Roundball vs. Conical vs. Sabot

scout3006

scout3006

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I have been getting conflicting reports as to which is sufficient for deer in a .50 cal rifle. On the one hand, the roundball is great as it holds together well but has a higher MV than the conical. The conical is then said to be better because of greater mass. Then someone comes along and poo-poos both of them and insists the sabot load is tops.
I have also heard of accounts that using roundball/conical loads for deer is not good because of the rarity of an exit wound, making tracking more difficult.
Is this true, and is the sabot round THAT much more effective than the other types? I am more of a traditionalist, and am leaning more towards a flintlock rifle firing either a roundball or conical than one of these fancy inlines.
Any thoughts? :runaway:
 
I shoot both round ball and conicals in my .50 Hawken. Same POI at 50 yds with 50 grns FFFG. I have yet to get a deer in my sights but I cannot imagine one going very far hit with a 385 grn conical. Certainly that's what I hunt with and I'm not the least bit concerned with penetration. I have shot both round ball and conicals through a 6 inch block of Pine firewood at 50 yds so I think they will go through a deer. Look at it this way. If round ball wouldn't kill deer, elk or moose, the oldtimers would have starved to death. IMO, if you want to shoot sabots, you might as well go get one of those superduper short magnum laser beam whizbang tinker toys and have done with it. :)
 
Round balls and flintlock rifles were used as 'state of the art' for over 200 years. Conicals only came into use around the time of percussion caps, IIRC.
If your game is deer sized a soft lead round ball is all you will need.
 
Shot both bear and deer with a .50 with round ball and 120 grains of powder.
never did shoot a conical, as I never wanted to.
They may be
better
, no matter.
a .62 is "better" than a .58, does that mean I should quit shooting my .58 and get a .62 barrel for it? NOPE!!
Go with what you want as long as it is accurate.
Personally , I wouldn't let a sabot or conical anywhere near my rifles, as they are plains rifle replicas, so they shoot PRB, that's it, that's all!:runaway:
Cat
 
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The round ball works just fine. I have a .50 Deerstalker that has taken many whitetails with a round ball pushed by 80g of Prodex. I have tried all sorts of bullets and sabots, but prefer the round ball in my .50, and like the .54 round ball even more. My new .54 gets used for the first time this year, and yes it will be round balls.
 
I shoot .50's. Best hunting shot was 154 yards with a long barrelled flinter of my own manufacture, over a crested clover field, I took two does with one shot. Both through the neck and at the same time, as they were standing side by each. .490 patched roundball, witnessed by four other hunters. Niagara Penn., about ten years ago. I have fun with my balls!

Regards
Mark
trapline.ca
 
A roundball is fine for deer; been knocking them down for years. I happen to like conicals in my .54. More than needed for deer, but they do quite a number on elk and moose.

I'm not sure what the question related to, but I don't see myself as giving up anything for big game by going the conical route.
 
Depends on the twist rate of your barrel really! slow rate(1/66) is awesome for rd ball.....medium(1/48) is good for conicals.....fast (1/28) is good for sabots.......try the rd balls on the range for accuracy, they work just fine for deer:)
 
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