I took the Traditions .50 Deerhunter and my 16 year old son to the range to shoot it this past weekend. Loaded with patched round balls and 50-60 grains of Pyrodex RS, we took turns firing it offhand, first at 35 yards before moving it out to 50 yards.
There were no misfires or hang fires at all. Luckily the gun has an adjustable fiber optic rear sight because it previously had to be moved way over to one side to dial it in.
The Deerhunter is an enjoyable light weight gun to fire and the nickel finish is also very durable & easy to clean.
This model has a 24 inch nickeled barrel, hammer and lock plate which helps the Pyrodex residue wipe off by simply using an ample amount of Rusty Duck Black Off BP solvent that was purchased at Walmart.
After removing the nipple and clean out screw, I use cotton swabs saturated with solvent to clean out the drum. While spinning and twisting a swab, the cotton head came off and embedded deep down in the flash channel.
So I resorted to what I call the "toilet trick", firing off only a percussion cap to dislodge it while pointing the muzzle at the water in the toilet. Well, after that didn't work a few grains of powder had to be placed under the nipple which fired it out and into the water just fine.
But I did need to swab the entire gun all over again just for shooting off a few grains of Pyrodex.
Due to the shape of the target backer, the large target was fired with it mounted sideways and then later covered over with the 2nd target for more shots.
A very nice looking rifle there. And it looks like a good shooter. I bet you had a lot of fun.
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Toilet Trick??? That's a new one on me Articap. But it's the proper place for a dirty wipe.
Pretty good 50 yard offhand shooting there. That's a nice looking little gun. I'll bet it's easy carrying on a long hike.
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I recently picked up a used Deerhunter that needed help at a gun show for $75.00. Wooden stock and blued barrel. I have refinished the stock, replaced the nipple and sights, made a new ramrod and after a few hours of effort got all the rust out of the bore. Somewhere along the line I will most likely replace the lock spring. It now looks like almost new. I haven't shot it yet and hope I can do as well as you and your son after I get it sighted in. After seeing what you have done with yours I plan to take her out today and get started. It should be a great gun to get the younger ones started on side-locks and for my grand-kids to hunt with. One of the guys that regularly shoots here hunts with one and swears by it using both PBRs and conicals. Good shooting and both you and your son keep having fun with yours.
If you haven't tried shooting some sabots out of it, I highly recommend giving them a try. I was amazed at how well a short, 1:48 inch twist barrel can shoot a sabot and bullet.
I have the same rifle, silwer barrel and plastic stock.
I have shot 2 warthog and a springbuck with mine, 0.490 roundball patched. We are using Sannadex powder in South Africa(pinkish coloured) and I'm using 85gr(volume) pushing the R/B at 1700fps.
A realy nice rifle, I replaced my Lyman Trade with it since I was scared of scrathing/bumping the wooden stock.
My rifle are on my shoulder when I'm on the farm and that is almost every weekend, sunrise to sunset
.50 Deerhunter at the Range
