Decided that the next piece in the rack should be something different.
Am thinking that I would like to give BP muzzleloading a try. I could go with the ‘whizz bang’ modern stuff, but something about the traditional sidelock seems more attractive.
Anyone have any recommendations on this? Flint v Cap? Traditions v Pedersoli etc?
Don’t want to spend the earth on a custom gun as the entry point but also don’t want to buy a POS that is only going to discourage me.
Any comments or suggestions welcome.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with the unarmed
Not anymore, but I used to shoot BP hunting in MS and in NRA youth shooting competitions for nearly 10 years. I had a Thompson Center Hawken 50cal, percussion cap, 30" barrel with double triggers (set trigger). Was an amazingly accurate gun and was actually a blast to shoot. I could place 3 shots in the size of a tennis ball at 75 yards using iron sights only. We used FFF powder in competition as is burned faster and measured more accurately, therefore making the accuracy of the gun better. I shot all round balls in competition, but shot buffalo bullets at deer (pre-sabots and all this new stuff) and killed several with it.
I have also done plenty with the new stuff too, but ive seen deer shot at nearly 300 yds with the “modern muzzleloader” and id rather not have to call that traditional or primative at all.
I would defintely go cap vs flint just for the sake of being more reliable, unless thats what ur looking for. I have tons of experience with the older stuff and with the newer stuff so feel free to ask or PM me for my phone number and give me shout.
I have been looking around at the alternatives (online because there is not much on the shelf around Chas). While I hear a lot of good things about the Hawken style, for some reason my eye keeps getting pulled back to the Kentucky/Pennsylvania style. In particular the Traditions Pennslyvania.
My dad has a traditions 50 cal hawken. I’ve killed a few deer with it and its very accurate. Either with ball and patch or powerbelt bullets. I’ve never messed with a ■■■■■■■■■ so I can’t tell you anything about those. I doesn’t shoot sabot bullets worth a crap from my experience. Get one with the set trigger.
Looks like a good gun, but never shot one personally. I do know that the 1 in 66 twist is basically a “roundball barell”, which is what i had while shooting competitions. I had no problem shooting conical bullets out of mine also. I think the trick is just playing with the load and finding the one that shoots the best in your gun, just like reloading centerfire ammo. you cant just shoot “X” grains of powder and expect it to hit perfectly first try. Definitely make sure it is a double trigger gun as jws said. I dont think you could go wrong with any of those guns with the longer barrels. Some of the ones with the short 24", 26" barrels do not shoot very well at all.
I have several bp firearms but my favorite is my Lyman great plains rifle ■■■■■■■■■. I shoot a patch and ball only and it really shoots nice. If you go ■■■■■■■■■, use good 4fg powder, English flint and keep your frizzen clean. If you do that and keep the flash hole clean, there will be virtually no delay. There is some load tuning and patch thickness to figure out, but its pretty straight forward and with my personal range with open sights, the ball trajectory is a non-issue. I do want to put the Lyman peep sights on but have not yet.
I really enjoy deer hunting with it and archery hunting. It gives me a greater sense of pride when I take them the traditional way (except I use a compound bow, I am no good with a recurve)
It’s awesome to click off the ■■■■■■■■■, wait for the cloud to disperse, then see your buck laying there. Traditional bp and archery are for the excitement of the hunt. I still get jittery when shooting a deer bp and archery. It’s like fly fishing with a fly you tied yourself and catch a huge fish. It makes you feel like you really accomplished something.