Who hunts with their guns?

[Night Raider]

I was wondering how many of the members here take their guns hunting and what are their experiences. Do you prefer musketoons/carbines over 2 and 3 banders? Have you been successful in tagging game? I'm in the market for a gun and would really appreciate some advice. Right now I'm working with a .50 cal TC Hawken, using Triple 7 powder, CCI caps and Hornady Great Plains conicals, while still trying to find an ideal patched round ball load for deer season. In the Sierra Nevada mountains, shooting distances can range out to 100+ yards. I would like to limit barrel length to 24"-33" and weight to around 7-9 lbs. I need a gun with a LOP shorter than 14", so that will probably limit my choices. But once the weather cools and I don more layers the shorter LOP guns fit nicer. Besides, I got short arms. :grin: Thanks.

[Joe Plakis, 9575V]

Well the CS Richmond Musketoon is the Gun for You! I have hunted with one and love it. .58 Caliber and 25 inch barrel 13 inch LOP. I have hunted with 33 and 40 inch rifles and the accuracy is just as good but the length and weight differs.

[Night Raider]

Thanks Joe. Is there a website I can check? Gun sounds interesting.

[Gary Van Kauwenbergh, 101]

I've killed about three dozen deer with my muskets over the years. I always shot the same load hunting that I used at the target range. I think my PH 2-band Enfield was my favorite. It's easier to carry, is blued, and shot great. I had an Enfield musketoon available too, but didn't use it much because the 2-band was more accurate. Over the years, as I switched muskets, I just used the same one I used all year for hunting.

[Muley Gil]

I intend to take my 2 band P-H Enfield afield for Bambi this fall. I'll let you know how it works out.

I may do my hunting from my back porch. I had buck tracks about 20 yards from the porch last week. :D One of the joys of living in the backwoods!

[gemmer]

I was wondering how many of the members here take their guns hunting and what are their experiences. Do you prefer musketoons/carbines over 2 and 3 banders? Have you been successful in tagging game? I'm in the market for a gun and would really appreciate some advice. Right now I'm working with a .50 cal TC Hawken, using Triple 7 powder, CCI caps and Hornady Great Plains conicals, while still trying to find an ideal patched round ball load for deer season. In the Sierra Nevada mountains, shooting distances can range out to 100+ yards. I would like to limit barrel length to 24"-33" and weight to around 7-9 lbs. I need a gun with a LOP shorter than 14", so that will probably limit my choices. But once the weather cools and I don more layers the shorter LOP guns fit nicer. Besides, I got short arms. :grin: Thanks.

I've taken deer with a flint 1816, 1841 Mississippi, 1842 rifled and 1863. I've also hunted but not scored with a Macon style
shortened 1842. It came to me as a smoothbore . Bob Hoyt relined and rifled it and it now has a long range rear sight. Sort of my conception of what a captured rifled '42 might wind up looking like. The barrel is 26" long. I might consider letting it go.

Duane

[Night Raider]

Uh, unless someone makes a replica CS Richmond Musketoon the only ones listed in 2009 Standard Catalog of Firearms are by Richmond Armory and ones in "Good" condition have a listed value of $22,000! A bit more than I want to spend, 13" LOP notwithstanding, hehehe. Anyhow, good to hear folks are still makin' meat the old ways.

[rhem]

Night Rider,

While not the CS Richmond Musketoon, Pedersoli has a couple of "small" rifles with the same characteristics (58 cal and 24"barrel): 1861 Enfield Musketoon and Cook and Brother Artillery Musketoon. Not cheap but definitively not in the $20k range

Richard

[Joe Plakis, 9575V]

I know that James River made some up but is no longer in business, but made a good gun for the money. S&S made up some a few years back as well. Most of the CS Richmonds are made up custom from parts or just cut-down long guns.

[Old Hickory]

I've taken my original Enfield P53 hunting several times, all I ever shot with it was some groundhogs though. Never had the opportunity to shoot a deer with it. The Lyman 575213OS in front of 55gr. of FFFg tears a groundhog up like a 125gr. Speer TnT out of a 30-06!..BIG messy exit hole!

Night Raider, I would think just about any .54, .58, or .69 Skirmish Arm would prove effective for deer. Just choose one you like and are comfortable with.

[Night Raider]

Yah, Old Hickory. I can imagine: grounduphog! Whoooweeee.

[Dennis Faerber]

I've used a two band PH enfield to hunt elk in Colorado for years. 70gr FFG and the 565 ball works great!

[Dennis Faerber]

I live in Colorado and have hunted with my PH 1853 for years. 70gr FFg with the PH minie has been VERY effective.Dennis

[Alan P.]

