round balls for deer hunting??

[duckmen1]

are round balls any good for deer hunting out of a .50 cal. muzzleloader?
balistics show 1600 ft pound of energy at the muzzle which is'nt much different than any other projectiles statistics
thanks for any info

[C-Money]

Yep! Been involved on a few round ball deer kills. They seem to work fine out to 100 yards or so. Most of the kills I have seen are from Pennsylvania when flintlocks and roundballs were required. Always deadly with well placed shots!

[CP]

If you keep your shots close round balls work fine.  But they lose energy quickly, 1600 ft-lbs at the muzzle will be down to about 550 ft-lbs @ 100 yards. 

[carpsniperg2]

you got to remember how many deer elk bear etc were killed in earlyer times with the round ball like said keep shots close and they will kill just fine also stay away from the shoulder they seem to turn flat really quick when they hit solid bone and don't get the penetration like the other muzzleloading bullets out there also lead density has something to do with how fast they flatten out as well some balls are harder than others 

[Hangfire]

Round balls are a very good load in a 50 cal. muzzle loader.  Be sure the barrel twist is for round ball. One in 72 twist or that area.  The TC New Englander is a 1-48 twist which is a compromise.

Why a round ball.. accuracy.  If you can't hit accurately it doesn't make any difference how large the projectile is.

I have used the 50 cal. round ball for elk, deer and pronghorn. The load in my 50. cal. Green River Barrel was as I remember, 90 grain of FFF with a .495 round ball and heavy patch.  I used melted Crisco for lube. This gun would shoot a 2 inch group at 100 yards, off cross sticks, with buck horn sights, when my eyes were good.

Bullet affect.. clear through a prong horn  at 80 yards, both shoulders. Deer and elk stop on far side when shot behind shoulder. One bull hit on point of shoulder, drop on spot.  The bullet hit spine and put right down.  One cow at estimated 70 yards, facing me, bullet between shoulders into lungs, ran about 50 yards, good blood trail.  Cow  at 100 yards, hit behind shoulder a little high.  There was no exit, bullet under skin far side. This cow went about 200 yards.

A round ball gun needs deeper groves than a slug gun. If the grooves are to deep a heavy charge may blow by patch. My Green river barrel had a choked bore, (tighter at muzzle). This barrel would loose accuracy with a 100 grain charge.  I have heard that if the seal is getting blown, that the old timers would follow the powder in the loading, with about 20 grains of cream of wheat cereal.  This gave a better seal.

I have shot 1 prong horn, two deer and about 8 elk with round ball guns in 50 and 54 caliber.  I never wounded a animal.

[C-Money]

Good info Hangfire, Can we see some of your M.L. animal photos? I like Photos!

[Hangfire]

I don't have much for photo's except some old 110 film pictures. I don't have a scanner. I stopped the early muzzle loader elk hunting after the 1993 season, when my brother-in-law moved backed to Washington from Alaska.  We started hunting pronghorn together. I knew he didn't have a lot of time left with type-1 diabetes.  The pronghorn hunting he could still do. We lost him after the 2003 season.

My eyes don't allow using iron sights any more. I still hunt turkeys with the 12 ga.  flint. I will try to get my son to scan a few pictures one of these days.  There is a picture of my 2009 turkey somewhere in this forum. I may try to get it up to date.