hunting dear- which muzzle loading and caliber?

hi, I am interested in hunting dear with a muzzle loading rifle but I am a totally newbie in this field and my first question is: which rifle and caliber would be the best for beginners like me?

Well, i think my DEAR would get real upset with me if i hunted her with any kind of gun. Now for deer hunting, anything from a .40 cal. on up will work with proper shot placement and if it is a legal cal. for deer in your state. I would suggest a .50 cal. caplock to begin with. This is a good all around cal. for about anything you want to hunt short of grizzly.

That questions has many variable. You need to ask yourself what type of deer hunting you will be doing, stalking, tree stand. Will the huntig be in dense brush or open terrain. I would have to say that the Hawken type rifle is the most versital and I'm partial to flinters. as for caliber .50 seems to be a good start not much recoil and good power out to 100 yds. with a round ball that is. As for make if your not going custom and you want to shoot round ball the Lyman Great Plains Rifle is a great buy. It was one of my first rifles and even with the custom guns I have now I still kick myself for selling it. I hope this helps I'm sure you will get a ton of advise on this but remember it all comes down to what you like and are willing to go out and shoot Pratice makes perfect.
Andy

Welcome.

Now for deer hunting . . .

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I think he's doing MUCH better asking in English than I could answering in Deutsch!

What size are the deer? Under 120 lbs a .40 or .45 will do. For 120 to 200 dressed body weight a .50 is fine. Anything 160 to 250 lb. I personally prefer a .54, but the .50 remains a good choice. I've never wished I had a smaller hole, less penetration or lighter bloodtrail that I can remember. A .54 carries 30% more mass than a .50, which is a signifigant increase. A moderate load in a .54 is also likely more accurate than a heavily loaded .50 with the same energy on target.

A rifle of .44 or .45 caliber will certainly kill deer, but I feel more comfortable with a heavier ball/larger hole.

Needless to say, you can tell from the above that I am a fan of the .54. ::

You are most likely right about the English. I didn't notice until after i made the post that he was from Austria. Sorry if i offended anyone. It was meant as a joke.

Gutentag agent00

Will you be hunting rhebock or the hirsch size deer?

for the smaller rhebock, the 45 or 50 should be sufficient, if local laws allow it. the larger hirsch would be better with 50 or 54 caliber.

I'm not sure that my spelling of the rhebock & hirsch is correct, it has been a long time.... Hope you can figure it out.

rayb

Agent00,

Well I hope you are considering a sidehammer or flintlock rifle built in a traditional manner. If you want to buy one of the plastic inline rifles, you can go to Wal-Mart and pick up a .50 caliber T/C or Knight complete kit in a blister pack.

If you decide on what type of rifle you will want to hunt with, you will then want to consider if I want to shoot round balls or conicals/sabots. With round balls you will usually have a slow twist barrel vs. and usually fast twist for conicals/sabots. Most if not all of your plastic inline rifles shoot the conicals/sabots/power-belt bullets.

Now it really boils down to how much money your are willing to spend to start shooting and hunting in this great hobby.

Also do you plan on reeancting or getting involved with living history? If so that will hopefully decide on the type and style of rifle you want.

For me I started with an old .50 caliber T/C Hawken (2nd year production) and this rifle has taken (16) deer over the many years. Sound rifle for the cost with a lifetime warranty. I have since grown into custom made historical correct flintlocks.

For you just starting .50 or .54 caliber is a good choice to hunt with. Personally I like the .54 caliber round ball over .50 caliber, if you decide on a round ball rifle. I like the fact that I have a large diameter ball (.530) and more weight. Balls that I have recovered from deer have always expanded to the .65+ caliber range. You have to love dead soft lead when shooting deer.

Wish you the best in your quest.

