SmallHorn/WPA writes in to offer the following "expert" commentary found in Petersen's Hunting Guide's Muzzleloading column by author Jim Shockey:

"I actually had the sad experience to witness a traditonal muzzleloading expert shoot a big black bear five times in the ribs before the bear perished. To the best of my recollection the shooter was igniting 160 grains of black powder and was using .64 caliber soft round balls instead of real bullets. Besides being ballistically inefficient projectiles, the roundballs didn't penetrate."

My. Shockey obviously feels that what we traditional muzzleloader hunters do afield is impossible.

Incidentally, none of us have ever seen a .64 caliber roundball gun and a few of us wonder what the bear was doing while Mr. Shockey's expert traditional muzzleloader friend was reloading five times. Also, that 160 grain load would be mightly powerful for most traditional muzzleloading rifles, even in the little known ".64" caliber. I wonder if that gun employed Forsythe rifling. Actually, I wonder if Mr. Shockey has ever heard of Forsythe rifling and how it would effect such a load.

In truth, I think some of us wonder if Mr. Shockey has any idea what he's writing about. We strongly suspect that he does not.