I was looking forward to using my James River Richmond Carbine this fall. Some have mentioned here that they hunt with the same load they skirmish with. I shoot the RCBS Skirmisher .576 over 47gr 3f Swiss. Seems light for a hunting load. Any thoughts? For reference I shoot 75gr 2f Goex from my round ball hunting rifle (TC Renegade w/ Green Mountain 1/70 barrel.

[B-Davis]

I have been hunting with a two band Whitney militia rifle from James River for about 7 years. I use a 515 grain trashcan mini with 40 grains of 2 F GOEX or KIK. Works like a champ! Punches in a through very time. Further east shot has been about 90 yds.

[jek279]

In your original question you asked a vague question with many, many possible answers. I have harvested, deer, turkey, doves, pigeons, bobcat, prairie chicken, coyotes, and list goes on with black powder rifles. (model 1803, 1809 Harper's Ferry flintlocks, 1841, 1842, 1861 Springfields guns and Lynman, Hawkins, TC etc. I prefer them just because I love the smell of gun powder. In my state you can hunt with anything .45 cal and up in black powder and 410 and up for shotgun. You need to ask yourself these questions when looking for a good gun. What are you hunting and what times of the year. I love my wood stocked guns, but in the winter or when I'm hunting in heavy brush for pheasant, I like synthetic stocks because they don't damage or scratch as easily. I recently took my .50 cal flintlock with 44" swamped barrel into my tree stand to deer hunt and scratched my stock while getting down from it, it was just to cumbersome. A polished barrel (white) can be a dead give away when hunting animals with good eye sight plus in the wet mornings or while it is raining they rust like no ones business, so you may consider a blued barrel. An inline black powder gun can be more weather friendly plus allow you for quicker loading and possible mounting a scope if you are in need of more accuracy at longer ranges. I have never shot a deer over 60 yards with open iron sights because I feel I am not accurate enough to make a good clean hit. I don't want to injure an animal. My goal is always to harvest cleanly and then process for eating. I can hit a 4"x4" tile with my model 41 Mississippi rifle 80% plus of the time, but not 100% of the time so I don't risk it. A .45 cal round ball patched with 50 grains Goex will take a deer at 200 yards if hit correctly. But your bullet drop becomes more of an issue. 75 grains will kick more, but have a flatter flight path. Research states that the difference in penetration of rounds from 900 fps vs 1300 fps shows less penetration at higher velocities. The kinetic energy spreads outward quicker. So heavy loads aren't necessary for "knock" down power. Just bullet flight geometry. So, to sum up my giant soap box. Look at price, weather condition, and your ability as a shooter. Do you like a show piece gun or a down and dirty gun that you can through in the pickup and leave it in there for days at a time without needing to worry about rust or getting dirt in every nook and cranny?

[R. McAuley 3014V]

Although I have hunted with my muskets, I don't recommend using a .58 caliber musket on any jack rabbits, not even one of those Texas hares unless you fancy rabbit stew! My first and only kill with a Mississippi rifle was using Lyman 575602 flat-head wadcutter (standard skirmish load), at a range of 50-yards. The minie entered at the base of the rabbit's spine and exited just below its jowls, and strode greasy-grimmy rabbit guts for six feet. He was shot, dressed, and half-way skinned all-in-one-shot!

[Mike Stein]

Thirty plus years ago I used a ASM '58 Remington on Grouse hunt here in the PNW. The grouse up here aren't as skittish as they are in the rest of the country. Got two Blue Grouse. Darned thrilled. Should have used something smaller than a .44.

[hp gregory]

i havent hunted since va made scoped inlines legal. but many years ago i put my modern pistols and rifles away and hunted with nothing but traditional muzzle loaders. i have shot deer with 50 cal, 54, 62 cal and my favoite 75 cal round balls. all have been within 100 yds and most have been within 50 yds. if the shot placement was good the result was meat in the freezer. i always planned to use some of my muskets and carbines to hunt but got away from hunting due to lack of time. having had a good bit of luck hunting with round ball guns i know that 100yds is about the safe kill distance. anything further and you risk a wounded animal that will suffer long and hard before it dies. with bullets you can extend the range a good bit but a bone breaking shot is most time needed to ground an animal quickly and humainly. the trick is to know your zero at differant ranges and of course you must be able to read the range of your target. with a heavy slow moving minie if you misjudge your range even a few yards it can cause poor shot placement. i guess it would come down to knowing your choosen hunting tool well and practicing with it at the distances you plan to hunt.

hp

[Ibgreen]

Here is a photo shortly before taking a small deer with my 1990 euroarms enfield. The other photo is with my Spencer. No deer yet with that one.

[Fire18WFD]

I use my 1816 repro Smoothbore Flintlock for Turkey.

[Hickok]

I hunt with mine. Im not into the new inline muzzle loaders. Shot a ground hog this summer with my 1860 Colt revolver, at about 20 yds. One shot stop, drt.

