What kind of projectile should I use?

  OK,  so there are conicals and round balls, but what should we use for a projectile?

  First of all, we must understand what each of the two projectiles can do.

 A round ball can be almost as accurate as a conical, but they are much lighter than your standard conical. This makes the hitting or knock down power much lower than your standard conical, whether it is at close range or down field.

  Not only will it have less knockdown power, but it will have far less carrying power downfield.  In other words, it will slow down much faster than a conical as it gets further downfield.

  So, how do you makeup for this loss of power?  Get a bigger BORE!  Instead of that 50 cal ball, go for a 54 Cal ball, a 60 cal ball, or as large as you want.

  A 50 cal ball only weighs in at about 175 grains.  A 50 cal conical weighs in at LEAST 200 grains, and 245 is usually a common weight to  begin with.  From there, they can go all the way up to 500+ grains.  It may be traveling a few hundred feet slower, but the knockdown power is tremendously  greater because of that mass that is being moved.

  So, are balls better than conicals?  No. they are inferior in all aspects. Can they be as good as a conical?  Only if you get a ball in a caliber that is heavy enough to weigh in as much as a conical that will do the job for you.  That means you may have to purchase a much larger Caliber than what you really want.