Conical Day

[rugerbh103]

I am still working on a hunting load for my White Mountain Carbine. Last time out I found that round balls shot good at 60 grains of Pyrodex RS, but no more.

Today I shot 320 grain maxiballs that Walmart had on clearance. With 70 grains of Pryo RS, at 50 yards the first shot was about 3 inches left of center. Swabbed between each round and the next 5 went into a 1/2 inch group dead center. I was short on time so I stopped without testing any other loads.

So what do you guys think. Is the 70 grain maxiball load sufficient for whitetails inside 100 yards. I haven't shot iron sights in some time and that's about as far away as I can still shoot them. In all reality I can't remember the last time I shot a deer over 70 or 80 yards away. Thanks for any assistance.

 

[dbowling]

should be plenty out to 75 yds or so but would shoot some to see how much they drop, wont have any trouble plowing thru a white tail or pig.

 

[cayuga]

I have a friend that shoots a T/C New Englander .50 caliber. He hunts deer and black bear with it. His load is 70 grains of Pyrodex RS and a maxi ball. I think its 320 grains. Or so they make a 370 grain? I kind of think he said it was more then 320 grain. I had stopped at his house one after noon during deer season just to see how he did. He had a nice buck hanging. And he of course had to tell the story. Said it was about 70 yards away, across his pond. And he claimed he shot, the smoke cleared and the deer lay right there. He also said the blood, blown out of that deer across the snow from that maxi ball just stunned him. It was a high behind the shoulder shot that angled downward. He said the lungs and top of the heart was blown out. That is all he hunts with is those maxi ball. Although we shot some roundball one afternoon on his range. And his New Englander did fine.

I think if you're accurate with that load, a deer don't stand a chance out to 100 yards with that maxi ball. Pure lead has a way of killing deer. I personally like maxi ball but never could find a mold in my price range, so I used round ball instead. Years ago, before people got all excited about muzzleloaders, we used to hunt white tails with 70 to 80 grains of Pyrodex RS and just a roundball. Never had a problem killing deer. But we never shot over 50 yards either.

 

[rugerbh103]

Thanks. I'm considering just staying with the round ball. Not sure if a 60 grain round ball load is enough for deer. Most loads I see recommended are in the 80 grain range. I just can't get any accuracy out of this rifle with them above 60 grains.

I'll spend some more time in the backyard trying to work some loads. The weather has been unseasonably warm.

 

[excess650]

I shoot 70gr in my .50 flintlock with patched round ball, and don't feel under gunned for whitetail. WMCs had quicker twist barrels than most TCs, so should better stabilize the 370gr Maxi than the 1-48" twisted guns.

I have to wonder how many million bison were killed with the 50-70 or lesser cartridges, and muzzleloaders. I've read numerous accounts of moose taken with .50 Hawken or Renegade with the same 370gr Maxi and similar powder charges, so would think it adequate for deer.

 

[rugerbh103]

Thanks, never killed a deer with a patched round ball. Hopefully this is the year.

 

[cayuga]

For what its worth ... I have a book about muzzle loading. And in it, the author states his favorite deer hunting load for his flintlock. Its 50 grains of powder and a patched ball. His take on this load is ... the energy in the ball is fully released in the deer because the ball don't pass through. Now I can see his point but I really can not say I fully agree with it. Years ago, when we shot 70 grains of powder and a round ball, my shots were close but I did get pass through with that load.

Have you ever shot REAL conical bullets? They make two different weights. And with a mere 70 grains of powder my friends have killed a lot of deer with that conical bullet. I cast them for .50 and .54 caliber. The .50 is a 280 and 320 grain in size. REAL conicals are normally accurate out to 75 yards in my rifles.

 

[JStanley]

Doesn't the White Mountain Carbine have reasonably fast twist? Maybe a NoExcuse 460 gr. with 70 gr. or so of RS would be a good thing to try.

 

[rugerbh103]

I'll have to try those. TC says it's 1-38. Are they worth it? I'm cheap so I dread paying shipping.

 

[excess650]

Doesn't the White Mountain Carbine have reasonably fast twist? Maybe a NoExcuse 460 gr. with 70 gr. or so of RS would be a good thing to try.

I think they were SUPPOSED to be 1-20" on the earlier guns and 1-38" on the later guns. The one that I HAD showed 1-18" all (3) times I checked it. My best load was with Lee 250gr REAL. The bottom band of the 320gr REAL didn't even touch the tops of the lands.

 

[JStanley]

Doesn't the White Mountain Carbine have reasonably fast twist? Maybe a NoExcuse 460 gr. with 70 gr. or so of RS would be a good thing to try.

I think they were SUPPOSED to be 1-20" on the earlier guns and 1-38" on the later guns. The one that I HAD showed 1-18" all (3) times I checked it. My best load was with Lee 250gr REAL. The bottom band of the 320gr REAL didn't even touch the tops of the lands.

I had my hands on one that was 1:20 and didn't buy it. It was a real nice looking compact rifle.

I'll have to try those. TC says it's 1-38. Are they worth it? I'm cheap so I dread paying shipping.

You can check the. Out here: http://muzzleloading-bullets.com/index_files/Page320.htm

If you like them you might try casting your own some day. It's a lot of fun and satisfying to hunt with bullets you have cast yourself.

 

[rugerbh103]

I'd like to try casting, maybe when the funds aren't so tight. I mentioned it to my wife and got the dreaded, "You need another hobby?", eye roll.