ok so this is going to be long . sorry
your just going to have to read through my bad grammer and miss spelling
As to the rb .
Here is what I have found through ?? Well a very long time LOL.
People have different experiences with the RB for many reasons . Most is limited knowledge I think . Now that’s not knowledge of hunting , that knowledge of the projectile and many times the rifle they chose to use .
Now when it comes to projectiles there are many things to consider . Caliber, charge , projectile ,range and intended target .
I would not shoot a bull elk with a 45 cal rb . Now that’s not saying the 45 would not do the job , it will . I have killed deer and elk with 22 long rifles . If you place the projectile , regardless if that projectile is a cactus throne or a conical , into the hart of ANY living thing , death will happen instantaneously .
But sometimes that animal does know its dead and will go a ways . Archers know this and this is why they wait for a time before moving after their game
As far as bllod trail . The only time I have found one lacking with a RB was when I was either shooting a low charge or was shooting to the limits of the range of that projectile .
I also have experienced issues when trying to shoot through the shoulder VS behind the shoulder angling forward .. But I also have experience this same thing with big slow moving conical.
The reason Im thinking for this is that we do not achieve the large se secondary wound channel that hi velocity center fire weapons do . Ifact this lack of secondary wound is way we can eat right to the hole and lose very little meet . But it also does less tissue damage and results less disruption of blood vestals
I think of it myself very much as an arrow carrying a Brodhead. The blades must cut blood vestals and create massive blood loss or the out come will be less then desirable
Basically I think we can divide the issue pf projectiles into two lines of thought
1) are those that want complete pass through
2) are those that complete pass through means little .
Both have the same considerations of ,target , caliber , charge and projectile
Lets look at # 1 real quick .
Normaly RB are made of soft lead . This expands on contact and thus when not achieving complete pass through , transfers every last amount of energy into the target . But if are wanting complete pass through . Normally with the thought creating both an entry and exit wound in the hopes of creating a larger blood trail . We would then use a harder material for the ball . Thus it will not expand as much . Thus increasing the chance of complete pass through .
But what is this complete pass through telling us ? Well lets look at the Lyman charts here .
We see that a 50 cal 370 grain maxi hunter fired with 90 grains of 3F is putting out 846ftlbs of energy at 100 yards .
Now lets say that we achieve complete pass through . How much energy has that projectile actually imparted into the animal ? See we don’t know because the target did not stop the bullet . But we can say that because of the weight . That bullet has enough energy to drive through heavy bone and keep on going .
But I submit that we are trying to cover all bases with that line of though . We should not have to worry about a large blood trail if we know we have placed our shot . Again I point to archery were in compression the blood trails can be far less to none existent. Thus the reason for the marketing of string trackers and electronic tracking tags .
Relying on a blood trail alone should only be part of your skills .
Now lets look at #2 .
When a projectile , be it a rb , conical or what have you . I say conical here because I have had conical that did not achieve complete pass through as well .
When a projectile does not achieve complete pass through , again it has transfer all its energy into the target . Thus the projectile has stop all forward motion . This can be a good thing if you putting a lot of energy into the animal . We must understand that IF we drive a soft RB through an animals shoulder , a lot of the energy is transfer right there . Thus we have to have the knowledge that at a given range , that RB will still have retained enough energy to take it on to the hart and lungs .
So now lets look at the charts for the RB . Again the same load but with a RB
Well at 100 yards that ball is putting out 430 ftlbs . IMO still more then enough to do the job .
But maybe not enough to get complete pass through .
BUT at 50 yards its putting out more then enough and in fact more then the heavy conical is at 100 .
So what this is telling us is that we need to be closer if we want complete pass through ..
OR we can use a material to make our rb , that make them harder and thus expand less . Thus reducing drag of expansion thus carrying the energy longer when passing through the target .
So now your saying OK so why then captchee to you feel the need to use a conical ?
Well first I will say that I have never met a deer or elk that would not be killed with a RB . NEVER imo no such critter exists out there .
But because at the time of year I hunt bull elk , those boys are very much like trying to stop a drug addict who is hopped up on cocaine.
Even with large caliber s like 300 H&H or weatherbee , they can often go a very long ways .
So while at 10-15 yards a 435RB will do the same as a large conical , most of my shots I find to be in the 25-50 yard range . Still acceptable for the RB of that there is no doubt .
But I want to plw through both shoulders . Smack them with as much energy as I can to ensure the don’t make it the short distance to the canyon walls .
Now that being said , I have never , knock on wood lost an elk to a RB and I don’t ever plan to . But I have ended up having them make that last little distance to a place where life is hell getting them out .
Now you think dragging a 120 lb white tail isn’t fun . Try standing next to a 900lb+ bull and realizing you first 200 yards is near strait up not only for 1 trip but 5 or 6 times ..
Now when im down here in the low lands
Ha no problem , my rifle is loaded with rb and rb only .
They are effective and will do the job as long as I do mine .
If the law went back to where we could only use RB like it once was . Truthfully I wouldn’t care. It wouldn’t hurt my feelings . All that would happen is when I was up hunting the canyon rim, I would be a lot more carful about when and where I shot those bulls
So as my final say on this , I would like everyone to realize that this issue isn’t new . Its not about muzzleloading . Its about projectiles . If you go to hunting forums that have center fire discussions you will see people who poopoo the 30.30 , 270 or what have you for elk . Saying they have seen to many lost animals . Well that’s their opinion and they are welcome to it . But I can tel you I have never not killed an elk that I shot with a 30.30 or 270 nor did I lose the 2 cow elk I killed as a boy with a 22 .
But all these same folks must face the facts that the center fire season is responsible for the largest w/l rate of any hunting season
Regardless of what you chose to hunt with , if your wanting a clean humain kill relying on caliber or type of projectile is looking past the fat that if we don’t know our weapon , its capabilities , its ranges all added to our abilitiy to place the shot . Then the problem lies with us , not the firearms system .
folks , be good to eachother
