Not an elk…but I shot a mule deer with a patched round ball (50 cal)…in one side and out the other. Went down instantly.

 

No experience with PRB, but the one elk I've shot with a 385 grain conical shattered the near humerus and drilled a hole in the heart, but it did not exit. While the shot i took killed her within less than a minute and the outcome was just fine, I would take "archery" shots only if I had it to do again.

 

I have had three ML's. All percussion.

One was a Thompson 54 Caliber 1/66 Round Ball Twist with a long barrel. I fiddled with it forever and never got any real accuracy and it weighed a ton. Sold it.

I had an inline 1/28 twist with a syn-stock and sabots worked OK on deer. If you are hunting Oregon i believe they are not legal, nor is a scope. It was so non-traditional it turned me off. Sold it.

One of the big issues with a ML is the cloud of smoke that blocks vision after firing. A flintlock just adds more smoke and is more weather sensitive. Not for me. Also the patch with a PRB can be a fire hazard if it lands in dry grass.

I really do like my Thompson 50. cal New Englander with a 1/48 Twist. I would not use PRB's to hunt any big game. They can deflect too easily and do weird things. Seen that happen

The 370 grain Thompson Maxi_Balls and Maxi-Hunter are just too good and are legal if you are hunting in Oregon.The Maxi-ball shoots more accurate in my rifle. They group into a three inch or less circle or at 100 yards and are both deer and elk worthy.

I almost put in for an Unloved ML elk zone, but decided not to.

If you feel so inclined send me a PM and let me know what ML Bull elk zone you got and if it is the right one I might be able to be of assistance to you.

DB

 

I hunted elk with a PRB last year, I wasn't able to test out how well the worked on elk size game. I had a self imposed range of 50 yards or less. Drew the same tag again this year, I'm going to going to be spending some time this summer working up a load with a maxiball or minie ball.

 

Just not much energy there beyond 40 yards. Use this to assess your options.

Rb ballistics

 

Traditional Ml , will probably be 1/48 ,1/66 .PRB. are old school since there are over sized or undersized projectiles .Just have to size the Bore and get a test pack .

 

I have gotten better accuracy with round balls out of my 54 percussion than I did either of my 2 modern in-line guns using oregon legal bullets. I have also seen more deer lost using maxi-bullets than any other bullet. Round balls are affected by wind drift more than a conical, and my round balls weigh right at 230 grains. The thing with muzzleloaders is they can be very picky on what load they want. That load is influenced by many factors: rate of twist, depth of grooves in the barrel, size of powder and grains used, pure lead or hard alloy, patch thickness and material type, and type of patch lube used. I have recovered several patches to look at to help develop a load and not a single one has ever been on fire or appeared to be burned I would never hesitate to hunt with one in hot weather. The patches are lubricated which prevents them from catching fire. Even the lube I use which is a "dry" lube which evaporates leaving the patches almost dry doesn't burn. Ask any more questions you have there are several knowledgeable traditional hunters on here

 

Overcharged ML’S Rifles using RB ,I would bet is where accuracy declines ,lead just strips over riflings .Even the inlines will be affected by to much of a charge , just wastes powder , more smoke and more noise🤔

 

I used to shoot and hunt with a .54 Investarms (same as the Lyman Deerstalker) percussion Hawkin rifle. It's a 1/48 twist, and RB's are fine out to 50 yards. At 100 I don't know where they go! The Maxi-Hunter bullets were good to about 70 yards, but after that they drop like a rock. One thing that helped the MH is a lubbed felt wad under the bullet. Found my best accuracy with between 70 and 80 grains of 3F, the real stuff. If I was going to buy another one, I'd get a Lyman Great Plains in .54 with the 1/66 twist and shoot nothing but roundballs. Pretty sure anything out to 75 yards would be in trouble.

 

Been wanting to try the wad .Have seen a few tests ,of connicals and round balls.Seems the alloy they are made from is the reason for retention of weight and penetration.
Could be why some hits aren’t recovered 🤔.

 

Have not shot elk with a PRB, just bear and deer.

In Oregon .50 is minimum for elk. In the PRB world, bigger is better. .54/.58/.62 would be a better choice.

Start off with a soft lead ball .01” under bore diameter. For patching, I use drill from JoAnne’s Fabric. Olive oil makes a good hunting lube, otherwise I just use spit for target shooting. Read your fired patches. They should look like they could be reused. Torn/shredded/burnt thru patches indicate a problem. From there it’s just a matter of playing with the variables until you get the desired result.

PRB's do work on game, but as C-lice noted, you need to treat it as an archery shot. Double lung, avoid heavy bone.

PRB's are also affected by wind drift. A rough rule of thumb is at 100 yds you can expect 1" of drift for every 1 mph of crosswind.
Play around with waterbobbers RB ballistics calculator to get an idea for drift and drop.

Effective range is somewhere around +/- 100yds depending on variables and your ability to shoot. Generally, the closer the better.

Make sure you get a rifle with an appropriate twist rate (56/60/66/72 etc.), as well as deep cut rifling (.010" or more) to hold the patch. Some rifles are sold as a compromise between RB and conicals and the rifling doesn't cut it.

