# Muzzleloader balistics tables.. where?



## Just 1 More (Dec 17, 2004)

Where can I find a good comprehensive ballistics table for black powder guns? I will be shooting 100 grns of Triple Se7en pellets and Hornadys XTP240grn Sabots in a .50 cal Optima


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## duckbill (Dec 17, 2004)

Tough one there!
According to Chuckhawk.com there is no such thing as true BC for muzzleloader bullets, so there can't be a true ballistic table.  Here is a part of one of his articles.



"Of course, ballistic coefficients actually do exist. It is accurate muzzleloading ballistic coefficients that are not readily available. Two of the most popular in-line loads are 100 grains of Pyrodex RS pushing 240 and 300 grain pistol bullets and sabots: yielding approximately 1760 fps and 1550 fps muzzle velocities respectively.

We can expect the BC to erode with muzzle velocities higher than that, and improve with lower muzzle velocities. As the velocity decays, the ballistic coefficient rises in concert. No surprise that the bullets that are normally .44 Magnum handgun bullets come with falsely high BC's, as muzzleloading rifle velocities are higher than standard pistol velocities. The 100 grain Hodgdon Triple 7 velocities result in lower BC's, 150 grain pellet loads reduce BC to an even greater degree.

The best we can hope for is an average BC, at the velocity at which we shoot, in our specific gun. Those average BC's tend to get better as range increases, of course. For 40 yard hunting this may be a moot issue. For 200 yard shots, where BC really affects the amount of kinetic energy with which we are harvesting our game, we have much less accurate information.

Addendum:

Independent testing has confirmed that severely inflated muzzleloading ballistic coefficients exist, some beyond the realm of anything but fraudulent claims.

An inflated BC can get you into trouble, as you are severely misguided as to both trajectory, and terminal energy on target. A conservative BC cannot. It is not realistic to list all the "as tested" ballistic coefficients vs. the fantasy published by many bullet manufacturers. One would hope that it would be their job to "get honest," and offer some truth in advertising. That is unlikely to happen in smokepole city. Here are just a few eye-openers, though:

Actual 100 yard BC's as tested pushed by 100 grains T 7:

Precision Rifle QT 215 gr. = .174, PUBLISHED BC = .319 
Precision Rifle Dead Center 200 gr. = .176, PUBLISHED BC = .300 
Precision Rifle Dead Center 220 gr. = .192, PUBLISHED BC = .325 
Precision Rifle Dead Center 240 gr. = .211, PUBLISHED BC = .351 
Hornady 250 gr. SST = .184, PUBLISHED BC= .210 (by Hornady) 
Hornady 250 gr. SST = .184, PUBLISHED BC= .240 (by T/C--same bullet!) 
Hornady 300 gr. SST = .226, PUBLISHED BC = .250 


For more info go to www.chuckhawks.com  .  He has a lot of muzzleloader info.


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## Just 1 More (Dec 17, 2004)

Thats alot of good info.. thanks.. I'm more interested in trajectory.. does he have that info also?.. Guess I could go visit his web site..


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## duckbill (Dec 17, 2004)

That's the problem.  In order to obtain trajectory, ballistic coefficient is apart of the equation.


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## duckbill (Dec 17, 2004)

Here's a link for you to look at.  Click on Muzzleloader ballistics.

This is a great sight, by the way:

http://www.biggameinfo.com/index.aspx


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## duckbill (Dec 17, 2004)

Allright...here ya go.  This is based on the speeds from D2D's link and the "published" Balistic coefficient on Hornady's sight for that bullet.

Calculated Table
Elevation: 7.285 moa 
Azimuth: 0.000 moa 

Range Velocity Energy Momentum Drop Windage Lead Time 
(yards) (ft/sec) (ft-lbs) (lbs-sec) (inches) (inches) (inches) (sec) 
0 1812.8 1751.2 1.93 -1.5 0.0 0.0 0.000 
50 1641.3 1435.4 1.75 0.9 0.0 0.0 0.087 
100 1483.5 1172.7 1.58 -0.0 0.0 0.0 0.183 
150 1342.8 960.9 1.43 -4.8 0.0 0.0 0.290 
200 1222.6 796.6 1.30 -14.5 0.0 0.0 0.407 
250 1126.1 675.7 1.20 -30.0 0.0 0.0 0.535 
300 1052.9 590.7 1.12 -52.4 0.0 0.0 0.673 
350 995.6 528.2 1.06 -82.5 0.0 0.0 0.819 
400 949.9 480.8 1.01 -121.5 0.0 0.0 0.974 

Well, my copy paste didn't work too good.  Must be a different format.  It basically reads    100yd ZERO will drop 4.8" @ 150yds and 14.5" @ 200yds

I ran the numbers again with 150yd ZERO  results was +3.2" @ 100yds and -8.1" @ 200yds


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## Just 1 More (Dec 17, 2004)

BUT,,, what about at 50 yards?????   

Thanks for taking the time to look that up. I got a lot of good reading on that Chuckhawk.com  web site


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## duckbill (Dec 17, 2004)

No problem.  It's been a slow day here at work.  I like messing around with ballistic charts, anyhow.


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## brian chambers (Jun 30, 2006)

dead on aim


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