Ammunition 

The muzzle-loading rifles of the mountain men shot round, soft-lead balls, using black powder as the propellant.  Bar lead was one of the supplies a mountain man carried with his gun equipment.  When his supply of lead balls ran low, he would cast additional balls using a cast iron pot, or even his fry pan, to melt the lead, a small ladle and a ball mold.  (For a description of making lead shot and using a novel method of melting lead see Making Shot & Ball in Everyday Living) The mountain men were well aware that their short barreled, slow-twist rifles shot practically flat up to 150 yards, and even at 200 yards with an allowance for drop, were very accurate.  Modern ballistics tests of Hawken type rifles show that these guns could consistently handle powder charges of up to 155 grains, and without too much loss in accuracy could fire a charge of over 200 grains.  Conical bullets (unknown to the mountain men) were found to be consistently accurate in these guns at ranges up to 500 yards (David F Butler, U.S. Firearms, 1971).  

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