Vintage hunting bullet performance

[dusty texian]

Was working with the 350 grn. bullet in my 45-120 Sharps for hunting medium size game deer, hog ,sheep ,ect.This bullet weight is on the light side for this cartridge . The 350 grn. bullet was reliable and accurate out to about 200 yd. In my case it was not reliable past 200 yd. So I went back to my standard load for hunting ,the 500 grn. Lee pointed bullet. The pointed bullet is accurate in my load of 110 grn. by weight of 2ff Swiss bp.My own lube 50/50 lard and bees wax.two .030 card wad with 3/16 of the same lube in the middle of the card wads. The pointed bullet is accurate as noted but not the best choice for hunting .I cast these bullets @ 1-20 tin lead mix. I had a chance for a shot at a medium size desert mule deer buck,at 267 paces no range finder that day I was vintage hunting ,I did use modern Binocs cause I (need) them.Piont is the shot I had was at the buck sharply quartering away from me. I settled the rifle in the crotch of my shooting sticks knelt on one knee ,took aim held a breath set the back trigger sight pic. looked good squeezed her off . I could not see the bullet impact because of the smoke from the shot ,but heard it wallop !.My brother was watching my stalk and was 150 or so paces to my right ,he could see the bullet impact. He said the buck dropped when hit ,when the smoke cleared I could see him give his last couple of kicks . After climbing down the ridge we were on I inspected the entrance wound,no exit .Thats why he dropped on the spot. The bullet went into the middle of his left ham throughhis chest cavity liver lungs top of his heart severing the main arteries and lodging into his right chest breaking two ribs and stopping under the hide .I found very little meat dammage. I think that any shape bullet would have made a clean kill with that path, but wonder what will be the outcome if I use this load on a broad side shot that happens to slip through the ribs. Probably a slower kill. Does anyone else hunt with spire point lead bullets for the long range accuracy . Any thoughts would be helpfull. Please Pardon the lenth of my rambling and my spelling. Dusty.

[Trap]

HAd that happen with a buffalo. 45-70 450gr. 1-20 bullet. through the lungs. She just stood and blew blood for so long I couldn't take it anymore. put a shot in her ear to finish it. Have shot several buffalo with soft lead .54 round ball and had much better performance. if I ever shoot another with a cartridge gun, I will definitely use an all lead or JHP.

[dusty texian]

Howdy Trap.I too like to put the animal I shoot down ASAP. I have found that pure lead in my 45-75 wcf. bp. load in 28 in. barrel shoots good and will put down pig and deer real quick. Pig I shot this November at about 60 yd. went down on impact ,with a chest shot just breaking ribs and exiting. The WT. buck shot at about 138 paces hit behind the shoulder went down on impact recovered and made it about 60yd.or so before giving it up. Both were clean kills .Pure lead 354 grn. bullets and 72 grn. Swiss bp. The 45-120 cal. Sharps that I use on longer range hunting is not as accurate with soft lead bullets . It does better with hard or harder than dead soft ,and long for caliber bullets. I think I will stay with the accurate load and try to only take shots when I can hit bone . You can see the bullet I recovered from the Mule deer had lost about 35% upon bone impact causing the animal to drop on the spot with very little Hydro - shock meat damage . The same bullet path with a modern hyper velocity round would have been ugly. Using the cast lead hunting bullet has a different effect on game than the modern hyper-shock round ,but the cast bullets have some fine points about them also ,(less meat dammage )(plenty of punch power ) . Good luck hunting to you vintage hunters out there have a good time thats what its all about . Dusty Texian.

[bear tooth billy]

I've shot 3 buffalo with Sharps rifles, the first was with a 45/70 with 20-1 alloy, had about the same thing happen as Trap said. The next was a 1800 lb bull with a 45/90, 45-1 alloy, 1 shot through the lungs and was down in 20 seconds, I recovered the bullet against
the back side, it had expanded about double in size and retained about 95%weight. The last one a 1500 bull I took with a  50/90,
45-1 alloy, the first shot went through both lungs a just clipped the back of the heart, he spun and charged me from 125 yds but only
made it 4 gallups and stopped and was wobbling. Its amazing how fast you can reload a single shot!!!!  He was down in about 30 seconds. So my experience is the 45-1 mushrooms and works very well. In Iowa we can't use centerfire rifles for deer hunting so I can't say about that size game.


                           BTB

[dusty texian]

Hey bear tooth billy, Thanks for sharing that with me.I think your right the softer the better. I have cast some bullets that are pure lead ,in the same mould Lee 500 F  pointed . 110 grn.2FF SwissTested then at the 200 yd, this wk using my C. Sharps & 6x RHO scope. got  several five shot groups at 3.5 in being average size. Cleaning  after every five shots . Not bad , I am heading out to the ranch in the morning for a Wk. or so. Gonna try for another Wt. buck or doe. and the wild hog better keep their heads down. We realy have to get some more of the ranch. We have taken 9 or 10 in the last month, not a drop in the bucket. They like fleas.If I have some luck I'll post when I get back. Good Luck .Dusty Texian.

[Tascosa Joe]

Bear Tooth Billy:
You need to find you an English Paradox to hunt in Iowa.  12 Ga side by side and the chokes are rifled. 
T-Joe

[Big Goose]

I too like a fairly soft cast bullet, at least 30-1, though the A.S. Spencer carbine shoots better with a little harder 20-1 alloy. Which ever, I figure a hole in and a hole out ... they wont stay on their feet too long. And you can eat right to the edge of the hole!!