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Maxiballs vs Great Plains bullets vs others

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PA.flinter

32 Cal
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Dec 15, 2019
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What has been your experience with these bullets and other “non-round ball” projectiles for deer??

previously I’ve shot .495 RBs with .010 prelubed patches. I’m considering switching so I can have a heavier projectile and possibly some expansion potential compared to a static round ball

let me know your thoughts. I’m shooting a Lyman Great Plains Rifle (1/66”) with 90gr (volume) GOEX powder
 
Expansion?
ipmJWW.jpg

This roundball was recovered under the offside hide of a rather large whitetail buck. Impact was at about 25 yards through the shoulders, and the ball expanded from .605" to 7/8" x 15/16", and was NOT pure lead. I shot another, smaller WT buck at 125+yards (very steep downhill) that impacted between the shoulders and was found just under the hide of the brisket. It was round enough to load and shoot again. The difference between expansion and not is the impact velocity as a roundball will shed about 40% by 100 yards.

I shot another WT with a 410gr .50cal Buffalo Bullet over a very stout charge of ffg, and it punched a hole through. I have no doubt it would have shot through a bison.
 
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What has been your experience with these bullets and other “non-round ball” projectiles for deer??

previously I’ve shot .495 RBs with .010 prelubed patches. I’m considering switching so I can have a heavier projectile and possibly some expansion potential compared to a static round ball

let me know your thoughts. I’m shooting a Lyman Great Plains Rifle (1/66”) with 90gr (volume) GOEX powder
Maxiballs and Great Plains bullets work pretty good in the rifles with 1:48 twist, .005 deep grooves like the Thompson Center and some Traditions guns.

I don't know how well they will work in a slow twist, deep rifling groove barrel like you have but, I wouldn't get my hopes up.
 
Back when I was a teenager and didn't know any better, I shot some 50cal TC maxis from my 1-66" CVA Mountain Rifle. Accuracy was similar to what I was getting with roundballs, but the maxis were a snug fit in that barrel, and recoil was amplified and the comb of the stock yielded a bruised cheek. The buttplate on the Lyman Great Plains rifle is less forgiving than on my CVA.

If the conical fit is less than snug, there is the chance of the conical moving off the powder charge. The 1-66" twist is better suited to roundballs as they need minimal spin vs a conical needing spin to penetrate straight. Early 45-70s (Trapdoors) had a 1-22" twist to give you an idea of difference.
 
I shot one mulie buck and one bull elk with 50 Maxi balls and was no impressed with the results. Both were excellent hits with excellent penetration but the deer and elk I've killed with balls went down faster.

I'm not a passionate round ball promoter, just how it worked for me.
 
I shot one mulie buck and one bull elk with 50 Maxi balls and was no impressed with the results. Both were excellent hits with excellent penetration but the deer and elk I've killed with balls went down faster.

I'm not a passionate round ball promoter, just how it worked for me.
How many elk have you taken with a .50 cal round ball?
Just curious as to the effectiveness.
Walk
 
When I first started hunting with muzzleloaders it was with conical bullets. I used Maxi Hunters and Buffalo Bullets. The guns were a .45 Seneca and .50 WMC and Renegade. The bullets worked fine and killed every deer I hit with them. The shots were all close, 50 yards or less and anything would have worked. The Seneca with a 245 (I think?) Gr Maxi Hunter was my favorite to hunt with
 
I agree with what Zonie wrote. I once owned a GPR and it did not shoot conicals very well. A one half inch hole which passes right through a animal will put it down nicely as long as some of the vitals are hit. I would stick with a rb with the GPR or go to a faster twist rifle.
 
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I agree with what Zonie wrote. I once owned a GPR and it did not shoot conicles very well. A one half inch hole which passes right through a animal will put it down nicely as long as some of the vitals are hit. I would stick with a rb with the GPR or go to a faster twist rifle.
Noted!
 
My 1:48 T/C Hawken shoots maxiballs great but not REALs. I have an O/U .50 caliber rifle (1:48) that the maxis keyhole in. I think the depth of the rifling makes a difference as Zonie alluded to.
 
My conical experience has been with Pedersoli .54's. A Frontier and a Rocky Mountain Hawken both with 1-65 twist. These guns have square bottomed rifling that, compared to round bottom roundball barrels, is relatively shallow. I had no luck with solid base bullets like the TC Hunter. I don't think the bases obturated to fill the rifling enough. But the hollow based Buffalo Bullets, Ballets, and the big Hornady Great Plains shot with excellent results. I shot numerous deer with them.

