gleason.chapman

I hunt Penna's FL season with a FL for about a week. I use a TC Hawken with open sights, and I use sabots and a 300g Gold Dot in that rifle. I shoot goex, 80g, it is a lot of fun. Different from my tree stand hunting in VA and NY. I am accurate with that rifle to 70 yards. I think it takes a lot more skill to shoot a FL, but they are fun if 1) you get a good one 2) you know how to clean them 3) know how to keep them sparking well 4) know how to keep them dry in snow and freezing rain. Anyway, a lot of fun. Looking to get a percussion, found one about 1 hour away for $100 for a used rifle with a 50 cal and 54 cal barrel. Intend to use it in MLer season next year instead of my Omega, more challenge, learn a bit more about percussion. Will shoot sabots with conical in it not RB, since me experience with RB in a 50 at 177g is not good.
Chap

D Rock

If you can get yourself a smoothbore flinter you can have some real fun with it. My dad has two custom made smoothbores and hunts with them regularly. When I was younger I would shoot skeet with the smoothbore. They can be amazingly accurate.


It sure does take a lot more skill. There is something about hunting with a FL that makes you feel more primative, like you are going back a few hundred years and hunting like our ancestors. My father is a purist and detests inlines. He said he would disown me if I ever tried to hunt with one on his property. He is a purist for sure.

FG

It is a lot of fun to down game with a flinter. Nothing like a faceful of warm pan powder flashing up in your face! I need to get a flinter that will shoot the modern conicals.

Ky Headhunter

[quote]ORIGINAL: D Rock

If you can get yourself a smoothbore flinter you can have some real fun with it. My dad has two custom made smoothbores and hunts with them regularly. When I was younger I would shoot skeet with the smoothbore. They can be amazingly accurate.


Ya got me convinced! Can I quote you when trying to convince my wife it's a necessary purchase?`

nchawkeye

I've hunted with flintlocks since the 70s...I bought this one from Bob Watts down in GA when I lived down there in '77...It was a .45 but I have since put a .40 barrel on her...I hunted with this from '77-'90 and have killed 25 or so deer and a tonof squirrels and the first wild turkey I ever killed, back in 1979...I called that bird in with a wingbone call that I made...btw...This was in Virginia and rifles are legal for turkeys in that state...




While hunting with the above rifle, when it was a .45, I had a BIG black bear get within about 35 yards of me...I had been considering building a .50...Well, it didn't take me long to decide to build a .54!!!

I did some research and came up with this as an example of what could have been built in the Piedmont area of NC around 1770...This style rifle could have been what Daniel Boone carried into Kentucky during his first trip in 1769 and could have been what was carried by a local militia man at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in March of 1781...I started this gun in 1988 and finished in time for the 1990 season...It's taken 30 deer or so, I have found that I do prefer a .54 over a .45 for deer...The .45 will kill them just fine, it's just easier to track and find the deer with a .54...



About 4 years ago Old Salem opened up their rifle shop...They had a collection of long rifles that had been made in NC...The gun that they felt
was the oldest looked almost identical to the one above...The original had about a 2 inch longer barrel and was closer to .50 caliber...Even the
color stain and patch box were very close...The late Bob Hunt who owned Salem Riflesmith had advised me on what was "proper"...God Bless him...

I have bag molds for both of these, so I mold my own balls...I also make my own patch lube and use bulk pillow ticking so the cost to shoot these is
relatively low...

One of my pastimes is going to the local schools and giving talks on the American Revolution and local history...This fall I have put together period clothing to wear to these events...I'll try to get pictures ofme in them and post in the next couple of weeks...

gleason.chapman

The 54 over the 45 proves the point of why the 45/70 Sharps was so deadly on buffalo on the plains. Big bullets going slow penetrate deeply, expand well and kill very quickly. Small bullets kill no doubt, but not as well and there is a tracking job, it is NOT energy expended in a deer that kills. It is vitals giving oxygen to the brain that kills, and the 54 is a lot better at that because of bullet weight. Thanks for your post. It must be great talking to kids about history and dressing up in period clothing, and giving lessons on why a 54 or a .62 caliber is great even on "great bears". Blessings to you.
Chap

D Rock

When I was in high school I went back to my elementary school to talk to my old teacher's Indiana history class about what the early settlers wore. I brought in all of my clothes and supplies. Of course they wouldn't let me bring in the guns. My father does a lot of education programs. I know he did one for the scouts a little bit ago.It is great to see kids get so excited about history when they see him all dressed up. As asocial studies teacheritwarms my heart.Here is a link to the club my family belongs to http://home.comcast.net/~morganco.lr/index.htmlMy dad is the one who looks like Santa in a tricornered hat.

HuntAway

"Ole Betsy" for me is a .50 GPR flintlock. I haven't shot a deer with her yet. But it's not for the lack of trying.

HEAD0001

If you can shoot a Flint Lock then you can shoot anything. The real key to shooting a flintlock is follow through. But then follow through is the key to any sport. You have to learn to follow through with your shot. So basically "HOLD" the rifle.

IMO the trick is to limit your "Ignition Timing". I have found a couple of ways to do this. First I use 7F in the pan instead of 4F. IMO the 7F is faster. Also it is important to limit the amount of powder you put in the pan. You definitely need to keep the flashhole open. Tom.

Buck Hunter 1

Gleason Chapman, what sabot you using on the 300 grain gold dot? I am getting ready t get my bullets and sucjh and like shooting the sabot. I am just very confused w/ all the reading and what to start with. Lot's of loads, but I need the basic starter loads and will play w/ rounds form there. I ggot a 50 cal, deerstalker, 1/48 twist.