Anybody use a traditional muzzleloader to deer hunt with?

[Quavodus]

I've not in a long time. Been hunting with an inline for awhile now. I don't have a sidelock now but, do have a H&R Huntsman .58 with open sights. Might give it a try with round balls. 

[Wingshooter]

I do.

I’ve probably killed more deer with my traditional muzzleloader than any other individual firearm I own (bow not included). That’s probably because of the way the season falls, and I tend to get a lot more picky once the modern gun season opens. I love hunting with it though. It’s a Traditions Buckskinner. I also have an inline muzzleloader, but I only grab it during the season if the weather is wet.

It’s crazy how accurate you can get an open sight percussion black powder rifle. I DO NOT enjoy cleaning it though 

 

[Quavodus]

I used to hunt with a T/C New Englander .50 side lock. I've got an old T/C Hawken .50 cal. but needs some work. 

[Wingshooter]

I love the Hawken. I have been planning to get a Hawken .50 kit

Edited September 22, 2021 by Wingshooter

[Darrell]

I love my traditional muzzle-loader for deer. I've not killed anything but paper with a modern rifle in a long, long time. Archery or BP for me. 

I have a flintlock Ky rifle that I've shot quite a bit, but never used for hunting. I really should give that a try....

[Quavodus]

I used to work with a guy that had a .32 flintlock built from a kit. Pretty nice rifle, that had a maple  stock, 42" barrel and all browned. He talked about getting one in .50 for a long time. I need to work on my .50 Hawken and get it going. My uncle built it from a kit back in the late 70's. 

[derf]

Yep! Thompson Center mountain gun or my Thompson Center Hawken 50 cal. God bless you Flintlock guys. I always messed something up or couldn’t keep my powder dry. 

[Darrell]

2 minutes ago, derf said:

I always messed something up or couldn’t keep my powder dry. 

My  biggest problem is that the rifle is so long that I can hardly hold it on-target. My coon-skin cap is off to the old timers who could hold steady with one of those. I need sticks or a tree or something to keep my aim on. And I'm not a lightweight.

[Darrell]

I once gave serious consideration to making my own black powder. But most of the instructions you read tell you to dig a hole, line it with blocks, and put your ball mill in there so that if it just happens to blow up all the force will go straight up in the air. I guess I'll let the pros grind the powder and I'll just shoot it. I saw a YouTube video of some kid using an electric coffee grinder to grind the various components!!!  So far as I know he's still alive with all his fingers and both eyes, but I'm getting toward the end of my years on earth and don't want to shorten that number unnecessarily. 

Edited September 22, 2021 by Darrell

[Handsome Rob]

Yup. Every year. 

[Quavodus]

4 hours ago, Darrell said:

I once gave serious consideration to making my own black powder. But most of the instructions you read tell you to dig a hole, line it with blocks, and put your ball mill in there so that if it just happens to blow up all the force will go straight up in the air. I guess I'll let the pros grind the powder and I'll just shoot it. I saw a YouTube video of some kid using an electric coffee grinder to grind the various components!!!  So far as I know he's still alive with all his fingers and both eyes, but I'm getting toward the end of my years on earth and don't want to shorten that number unnecessarily. 

My BIL and his brothers used to make it. Their father was a chemist and had everything they needed on hand. They used it to make rocket engines for model rockets.

[Quavodus]

13 minutes ago, Handsome Rob said:

Yup. Every year. 

Sweeeeet! Very nice, did you build it? What caliber?

[Handsome Rob]

4 minutes ago, Quavodus said:

Sweeeeet! Very nice, did you build it? What caliber?

The caplock on top was built for me by John D Anderson here in Tullahoma. .54, 42" 1:56 Rice barrel, completely built to my specs. Long rifle dimensions with Hawken furniture. 

The flintlock Fusil was built by a friend in Jacksonville. .62, rifle octagon-round 42" 1:62 Colerain barrel. Exhibition grade maple stock. Keyed, not pinned barrel. 

[Quavodus]

Oh ok, I thought that was one rifle. Both are awesome. 

[Quavodus]

Is the flintlock, very reliable? I had a friend years ago, he has passed that had a .32 Tennessee Long rifle he built from a kit. He said it was very reliable but, I've heard some shooters have trouble sometimes, with pan powder not igniting. 

[Handsome Rob]

On 9/24/2021 at 10:23 PM, Quavodus said:

Is the flintlock, very reliable? I had a friend years ago, he has passed that had a .32 Tennessee Long rifle he built from a kit. He said it was very reliable but, I've heard some shooters have trouble sometimes, with pan powder not igniting. 

Not gonna lie, there's a learning curve & your attention to detail has to be spot on to make sure it's 100% reliable. You really learn to appreciate the difference between flint quality too! A great quality, English or French flint will give you 40-50 shots before it needs knapping. A cheap flint, anything from 5-20. You have to remember to wipe your flint, pan & frizzen after every shot. If you're hunting, dump & replace your priming charge every hour. Even when you do everything perfectly, there's going to be the occasional 'clack......f#@k!!!'

There's a learning curve to shooting one too. When you watch someone else shoot, there's is almost no perceptible delay between the hammer drop & shot, but when you're on the trigger, it feels like there's a MASSIVE gap between the flash & the bang. You learn how to follow through & my gosh will it let you know if you've got a flinch!

[Handsome Rob]

A .32 is a fantastic rifle to learn with. With a mild charge (8-12gn) it has about the same recoil as a .17hmr.  It's also surprisingly powerful. A full house 18gn load under a .31 ball is the equivalent of a .22mag.

[Quavodus]

My friend said his had a slow twist, probably 1-66", and wouldn't group good till you had 20 gr. 3F in it. It did shoot really good with that load but, he was basically shooting a .22 Mag. energy load. I asked him about how bad it ripped a squirrel up, and he said not as bad as he thought. About like using .22 LR hollow points. T/C used to make a Seneca .32, that had a faster twist.

Edited September 27, 2021 by Quavodus