Here's a Great Plains bullet shot into a big bodied buck at 90 yards. The load was 90 grains of 2F. It broke through rib on the way in, tore the heart in two, went through rib on the way out, but stopped just under the hide.

I have a new bullet next to the shot one for comparison. Once the shot bullet was all cleaned up and weighed, it had only lost 1 grain of weight compared to the spec weight...and maybe it was one grain lighter to begin with. I don't know how one could ask anything more from a hunting projectile.

11314862613_c1ea53fdfd_c.jpg


Here's the heart as I found it when gutting.

11309651553_8ff72cc823_c.jpg


The buck was tooth section aged in a lab at 7 1/2 years old and was a little over 200 pounds dressed. The first picture shows just how big of a body he had when alive and well.


10825090044_ac6347172d_c.jpg



11309524635_c4b7bac624_c.jpg


All that said, with many deer shot with those two guns with both a patched .530 RB over the same 90 grains or the big heavy bullet, there was probably no average difference in how they killed. As a comparison on similarily body sized animals I shot this buck with a .530 RB at 65+ yards on the move and he went all of 25 yards before going down. The blood on the ground in the 25 yards was nothing short of awesome. The ball was in and out breaking ribs on both sides and going off into the woods somewhere.

37099271860_19fd8e93df_c.jpg


The biggest differences were that the recoil with the GP bullet was substantially more and I had about 6" more drop at 100 yards. And for what? So I've quit using the big bullets and now just use the PRB. It's everything I need.
 
With a slow twist, I would try the smaller REAL that weighs in at 250 grains. Both of my rifles are a lot happier with a wool overpowder wad when shooting conicals.
 
My conical experience has been with Pedersoli .54's. A Frontier and a Rocky Mountain Hawken both with 1-65 twist. These guns have square bottomed rifling that, compared to round bottom roundball barrels, is relatively shallow. I had no luck with solid base bullets like the TC Hunter. I don't think the bases obturated to fill the rifling enough. But the hollow based Buffalo Bullets, Ballets, and the big Hornady Great Plains shot with excellent results. I shot numerous deer with them.

Here's a Great Plains bullet shot into a big bodied buck at 90 yards. The load was 90 grains of 2F. It broke through rib on the way in, tore the heart in two, went through rib on the way out, but stopped just under the hide.

I have a new bullet next to the shot one for comparison. Once the shot bullet was all cleaned up and weighed, it had only lost 1 grain of weight compared to the spec weight...and maybe it was one grain lighter to begin with. I don't know how one could ask anything more from a hunting projectile.

11314862613_c1ea53fdfd_c.jpg


Here's the heart as I found it when gutting.

11309651553_8ff72cc823_c.jpg


The buck was tooth section aged in a lab at 7 1/2 years old and was a little over 200 pounds dressed. The first picture shows just how big of a body he had when alive and well.


10825090044_ac6347172d_c.jpg



11309524635_c4b7bac624_c.jpg


All that said, with many deer shot with those two guns with both a patched .530 RB over the same 90 grains or the big heavy bullet, there was probably no average difference in how they killed. As a comparison on similarily body sized animals I shot this buck with a .530 RB at 65+ yards on the move and he went all of 25 yards before going down. The blood on the ground in the 25 yards was nothing short of awesome. The ball was in and out breaking ribs on both sides and going off into the woods somewhere.

37099271860_19fd8e93df_c.jpg


The biggest differences were that the recoil with the GP bullet was substantially more and I had about 6" more drop at 100 yards. And for what? So I've quit using the big bullets and now just use the PRB. It's everything I need.
I appreciate the detailed response. That may be enough to sway me back to the round ball side of things
 
I've killed whitetail with roundball and different types of conicals.

You'll find me hunting with nothing but roundballs these days. From 45-62, roundballs are all I need and then some. They kill much better than some may lead you to believe.

Good luck, Skychief.
 
How many elk have you taken with a .50 cal round ball?
Just curious as to the effectiveness.
Walk

None. My first was with the 50 Maxi. The following year I acquired a 54 and always shot balls in it. Thereafter if hunting deer and elk i carried the 54 and if hunting deer only mostly a 50. I don't doubt the efficacy of the 50 rb on elk but always figured a 54 had to be better.

It's no longer relevant since Colorado recently changed regs so any projectile for elk must be at least 50 cal and at least 210 grains.

We had/Have a member here who consistently killed elk with a 50. Can't remember his screen name. Lived in Gunnison Colorado but moved to Montana.
 
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