Black Bear Bullets

[wild country]

I got into black powder a few years ago.  I have shot every type powder in my Lyman great plains .50 cal.  I do like black powder, but can't get as many shot through it with the BP.  Any how I shot my first black bear with a 385 gr hornady HB-HP with 120 gr BP I will tell you that the bullet only lost about 10% of its mass and it put a big hole in him.  I mean flipped him over and took out all his running gears!  Due to the amount of fat on this guy he didn't bleed a drop (not uncommon)  So now that I have made myself feel like a black powder shooter (HAHA)  What kind of round ball action can I get out of this gun, I ask because my friend said if you can't do it with a round ball then don't do it.  I will say that everything else I shoot through it groups well.

[Snowshoe]

I assume that you have the hunter barrel with the faster rifling twist that they are made to shoot bullets, but will shoot balls with lighter powder charges. The regular barrel has a 1 in 66" twist that shoots round balls great. A round ball out of a .50 will get most jobs done if you do your part. I have taken many whitetails with a .495 round ball, some as far as 110 yards, and got complete pass through of the chest. A .495 ball weighs around 180g of pure lead, so it sticks together and expands very well. I shoot nothing but round balls, but have moved up to a .54 just because I wanted a new rifle.

[sproulman]

30 years ago i got a 350 pd black bear with 2 roundball load from my .50 cal hawkins..490 rb,70 grs of 2f

put 2 holes in him at 75 yards

[wild country]

Snowshoe


Yes it is the hunter, so I will need to run a lighter charge throught it to get the grouping I'll need.........What's up with the two ball load?  Sounds like a great idea......

[pastorp]

Wild country, I have never hunted with anything but round balls in the muzzleloaders I have had. I started with a 50 and killed several mule deer and a turkey with it. Then a 54 then a 58. They all killed big mule deer. I have not hunted bear with a ML however.
If your gun will stabalize a patched RB I believe the 50 will work on black bear or anything else in that weight/size catagory. Regards