Deer with a flinter pistol?

[KyFlintlock]

Anyone ever take a deer with a flinter pistol? If so, can you share the details. I am thinking of trying it this fall.

Good luck!

Wess

 

[Halftail]

KY,
Got a picture of your flintlock Pistol?

 

[KyFlintlock]

Halftail,

A buddy gave me a pedersoli ky flinter in .45 during turkey season that I might use. No pics of it right now.

I am starting to build one with a gentlemen named Tom Strohfeldt giving me guidance in .50cal, that is the one I hope to use this fall. I am in the very, very early stages, so not much to show yet unless you want to see a ramrod ferrul! :rotf:

Time will tell!

Good luck!!!
Wess

 

[whitetrash078]

If you get close enough sure!

Practice Practice practice oh yeah, then practice some more.

I used to hunt with a ruger blackhawk .45 colt with warmish hand loads. I was really proud of that deer. The summer before season I literally spent hundreds and hundreds of rounds before I felt that I had any business trying to hunt deer with it.

I ain't trying to discourage you, but just practice a lot and keep your shots close :thumbsup:

 

[paulvallandigham]

If I were going to hunt deer with any ML pistol, I would want my gun to shoot conicals, and not round balls, to give me added weight in the projectile, and then I would want a barrel as long as I could practically use, so that it would burn up the most powder I could in that caliber. A .54 or .62 caliber with a 12 inch barrel would be my preference, so that the bullet would drive deep into the deer. Even then, the shot would probably be limited to 25 yards. Pistol velocities rarely get above 800 fps at the muzzle with any ML handgun. A .50 Ca. round ball only weighs about 180 grains, the size of a .357 semi-wadcutter, without all the impact advantages of that bullet. A .357 can be driven at 1200 fps. whereas a .50 cal. round ball out of a single barrel pistol will rarely exceed half of that velocity, without that longer barrel I mentioned. Weight of the bullet is what determines depth of penetration, but velocity certainly contributes to the process, at the bottom end. I have seen round balls bounce off the knots in railroad ties we used for a backstop in a range, when shot from a handgun, no matter how much powder we stuffed down the barrel. This from a .45 and .50 cal. pistol. As a result, we decided for safety sakes, and to protect our club from lawsuits, to not allow our pistol owners to fire their guns at our make-shift ranges where we did public demonstrations. RR ties were the most common material available in many towns to build a backstop, and it was just too dangerous to let pistols be used.

For small game, I think any pistol, with round ball will prove adequate. So, build the pistol, and have fun. :thumbsup:

 

[Bob Riegl]

:v From what I have recently heard is that The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will allow the use of flintlock pistols for the purpose of hunting deer during the special "traditional" hunting season next year---man that's good news---I will have to try that next year. :applause:

 

[jethro224]

I bought a Great Plains Pistol in .54 percussion to try and take a doe in the late winter season. That's the only legal chance to use a ML handgun in IL. Never got a chance to shoot one.

Illinois has a 500 foot/pound muzzle energy minimum rule. According to the Lyman handbook, to get that energy level with a round ball, I have to use 50 grains and .54 caliber.
A .50 would do with ballettes. I never checked the .45 specs but I bet it takes a conical.

Keep your shots close and Good Luck!

 

[Blizzard of '93]

Most .357 semi-wadcutters are 125 gr. and jacketed soft-points go up to 158 gr., velocity is about right but hot loads will make 1380 or so in a built-for-it pistol (Ruger Blackhawk). I have taken 2 wild boar over bait (legal here) with BP revolvers, '58 Rem 'Buffalo' 12" barrel and my ROA using max charges with conical Lee mold slugs. Both 1-shot kills altho the bigger of the 2 ran aways as it was moving when I fired, a quartering-away shot and I missed the heart/lung junction but got both lungs with the slug stopped under the hide on off side. Had to track it down but left a good trail and we saw which way it took off. The other I brained him. I have a .50 capper I have shot some stout loads out of, PRB, and I'm certain it would take a deer given good shot placement at short range. This is judging by checking penetration into poplar wood logs shot into end-ways. When I was hunting the hogs a buddy that has a smoothie .62 was with me loaded with buckshot. The 2 I got were'nt near the biggest hogs in the area. Man that's good eating!
Good luck and practice with your flinter. :thumbsup:

 

[paulvallandigham]

I have shot a lot of .357 magnum loads with an Keith, Semi Wadcutter, that weighs in at 173 grains. Lyman #358429( Lists at 168 grains. ) In a Blackhawk, it will definitely get attention.

Unless you could put a 16 inch barrel on a flintlock, and stay with .45 or .50 caliber, I don't see how you could get even close to that kind of power with a round ball load, and probably not with any conical, using black powder.

