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Hunting with .62 Cal?

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Sootburner

32 Cal.
Joined
Dec 22, 2017
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Was curious how many folks are out there hunting with a .62 caliber rifle?

I currently have a .54 GPR flinter that I really enjoy. Haven't killed any deer with it yet, however I know the .530/.535 ball is a great ball for deer in that I've killed many with a percussion Hawken in 54.

I recently contacted TVM and inquired on a flintlock .62 caliber build. I would imagine the larger ball would be more efficient in taking big game.

For those that do hunt with a .62, how long a barrel does your rifle have? What kind of loads do you find the most accurate? And lastly, what made you choose a .62 over the smaller calibers or even the 69 or .72 caliber?

Thanks for your help
 
I have 20 gage fusils, that work well with loads in the 65-80 grain range. I had a friend that had a .62 rifle with a 32 inch barrel and a 1/60 twist. It was a tight shooter, but he needed 140 grains of powder to get it to group. It was unplesent to shoot. It was a flintlock Hawken style in full stock and I bet it weighed about ten pounds..
It hit like a slap from a fallen angel. A grizz or brown bear might your life unplesent for a bit after catching one of these balls, but nothing else in north America would walk far after a hit.
 
I have a 62 rifle. I use a .61 round ball with 80 grains of powder. I'll have to measure the barrel. It sure slams a deer down. It's a pretty ugly rifle, a fellow built it from TOW parts and I believe it was his first build. Shoots well though. It's getting where it isn't wanting to catch at full cock so I need to do some tinkering. I actually need to post some pics sometimes to get someone to tell me what it's supposed to be. 100 yards and there isn't a deer that it can't handle. Accurate at that distance and honestly doesn't kick hard.
 
McDonald said:
It's getting where it isn't wanting to catch at full cock so I need to do some tinkering.
Please don't tinker - pull the lock out and test it. If it works out of the gun, there is likely some wood interfering with proper lock and/or trigger operation. If it doesn't work out of the gun, then there is something going on with the lock - pictures will be helpful. The sear nose or full-cock notch (or both) could be damaged.
 
I shall take your advice sir! Hope nothing is wrong with it. I hope to have a 62 smoothie before long. Sent the money off today so mabe I can round out the season with the smoothie
 
Clickwhoosh said:
Was curious how many folks are out there hunting with a .62 caliber rifle?

I currently have a .54 GPR flinter that I really enjoy. Haven't killed any deer with it yet, however I know the .530/.535 ball is a great ball for deer in that I've killed many with a percussion Hawken in 54.

I recently contacted TVM and inquired on a flintlock .62 caliber build. I would imagine the larger ball would be more efficient in taking big game.

For those that do hunt with a .62, how long a barrel does your rifle have? What kind of loads do you find the most accurate? And lastly, what made you choose a .62 over the smaller calibers or even the 69 or .72 caliber?

Thanks for your help
How would it be more efficient brother :hmm:
More lead, possibly more powder.

Does anyone actually time how quick it takes to kill a deer? :doh:

B.
 
It ain’t. A .40 or .45 makes meat pretty well. But that’s not the point my friend. We all buy the little guns that talk to us some how. The heart wants what it wants. :grin:
 
I have a couple of 62's, one with a 32" barrel and the other 39".

Delightful to use, but with their limits. If your shooting stretches out to as much as 100 yards, you're going to need a lot of powder to flatten the trajectory. Stock design and fit to your body are going to be critical. Restrict your range to about 75 yards and you can get away with charges down around 80-90 grains for more comfortable shooting.

The difference in barrel length between my two rifles doesn't do all that much to flatten trajectory in my direct comparisons. I've had to go up to 120 grains of 2f in the 39" barrel to get the trajectory flat enough for my tastes to 100 yards (dead on at 75, about 6 low at 100, putting it about 2" high at 50). The rifle with the 32" barrel is lighter and recoil is getting pretty fearsome at 120 grains, so I dropped the charge back to 80 grains, sighted it in at 50, and confine its use to 75 yards.

Not that much of a gain in trajectory between 90 grains and 120 is there? Such is the nature of bigger calibers. It takes a whole lot more powder to get those heavier balls moving faster for flatter trajectories. Wonderfully effective when that big ball strikes home, but striking home at longer ranges requires some sight gymnastics and powder burning.
 
" I would imagine the larger ball would be more efficient in taking big game"


I dunno bout that. :idunno: I think more lead makes up for a poorly placed shot on a deer, that's all. 50 cal. goes in one side and out the other, game over.
Next 18 months or so I hope to start an early Lancaster, swamped barrel, 54......for moose.
Don't really see the need for more lead if you can hit the boiler room at 75 yards.
 
Ames said:
Next 18 months or so I hope to start an early Lancaster, swamped barrel, 54......for moose.
Don't really see the need for more lead if you can hit the boiler room at 75 yards.

The biggest issue between 54 and 62 is how quickly the ball will put down a moose. The difference between a 100 or 200 yard run and a 10 or 20 yard run can include a whole lot of swamps, creeks, beaver ponds and thickets.

