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Jbar4Ranch · January 30, 2012, 02:04 PM

The OP's question was:

3. what would be the longest practical range for these?

Perusing the answers to the post, I don't seen anyone who said round balls stop shooting at 100 yds.

There's a big difference between practical hunting ranges and match ranges. Personally, I'd prefer to keep round balls inside of 50 yards when hunting, but for matches, sure, 200 yards doable. If you have the right rifle, enough practice, and know the range is 200 yards, not 186 or 211, sure, you can compete at those ranges. With a 125 yard zero, a .50 cal round ball leaving the muzzle at 1800 fps will drop nearly 14" at 175 yards, nearly 24" at 200 yards, and right at 28" at 215 yards.
Trying to harvest an elk at 200 yards with a round ball would be nuts though. I once thought I was a pretty damn good shot... until I shot an NMLRA match at Friendship. IIRC, it was 220 yards, not 200...?

Kind of like someone asking the practical speed of a car, getting a reply of "75 mph", and you coming back with, "Those boys that drive the 500 mile races at Indianapolis will find that interesting that cars stop driving at 75mph - I can't wait to tell them they are wasting their time!"

January 30, 2012, 02:04 PM	#8
Jbar4Ranch Senior Member Join Date: May 19, 1999 Location: Near Helena, Montana Posts: 1,719	The OP's question was: 3. what would be the longest practical range for these? Perusing the answers to the post, I don't seen anyone who said round balls stop shooting at 100 yds. There's a big difference between practical hunting ranges and match ranges. Personally, I'd prefer to keep round balls inside of 50 yards when hunting, but for matches, sure, 200 yards doable. If you have the right rifle, enough practice, and know the range is 200 yards, not 186 or 211, sure, you can compete at those ranges. With a 125 yard zero, a .50 cal round ball leaving the muzzle at 1800 fps will drop nearly 14" at 175 yards, nearly 24" at 200 yards, and right at 28" at 215 yards. Trying to harvest an elk at 200 yards with a round ball would be nuts though. I once thought I was a pretty damn good shot... until I shot an NMLRA match at Friendship. IIRC, it was 220 yards, not 200...? Kind of like someone asking the practical speed of a car, getting a reply of "75 mph", and you coming back with, "Those boys that drive the 500 mile races at Indianapolis will find that interesting that cars stop driving at 75mph - I can't wait to tell them they are wasting their time!" __________________ Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets replaced... SASS 47015 Last edited by Jbar4Ranch; January 30, 2012 at 02:13 PM.