[W. C. Quantrill]

Roundball,

Are you still shootin them marbles?

Good to see you over here. Yep I'm over there too~~just a different handle.

The traditional projectile for the muzzle loader was the round ball, is there anything else?

I shoot a .53 Hawken~~the real one. I built it. I use .520 balls (215 gr) with a 0.015 patch over 120 grains of FFg for a hunting load. I am estimating that this load is cooking a bit better than 1800 fps. This rifle has taken at least one deer each year since 1985, in addition to a few hogs, a coyote or two and hopefully this fall an elk. I mention this rifle the most, it is one of 6 in the Department of Homeland Security, but it is by far my favorite.

There is no such thing as a Hawkins rifle.

I cant imagine a 20 yard shot with a rifle. I was tired and scouting the first day of season a couple of years ago and had climbed a tree and was sitting up fairly high when a meazley little 4x4 management buck walked under the tree and I popped him with my .45 ACP, but, when out hunting, I seldom see a shot under 75 yards and most are beyond that. We were eyeball deep in deer that year and I had 5 tickets. I cannot visualize a 20 yard shot with a .50 cal PRB that would be disappointing unless I missed the deer.........LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION, it is all about shot placement. I would expect a deer at 20 yards to drop like a rock.