[iron brigade]

last year after a skirmish we were at home in the garage getting ready to clean our guns and my son spotted a gopher in the yard, he said dad where's the .22? I said just use your enfield, tossed him a tube loaded with a hodgdon minie and he shot the thing from 20 yards blowing it in half!

[Jim Leinicke 7368V]

I have killed more deer than I remember using a .58 Mississippi and the Hodgens skirmish bullet over 65-70 grains of 2fg. That load is super accurate and it lets the air out of a deer faster than anything in my experience. I used to hunt with a .54 Lyman minie in another rifle but it wasn't the knock-down killer that the .58 turns out to be. Before that, I killed them with a flintlock common rifle and round ball.

Years back, I kept myself fed with rabbit and pheasant shot with an 1842 smoothbore loaded with 90 grains of 3fg and a similar volume of shot with 14-bore wads. It was more gun than I needed but it was fun and cheap.
Jim Leinicke
7368V

[Steve1]

I took my musket hunting but never saw a deer that day and it got heavy after a long hike. However, I have shot over 30 deer with a custom left handed 45 cal flintlock with a 40 inch barrel and it is not heavy.

[Hellgate]

Enfield Musketoon with the Lyman 577611 and 90grs FF Goex sighted in 5" high @50yds to be right on @100 for elk. Lyman 575213-OS in Zouave over 90grs FFF Goex for two deer.

[ms3635v]

Years ago when I hunted, I used my Parker Hale Musketoon with a Lyman Old Style Minie with 50 grains of 3F. I shot just one deer back in the late 1970's using the Musketoon and it did the job. The deer didn't travel more than 20 yards.

[OregonBill]

Wish this thread would just keep on going. I love it when folks put their martial firearms to use in the game fields.

[George Gompf]

I normally use my 1855 artillery for hunting and have taken a large caribou with it. Many deer have fallen to it as well. This year I shot 3 does with the 1816 H&P. Furthest one was at 40 yards and the closest was at about 15 yards.

I especially enjoy it when we go out and I bag the deer and those with the high powered scoped rifles get skunked.

[Hickok]

I just recently took my Pedersoli Sharps Berdan deer hunting and had some success. Shot a small buck, no horns to brag about, at a range of 93 yards, (thanks to a Nikon 800 rangefinder). The hit was right behind the shoulder, center of the body, broadside. Complete penetration out the other side. Deer ran about 40 yards and then tumbled end over end. The bullet hole was about 3/4" diameter, through both lungs and out the other side. I could easily stick my thumb in the entrance and exit hole.

The load was 60 gr. 2f Goex, a 475 gr. Rapine ringtail, Len's Lube in a Charlie Hahn tube. This load chrongraphs just short of 1000fps. I would have to check my shooting notes, but I think it is about 960-970fps. out of my rifle. Really doesn't matter, as I don't think a deer even slows up a 475 gr. bullet going 900-1000 fps when it connects!

I hunt with a .44 mag. and .45 Colt handguns using 250 gr. Keith-type cast bullets in the 1100-1200 fps range, and they put put deer down the same way, nice full diameter or slightly larger hole all the way through, short run on lung shots and then belly-flop. Always amazes me when shooting a deer with a high velocity rifle like a .270 or 7mm mag on a broadside lung shot, everything inside is turned to liquid jello, and they usually run 30 to 50 yards, no different than a heavy bullet going slow that punches a nice hole without all the mess!

[RaiderANV]

First deer black powder was at age 15 with a .45 Kentucky rifle I built from parts from several different places. Wasn't the prettiest thing but it would shot. Used several others I built over the years as I got better at putting them together.

Joined the N-SSA in 1983 and used my smyth carbine(pre-religion.....before God revealed thy MAYNARD!) I shoot a deer with my N-SSA load of 35 grains of 3F Goex and it went through the shoulder and out the other side of the deer at around 60 yards.

Since then I've used my Maynards, 1855 carbine, Austrian cav carbine(this makes a huge hole!), my Zouave and a cut down 18" barreled 1861.

Hit one deer head on in the chest with my Zouave, 45grains of 3F and it came out near its arse. Never saw the need for 75-100 grains like most folks use.

[gemmer]

I've used flint 1816, .58 Mississippi, rifled 1842, 1863 and a percussion English sporting rifle, all original. Next week I'm going to try a musketoon lenght rifled '42


Duane

[lkmcd1]

I wonder about how you guys handle first shot accuracy. I may be wrong, but I assume most hunters load a clean gun then go hunting without actually shooting a few shots first. When I deer hunt in Michigan, it can be quite cold or at times wet. Before loading, i wipe any excess oil out of the bore and nipple, fire a cap or two, load and then put a small balloon over the muzzle. I am never sure if my mini stays put in a clean barrel (.58 Zouave), so with the normal shaking and bumping that occurs when walking around I always ram again as I set up in my blind. I know at the range, the first shot isn't necessarily as accurate as later shots. I also leave the gun loaded and keep it outside to prevent condensation until I shoot at a deer or the season ends. Any words of wisdom about accuracy or leaving the gun loaded for the duration of the season?

