 mag,9mm,38,45 acp and 308 rifle. None of these cal ever made a dent of any type in the steel.

The 54 Va rifle actually put a dimple into the steel. 90 grains of 3F patched round ball.

So, do not doubt the impact of a round ball as a hunting bullet.

The stell RANG loud and clear and was swinging quite violently at the impact. Much to my amazement. Awsome cal the 54....

 

[Thing]

Picture of steel target

 

[mahd776]

Many years ago I was goofing around and shot a 54 Renegade at a piece of mild steel plate leaning against the wood pile. Just wanted to clear the gun after hunting actually. Was amazed when walking out there to find a very neat hole in that plate!

 

[Sully]

I have had the same experience. Steel target would show splatter marks and little dimpling from a 308 rifle but a patched .535 round ball ahead of 80gr FFF would make a lot bigger dent.

 

[jamesthomas]

And some folks still think they need a conical to hunt with!! A good old RB will do the job every time. :thumbsup:

 

[Snakebite]

.54 That's what I'm talking about! :thumbsup:

 

[larryp]

Wonder what a .62 smoothbore would do? :hmm:

 

[M. De Land]

I have a .45, .54 and 58. There is no magic in a .54 caliber other than it is very well balanced and efficient for the bore diameter, velocity and mass to be shot from the shoulder.With the use of round balls there is not much that can be done to manipulate killing power other than to add velocity and mass which have limits from shoulder fired arms.
When the caliber starts going past this point(.58 cal) the efficiency and velocity per grain of powder starts tapering off pretty fast in what can be handled from a shoulder arm.
I think perhaps .58 caliber is the apex and about the tipping point in this regard. Mike D.

 

[azmntman]

I got all calibers from .32 to .58 and a 20 and 12GA. I believe my best shooter is a CVA (old) .50. However I plan to get the dutch booklet and see what I can do with each one and in about 3 years (I am gun poor) I will so advise! I don't have a .40 or .45 but plan to get one of each when the opportunity presents itself.

I will say the .58 sure leaves a nice big hole in stuff.

 

[armymedic.2]

my ar400 plates have some nice dents from my .36

i was right angry when i realized. funny how they handle everything else just fine. speed kills.

 

[gunmaker43]

.54 ? pay no attention to the "cannon" shooters. That caliber will do it all--and then some. Surprised me when I cut a 1/2" rebar rod into at 50 yd. with mine, 80gr 3f PRB. Friend killed 2 cape buff's in so. afric'a with one...my go to gun...Tom

 

[rancher]

Shot a steel spinner target with my .54 and it left a good dent in it.

 

[Captjoel]

I was wondering how far away from your target were you shooting? Not only do those .53 round balls put a big dent in hard steel plate, they can also ruin your day when they bounce back your way!!

 

[Richard Brinkman]

Bounce Back??? You ain't shootin' enough powder!

 

[Captjoel]

I didn't know how to spell ricochet! Looking at the pictures, those balls sure didn't continue in their aimed direction!

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Modern pistol bullets "splatter" upon impact with target steel, and so too would the softer round ball.

One of the easiest variations on "reactive" targets one can use are steel " Pepper popper ", but you don't set them to fall backwards... you put cheap, acrylic fiber, loose fitting, knit hats on top of the target and when the bullets hit the center, the splatter tosses the knit hat into the air.

If it's a timed-fire match, say a cap-n-ball revolver match, the shooter will slow down and watch the hats (bright colors are the best) launch into the air in addition to hearing the ring of the steel..., it forces concentration or the shooter gets distracted and gets a slow time.

For a muzzleloader shooter, it's simply a fun reaction to the bullet impact. The only drawback is a person has to physically replace the knit hat after each shooter. If you have several poppers with hats, you could direct the shooter to only shoot at a single target wearing a hat, then you could run several shooters through that part of the shooting scenario before having to "re-dress" the targets.

LD

 

[scotsman]

very cool! At what distance was your target?

 

[Loyalist Dave]

This was in 2006...for the pistol or revoler guys the range was pretty close, say no farther than 20 yards; no closer than 5 yards... for the ML rifles they were out at 75-100 yards. NO conicals, and all loads had to be 70 grains or less of powder... they used the Goex Chart and compared the MV and weight of the projectiles to .357, .41. and .44 magnum loads in a Hodgdon Reloading manual. A crude comparison, but as the targets were "rated" to .44 magnums, and as they were at 75+ yards... the range master thought the MV would be low enough at impact to reduce wear and tear on the poppers as they wouldn't exceed those magnum loads.

You needed a good "hit" to toss the hat into the air... you'd get a "ring" on the target with a really low hit, or nicking the side... but the hat might not come off... so with the hat still on, it was a "miss" in that case.

LD

 

[Rifleman1776]

I used to manufacture and sell steel silhouette targets. In the process I did quite a bit of testing, plus in competition shot steel targets.
There is no doubt a lead prb, of almost any caliber, can severly crater most steel plates. Type of steel is important to impact effect. Plates that are too close and/or mounted incorrectly can crater and send lead detrius directly back at the shooter and cause injuries. :shocked2:
The steel should never be securly mounted. It must be allowed to swing back, either up or down upon impact. Hanging from a chain is the best method for the average shooter. Mounted securly from the base with springs to allow swing is very good but takes money and some engineering to make. 'pepper poppers' are a good example of this.
Do not take the cratering and splash back lightly, injuries can occur. (ask the scar on my elbow what happened if you don't believe it) Do wear safety glasses when shooting steel.

 

[Carl Fowler III]

At what range were you shooting when you got your elbow injured from splash-back? I have a pig silhouette I shoot at 50yds and have never gotten any debri thrown my way...maybe I've just been lucky? The pig has flat feet and knocks over readily when hit with my .54 cal flinter, which does put a nice ding in the metal! :v