Minie for hunting

[CapPopper]

It sure will makes them good for small game... I've spent years handgunning and shooting hard cast if the meplat is right expansion is secondary but nose profile is everything which was my attraction to the lee bullet... It just looks deadly lol love that big flat nose... That's where the killing power comes from as well as the permanent wound channel.... Even soft lead pointy bullets take more to expand than a flatter one

 

[Okie Hog]

For years i shot wild hogs using .50 and .54 caliber round balls that performed very well. Couple years ago i decided to use up the 320 and 370 grain .50 caliber Maxi Balls i got cheap at Chairman Mao Mart.

The 370 grain Maxi Balls were a very loose fit in the bore and i was concerned with them coming off the powder. The 320 grain Maxis fit snugly.

Yep, those 320 grain Maxi balls killed big hogs about as well as patched round ball. They also left a thick layer of lead in the bore of my rifle.

No more pointy bullets for me.

 

[nkbj]

Always thought it would be fun to use that Lee trash can minie... loaded backwards for feral water melons.
:surrender:

 

[Coot]

If a minie is loaded backwards, how will the skirt expand & thus engage the rifling? I guess that a keyhole will still kill one of the offending melons.

 

[Rifleman1776]

No more pointy bullets for me.

:applause: :applause:

 

[Sasquash]

ly.

They also left a thick layer of lead in the bore of my rifle.

No more pointy bullets for me.

I shot several REAL LEE .45 bullets, and left a lot of lead in my rifle too...without any advantage over PRB.

Never again.

 

[Sasquash]

A slug has more than enough momentum to kill game at 200 or 300 yards just not the trajectory.... Ad far as power a 300 grain bullet at about the same velocity in 45 cal is considered plenty adequate for game up to cape buffalo by serious handgunners and some use a lot less... 10mm bullets 200 gr bullets only a little faster for cape buffalo... A 600 gr bullet at 1000 is going to go through darn near anything and leave a great big hole to boot.... Don't underestimate a big bullet trucking along at mild velocity

Forgot to mention that here, our traditional way to hunt big game is with dogs, so you are shooting an animal full of adrenaline chased by dogs...so velocity and shock are essential:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A1IpMECLgY

 

[CapPopper]

"Shock" as we define it today as far as ballistics go require a bullet to be traveling about 2600 fps which is around the speed of sound in water.... Any slower than that and an animal experiences nothing other than hemorrhaging as far as being shot.... So bigger permanant wound channels are the way to go regardless of velocity... The only way to get anything similar to a high velocity bullet is to hit big bones and then bigger holes are still better

 

[Grumpa]

In the "General Muzzleloading" section, in the "Photos" forum, NWTF Longhunter posted yesterday that he (all 81 years of age) killed a Buffalo/Bison with a .62 Jaeger, and a .62 smoothbore loaded with 80 grains of 2FF and a patched round ball. Second shot was not necessary, just insurance. Both balls passed completely through! Picture of the damage done.
:hatsoff:

Richard/Grumpa

 

[CapPopper]

Sounds awesome that's a big hole to punch through anything

 

[mamero]

I was waiting for someone to poit out exactly this!!!

Thank you

 

[azmntman]

My Pop popped a Bison with a Hornady Great Plains .58. Was trotting when hit and "trotted" three more steps and was done. Bullet through front shoulder and we recovered on opposite side of it under skin. I still have the bullet. Incredible expansion and did the job just fine. I often wondered if a PRB would have done as well? It did bust through shoulder and we did NOT see much lost meat

 

[Rifleman1776]

In the "General Muzzleloading" section, in the "Photos" forum, NWTF Longhunter posted yesterday that he (all 81 years of age) killed a Buffalo/Bison with a .62 Jaeger, and a .62 smoothbore loaded with 80 grains of 2FF and a patched round ball. Second shot was not necessary, just insurance. Both balls passed completely through! Picture of the damage done.
:hatsoff:

Richard/Grumpa

On another similar thread I told the story of a member of a now defunct ml discussion group who hunted bison with his 20 ga./60-62 cal. smoothie using a prb and moderate charges in the 70-80 gr. range. He dropped the big buff with that combination. Elephant guns not needed.

 

[CapPopper]

Everyone who doesn't use them underestimates the power of a big slow bullet that deform little to none.... Theres not much on this planet that's going to walk away from a .500+ hole through vital organs.... In fact often lead can be driven too hard and will not perform as well as it would at slower velocities... Big non deforming especially wide flat nosed projectiles penetrate deep because they shed no energy in expansion and in large bore diameters expansion is unnecessary and often is detrimental through limiting penetration often drastically with soft lead which leads people to believe the bullet needs to go faster when in fact if the impact velocity was around 900-1200 fps it would leave a larger hole than a fully expanded 30 cal and go from frontal chest right through the animal out the rear end and keep on going

 

[nkbj]

Exactly right CapPopper.
The arguments over favoring short bullets versus long bullets is just argument. Hunting bullets are penetrating tools like a pick axe or a leather punch, and the tool needs to fit the job at hand. How long it is doesn't matter if it does the job.
:dead:

 

[Rifleman1776]

Everyone who doesn't use them underestimates the power of a big slow bullet that deform little to none.... Theres not much on this planet that's going to walk away from a .500+ hole through vital organs.... In fact often lead can be driven too hard and will not perform as well as it would at slower velocities... Big non deforming especially wide flat nosed projectiles penetrate deep because they shed no energy in expansion and in large bore diameters expansion is unnecessary and often is detrimental through limiting penetration often drastically with soft lead which leads people to believe the bullet needs to go faster when in fact if the impact velocity was around 900-1200 fps it would leave a larger hole than a fully expanded 30 cal and go from frontal chest right through the animal out the rear end and keep on going

Agree completely. In fact those principals are what led Elmer Keith to design his famous 'keith style' bullet for handgun hunting using hard lead.

 

[CapPopper]

And where I learned most of what I know about cast bullets for hunting... The Keith bullet is still one of the best cast bullet designs for hunting

 

[Heelerau]

Red Feather, I do agree with what you are saying. I actually prefer to hunt with my patch ball rifles because they shoot comparatively flat, which makes a bit more lee way in range estimation. You have to be within in a yard or so with a minnie because of the higher trajectory. I find the higher velocity and large frontal area of the ball most effective. I have shot plenty of kangaroos over the years with both minnies and roundball. Some of these roos are as big as a big man and plenty tough, you still have to do a decent job of bullet placement no matter what the calibre. The other advantage of ball is they can be hardened which you cannot do so much with a minnie and have it shoot accurately. My English 12 bore percussion hunting rifle relies on a hefty 4 1/2 dram charge of Fg and a ball a bit over 1/2 oz, ver slow twist, like 1/100 inches just enough to stabilise and knock over a big stripy moggy at 20 paces!

 

[CapPopper]

I Definetly agree when the ball is that big. Smaller calibers have flatter shooting monies through iron sight range and depending on the game benefit from the increased SD of the projectile.