I know plenty of guys up here who have taken moose with 54 cal RBs. You'll also hear their horror stories about dressing and butchering moose standing in neck-deep water, waist deep mud, or long sessions of brush hacking to even get to their downed critter. Every man jack of them I know who got a long baptism while butchering moose is now shooting 58, 62, 69 and even 72 caliber.
 
BrownBear said:
Ames said:
Next 18 months or so I hope to start an early Lancaster, swamped barrel, 54......for moose.
Don't really see the need for more lead if you can hit the boiler room at 75 yards.

The biggest issue between 54 and 62 is how quickly the ball will put down a moose. The difference between a 100 or 200 yard run and a 10 or 20 yard run can include a whole lot of swamps, creeks, beaver ponds and thickets.

I know plenty of guys up here who have taken moose with 54 cal RBs. You'll also hear their horror stories about dressing and butchering moose standing in neck-deep water, waist deep mud, or long sessions of brush hacking to even get to their downed critter. Every man jack of them I know who got a long baptism while butchering moose is now shooting 58, 62, 69 and even 72 caliber.
Now that does make some sense.
However, our friend didna mention moose!

B.
 
I have had only two whitetails "run" with a double lung hit from my .54 rifle. Both were bucks, and both were exiting the general area so had been excited prior to my making the shot. The rest of the whitetails that I've harvested, were down within sight of the place where they were hit, so not more than 15 yards.

I like my .62 trade gun for upland game and squirrels. I haven't used one on a deer, but I don't know if it will make them deader than the .54.

LD
 
Even the NDNs had a saying ... and I loosely paraphrase ... ”Nadailin mozakan mooz ”˜in’ nebi, mozakan mooz ”˜on’ aki, ”˜do not’ zakan mooz ”˜in mud’.

Translated - ”Hunt/shoot moose in water, hunt/shoot moose on land ... do not shoot a moose in the mud!”

If I were to do it again, a 54-cal flint rifle would be my choice. Check out those new Kibler kits in 54-cal!
 
Ames said:
"
I think more lead makes up for a poorly placed shot

I have no idea where that statement comes from. :doh:

Shot placement is up to the shooter and his/her knowledge of the gun, it's capabilities, etc. I'm quite sure that a guy that knows his large bore gun inside and out will outshoot a guy with a smaller bore that doesn't put in the time and effort to know his gun though practice.
 
I have two of them one a Christian springs rifle based on a Albricht styled rifle 42 inch barrel,80grns 3 f and .610 round ball 15 thousands linen patch using my own formulated lube of bees wax and lard. Will get the job done good enough. The other is a smooth bore so called colonial fowler 40 inch barrel pretty much same load as the rifle. As I try to limit my shooting to not over 75 yards these two guns have preformed well. How ever I have a C.V.A. percussion 54 mountain rifle that harvested the biggest buck so far .530 ball 70 gr.3-f and same patching and lube, this one I stretched the distance on about a 90 yd. shot. I believe it is not so much the caliber of the weapon as the restraint and skill of the hunter. Shot placement and patience. As I have not hunted moose or grizzly bears I would have to say the range for the game I hunt in ball size is not smaller than 50 cal. I am partial to the big bores even in the un-mentionable guns just me. AN APPALICHIAN HUNTER
 
Clickwhoosh said:
For those that do hunt with a .62, how long a barrel does your rifle have? What kind of loads do you find the most accurate? And lastly, what made you choose a .62 over the smaller calibers or even the 69 or .72 caliber?

I have a .62 Jaeger I built from ToTW's kit. Barrel is 31" Rice with .016 deep round bottom grooves. I had to work on this one longer than any other gun I own to get a load that met my specs, which is a ragged hole at 75 yards bench rested. Ended up with a .610 ball a .025 denim patch (crushed as much as I can with my calipers) "dry" lubed by Dutch's method at 6 parts water to 1 part ballistol. 100 gr of 2F. I don't have to use a mallet to get that ball/patch combo down the barrel, but it's close to needing one. I did also get a really good group with a .020 patch, but I had to use a felt wad under it.

I built this in .62 because Jaeger's generally were larger bore guns. I have killed a couple of deer with it and my .54's do everything this one does on large Northern Whitetails. Frankly, the gun sits in the gun safe now unused. I'd probably haul it out if I was going after Moose or Bison though.
 
Was curious how many folks are out there hunting with a .62 caliber rifle?

I've had my German Jaeger .62 rifle since 1979. It was made for me by Jud Brennan for a moose hunt that I had planned for that year. I took it to the range to work up the heaviest accurate load I could get and ended up with 150gr's 2FF behind a .610 round ball.

My hunt was successful. I jumped the moose from his bed and took the shot as he was running straight away across a dry beaver flooding. At about 50yd's it was like putting my sights on the rear end of a Volkswagen. The ball took him in the left ham, traveled through the paunch, chest, and stopped under the hide a little to the right side of the brisket.

The moose made it less than 100yd's before going down. It took almost two days to butcher him and pack the boned meat 1/4 mile to the river and load the two canoes we had.

buckskinner.jpg
 

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