Muzzleloader hunting

Bushfire

Well-Known Member
Does it really exist up your way? I'm just in the process of ordering mine from the US, should be a couple of months away and here in Aus it's basically a non existent sport.
I'm going the inline style so it's not going to be a flintlock or anything like that.

Anyone ever had a go?

​JP
 
Does it really exist up your way? I'm just in the process of ordering mine from the US, should be a couple of months away and here in Aus it's basically a non existent sport.
I'm going the inline style so it's not going to be a flintlock or anything like that.

Anyone ever had a go?

​JP

Not these guys. Here in the US we do, of course. I love it.
No offense but In-lines are boring as hell.:D What kind did you get? ~Muir
 
Yeh it's a big thing over there hey!
It's similar in Austrlia pretty just doesn't exist here so it's hard to get anything. We can only import one brand of powder too and limited projectiles and guns so it's tough. I'm getting TC Bone collector in 50 cal. Looking forward to it I tell ya! Well I thought of an older style but I'm going to need all the help I can get so an inline is going to be hard enough! haha

What do you hunt mostly in the US?

​JP
 
T/C makes good rifles. I have had several of their side lock rifles. I never got taken by in-lines. I have several of the side lock guns from 32 caliber to 58 caliber, and I have a paper cartridge Sharps in .54 which though technically not a 'muzzleloader' it is a black powder percusson rifle. I like .58 caliber and have one double rifle in that caliber. My favorite though, is a 52 caliber Hawken. With it I fired 7 shots that cut each other at 100 yards once.
You'll have a lot of fun with that T/C! ~Muir
 
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I've owned and hunted with muzzle-loaders for about 30 yrs. Like Muir I prefer traditional rifles. I had a Parker-Hale Enfield reproduction for years. I even managed to take a young bull moose with it as well as a number of white-tails. It now belongs to my nephew, he was hinting how much he liked it for about 8 yrs lol.
I've been looking for another, but the majority of the available rifles here are in-lines. They're excellent rifles, but they just don't float my boat.
I'll probably pick up something used. A hunting buddy of mine has a fast twist Lyman Great Plains Rifle in 54 cal. that I really like and they come up for sale fairly regularly.
There is one company ,that I'm sure Muir is familiar with, called Track of the Wolf. They have an extensive sellection of rifles. Everything from Thompson Center , which are a good rifle for the money, to some high end custom work. Their website is definitly worth a look.
Black-powder hunting is addictive and will put your hunting skills to the test. I enjoy it a lot and I hope you will to. Some may say that muzzle-loaders are primitive and in-effective, but I've seen enough animals taken with them to know better. My old 577 Enfield dropped game quickly and cleanly within its range limitations , you'll only run into trouble if you ask the rifle to do something it wasn't designed to do.
Welcome to the club AB
 
I'm very curious - what is 'in line'?

Instead of the flash hole being offset to the side of the breach and using a percussion cap or even flint to ignite the powder charge, a shotgun primer is used at the end of the barrel so directly inline with the charge. It's a relatively modern system and far more reliable than the older traditional systems of ignition.
 
Actually there is nothing in British law to forbid M/L hunting. If the rifle produces the required energy then it's legal.

Sussex Police tried to stop an American hunting with one saying that it did not meet the muzzle energy requirements. The guide a Mr Downer contacted the rifles manufacturers who provided load data and energy figures. Sussex still refused the permit until the rifle makers threatened legal action for liable as the Police were actually saying that they were lieing.

The client came over checked zero and took a rather nice Sussex Fallow Buck with the rifle. This was in about 2001 and Mr Downer told me about the trials involved in dealing with Sussex Police over this as it was just over when I called to collect my Muntjac mount.
 
