Round Ball Shooters...........

[ETipp]

i've taken 15-20 deer with round balls fired from .50 and .54 caliber muzzleloaders. I've never had a deer go over 20 yards after being hit with a round ball. Nearly all were taken at ranges <40 yards. Most were standing broadside when shot.

High shoulder shots and high shots just behind the shoulder shots result in bang flops every time.

This buck was DRT after being shot from a tree stand while drinking. Buck was facing me.

Nice buck. Thank you for the reply.

Now we are starting to somewhat narrow this down to what I've been thinking, as well as seeing on videos.

 

[Snydly]

Deer with .45,,about 60 yards once... Deer with .50 about 40 yards...Deer with .54 about 6 inches. Elk with .45, about 60 yards.. No Elk yet with 50.. With 54 about 10 steps..... All with round ball.

 

[ETipp]

Deer with .45,,about 60 yards once... Deer with .50 about 40 yards...Deer with .54 about 6 inches. Elk with .45, about 60 yards.. No Elk yet with 50.. With 54 about 10 steps..... All with round ball.

Deer with .54 about 6 inches away? That's not hunting, that's hand to hoof combat!

 

[flashpoint]

I can and have dropped a deer looking face on at 125 yards with my .50 cal. flintlock, .490 round ball I mold from wheel weights, .010 oiled patch with 65gr FFG Goex powder. I use the same powder in the pan as in the bore. The ball entered the chest, bounced off the spine and broke the femur on the way out the back. I think the furthest I've had one run is about 20 yards. However, I'm very cognizant of bullet placement.
Here is the rifle I hunt deer with. I built this rifle when I was 16, I'm now 67. It's a tack driver. In the years I've replaced the barrel and lock from the original barn finds I originally built the rifle with. It now has a Green Moutain Barrel and L&R Lock.

View attachment 198870

That's a good looking gun and looks well used; and at 16 no less. Great job. FP

 

[tenngun]

I would support all on this.
Ball had done in every animal in North America in todays popular calibers. And at long rangers, but ball is a crappy projectile. About the worse possible one could shoot and be stable.
The rule is what ever caliber you choose get close and never exceed your range, never take questionable shoots

 

[Zutt-man]

I have taken 4 deer with my .40 and they’ve gone an average 10 yards. 3 were well placed shots and the other was a flier because I used the wrong powder measure This one ended up hitting an artery in the neck and he only went 15 yards. All of my shots were taken under 50.

My .58 dropped a doe right in her tracks. I hope to take dozens of deer as well as elk with this gun. This was a 78 yd shot.

I have also shot a 6 pt bull elk with a .54. It took a few well placed shots for him to go down. This was a 300-400 yd track with follow up shots. My first shot was a hangfire resulting in a mid body shot, otherwise I probably would’ve had that distance cut in half. Shots varied from 1-80 yards

These were all Kansas critters

 

[Ghost23]

All the whitetail deer I have taken with my .45 cal. flinter have gone down within a couple strides. Ball placement was in the classic 'kill zone' for deer. I have taken up to 75 yards but would shoot one as far as 100,

Vitals shot like with archery equipment or shoulder brachial plexus area? Most deer I have shot in the vitals with rifles usually run 50-100 yards. Even with no lungs. Shotgun slugs have always dropped them no matter what. The high shoulder shot with a firearm drops them. Lots of nerves bundles that control movement are located in that area. How does a round ball do on a shoulder shot?

 

[Dave Markowitz]

So far I've only killed one deer with a muzzleloader, my Cabela's Hawken. My load was a .490 PRB on top of 70 grains of 3Fg at 55 yards (measured with a laser range finder). The ball hit the deer behind the right shoulder and penetrated both lungs, causing massive damage to the offside but did not exit.

The doe was probably 180 lbs. on the hoof (it was corn fed). After the shot it ran damn near 400 yards through the woods, uphill, and left hardly any blood trail. We recovered her and the venison has been good.

In contrast, earlier that day my friend killed a ~110 lb. button buck from about 30 yards using a Euroarms Kentuckian carbine. His load was a .440 PRB on top of 60 - 65 grains of 3Fg. The ball passed completely through and must've clipped an artery because it looked like a murder scene where he shot it. It ran about 15 feet and collapsed.

 

[Zutt-man]

Vitals shot like with archery equipment or shoulder brachial plexus area? Most deer I have shot in the vitals with rifles usually run 50-100 yards. Even with no lungs. Shotgun slugs have always dropped them no matter what. The high shoulder shot with a firearm drops them. Lots of nerves bundles that control movement are located in that area. How does a round ball do on a shoulder shot?

Dead

 

[Bushfire]

Vitals shot like with archery equipment or shoulder brachial plexus area? Most deer I have shot in the vitals with rifles usually run 50-100 yards. Even with no lungs. Shotgun slugs have always dropped them no matter what. The high shoulder shot with a firearm drops them. Lots of nerves bundles that control movement are located in that area. How does a round ball do on a shoulder shot?

High shoulder often is taking out the spine with either a direct hit or from secondary damage e.g. bullet/bone fragments. That is why they drop on the spot. The spine dips down at the shoulder.

 

[shorthair]

The farthest as a cow elk at 140 and she turned once and fell over dead.

 

[22ceejay]

.40 Cal. 65 Yards, I use a .395 ball, 65Gr. 3 FFF and be very careful to make a neck shot. Most go down within 3 steps. Many more after that first one in 1989. I like to drive up with the tractor and pick them up. Makes it a bit easier.

