In my backyard

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  • Last Post 22 March 2008
CB posted this 22 February 2008

This evening I saw 14 deer in my backyard in a herd. Too bad it's not hunting season, my freezer would be stocked up for the year. :fire

 

Should I use a simple muzzle loader or my 45-70, remember that this is a shotgun state.

 

Jerry

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Mnshooter posted this 22 March 2008

Scot.  What really surprises you is how much smarter you get as the kids get older.  My 25 year old is starting to realize that now.  Some of us even start quoting our fathers at later ages. I very skillfully hit a medium doe up close in the neck (  The deer was angled, I was aiming behind the shoulder and the gun shot a little high and I think I may still have been pulling up with a snap shot, I hate to call it luck) with a 50 RB and 90 grains of 3f and never found the exit hole either.  The deer dropped and almost bounced when it hit the ground.

Mnshooter

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6pt-sika posted this 08 March 2008

In Virginia we have pretty liberal seasons and rules . In my area you can hunt with anything .23 caliber or larger .

If I were in Ohio and had to use “just” a ML or shotgun , I would whip out my old Savage 215 Slug Hunter and use the Hornady SST sabot slugs . And would try like heck to get more then one at a time ;)

I am also partial to my pair of Knight Disc Rifles with the Hornady 250 grain Sabot in the 50 cal and the Hornady 200 grain Sabot in the 45 cal .

As far as the 20 gauge slug gun is concerned I have been using an H&R Ultra Deluxe with (again) the Hornady SST sabot . But have not had a chance to get a shot with it .

Right around christmas I purchased a second H&R 20 gauge , but this one was rechambered by Hasting's for a NEW 3.5” 20 gauge slug . But I have yet to fire the thing so far !

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Scott Merchant posted this 02 March 2008

Mnshooter

Sorry it took me so long to reply, I get side tracked easily. Rhett would like to take a nice buck ever year, but under stands that it not alway possible. Rhett started hunting Deer at 12 years old, I had him hunting squirrels when he was around 5 years old. Rhett turned 15 this year and it amazing when I here him talking to other kids about hunting how much he knows, Guess he listens more than I thought. The Buck in the picture would have been his fourth Deer taken. To date he has taken nine as of the end of this season. All of his deer have been taken with Cast Bullets and that is his choice, I offered him a 257 Roberts two years ago and he told me his 30-30 work just fine.

I know what you mean about hard kicking guns. I don't let my kids shoot them until I fill that they are both physically and mentally ready. Rhett is shooting a 45 cal T/C for muzzle loading season its the same rifle that is brother used when he was younger. He uses a load of 75 grains of fff and a patched round ball. Out of the four Deer that he has shoot with that rifle and load all but one has passed thru. The one that didn't was this last season. When he took a monster Doe, he shot her in the neck which is a no no with me, He had a convincing story of why he had to take that shot. Any how the ball was recovered on the off side under the hide. It had destroyed two vertebra's plus the carotid arteries a very clean kill.

I  now normality hunt with a 54 cal, its probably  the most ballistic efficient of the round ball guns. But I have taken more game with the 50 cal than any of the rest. I guess they all work fine as long as the are use with in there limits. Heres a picture of Rhetts Doe that he shot in Dec.           Scott

 

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CB posted this 01 March 2008

"A shooter buddy and I have a 20 gauge H&R Slug single shot ( heavy barrel, fully rifled & 3 inch chamber ) project going that might be interesting.  Several others over on CastBoolits are doing similar things."

Hi Ken,

Glad to see you getting interested in the 20 gauge H&R slug gun. I haven't done much with my similar project since my articles were in the Fouling Shot, except to shoot a couple of more deer. I will vouch for the contention that a round ball will kill cleanly, at least out to 80 yards (.635 diameter. MV=1,300 fps).

I am interested to see what you find. The special brass cases are especially intriging. As you know, I had pretty good luck with round balls (about 4 MOA) but I had to launch them out of plastic cases which brings up a mess of other variables, none of which probably make for better accuracy.

I now have my own round ball mold that casts0.635” that I would be happy to loan. It is a neat brass mold made by a Brit that was cheap and even has my name engraved on it. The design of the mold doesn't include a sprue cutter so you have to snip off the sprue after casting just like Daniel Boone. If I can relocate the address I will send it so you can buy your own if you don't want to borrow mine.

What do your bullets weigh?

Let me know if you want me to send the mold.

John

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CB posted this 27 February 2008

I have taken my Grey Hawk out and practiced with it in the snow.  I take 2 liter pop bottles, fill them about 1/2 to 3/4 full of water and leave them out over night. They freeze and then become good targets.

I have used three pop bottles for practice and they all show signs of high energy impacts at 50 yards. Mainly the bottles explode.