I've owned and hunted with muzzle-loaders for about 30 yrs. Like Muir I prefer traditional rifles. I had a Parker-Hale Enfield reproduction for years. I even managed to take a young bull moose with it as well as a number of white-tails. It now belongs to my nephew, he was hinting how much he liked it for about 8 yrs lol.
I've been looking for another, but the majority of the available rifles here are in-lines. They're excellent rifles, but they just don't float my boat.
I'll probably pick up something used. A hunting buddy of mine has a fast twist Lyman Great Plains Rifle in 54 cal. that I really like and they come up for sale fairly regularly.
There is one company ,that I'm sure Muir is familiar with, called Track of the Wolf. They have an extensive sellection of rifles. Everything from Thompson Center , which are a good rifle for the money, to some high end custom work. Their website is definitly worth a look.
Black-powder hunting is addictive and will put your hunting skills to the test. I enjoy it a lot and I hope you will to. Some may say that muzzle-loaders are primitive and in-effective, but I've seen enough animals taken with them to know better. My old 577 Enfield dropped game quickly and cleanly within its range limitations , you'll only run into trouble if you ask the rifle to do something it wasn't designed to do.
Welcome to the club AB

Gad! You and I run the same paths.
I've got three of the English made PH replicas from the 70s. A cavalry carbine, a three band, and a Whitworth. I also have a 577 Breechloader tho stock military. And Track of the Wolf has taken a lot of my money over the years....

I just gave away a 1:60 twist, 50 caliber Lyman Great Plains that was about 20 years old and virtually unfired. Nice rifle but I just have others I prefer. We shot it last week and at 50m it piled all the balls atop each other til it started to get too dirty and the POI began to climb. Black powder is a lot of fun.... Don't get me started on bp revolver shooting! :D~Muir
 
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A Whitworth ! I've always wanted to get my hands on one of those,but for some reason have always been very hard to find up here. I must admit I've always liked the Parker Hale reproductions, I've compared them to originals and they are close to the enfield rifles.

For some strange reason the Muskatoon has always been common up here and are always reasonably priced ( 450- 500 ) but I prefer something with more barrel length.

I was on track of the wolfs site after I logged off of here last night, they will be getting more of my money soon lol

AB
 
A Whitworth ! I've always wanted to get my hands on one of those,but for some reason have always been very hard to find up here. I must admit I've always liked the Parker Hale reproductions, I've compared them to originals and they are close to the enfield rifles.

For some strange reason the Muskatoon has always been common up here and are always reasonably priced ( 450- 500 ) but I prefer something with more barrel length.

I was on track of the wolfs site after I logged off of here last night, they will be getting more of my money soon lol

AB

Yes. I like these rifles. The quality is outstanding. (The most recent offerings marked "Parker Hale" are/were made in Italy.) I dropped a large, dry cow bison with a three band Enfield from about 60 yards. One shot and she never got up but I darned near got killed by the herd. Nothing like hunting wild buffalo on open prairie!

The Whitworth is hard to find anywhere but worth the price of admission if you find an English-made rifle. Mine is SN 8XX and it shoots like a bolt gun. MOA out to two hundred yards, that I've experienced. Lovely trigger and a fine front blade: I've had mine for 20 years now and won't part with it despite many toothsome offers. I have the hex mold for it someplace but I use the .450" conical over a pair of hex wads. Eighty grains of Pyrodex RS and it will drive round after round into the same hole at 100M. I recovered some of the pure lead conicals and they were almost completely, and evenly, obturated to the hexagonal bore. :eek: Really weird to look at.~Muir
 
There was a member at my club about 10 yrs ago that had an English made Whitworth. I watched him shoot groups like yours on a regular basis. I also watched a lot of guys part with cash after betting against him in some informal shoot offs lol. To this day, I've never seen a muzzle-loader that could keep up with that rifle. It is one rifle that I constantly keep an eye out for.
 
A certain American gentleman named jim came over Here to a mates place and shot a munty and a stag with a muzzle loader ,he was surprised how far the munty ran in after the shot ! He was Shockeyed :lol:
Norma
 
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The .451 is too good it seems and it's not legal to use in some US states for deer, or so i was informed, something bout the bullet being too long. They were talking about hunting Elk with a M/L and I suggested that the .451" would be about perfect.
 
