Irrefutable proof: lets document how effective PRBs are this fall.

[Mad Professor]

Thanks for posting the picture, I never saw a "PRB" like that!

Looks like it would hit then open up like the petals on a flower, sort of a "hollow point" CF bullet in reverse. My guess is very much (quick)energy transfer and a huge wound channel.

My only reservations might be with a large animal (i.e. moose) where hitting a shoulder might fragment the bullet without good penatration. Looks like a fun experiment to do with an old RB mould.

 

[TN.Frank]

Not to get off track BUT do ya'll think we sometimes "over load" our guns when shooting PRB's? I know I just shot my Harper's Ferry with a 60gr/3fg load and a .562" PRB and it shot pretty well, for most guys that'd be an "under power" load but I think if I could hit a deer out to 50-60 yrds with that load it'd probably kill it, don't you? I don't know, I'm just kind of thinking out loud I guess but I think we sometimes fall into the same "power" trap that the inline boys fall into. Yea or Neah on this? :hmm:

 

[playfarmers]

I have a friend that uses 60g of Pyrodex and a .490 RB in his Whitemountain carbine. He gets his deer every year, but he keeps his shots to 60 yards or less.

 

[PreglerD]

Hello, I'm from Germany, too. As you said muzzleloading hunting in Germany is very uncommon, that's true, but per law it is not forbidden. I will try it, better I have started allready. I think the construction of this mould and the ball won't work in reality because the ball will be to filigran and the bullet will smash when hitting the deers skin. For hunting you need a deep penetration of the deer's body, especially loungs or heart, and you need a outcome of the bullet, so that the deer could loss as many blood as possible. this is necessary for fast collapsing an dieing.

Greetings from Germany, Bavaria

Kirrmeister

 

[renovato]

Kirrmeister, we now have a loading tool in the USA that cuts a cross pattern in balls or bullets similar to that. I can see that it might work well in smaller animals. It looks like it would do a lot of damage as it came apart. I doubt it would work well in larger ones, but it's nice to see that what we think is "high tech" today, was really thought of long ago! Thanks for posting the pictures and descriptions of that.

By the way, your english is fine and very easy to understand.

 

[Tim Clark]

I hang my head in befuddlement....

Gentlemen, while I am also curiously interested in such ideas, I would suggest that they'd be best put in a separate thread. The thrust of this thread was to gather evidence and testimony to the effectiveness of the venerable Patched Round Ball as a valid hunting projectile in primitive guns, well able to hold its own (or better) against the onslaught of criticism foisted by those given to more modern gadgetry that impune its character... and then along comes a PRB modification of old that immediately garners a following. ....kind of reminds me of a groom at the altar that's just finished saying his "I Do's," and then immediately begins getting amorous with a hot-looking bridesmaid and can't stop panting after her, instantly forgetting all devotion to his bride.

Love the one you're (shooting) with.

(Hint -- her initials are "P.R.B." Oughta have that engraved on your wedding band, eh?)

 

[Greenmtnboy]

60 yrds , mature cow elk, 54 cal PRB 110 grns of goex ffg .
Dead in less than one minute,
kiss my a!! Toby Bridges

 

[szihn]

I started hunting with a muzzleloader in 1968 and I have killed numerous big game animals with them.
I have killed deer, antelope, elk and moose.
ALL were killed with round balls.
ALL were good clean kills.
All were killed with hard balls. (wheelweight rolled on a rough surface to grab the patch better. I was shown that trick when I was a very young boy, and have done it ever since.)
I have only recovered 2 balls in 38 years. Both from elk, and both from 54 caliber rifles.
Both balls were from angled shots, and both went about 30-35" deep before stopping. One stopped in the tenderloin and the other one was in the skin at the base of the neck.
I have killed deer with 50 caliber, elk with 54 and 62 calibers, antelope with 50 and 62 calibers and moose with 62 caliber.
Don't let the "modern experts" convince you that you need "the new improved" _________ :bull: (fill in the blank with whatever current marketing lie you'd like)

It's not about the hunt to them. It's about selling you something--- so they can make money, and tappin into the human nature to cheat!