;}

Jerry

 

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Mnshooter posted this 26 February 2008

Does Rhett expect to do that every year now?  Seems like kids get their pictures taken that way a lot.  Sometimes I wonder what they don't know that we should know.  Some find it fun to shoot the big guns and I can't say that there is really anything wrong with it, as they are better than too little.  Bob Brister wrote an article one time about the shoulder and neck injuries he sustained after years of shooting shotgun sports with the 3 dram loads.  While we do not shoot as much as a shotgunner does, I kind of took that article to heart concerning shooting the big ones.  Round ball shooters in my neck of the woods like the 54 real well and others claim the 50 isn't all bad.  As I have a 54 flint and a 50 percussion, I use whatever my whim dictates.

Mnshooter

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 25 February 2008

Hi, muzzleloading roundball  ( big ones ) are quite good enough .. however, just because I can ...

A shooter buddy and I have a 20 gauge H&R Slug single shot ( heavy barrel, fully rifled & 3 inch chamber ) project going that might be interesting.  Several others over on CastBoolits are doing similar things.

Anyway, the bore is about 0.635 inches ( !!!! should be a good round ball shooter also !!  ) and we have made some lathe turned brass cases and some very very impressive cast bullets for it ... we are going to treat this as a cast bullet rifle, aiming for around 1000 fps .....  uh .... as soon as this Algore-Warm (g) winter lets up enough to open the shop doors to shoot out of again...  oh, and the acquision of a real thick shoulder pad/sissy bag/or volunteer 400 lb test shooter ....

The H&R blue steel slugster was about $220 and takes a scope mount and is a very heavy gun ... hmm havent weighed it but seems 10+  or so lbs.

should be interesting, test groups will probably be one shot per shooter (g) ... regards, ken campbell, iowa

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CB posted this 25 February 2008

O.K. I will give Round ball a try. I have used round ball for Coyote hunting and for G'Hogs around here.

My Grey Hawk has a max load in BP terms or equivalent of 100gr, should I start back at about 85 grs?

 

Jerry

 

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Scott Merchant posted this 25 February 2008

Jerry

A Muzzleloader is the way to go in your area. Ed is right about the roundballs killing power. Been killing deer with them since 1976, also both my boys and my two nephews use round balls in there rifles. Heres a picture of my youngest boy Rhett with a Buck that he shot when he was 13. Scott

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CB posted this 25 February 2008

Ed,

 

THnaks, I shoot ball as well as Maxie/Minnie Ball in the Grey Hawk. I do have an inline that I shoot Sabots in, still with my own cast bullets.

 

Jerry

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Ed Harris posted this 25 February 2008

If memory serves, the Greyhawk is 1:28 twist which is still a bit faster than optimum for best accuracy with a RB.  Whatever cast bullet you have with the largest meplat which you casn shoot accurately at decent velocity over 1600 fps should do OK.  But I have found that pure lead RBs flatten right out above 1800 fps and deliver quick kills at reasonable range.   The thing you need to remember about round balls however if that they lose half of their kinetic energy over 100 yards, so you do need to keep the range within about 50-60 yards.   If you may need to shoot as far as 100 yards a heavier, elongated bullet over 1600 fps, with large meplat is much better. 

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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CB posted this 25 February 2008

Ed,

 

I was thinking about using my Grey Hawk, I have found ball rounds do work well in the Hawk.

I could use my inline, I have been know to use a cast bullet in a Sabot for hunting.

Thanks,

 

Jerry

 

 

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Ed Harris posted this 25 February 2008

miestro_jerry wrote: This evening I saw 14 deer in my backyard in a herd. Too bad it's not hunting season, my freezer would be stocked up for the year. :fireShould I use a simple muzzle loader or my 45-70, remember that this is a shotgun state.

You need to use a legal gun.  If the .45-70 were legal, but would be my choice, but if it really isn't, and you don't have a shotgun, any muzzleloader .45 cal. or over will do the job.  I know people who use .40 cal. roundball guns on deer, but I think that is too light unless you drive the ball over 2000 fps and stay within 50 yards.

People poo poo round balls, but in a well built gun with 66” twist  which can safely shoot heavy loads of 80-100 grs. of 3Fg for 1800-2000 fps from a 32” barrel, a .45 or .50 roundball is absolutely deadly on deer and at short ranges within 40-50 yards and kills MUCH better than a Maxi-Ball at lower velocity which seems to poke a hole with little real shocking power on anything smaller than a cow.

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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Mnshooter posted this 25 February 2008

In Minnesota where they have shotgun zones you cannot use a 45-70 as it is a breechloading rifle.  An individual I work with uses a ML in a shotgun zone because he feels it is more accurate and he likes the concept of one shot.  He got a nice buck and doe last year working on that concept.

Mnshooter

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