There was a member at my club about 10 yrs ago that had an English made Whitworth. I watched him shoot groups like yours on a regular basis. I also watched a lot of guys part with cash after betting against him in some informal shoot offs lol. To this day, I've never seen a muzzle-loader that could keep up with that rifle. It is one rifle that I constantly keep an eye out for.

They are a really accurate rifle. Mine came with all the accessories: hex patch punch, hex mold, conical mold and push through sizer, and all the worms and jags that go on the rod. An interesting story about that rifle: At one time I was doing a lot of experimentation with the Whitworth, varying wad placement and more, seating pressure of the wads. I was using a combination of OxYoke Wonder Wads and hex-cut carding. The military ramrod has a threaded end to it and so I simply folded a bit of 5/16 leather over the end between my palm and the threads when I applied pressure to the bullet during loading. I had a black mark on the rod for reference. The combination was smoking accurate. At 100 yards my first four shots were centered on the "X" in the bullseye, and looked to be just a 3/4" hole in the paper. I was concentrating on getting the load to the same pressure, really concentrating and leaning on the rod to get the mark to the right place... when the damned thing went through the leather and through my right hand, coming up right behind the knuckles. It stretched up the skin on the top of my hand but didn't break completely through. The guy at the bench next to me was horrified. I couldnt' to anything other than to pull my hand off of the ram-rod (leaving bits of meat on the threads) and with my left hand, pull the rod from the barrel. I asked the guy if he would please fire the rifle into the ground as I didn't want to get the blood on the rifle and showed him how to cap the nipple and fire it and then asked him if he would kindly leave that target in place at the 100 yd mark so i could finish the group after I returned from the Hospital. An hour later I came back, loaded, and put that last shot.... an inch out of the group! Wouldn't you know it? :rolleyes: That night I made a hardwood handle to slip over the end of the rod and still use it. (you have been warned!) ~Muir
 
The .451 is too good it seems and it's not legal to use in some US states for deer, or so i was informed, something bout the bullet being too long. They were talking about hunting Elk with a M/L and I suggested that the .451" would be about perfect.

You may be right. In many States, only round balls are legal, and in at least one State, only smooth bores are legal.

Many years back there was an article in some journal about hunting elk with the PH Whitworth. The author was successful and killed his bull with a single shot.~Muir
 
Andy , you are one dedicated shooter my friend. You win the John Wayne of the day award just for finishing the group, well done!

AB
 
Andy , you are one dedicated shooter my friend. You win the John Wayne of the day award just for finishing the group, well done!

AB

Thanks but you'd do the same if you had that particular group going on and was 1 shot away from perfection. :)

The ram rod was nothing, really. A couple of years after that I was given an Italian three band musket and hauled down on a pretty mule deer doe. When I shot the gun exploded at the breech. Leaving me crawling on my hands and knees in -10F weather til the rangers loaded me into a truck and got me to a hospital, from which I was transported 180 miles to an eye surgery clinic, where I spent the next 5 days having wood and metal splinters removed from my eyes and face. I was blind and bandage-bound for the next 5 weeks. My vision returned almost to normal with some scarring. I still have the rifle as a reminder that some days, things just go wrong. To this day I have no idea as to what exactly happened ...other than I don't think I got the doe.~Muir
 
Hmmmm I don't own any repro ML's although I do have a fair number of original 1861/63 Springfields and Contract rifled muskets . Also have a rather nice signed 36 cal Pennsylvania Rifle that was made 1835-1845 .

I shoot the 36 some and a couple of the 1861 Contracts but for actual hunting I have a pair of Knight Disc Rifles one in 45 and the other in 50 cal . Use granulated Triple 7 3Fg in both with Honrady SST sabots . And last and certainly not least I have a Savage 10ML-II 50 cal that I shoot VV N-110 with the Hornady 250 SST . that one with a Leupold 4-12 in capable of 3 shot groups at 100 yards in a ragged hole from the bench . Well it was when I got it , I just got it back from Savage after having them rebarrel it . Although last wednesday I was getting three shot groups in the inch range . 42 grains of VV N-110 Chrony's about 2200 FPS at the muzzle .
 
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