.62 caliber penetration tests

[cayuga]

I was shooting my .62 caliber smoothbore Renegade which has a Green Mountain Barrel on it. I wanted to see what kind of penetration I could get with shooting 80 grains of Goex 2f an over the powder card, then an unpatched .600 324 grain roundball and finally an over the shot card to hold it all together. I had the range station set at 30 yards. The log you see in the above picture was penetrated end to end by the roundball at 30 yards. The log is a dried out chunk of Balsum tree. Yet I was impressed it could pass through that much wood. An unfired roundball is next to the short starter and a roundball that I recovered after it went through the wood block and then hit the steel backstop in the bullet trap is next. Pretty good power still on that ball to give it that kind of expansion.

This shows the actual target I was shooting at. The top far right hit was made at 100 yards off a set of shooting sticks shooting for the center of the gray area. The next hit high and right was off the sticks but I had moved up to the 50 yard station. Again, not all that bad, about four inches out of where I was aiming. The last group was done at the 30 yard station off the bench.

A little more work and some sight adjustment and I think I will be ready for the doe season. I am determined to take a doe with my smoothbore.

 

[Rifleman]

Looks like with that cannon you can shoot the doe and clean it all at the same time! Pretty cool !

 

[cayuga]

:yeah: that load does seem to have a little thump to it, but the accuracy really fails past 40 yards. There is no telling where that thing will hit. In fact at the 100 yard station I actually shot two rounds. One missed the entire box. You really need to get close.

Some of the people I were talking to that shoot the big Brown Bess .72 caliber talked about such outstanding accuracy out to 75 yards, and I have tried that smoothbore with every kind of combination I can think of and just can not get any accuracy out of it past 40 yards....

As for cleaning the deer at the same time, I have to remember that one...

 

[BCS]

Great penatration!

One of these days, I will have to compare my soft lead to some of the harder balls that I am casting.

Just got my .715 Lyman mold, now I can cast some cheap big balls and see how they shoot. [hard lead]

The more I shoot my 62, the more I like it. Power and recoil, it is agood combinatin. 80 grains shouldn't be too hard on the shoulder and as seen has plenty of penatration!

 

[wapiti wacker]

Wow dave, on a pass through with that baby you could bury the gut pile in the trench it left and no one would know you had even been there :lol:

 

[cayuga]

The entrance holes are nothing special to see. I was just aiming for the dead center of the log end as it faced me.

And actually the exit holes are nothing special. This is Balsam wood, like pine, and very dry. If this were Oak or Hickory and it penetrated this much wood I would be astounded. Although overall I did not expect it to make through that much and still have the power splatter like it did.


I will admit, I am excited about hunting with this rifle. I hunted last deer season and saw one doe but she was about sixty yards away and I waited hoping she would get closer. As usual, she did not. I have no doubt that I should get complete penetration with this load, and just the size of the ball itself, it it makes that big a hole through the vitals, the deer will not go to far I suspect.