Sharp Shooter

For those of you who shoot big bores like 58cal and up what do you hunt with them? How well will they put something down? Also how heavy is recoil and how far are you good to? I think I might get a 58cal rifled barrel.

cayugad

Anything I want to hunt... Just because you're throwing a large chunk of lead does not mean you are going to blow up what you shoot. Granted you will do more damage since you're shooting a larger projectile. But you could hunt squirrel with a .58 if your good enough a shot to pluck their heads.

As well or better then something smaller will put them down. You're pushing a larger projectile with more energy. That means more damage to the target when you place it where it need to be.

That will depend on how hard you load it. With 70 grains and a patched ball the .58 is very comfortable to shoot. It is plenty for any Whitetail deer say out to 100 yards. On the other hand if you load a minnie and stick 80 grains of 2f under that, it will shake your teeth a little if you're not holding on good. Also the kind of rifle and stock design play a big part. The Hawkins rifle for instance has a much more controlled recoil the the Renegade. I shoot my .58 caliber out to 100 yards. Where I live and hunt, that is for ever....

eldeguello

I have a .58 flintlock. With PRB, I use 120 grains of FFg. This isa pretty mild load in a .58, less than the old Plains Rifle/Hawken "standard load" of 1/2 the weight of the ball. In my rifle, this load produces 1700 FPS velocity @ 10' from the muzzle, and I have my fixed sights filed in to put this ball 2" high at 100 yards. I would feel comfortable using it for hunting out to 120 yards or so, IF I could see the whole critter. Deer or elk would be in serious trouble within that distance.

i also have a "bear load" which uses the Lyman 57730, a 570-grain, .575" Minie ball. With it, I use 120 grains also, and it hits dead-on at 100 yards. recoil is "noticeable", not something to be shot all day. I am convinced this load will take anything in North America, andmost critters in Africa as well.

Here's that bullet between two .45/70 rounds.....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/eldeguello/57730.jpg

cayugad

I've tried two different minnies out of my Green Mountain Rifle in .58 caliber and so far have not been able to get what I term "hunting accuracy." While they are a lot of fun to shoot, I just would not feel right taking a long shot with them. The best of the two were some 315 grain Warren Minnies. They actually did pretty good. The monster minnie from Black Jack Hill, if the critter was over 50 yards away, there was no telling where I would have hit them with that brick of lead, aiming for the shoulder.

Some of the military style rifles with .577 bore do real accurate shooting with minnies so I have been told. I got to shoot a Springfield Rifle once with a minnie and 70 grains of powder. Out to 100 yards a man would have been in serious trouble with that rifle. The neat part was you would have aimed for his mid section to hit him in the chest. Maybe the sights were messed up. The owner of the rifle when shooting would tell you to aim one foot low.... a lot of fun to shoot though.

lemoyne

I got rid of mine,the twist mostnormally used does not let you load heay enough to get a reasonable trajectory and good accuracy at the same time in my opinion so its difficult to go much beyond 100 yds.
On the other hand a long barreled 54 cal with a 1-70 twist which is readily available with a heavy load will reach 150 or 175yd and down anything on this continent;you have to place your shot no matter what you use.
Lee

Sharp Shooter

Do you think that the TC 1-48" twist would shoot Minnies better? I think the roundball is all you need really need but a Minnie would be fun. What are your results with the Buffalo Ball-et cayugad?

cayugad

I have not had much luck with any of my rifles shooting minnies. Minnies are more for the miltitary style rifle IMO. Now I did teflon tape them and got somewhat good groups then a flyer would come out of now where and blow the group apart.

As for the Buffalo Ball-et I shoot, I think they are 405 grain and they do all right. I never shot them at long distances yet. Roundball is still more accurate though.