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cwalt

MH
Posts:180

12/08/2007 9:23 AM
Today is the last day of the muzzle loading deer season.. will recover quickly after that and back on line. Cj

rospigan

MH
Posts:372

12/08/2007 11:18 AM
>>Today is the last day of the muzzle loading deer season.. will recover quickly after that and back on line. Cj >> In the name of animal well-fare we are most likely not allowed to kill anything with black powder, neither with bow and arrow. So if you have the time you could tell us something about muzzle loading hunters. I had a replica 1859 Navy Colt. I used to shoot some with it, black powder and home casted bullets, and it was a lot of fun and taught me more about guns than modern powders and guns do. Torsti Borta Med Vindens Kennel "Ask not what your dog can do for you. Ask what you can do for your dog." www.rospigan.net

robclayau

JH
Posts:36

12/08/2007 2:38 PM
I shot my first deer in the USA with a muzzle loader, the old fashioned kind, measure a charge of powder down the barrel, then the patch and ram the lead ball bullet. External cocking hammer and open sights. The deer was quartering away and the shot was perfect, the deer collasped on the spot and I recovered the spent ball from under the skin on the front sholder (opposite side from where I'd shot), the ball now resides on my book case. After the shot I was unable to tell what happened to the deer for several long seconds until the smoke from the shot cleared!! Modern muzzle loaders in the USA have been developed to a high degree, teleoscopic sights and modern type projectiles and pre-packaged charges etc have all resulted in much improved ballistic performance, but IMO some have gone too far, they're really modern firearms rather than true muzzle loaders. Much of the skill and romance has been lost.. In most American states, deer season opens at different times depending on the weapon used. So archery season will open first, then muzzle loader, then gun/rifle. The attraction of muzzle loader, for many people, is to be in the field as early as possible rather than a love of this type of firearm and the challanges it provides. Cheers, Rob Maud & Torsti wrote: >>Today is the last day of the muzzle loading deer season.. will recover quickly after that and back on line. Cj >> In the name of animal well-fare we are most likely not allowed to kill anything with black powder, neither with bow and arrow. So if you have the time you could tell us something about muzzle loading hunters. I had a replica 1859 Navy Colt. I used to shoot some with it, black powder and home casted bullets, and it was a lot of fun and taught me more about guns than modern powders and guns do. Torsti Borta Med Vindens Kennel "Ask not what your dog can do for you. Ask what you can do for your dog." www.rospigan.net

cwalt

MH
Posts:180

12/08/2007 3:13 PM
I use a brass trimmed .50 caliber single shot muzzle loader with an external hammer and set triggers, one trigger takes up the slack and the next one is a hair trigger to touch off the shot. I have given up on patches a while back and use .50 cal sabots, round nosed lead with a plastic base that replaces the patch. It's sensitive as heck to moisture and after loading it and tamping down the bullet with the ramrod I have to put a cap on the nipple, relax the hammer to hold the cap in place and in deference to modernity I wrap a piece of plastic sandwich wrap around the hammer and percussion cap to keep the water out. It's always a surprise to pull the trigger, hear the cap go off and then wait for the shot, and as you said it takes a while for the smoke to clear before you can see if you hit anything. I have good accuracy up to about 125 meters but shots much beyond that aren't worth taking, too much danger of crippling a deer at long range. At the end of the day the easiest thing to do is extract the sabot by firing up in the air... extracting them with a screw is too damned much trouble so every night I clean the thing and start with a fresh charge of powder (125grains) and a new sabot in the morning. After two or three shots I disassemble the rifle and flush the barrel with boiling water to flush out the powder residue, then I grease the inside of the barrel with a patch, reassemble the rifle and wipe it down with oil for the next day. I have lost two large bucks over the years with this gun, one with a dropped percussion cap that I couldn't find in the grass and one that fired the cap but the powder didn't go off. It seems that you have to get it all together at the same time to be successful with a muzzle loader. It's a whole different kind of hunting and you can appreciate the trouble that hunters had a hundred years ago. I increased the odds against me years ago by switching to a single shot rifle, then I started deer hunting with a .357 magnum pistol and then I went to the muzzle loader. I haven't had the urge to try a muzzle loading dueling pistol as yet. { The worst thing I tried was a German drilling with two 16 ga. barrels over an 8x 57 mm rifled barrel. I would pepper a deer with fine bird shot and then try to drop a flying grouse with the 8 mm barrel... never could get it to work out the way it was supposed to. Too many thumbs I guess. Cj

lameduck

SH
Posts:44

12/09/2007 8:15 AM
The black powder comments make me smile as I think about an AKC Retriever trial that I was at and helped throwing the flyer. The current president of the club obtained the ammunition and the 12 ga popper shells. He didn't know that there was any difference and accidently bought black powder blanks. The judge would call for the bird and the gunner would shoot and the thrower would throw but the powder would be drifting down wind and then the next gunstation would do the same and again the cloud of smoke is drifting away then we would throw and shoot the flyer. Poor dogs couldn't remember where the dead birds were because they were watching the smoke drift away. They had never seen such a thing. It was funny but for the smell. The whole neighborhood smelled like rotten eggs as it was a big trial and we shot about 200 of the blackpowder shells that day' Ron

rospigan

MH
Posts:372

12/09/2007 2:32 PM
Many years ago when we used to shoot sea fowl in the spring, one companion in our hunting party was very technical about the shooting gear, everything had to be the best, the ultimate. Just before we went to one of our hunting trips I found a box of black powder shotgun shells in a store. They were intended for those who liked to shoot their grandfathers old side by sides. I kept the box hided and once out in the hide I exchaged the shells in the techno-freaks gun to the black powder shells when he turned his back to me. The next flock of eider duck came and he fired both barrels at them, clearly shaken by the cloud of smoke he produced. He did not understand the joke at all but was angry at us for the rest of the morning )) Torsti Borta Med Vindens Kennel "Ask not what your dog can do for you. Ask what you can do for your dog." www.rospigan.net ----- Original Message ----- From: Ron Stanfield, Lameduck.com To: working-gundog@web.whc.net Sent: Sunday, December 09, 2007 4:05 PM Subject: Re: [working-gundog] I'll be back The black powder comments make me smile as I think about an AKC Retriever trial that I was at and helped throwing the flyer. The current president of the club obtained the ammunition and the 12 ga popper shells. He didn't know that there was any difference and accidently bought black powder blanks. The judge would call for the bird and the gunner would shoot and the thrower would throw but the powder would be drifting down wind and then the next gunstation would do the same and again the cloud of smoke is drifting away then we would throw and shoot the flyer. Poor dogs couldn't remember where the dead birds were because they were watching the smoke drift away. They had never seen such a thing. It was funny but for the smell. The whole neighborhood smelled like rotten eggs as it was a big trial and we shot about 200 of the blackpowder shells that day' Ron

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