[RaiderANV]

My first shot is as accurate as my second and so on. Only difference hunting is I size my first round to bore size instead of a thousandth under. Never had problem of it moving but do it anyway. Leaving it loaded outside or in is a bad idea. The powder will soak moisture out of the air and point of impact will move, could have a hangfire or no fire. That HUGE MONSTER buck will be happy though.

[lkmcd1]

My fist shot is as accurate as my second and so on. Only difference hunting is I size my first round to bore size instead of a thousandth under. Never had problem of it moving but do it anyway. Leaving it loaded outside or in is a bad idea. The powder will soak moisture out of the air and point of impact will move, could have a hangfire or no fire. That HUGE MONSTER buck will be happy though.

Thanks Pat - At the end of the day after hunting how do you "unload"; shoot it off, use a ball puller, compressed air or ? and then swab the bore out prior to reloading the next morning. If it is cold outside, do you leave the unloaded gun outside to avoid condensation after reloading again the next morning? It ain't easy!
Larry

[RaiderANV]

I leave my padded hard case outside and put the gun back in that loaded if only for a day or two and bring it inside. It comes up to temp slowly being in the case and never a condensation problem,,,,ever. Same when I take it outside in the cold. Its in the case and its cold by the time I pull it out. I have the pocket CO2 ball discharger to blow it out. I use to jus pull it with an original ball puller. The CO2 deal was about $25 bucks and I can use it in in the team matches if me or someone else gets fouled during the match.

[jonk]

I have taken my musket on occasion. Missed a few. Before I did a sight job on it, so no surprise. But at the time it was the only BP gun I owned.

I'd take one, sure. I don't think that the Sharps or Smith would be legal but both would make fine guns for the woods. My concern with those would be, it takes a few rounds to get either to go off (minimized by snapping a few caps of course).

Then again, I don't often see deer. I might see one per season and if I don't have the shot, I don't have the shot.

I'm embarrased to say, my go to gun is a CVA inline with a scope. I got sick of missing and haven't since I went to that.

[Muley Gil]

"I'd take one, sure. I don't think that the Sharps or Smith would be legal but both would make fine guns for the woods."

If your state has a modern rifle season, you can use 'em then.

[jonk]

"I'd take one, sure. I don't think that the Sharps or Smith would be legal but both would make fine guns for the woods."

If your state has a modern rifle season, you can use 'em then.

Ohio is strange. We do and we don't. Modern rifle season is very limited to specific straight walled calibers; and while in theory the sharps or smith should be fine, if it isn't a listed caliber (45/70, etc) it isn't legal.

[BlackJack]

I've taken my two band Enfield out a couple of times. It's not to big to carry or handle and is quite accurate. It's best with patched round balls, which is how I start but I always fire it empty if I don't get a shot that day. For follow up shots, I have lubed minie balls standing by. Generally 60gr of 2F is the load.

Lately I've gotten into flintlock fowlers and my last hunt of the year was using a 20ga Tulle pattern Fusil loaded with .61 round ball. It's a dilema because both guns are great and fun to shoot, but I'm probably going with the flintlock in the future unless its raining or snowing.

[Muley Gil]

I've taken my two band Enfield out a couple of times. It's not to big to carry or handle and is quite accurate. It's best with patched round balls, which is how I start but I always fire it empty if I don't get a shot that day. For follow up shots, I have lubed minie balls standing by. Generally 60gr of 2F is the load.

Lately I've gotten into flintlock fowlers and my last hunt of the year was using a 20ga Tulle pattern Fusil loaded with .61 round ball. It's a dilema because both guns are great and fun to shoot, but I'm probably going with the flintlock in the future unless its raining or snowing.

I thought that you had to use a flintlock while hunting in PA?

[R. McAuley 3014V]

Back in 1978 I bought one of the Harpers Ferry Arms Ste Entienne flintlock muskets that Southron Sr received as part of his share of the company settlement with its creditors. The barrels were supposedly machined from modern 10-ga goose gun barrels, so took a .72 dia round ball. When I used it for deer and hogs, I used modern plastic shell pistons with a conglomerated buckshot and lube mixture that at 15 paces held together as a single mass, like a giant slug. With deer and hogs, it was like a train wreck. It may or may not have been all that legal to hunt with but as I hunted on my own land in east Texas that has been in the family since 1835!