.58 Cal RB Stopping Power

[Pritcher]

Hello all, I just finished my first flintlock rifle build and am due to take it to the range later this week. It's a .58 with a 44" barrel, it balances and handles quite well, and I intend to charge it with 100-120gr 2F black (whatever load it ends up liking best). Now, having never hunted landed game with black, I have no idea what the rifle will be good for. Down in the sweaty hellscape where I live there is not much of substance to hunt, but if I'm ever hunting somewhere else I'd like to have an idea what kind of game I can take with it.

Cheers,
Jack

 

[Josh P]

I would wager that anything you can legally hunt with that caliber will not stand up against it’s impact (and probable pass through.)

Very lovely looking build as well. Good work.

 

[HuntingGold]

Beautiful rifle. I traded my 58 round ball thrower to another member here just last year. My hunting load was 90 grains of triple F.
I was never very impressed with it for effective killing. I actually liked my 50 and 54s better.

My best advice would be to stay away from rear lung shots, get the shot into the shoulder to hit bone and create damage/hemorrhage that way for quicker kills.

With the 58, I've taken 3 pronghorn, a few deer, and one cow elk.

 

[Huvius]

A very nice looking rifle there!
A 58cal would be legal for anything here in Colorado and I'd suppose everywhere else as well.

I'd like to have a flintlock like that some day.

 

[Pritcher]

I was never very impressed with it for effective killing. I actually liked my 50 and 54s better.

I had a 50 TC for a year or so, and that is what I cut my teeth on as far as flinters go. I only ever shot steel with it, but it seemed to me to be somewhat lacking power wise. Granted it was a hawken, but 60g of 3f was the hottest I could spice the load without accuracy suffering. Maybe it's origins (I literally found it in a pile of garbage) contributed to that, but I always somewhat doubted it's stopping power. Hence my election to go with a bigger bore for my new rifle.

I will remember that bit on shot placement, somewhat contrary to what I would have first guessed, but it makes sense now that I think of it. That's a lot of lead and shooting for softer areas doesn't give it quite as much to dump its energy into.

 

[leslie hetrick]

my tc big boar .58 cal caplock rifle does quite well with .570 rb,s cast soft and 80 grs fff and a tight patch. three to four" three groups at 100 yards. it will shoot .58 mini,s also, but not very accurett. but i think i need to cast the mini,s harder to keep from blowing the mini,s scrute.

 

[HuntingGold]

Correct.... if you slipped the ball between the ribs, it just punches it's way in without causing much trauma.

I had a bit of a hang fire problem on this pronghorn and hit it slightly right on a dead on shot. The result was looking horrible, however, it slowly worked it's way ( with me following at distance), to another hunter in my party. He saw that it was hit and luckily was able to put another shot in him. The post mortem showed that first shot entered the chest cavity but didn't cause the damage needed for a quick kill. I'm glad my buddy was in the right spot at the right time.

 

[HuntingGold]

Perhaps my problem was improper lead? Too hard? Maybe not pure? They were commercially bought and I assumed they were pure lead.

 

[Pritcher]

Perhaps my problem was improper lead? Too hard? Maybe not pure? They were commercially bought and I assumed they were pure lead.

I always cast my own bullets/balls and check them with a durometer. More important for hard alloy bullets in rifles, but maybe worth looking into. Well over a year ago I refined some 200 lbs of lead from a pile of flashing I got on marketplace for next to nothing. Have been using that ever since as my base for both soft casting and alloying. Without alloy, it comes out as a nice 8 bhn when air cooled, perfect for round ball.

 

[flatwater bill]

Beautiful rifle, "grats on that for sure. Last season marked my 42nd year of hunting with a patched RB in calibers from .45 to .72, with .62 being my favorite. I have owned and used two .58's, but both were caplocks. I have taken 40 head of big game with them. My advice: limit the game size to large Muleys, and cow elk. Keep the shots short. Extensive practice with a flinter is critical, and having a rest when you shoot at game also critical. A 58 RB loses about half it's energy at 50 yards, depending upon muzzle velocity. I limit my shots to 75 yards. Consider 3F or else you will be carrying two granulations of powder into the field. (Mountain men charged the pan and bbl with the same horn) A RB can pass thru game with little damage at times, and you can see this with a target.....the edges of a paper hole can often be folded back to nearly fill the hole. Likewise with tissue, the ball can fit and slip it's way between tissue layers with surprisingly little damage. Other times, a bone is hit, and damage is dramatic. Have fun with your rifle......and remember, even an elk calf is a trophy when taken with the mechanical fire starter...............FWB