325 Yard Patched Roundball in Wind

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Idaholewis

Idaholewis

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This was awhile Back, I couldn’t resist trying longer distance with My Lyman GP .54 Cal Patched Ball, Lubed with GENUINE SKUNK, SUPER SKUNK that is :D, Target is my LARGE 20” Steel Plate, 1/2” Thick AR500, This Thing is HEAVY, like 60 pounds, The 230 Grain ball is NOT gonna Swing this, But you can hear the Hits. Just the Luck, After packing this CHUNK of Steel up the Hill and getting setup, the Wind Starts in, and it’s GETTING with it! What's a Guy to do? SEND EM Anyway!! :lewis:

 
If I hadn't seen this, I would never believe it. It's just so hard to imagine a .54 Cal PRB still having that much energy at that range.

Thanks for sharing this. I love my .54 Cal rifles, but I would not have thought this shot possible.
 
4stringdude said:
If I hadn't seen this, I would never believe it. It's just so hard to imagine a .54 Cal PRB still having that much energy at that range.

Thanks for sharing this. I love my .54 Cal rifles, but I would not have thought this shot possible.
Click to expand...

After the 2 Shots on Steel, the Wind Became unbearably bad, i Started Packing my stuff up, the Wind was blowing my Things off the Tailgate of my Truck. My gun was loaded, The Wind was Back n Forth, I decided to unload my Gun, i Took another Pop Shot at my Target (Off Camera, it was put away in my Truck) I missed, I didn’t hear the Gong Come back? I get up the Hill and Start Taking my Target Down, That is when I Seen this

3rd shot off Camera, Hit High (BAD WIND) Hit my 2X4 Hanger

Here is where the Ball entered
AIzPf7sl.jpg


It Blew Through the 2X4 Hanger, Remember that Old Blown Down Tree Behind my Target? The Ball is BURIED in it! I can see the Hole, But Not the Ball, it’s gonna take tools to get it out, i will get it next time I am up there in the area. Tell me this wouldn’t be Lethal? I sure as Heck wouldn’t want hit with it
FURy2Eo.jpg
 
The above ISN'T to say that anyone should EVER attempt Shots at game this Far away with a Patched Roundball, that would be a VERY Irresponsible, and UnEthical thing to do!!

The reason i posted the Shot that Blew Through my 2X4 Top Frame Board was to Show Just How much power that Roundball Stil had at 325 Yards, PRETTY DARN AMAZING!!
 
.54 round ball will pretty much kill anything in N America(at responsible distances as stated by Lewis) with a well placed shot maybe even the big bears but would rather have a .58 if going after one of them.
 
dbowling said:
.54 round ball will pretty much kill anything in N America(at responsible distances as stated by Lewis) with a well placed shot maybe even the big bears but would rather have a .58 if going after one of them.
Click to expand...

Me being a DIEHARD Bullet Guy, I am Guilty of Looking Down On Roundball in the Past without really knowing much about them? I have always been Fascinated with Ballistics from about 14-15 Years old, To Date, When you look at Roundball Ballistics in these Lyman Handbooks, They are ANYTHING BUT impressive to me, But now that i have 3 Dedicated Roundball Guns (45, 50, and 54) And i have Played some over my Chronograph with my .54 Cal Lyman GPH, The numbers i see in these Lyman Books, and What i am Actually getting are Quite Different, Which is Likely due to me using Swiss Powder VS Their GOEX? The Lyman Handbook Data i have, they used Goex, Swiss is VERY NOTICEABLY Hotter Powder.

This actually amazed me, i wasn’t expecting this
 
Last edited:
dbowling said:
.54 round ball will pretty much kill anything in N America(at responsible distances as stated by Lewis) with a well placed shot maybe even the big bears but would rather have a .58 if going after one of them.
Click to expand...

I agree on the Big Bears part here as well Dean, I Seen Enough with my .54 Cal above that i am Confident it would do the Job, 1 of these 230-235 Grain Balls In the Lungs, and the BIG Bear Dies PLAIN N SIMPLE, The Key here would be that the Bear Didn’t Charge in and get ahold Of ya after the Shot, before he Expired.

This Could be similar to Fred Bears Adventures Back in his Quest for a Polar Bear with a Recurve Bow, I can’t remember All of the Details now? But Fred shot a Few bears that DEFINITELY would have Died, BUT they Charged in on him after the Shot and would have Got him :eek: The Guide/Guides had to Use A HIGH POWER Rifle to STOP the Bear. These could not be Considered P&Y Archery Records due to the need of a High Power Rifle For Backup. Fred finally got a Polar Bear to Cooperate, It went Away after the Shot, instead of Charging him :)

I would love to See the outcome of my 54 Cal Load Above in the Boiler Room of a BIG Brown Bear at say 50 Yards, I have NO DOUBT the outcome would be a BIG DEAD Bear
 
Idaholewis said:
I agree on the Big Bears part here as well Dean, I Seen Enough with my .54 Cal above that i am Confident it would do the Job, 1 of these 230-235 Grain Balls In the Lungs, and the BIG Bear Dies PLAIN N SIMPLE, The Key here would be that the Bear Didn’t Charge in and get ahold Of ya after the Shot, before he Expired.

This Could be similar to Fred Bears Adventures Back in his Quest for a Polar Bear with a Recurve Bow, I can’t remember All of the Details now? But Fred shot a Few bears that DEFINITELY would have Died, BUT they Charged in on him after the Shot and would have Got him :eek: The Guide/Guides had to Use A HIGH POWER Rifle to STOP the Bear. These could not be Considered P&Y Archery Records due to the need of a High Power Rifle For Backup. Fred finally got a Polar Bear to Cooperate, It went Away after the Shot, instead of Charging him :)

I would love to See the outcome of my 54 Cal Load Above in the Boiler Room of a BIG Brown Bear at say 50 Yards, I have NO DOUBT the outcome would be a BIG DEAD Bear
Click to expand...
 
Lewis I want to thank you for all the work you put into this. I'm on the east coast live in MD I have always been a high fan of round ball this is great just shows people with good shot placement the old round ball still can do the job
 
Rlsmith said:
Lewis I want to thank you for all the work you put into this. I'm on the east coast live in MD I have always been a high fan of round ball this is great just shows people with good shot placement the old round ball still can do the job
Click to expand...

I enjoy tinkering with this Stuff, I have had a LOT of fun with this Patched Roundball so far, and look forward to a LOT more of it coming up. If all goes as I feel confident it will, i will have some “Eye Opening” Video Stuff With Patched Roundball Coming up :lewis:

Proper Shot placement is KEY Regardless the Projectile, Keep your Shots under 100 Yards, and Put That Roundball where the Critter “Lives” (Heart/Lungs) it Dies, Plain n Simple
 
Some food for thought

The first recorded grizzly killed in the US was in 1806 and was killed with 1805 Springfield flintchipper. Yep it is in the annals of the Lewis and Clark expedition, it was a harrowing experience and they almost didn't have enough toilet paper to handle the job. In the records of this trip they used the new-fangled 54 caliber Springfield and the customery patched lead ball.

Don't forget, Calfornia brown bears were wiped out with muzzleloaders. and rounds balls.

John Taylor was killing African Elephant (13 good bulls) and Rhino with a 10 bore and 167 gr of powder. This is detailed in his book "Pondoro". His concern was the lack of stopping power/penetration for head shots to stop a charging Elephant. So he did not place himself in that position.

In the 1960s a Hollywood stunt man Killed an African Rhino with a 58 flintlock loaded with 2 balls and a heavy charge of powder. It was written up in Muzzle Blasts
 

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