As far as flintlocks go, they have a steep learning curve, even if you already shoot percussion. "Budget" and flintlock are not two words you want to put together. The lock needs to work correctly or it will be nothing but frustration. They don't work with substitute powders so you will need to find real BP. You will need to learn how to position the flints correctly in the lock as well as when to knap or replace them. The lock time on a flintlock is around .07-.08 seconds which is twice the time of a percussion gun. Add in the pan flash and they are not easy to shoot accurately, especially off hand.

As far as flintlock accuracy goes, I expect to get 4" 100yd groups fairly easily. Sneaking them down into the 2-3" range takes more load development and a really calm day. The picture shows when I found the sweet spot for this rifle. 1/2" 50 yd group and 2 3/4" at 100 yds.

Then there is the learning curve of keeping them shooting in the field. Cow's knees, sealing the pan, etc..

Not sure when your hunt is, but if you intend to use a flintlock this year, you should get on it.

 

Nice bear! Nice shooting! I don't do that well with my percussion setup... hard enough with my rifle!

 

300-400 grains of lead is gonna leave a mark .

 

Thanks for all of the insight.

I guess I didn't really fill in all of the back story. I hunt with a rifle, bow and muzzleloader. Probably mostly with a bow the last 10yrs. I have killed a buck and two bulls with a ML, including a bull I shot last year with a 250g Thor Bullet. I have an idea of what works/doesn't work in a percussion setup with bullets. I could just hunt with what I have and feel pretty good about things as far out as I am comfortable shooting with open sights.

I just thought it would be fun to try flintlock. It's the PRB that I'm worried about. I had intended to buy a 0.54, but I am planning/considering to buy a Traditions Kentucky Style rifle for the sake of making it affordable/justifying what is really an unnecessary expense. I'm told they don't make anything beyond 0.50. I know the unit I'm hunting pretty well. I think I will have an opportunity. I'm a mature hunter, but not mature enough to give up killing an elk in order to do it with a flintlock. I am willing to gamble on doing it with a flintlock and risk getting closer to make a clean kill. I am just trying to get a feel for what the size of that gamble is before buying the whole setup. I really would like to have 100yrds of range. I did not range the bull I shot this year, but I would estimate 50-80yrds. I know that is a really wide range, but I shot from timber into the open, and it's hard to estimate under those conditions. In the circumstances I expect, 100yrds shots are obtainable, it's not easy. Having to get closer really trims down the odds of success. The previous bull I killed was at sub 20yrds, but that was an odd circumstance and it's not likely to happen ever again. If I can get a 50 cal RB to pass through the ribs of and elk at 100yrds and end up under the skin on the off side, I think I'm in. If not, I may punt this down the road for when I am more willing to forgo success to use the flintlock. I realize this may be a difficult question to answer. I'm planning to surf around the web a bit to try to develop a rough opinion of my own, and then pull the trigger (Or not).

 

I have a Thompson Center 54 Cal Percussion 1/48 twist using PRB and love it. Very accurate gun. My first day shooting a Muzzleloader (ever) I went to a Muzzleloader shoot site to learn a few things. Was helped by a couple of old timers. After some test shots, they asked if I want to join the competition shoot they were having. I did, and oddly enough I won it. Felt kind of like pool shark tricking these old guys. I really had no clue.

Of course in Oregon it's open sights so I can only shoot out to 120 yds otherwise the front pin covers the animal too much. Shot 6 elk with it and 1 deer. All Elk were 80-120 yds and went down quick. The 6 point I shot went 150 yds before it piled up. Anyway, PRB in my gun works great. I have a really nice inline now and could never get the groups I get with my 54 Cal.

 

I have 2 muzzleloaders both.54 cal. My TC Renegade doesn't like most conicals, so I shoot mostly PRBs in there. It shoots them fine. My Lyman does well with conicals, so I'll shoot those in there. .54 conicals are getting more difficult to come by tho. I mostly find stuff in .50.

I wouldn't hesitate to hunt deer or elk with a .50 PRB, but keep my shots at 75 yards or less. Archery range, even better.

 

Note from the reference above, a 177 grain .490 diameter PRB started at 1800fps is at only 998fps and only 390 foot pounds of energy at 100 yards….or about the same as a .40 S&W with a 180 grain bullet out of a 4” barrel. Not much of an “elk load”. Go to a .54 cal. min. if hunting elk with PRBs.

 

Note from the reference above, a 177 grain .490 diameter PRB started at 1800fps is at only 998fps and only 390 foot pounds of energy at 100 yards….or about the same at a .40 S&W with a 180 grain bullet out of a 4” barrel. Not much of an “elk load”. Go to a .54 cal. min. if hunting elk with PRBs.

Fair enough, but would you take a one yard shot at a bull's ribs with a Glock 23?

 

Point well taken. I guess I was thinking more about the .50 diameter wound that the ball would make and not so much the energy and penetration.
Yes, the 54 cal would be better on elk.

My friend just poured some new conical bullets for my .54 and handed them over to me tonight. I'll work them up this weekend on paper and try them on the silhouette range.

 

I also shoot a lyman great plains rifle in 54cal with a 1/66 twist. All I shoot is patch and round ball. It did a great job this last year on my bull elk.