Bear60

PS: I usually hunt with a .60 caliber roundball rifle. Ball is .590 in diameter and when handcasted they weigh around 303 grains.

thanks for your answers and @ bear: I am interested in buying an flintstock rifle.

and sorry for writting mistake. My English far away from beeing perfect but I should know the difference between dear and deer... :redface:

Agent 00 What kind of deer do you have there? Keep us posted on your flintlock pick and this fourm only rarely picks on spelling. I am new to flintlocks I have a Lyman GPR in 54 cal.a one in 66"inch twist for round balls they are a good buy here and a good starter gun. Good Luck :winking: Rocky

like the others have said it depends on your style....i started with a T/C hawken with a 1-48" twist barrel and have a load for round ball and sabots that shoot the same point of aim....

175 grain round ball
70 grains 3f
.015 patch

240 hp T/C cheap shot sabot
80 grains 3f

4f for the pan

so if i what to shoot rb or sabot i can aim the same with both without changing my sights....with only one gun now i have some variation....but when i shoot at the range i don't lower the load for target shooting so when i do practice i'm ready for hunting............bob

hello, I think will start wiht a hawken rifle, but I am not shure in which caliber? is there a great diference in recoil between caliber 50 and 58?

not sure since all i have right now is my .50....but will be building a .54 very shortly....i don't think it will be much but i could be wrong..................bob

If you're not used to blackpowder, you will be pleasantly surprised. The recoil is much less that anything similar in centerfire. The big, heavy barrel absorbs much of the recoil, and the relatively low projectile speed gives more of a push than a kick. Still, a solidly loaded .58 will jar you a bit. All this assuming that you drive all the balls to about 1,800 fps (656 m/sec) I load 84 gr. FFg in my 50 abd 90 in my .54 and the recoil is not at all unpleasant. It gives a satisfying jolt that I can take all day. The weight of a .570 ball is 280 gr, or 56% more than the 178 gr of a .50 (and 24% more than a 230 gr. .54, which is 27% more than that .50). A .58 kicks about as much as a high-brass 20 gauge shotshell.

A .58 Hawken is a BIG animal gun. Elk and Buffalo. I'd recommend a .54 as a good all around caliber. With a half charge it is good for headshooting small game at close range, too.

What may surprise you at first is the flash. Wear shooting glasses and it won't hurt you. It just takes a little getting used to. :thumbsup:

Slayer of Stumps,

Have you ever hunted in the area around Otsego? I was thinking about the Leatherstocking Guide Service. The down side is that they have NO heat, hot water or electricity in the cabin and you know what it's like in ML season up there.

-Ray :what:

AgentOO,

Thank you for letting us know that you want to hunt with a flintlock. Since you are from Austria your country is rich in the history of original flintlocks. You could always have a copy made of an original from your area. Many of these early rifles from your area were of the Jaeger style. Attached is an interesting web site on some history from your area:

http://www.buechsenmacher.de/historyen.html

Attached is a web site that sells Jaeger kits (photo):

http://www.longrifles-pr.com/pr/jaeger.htm

Attached is a web site for an excellent book on original Jaeger rifles:

http://www.shumwaypublisher.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=44

If you do not want to purchase a Jaeger flintlock you have a wide variety of flintlocks to choose from. I think you need to look at what time frame flintlock you want to choose from.

If you to email me direct I have some photos I can forward of a custom made Jaeger rifle in .62 caliber.

My email address is: [email protected]

Take care,

Bear60

Slayer of Stumps,

Have you ever hunted in the area around Otsego?

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Otsego Lake? Nope. Poked around and sailed the lake (used to race Thistles) but never hunted there. It's only a stones throw from where my grandpa lived (Nineveh Junction : and the terrain and climate is very much home to me. Rolling hills, river valleys, woodlots between cultivated fields. Cooperstown ~ Baseball Hall of Fame.

Nice solid corn fed deer area. :thumbsup:

Late m/l season (mid Dec) will be anything from 0

thanks again for your answers.

@bear yes, some photos would be great. my email adress is [email protected].

agent00

If you are new to this and you have no other information you should know that a lot of good information is available but that some of the information you will hear is