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Paul - I hope I can address your questions.

Baker was talking about the difference in effectiveness between conicals and round ball in the large bores.
: He tried a short conical in his 'devil stopper', which was enough slower due ot increased drag and weight, and most likely pointy due to being a minnie-type that it reduced effectiveness to produce dangerous conditions for him. 4's usually shot 5 bore balls, etc, etc. I think the gun he was referring to, might have been closer to about 5 1/2 bore, considering the belt increases weight of the round ball for a given bore size. Muzzleloaders are measured by bore size, not groove diameter as in our modern breechloading guns. This method of measuring continued for some time, hense the .256 and .276 Mauser's which were chambered in England.(rather than 6.5 and 7mm as we call them)

The Surgeon General at the Crimean War noted that: conicals (minies) made 'neat' (minor) wounds, and 'turned' when striking bones and 'coursed'(traveled) through the soft parts of the body - whereas - wounds made " by the 'common' round ball instead of turning, smashed the bones asunder creating most grevious wounds" quote might not be exact. Sounds was if the Round Ball might be a better hunting projectile to me. Wounding is a prime nexcessity for military functions as mucha as killing - indeed, it is generally preferred as a wounded may requires at least one more taken from the battle to carry him medical assistance.

Paul - I don't know where you got the idea that minnies were more 'effective' than round balls during the civil war - Note the Surgeon General's notes. Now, the 'idea' may come from the fact that minnies possess longer hitting range and are easier to load in a fouled rifle barrel, but those are their only real advantages. Rapid loading was very important. Most of the round ball guns in use during the Civil war were left-over .69 Smoothbore Muskets, which loaded no more quickly than minnies. For most part the smoothbored .69's used buck and ball cartridges. ie" one .65" ball and 3 .36" balls. Those soliders hit by the grossly undersized but immensly effective .65" ball were usually 'hors de combat', however the buck shot did not make large wounds. The normal round ball paper ctg. in military use at that time carried 135gr. of fine rifle powder. Too - their accuracy range was reduced to approximately 50-75 yards for the smoothbores including possible hits by the buckshot. Next to useless when the enemy is 100 yards or more away.

The .577 BPE was the first conical rifing weapon that gave sufficient penetration and killing power with less recoil than the big 'bore' rifles - therefore it was desirable. Quite simple old Chap.
You see, in the large bores, increasing projectile weight by going to conical reduced the velocity and increased trajectory - both very bad when dealing with dangerous game. Couple to that, the rather pointy concicals of the day (minnies), and you can add ineffectiveness in wound production to the lack of straight penetration and increased trajectory making hitting the 'spot' more difficult. This even proved the case in guns as small as 14 bore, a mere .692" shooting a 15 bore ball. Round balls worked better than conicals - 16 bore (.662" for 17 bore ball) was considered the smallest suitable for dangerous game - in India. 12 bore(.729") in Africa.

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Daryl

"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V