 

[T Gregory]

Thank you. Can you elaborate on shot placement.

2 shots were high shoulder (not intentionally) resulting in the deer dropping immediately. The other 2 were about 1/3 of the way up from bottom of chest through the top of the heart and both lungs. One dropped immediately the other went less than 20.The shot with the .40 entered foreward, just in front of the point of the shoulder and exited about center of the off shoulder(muscle). The deer was slightly quarted too me. Went about 60yds.

 

[ETipp]

High shoulder often is taking out the spine with either a direct hit or from secondary damage e.g. bullet/bone fragments. That is why they drop on the spot. The spine dips down at the shoulder.

View attachment 199278

That is true and is something I learned years ago. Thank you for the diagram. It helps those that may not know about a big game critters anatomy.

In addition, anywhere in the neck area will drop one on the spot, even with a smaller projectile. It doesn't even have to hit the spine.

Once I did a bad shot on a deer back in the 80's with a .50 shooting a Maxi Ball. It only went in a couple of inches and back out hitting no bone, windpipe nor jugular. Deer went straight down but flopped down the mountainside a ways. Not my best of shot and I certainly was not pleased with myself. However, a neck shot will put them down to where they won't get away, worse case scenario.

 

[hunter thompson]

THE shot placement is the important factor.I thought i had missed after i hit the heart,before...A heart shot will have the deer run out to 100 yards. I shot 2 does ...2 different years in about the same tracks at 40 yards Quartering behind the front shoulder shooting high and down about 15 degrees...both roundballs were under the skin on the hind quarter opposite side of entry..With a hole from the energy /mass/ blown out behind the opposite side LEFT QUARTER like a exit hole and it was ...from the mass and energy driven ball. BOTH balls followed down under the skin but below the hide to the hind quarter. 54 cal with 90 grains new englander and a 015 pillow ticked 530 roundball. Thats how i became UNBEATABLE.

 

[OldMaineWoodsman]

The round ball is devastating on deer. I won't rehash or repeat some of the good information already provided. I'll just add this: Be patient after the shot. Take note of the direction that he ran when you fired, and then go to the spot that the deer was standing when you fired. Like many have already mentioned, they don't go far if hit in the vitals. Pick up the blood trail and take your time. Growing up in Upstate NY and later living in Maine there was almost always snow on the ground during the muzzleloading season that helped with tracking/trailing. Living in Virginia now, there is almost never snow on the ground during the early muzzleloading season. To me, this part of the hunt is more important than what projectile or caliber I used.

 

[ETipp]

The round ball is devastating on deer. I won't rehash or repeat some of the good information already provided. I'll just add this: Be patient after the shot. Take note of the direction that he ran when you fired, and then go to the spot that the deer was standing when you fired. Like many have already mentioned, they don't go far if hit in the vitals. Pick up the blood trail and take your time. Growing up in Upstate NY and later living in Maine there was almost always snow on the ground during the muzzleloading season that helped with tracking/trailing. Living in Virginia now, there is almost never snow on the ground during the early muzzleloading season. To me, this part of the hunt is more important than what projectile or caliber I used.

Indeed. As an avid bow hunter since the 70's the most important aspects I learned was, after hitting an animal, take note of the direction ran, get a good, solid, land mark for a bearing for when you climb down from the tree, and always look at my watch and start timing. Then unless I am certain the critter is dead, I wait at least 15 to 20 minutes before getting after it. Failure to do any of the above in the past has cost me a lot of walking, searching, and a few miserable nights. Worse part is, I don't see blood very well. My wife has helped me track many of animal.

I have been studying where hunters have hit critters, mostly deer, with muzzleloaders. Some of the videos are absolutely sad to say the least. Thus my rational for this thread. The information I have obtained from this thread is of great help.

I am seeing somewhat of a pattern but its still too early to come to a conclusion.

 

[charcoalmaker]

Got a question for you. I have some found lead bars. One weight is 25 lbs may have been a window, door weight from a 100++ barn. Other small 3lb bars. Do you think they would be good for bullet making?

Yes I have used these same items many times over the years

 

[Snydly]

Deer with .54 about 6 inches away? That's not hunting, that's hand to hoof combat!

These numbers are how far they ran after being shot with the roundball. Most of my shots are at about 40 yards distance from me... some closer,,some more far away. None farther than 130 yards if my memory is functioning today.

 

[LongWalker]

Trying to find information on this but it is fairly scarce.

For all of you out there that have hunted with round balls, what is/was the average distance a critter traveled after being hit. Please list the caliber, type of critter, distance shot and shot placement as well.

I still-hunt then stalk into range, so my results are a bit different. In part, this is because I'm typically shooting undisturbed animals who don't have their adrenalin up. I'll just give the numbers for whitetails here, they are fairly representative of results on other game. Most of my ML hunting has been done with one of 4 different arms (.54 flinter, 24 gauge NWG, Brown Bess, and an 11-gauge SxS, all shooting a single round ball.
Aiming up 1/3 of the way from breast line, with the intent of going through the opposite shoulder. Average range ~30 yards (I've never shot a whitetail at >50 yards with a ML).
.54, loaded to ~1850 fps. 21 deer, farthest distance traveled was about 50 yards.
24 gauge, loaded to about 1250 fps. 3 deer, 1 traveled about 15 feet, the other 2 were DRT.
Bess/11 gauge SxS can probably be considered the same, both shooting a .735 ball at about 1,200 fps. Around 70 deer, 1 traveled about 35 yards, none of the rest went more than 20'.