Round ball or Conical

[charcoleburner]

Well lets talk muzzy .What do you hunt with as far as a front stuffer, is it a flint lock or cap , round ball or conical ,inline or traditional do you shoot year around or just for hunting season and do you know of any clubs to join thanks this should be a good start for a talk

[scrappy]

I at present do now own a front stuffer, but when I get one again it will be percussion for certain. As to projectiles I would lean toward conical's just for the greater terminal ballistics, but on deer sized game if your rifle will shoot good with round balls they will work fine as well and would likely not have any hesitation to use them. On elk though I would probably lean towards conical's still. Handgun bullets in sabots are all well and good, but I tend to be something of a purist on these things and like the idea of being a bit more traditional.
I used to have a rifle but sold it years ago for some reason. Need to get another one. Personal leanings are a CVA hawken style rifle with set triggers, 1-48 twist, open sights, wood stock, etc. 50cal is ok, 54 is better and I would prefer a big boar 58cal. A 1861 Springfield 58cal rifle would also be a great toy to have.

[charcoleburner]

I agree with you I prefer heavy lead conicals but there are alot of Elk and Moose put in frezers with 50 cal round balls you just have to be within proper range and place the ball in the right spot I have heard you should try to hit a heavy bone with a round ball cause they deform harder than a conical. I shoot a TC Renagade 54 and love it my next will be a Layman Great plains hunter 54 or maybe a plains pistole to match my 54s just love to shoot

[Rigger28]

I hunted with the 385 Great Plains bullet in my Knight LK93 for a few years, great accuracy but they were very hard to load after the first shot. Then I switched to the Parker Hydra-Con 440 grain. That thing is an elk slaying SOB. And you can't go wrong with a bullet made in Idaho. I buy them dry and pan lube them with a home made mixture of bees wax, bore butter and olive oil. Now that I live in the south I use a 265 Hornady JFP in a green hornady sabot. It's the same bullet I load for my .444 Marlin. Very good terminal ballistics and they don't kick as hard as the heavy Hyrda-cons. I still use open sights and percussion caps even though most people down here use 209 primers and 4x12x50mm scopes or something equally as ridiculous. I have always used Pyrodex P for all loads. Before I got my LK93 I had a Hawken kit gun. It was ok but I didn't like how the spark had to turn a corner in the nipple before getting to the charge. Too many hang/mis fires.

[T-Bone]

A lot depends on the rifling twist of your gun's barrel:

1 in 66 - Best with round balls; usually will not shoot conicals or sabots well.

1 in 48 - Shoots conicals or round ball; generally, not good with sabots. In my experience, best with conicals.

1 in 28 - Shoots sabots best, but some conicals, as well.

Not "Hard And Fast" rules; each gun is different and even the same model from the same manufacturer will shoot the same projectile differently.

Tom

[Call Turner]

Hawkins 50 cal, musket caps cause their easier for my fingers to use, 365 gr home poured maxi's, pan lubed with bee's wax,Crisco, and either olive oil or neatsfoot oil mixture.

[ron]

My muzzle loader is an 1863 58 caliber Remington replica made by Miroku in Japan. I've never hunted with it because I haven't had much time to shoot it but maybe next year. I have a Lee 440 grain R.E.A.L. (Rifle Engraved At Loading) bullet mold which other people I know use in 58 cal and works very well for them but I haven't tried it yet. so far I've only fired some 475 grain semi-wadcutter conical maxi-balls from Dixie gun works using SPG lube.

I really like it though, and to me it has a lot more "Soul" and beauty than any in-line, but that's probably because I'm "old-school", and I'm not knocking the in-lines for those who like them. Anything that burns power and launces lead, I'm all for it.

My brother hunts with a Pederasoli Brown Bess 72 caliber replica and he's bagged a Deer with roundball load and a turkey with a shot load. He likes Swiss powder, But I've only shoot mine with Goex. He also prefer's flint to percussion and Flint can work very will if the flint is lined up perfectly square with the frizzen and the location and size of touch hole is right. A properly set up flinter will go-"FSSHBOOM!" rather than "FSSSH----BOOM!"

That Brown Bess to me is a magnificently beautiful firearm. His is one of the shorter versions. He also has a 69 caliber Jaeger flintlock made by a custom maker but sold to him unassembled sort of like a kit for a reduced price. It has a relativf4ely short swamped barrel which give it amazing balance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA7MhEWKG5c

[30calholemaker]

I have a .58 Renegade and shoot a 500 grain miniball. It seems to be really accurate. I would love to get my elk with it next year. Also have a Remington Army 44. I shoot round ball out of it. Fun to shoot, nasty to clean.

[scrappy]

I have a .58 Renegade and shoot a 500 grain miniball. It seems to be really accurate. I would love to get my elk with it next year. Also have a Remington Army 44. I shoot round ball out of it. Fun to shoot, nasty to clean.

Nice rifle. That's the caliber I would ideally like to have. I once had a 44cal 1851 Navy revolver, similar to your Army (1860?). It was very fun to shoot, but a tad slow to load. Always used to joke that Id sure hate to have to fight Indians with it. I would completely strip it down each time, wash it in soapy water, rinse it and dry it in the oven on a cookie sheet at lowest temp (175deg) to ensure complete evaporation of any water. Oil and reassembly and it was good to go. It sure pointed beautifully, like an extension of your hand, and it was surprisingly accurate.

[ron]

Cap and ball pistols are what reloaders need to shoot who think that Unique powder burns "Dirty".

But the worst of the mess is causes by using Crisco over the balls to prevent chain-fires. If you use Lubricated felt "Wonder-wads" under the balls it will prevent chain-fires and make the guns much easier to clean. I have a .36 Colt Navy replica and have owned 44 remingtons and 1860 Army replicas But always wanted a big-ass dragoon, a 32 caliber pocket pistol, (rem or colt) a Ruger Old army vaquero with fixed sights, and of course I'd love to have a LeMat.

The Rugers I like because you can get 45 colt cylinders for them. And with the fixed sights they look more like a "real" vintage gun.

Years ago some company came out with a Colt 2nd model Dragoon in 50 caliber instead of 45 but they weren't made for very long, but a gunsmith could probably bore out a 44 to 50 pretty easy.

Also using triple seven make it so you don't have to clean up with water, just Hoppe's number 9, but you don't get that sweet aroma of sulfer with triple 777. I actually do like that smell.

[30calholemaker]

I have always shot black powder in my 1860 revolver. I get about 12 shots off before it is so gummy I cant turn the cylinder. I love having to look under or around the cloud of smoke to see if I hit the target.

[scrappy]

Mine would reach that same point by the end of the 3rd cyliner full. How wars were fought with such weapons amazes me.

[Spectre_USA]

It amazes me as well, especially after a firing or two, especially in the .50 rifle, but the .50 percussion pistol too. Just tough to re-stuff.

Conicals are all over the place through the rifle, and in the pistol it would be just plain silly. Or would it? Hrrmm...

Both of them like the swaged lead orbs, and pattern pretty nicely.