I have nothing against modern smokelesspowder burning, primer fired, scope mounted, plastic stocked rifles. They are well made and accurate. They are good modern weapons.
And like any modern weapon, they should be used in a modern hunting season with the other modrn guns.
If you want to hunt with a Tompson/Center Contender in 44 magnum, even if it only has iron sight, you have to do it in a mondern season don't you? Or how about a 45-70 sharps? Same thing!
So why do these hunters buy the modern inlines and shoot bullets, sometimes with smokeless powder, and think they should have a special season, where there are less hunters in the field to compeat with, but that their weapon is more modern than a Ruger #1 7mm Mag?

Muzzleloading season should be left to those that use the old fashoned guns. That was the intent of the laws when they were written. (the intent of the lawmaker is the law)
My openion.
What's yours?
SZ

 

[Java Man]

Steve,

Excellent post. I agree completely. :thumbsup:

 

[jan buck]

love the picture and attire! where did you get that holster setup? kind of firearm? in 1990 i hunted with a prb in a tc newenglander. people laughed at me. until i dropped a huge eight pointer with it. they weren't laughing anymore. chopper :haha:

 

[stevelyn]

I'm still fine tuning mine, but the "proof" of PRB effectiveness is already in the history books.
Otherwise North America would still be owned by the Indians and grizzly bears.

 

[Greenmtnboy]

I built my holster, patterened after the military tanker holster, keeps my gun off my hips.
The gun is a cut down remington 44 cap an ball with a birds head grip.
by yotieJoe
:hatsoff:

 

[bramble]

Re: PRB effectiveness, button buck, 35 yrds, T/C Hawken .50, 65 g pyrodex. 2 of 2 this year, giving credit to the rifle not the shooter.
bramble

 

[jethro224]

Central Illinois
11-17-06
BIG Illinois whitetail buck
.490 round ball
.015 T/C pre-lubed patch
70 grains Goex 2f
@100 yards (paced off)
Complete pass-thru
2 lungs
2 ribs
He took 3 steps
Pic is my new avatar

 

[Wehrmacht]

Already posted on my "Successful Squirrel Hunt" Thread, but the data should go here instead:

North Florida River Swamp,Last week.
100-120lb young wild boar, 37yds,paced.( I've cruised timber for years,so my pacing is accurate + - 1 inch in 1,000 yds :haha: )
.32cal Southern Mountain Rifle by Ric Lambert / H.House.
28gr 3f GOEX,.45gr PRB,.012denim lubed with bear oil.

Hog gave broadside shot.Ball entered just behind right shoulder,broke one rib,passed through both lungs missing heart and did't exit left side. Hog ran 65-70 yds and dropped.

 

[Trapper]

The pic is posted in Muzzleloading Hunting "Hazzah I got one" Harvested with a 1770 Jacob Dickert copy rifle, 55 grains fffg,.440 patched round ball and shot at 30 yrds. Took out the lungs ,diagraphm,liver and the shock burst the end of the paunch.

 

[54ball]

I took a wild hog, a sow at 40 yards with a smoothbore .54 flintlock. She weighed 180lbs. The ball hit behind the shoulder and passed through. It took out both lungs. A perfect hit. The sow went 60 yards. The blood trail was the most impressive Ive ever seen. Their was blood in the trees.

 

[bramble]

Small doe
20 yds
.50 T/C Hawken
65 pyrodex
.490 hornaday
pillow ticking patch w/bore butter

bramble

 

[leadball]

I'd be against it with a gusto, but it DOES, and that's a fact proven over several hundred years of hunting.

Wow!! You are one old, old man!!! :blah:

 

[Mad Professor]

Finally got some time to hunt, turned in grades about midnight yesterday, free at last, for a few weeks.....yippee!!! Have till New Years eve to fill my tags.

Nice forker I've seen for a while came by just before dark and gave me a shot at ca. 85 paces, didn't take into account that he was quite a bit down hill and spined him rather than heart/lung shot. Regardless, he did not go anyplace at all. 54 Cal TC renegade :winking:

Nice to have some meat in the freezer again :thumbsup:

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years to all!!! :v

Whoooooooops forgot, 90 grs FFg Goex, Hornaday .535 PRB , homemade ticking (old stinky tee shirt in this case), and a wonder wad.