I personally wish every hunter out there would put in the time learning how to track FOOTPRINTS instead of blood trails to find their kills. I have spent much time tracking down kills for other hunters who " lost them " and then showing the hunter where he walked right over the tracks of his deer, or whatever, only to make a turn down a lane because it was easier walking for him! My tracking buddy found a deer lying next to a river crossing on the near bank, and the guy who shot it claimed it could not have been there the day before, because he hadn't seen it. My buddy showed the guy his two different sets of prints and showed him where he never even looked in the direction where the deer was laying. I have met men who are far better hunters than I am, but my buddy, Don, was the only man I have met around here who could track game as well as I do. I have tried to teach tracking to others, but they just won't put in the dirt time needed to be successful. They find every excuse in the book for why its "TOO DIFFICULT". Even when they have me to consult and get them over the hard parts. I learned through years of trial and error, often not learning why I lost a track for years! I don't understand why others don't take advantage of something I never had, and that was a skilled tracker willing to help me learn.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I don't have experience with hand cast slugs so should have said 'this is factory ammo or handloads with factory slugs such as Hornady, Sierra, Speer etc.' I have experience with Lee conicals for BP revolvers - in my opinion if the pistol is heavy built enuff to handle max charges using conicals that is the way to go when hunting large animals. My ROA is slightly more accurate with conicals my Rem 'Buffalo' slightly tighter groups with RB. The Rem shoots best with mild loads, I have to stack felt wads to bring the ball up so I use conicals and max charge for hunting. To get more powder in for hunting I use disks punched from juice cartons as an overpowder 'wad' and use boot dressing over the slug for lube.

 

[KyFlintlock]

Thanks for the info, time will tell. :hatsoff:

Wess

 

[Handy]

Don't worry about having enough power to kill Whitetails with your Flint pistol...it will do just fine.

Whitetails have thin skin and the heart lung area of thickness through the body rarely exceedes 9 - 13 inches for a large adult...this makes Whitetail deer easy to kill.

From past personal experience shots of 35 yards were just starting to push the limits of my Lyman .54 cap pistol mostly because of my own aiming problems and not the guns power using PRB.

I have three Doe shot and killed with that pistol. I was in one of my normal bow tree stands for all three deer. The longest shot was paced at 33 yards(close enough to 35) I used a two hand hold. My trigger and Lock have been worked on and the trigger is very close to being lighter than Hair(read dangerous for anything but still hunting). Standard Lyman sights.

The two other deer were both shot at about 22 and 26 yards under the exact same scenario as the longer shot. All were one shot one kill and into the freezer.

Like I said don't worry so much about having enough power...wait for the perfect shot and take it.

I would love to convert a Lyman GPR cap rifle into a pistol with a 16" long barrel to give an old man a better sight radius and a little more power/velocity but I have no idea if doing something like that would be okay with the BATF or the state of WI.

While I love the flinters as much as the next guy" 'for me the cap lock in a hunting pistol is more bullet proof(pun intended).

Living just north of CWD boundry lines and in past years having to live with the "Earn a Buck" program in WI a hunter was really forced to kill a few Doe, then head into the CWD eradication zones to take another deer.

I can't wait to hear of your success with your pistol.

Handy

 

[Mad Professor]

Why not build a thick barreled 58-62 cal that will have more than enough ommpphhh? Even with a RB at Bow ranges will dump a deer fine, maybe with a conical could do well to......???yds

P.S. There are rifled 12 ga barrels too......might take a while to get used to in a pistol........ouch!

 

[spaethjm]

I use a lyman 54 cal percussion It is kind of like bow hunting with a muzzle loader. That is range wise I will not shoot over 40 yds. I use 50 gr t7 and PBR.
I put a very narrow front sight on mine and painted it white. I can usually hit a 4 inch group at 25 yds of shooting sticks.

 

[KyFlintlock]

THanks guys, I can hardly wait till Oct to try it out!

wess

 

[Runner]

I had a 50 CVA fullstock Kentucky with trigger work to stop over travel. It had a 2.5 power TC magnum Railmount Pistol Scope on it that TC refused to support within a couple of years of my purchase. I did extensive accuracy and sabot testing with it. Five shot clover leaf groups were not hard to get with roundball, hard cast 423 slugs in wrappers, the Denver Bullet company 385 Buffalo Bullet, and the Hornady Great plains 385 HBHP. The 385 over 60 grains of P was solid accurate, more than powerful enough for close range work, and easy to find locally. The only problem with that load was the need for a good shooting glove and an experienced shooter. The recoil is pretty up front! The first shot would slide the curved butt thru your hand raising a bump on your middle finger with the trigger guard. The main recoil is directly on the web between your thumb and forefinger, causing problems and pain for those not used to heavy recoil in a pistol. Needless to say, it is hard to practice much with those kinds of loads. I quit carrying it when I started to carry a third model Dragoon loaded with 40 grains of P under a 250 grain 45 caliber REAL bullet. That choice is also more than enough for close range work.

 

[Handy]

Why not build a thick barreled 58-62 cal that will have more than enough ommpphhh? Even with a RB at Bow ranges will dump a deer fine, maybe with a conical could do well to......???yds

P.S. There are rifled 12 ga barrels too......might take a while to get used to in a pistol........ouch!

The longer barrel would mostly help with a longer sight radius...there is already plenty of power with the plain Lyman pistol, it's just that the extra barrel length would give a little more.