I have sometimes wondered if the mountain men and people of that era would keep their rifles loaded with large charges of powder all the time. Given that powder was a precious commodity in those days, I would think a lot of their hunting would be done with reduced loads....or just as little as they could get away with for the task at hand. You could kill a deer with 30 or 40 grains at close range if need be....just might entail a little more tracking after the shot.
Even full charges of powder under a round ball is not going to do the internal damage a modern round would....just not enough energy there.
Even full charges of powder under a round ball is not going to do the internal damage a modern round would....just not enough energy there.