About your hunting rifles

Banjoman · Oct 21, 2024

This is my squirrel gun, a .60 caliber Fusil de Chasse, using ~65 grains of #6 shot. Killed a lot of squirrels with it.

This a Chambers .62 caliber smooth rifle. Only got to take it deer hunting once last year. Hopefully I’ll do better this year.

If I plink with them, I’ll hunt with them. If I hunt with them, I’ll plink with them. None of my guns are ‘beaters’. I use them, but I don’t abuse them.

andy52 · Oct 21, 2024

I have several rifles but generally hunt with only one, it's a custom made SMR that I've had for 30 years nothing fancy plain walnut stock and iron furniture. It's the most accurate rifle I have and is in .45.

tenngun · Oct 21, 2024

I too don’t have a ‘beater’ none of my guns are fancy though two have highly figured wood. I’m careful with my girls in field or in a camp.
This century all my deer save one has been shot with a smooth bore. Two with my 28 bore, 54 cal, and rest with my fusil de chase.
All shots pretty close and all with round ball

Eric Krewson · Oct 21, 2024

The first thing I do with any new deer caliber gun I build or acquire is to hunt with it until I kill a deer with it. One of my guns may be the favorite that I hunt with the most, but favorites change, it looks like my latest Issac Haines build will be my favorite for a long time.

Here are just a few of the first deer these rifles killed.

TC kit gun that I put together, my brother found the kit in my dad's closet when he went to assisted living. The neck shot was a finisher, I broke both its shoulders on the first shot but he could get up on its hind legs and run about 50 yards every time I got close. I finally got close enough for the neck shot, I didn't want to mess up any more meat.

My first flint longrifle that wasn't a TC, a gift from a friend.

My first build, a Beck like rifle, I took it hunting before I finished it and hadn't browned the barrel.

There were lots of deer in between the Beck and the Haines picture, another first for another TC and two first for each of my smoothbores.

Here is my Haines with its first doe last year.

PEARL DRUMS · Oct 21, 2024

Mine is dull and grey per my recipe. It’s very well cared for. Never been an eye catcher rifle guy. Although I appreciate them very much.

Bill Bryan · Oct 21, 2024

I'm no hunter, but I do shoot monthly at my local muzzleloading club. Bill

Tom A Hawk · Oct 21, 2024

All of my guns are used for hunting. .36 - .54. I make my own for the satisfaction value and enjoy taking them out to the woods.

labrat · Oct 21, 2024

Tom a Hawk..........that's a huge looking rifle you made there. You do very nice work.

Tom A Hawk · Oct 21, 2024

labrat said:
Tom a Hawk..........that's a huge looking rifle you made there. You do very nice work.

Thanks. Here's a better view of the Isaac Haines.

IronHand · Oct 21, 2024

For hunting I favor the Hawkin type rifle. I mostly hunt in heavy cover so the short barrel helps. My current gun is a 50 cal flintlock TC Hawkin. It's a first year of production gun and the previous owner did some nice carving on it.

Ironhand

snakebit · Oct 21, 2024

Only have 2 Flinters, both production no frills rifles, a 50 GPR Flinter and a Pedersoli 36 Flinter (for now). I have a few T/C's, 2 CVA's and a Traditions Crockett all Cap Lock. I will hunt, or have hunted with them all. The Crockett is just a pure pleasure to carry in the woods.

And to answer the last part of your question, in the woods, best place to hunt squirrels is in the woods.

Tom A Hawk · Oct 21, 2024

IronHand said:
For hunting I favor the Hawkin type rifle. I mostly hunt in heavy cover so the short barrel helps. My current gun is a 50 cal flintlock TC Hawkin. It's a first year of production gun and the previous owner did some nice carving on it.

Ironhand

I like the Hawken pattern also and that was actually my first build. Twenty years later I made the full stock flinter. Both are .54 caliber. The split Poplar logs were an experiment to determine if cap lock ignition offers increased power over a flintlock. They both had nearly identical penetration.

PathfinderNC · Oct 21, 2024

For squirrels I also like my Fusil de Chasse. Here’s my son (with his .410) and me out for a little tree-rat hunt

bpd303 · Oct 21, 2024

If I were still hunting my go to would be a 56 caliber German style Jaeger like this one I restored. Although it's a percussion I've seen some that were flintlock. Short barrel and very accurate and packs a punch.

labrat · Oct 22, 2024

Now that's a short Jaeger. Easy to carry but has to be a real bruiser.

Tom what a beautiful set of rifles !

Freedom · Oct 22, 2024

My companion in the mountains and forests is a 58cal Colonial.

She shoots Great! 280gr roundball and 45gr of any powder for paper shooting.
60gr for Woods-walks.

And 110gr of 3fff yields 1850fps for Elk hunting.

Found this set of big elk sheds this spring, laying just as they are pictured.

reddogge · Oct 22, 2024

I built this one around 1980 and knew little about anything. That's why it has a Germanic Siler lock on an SMR. But it is a deadly accurate .50 rifle. Hey, an old mountain gunsmith could have had a Germanic lock lying around.

A little later I built this .32 squirrel rifle with a walnut stock and a little better architecture.

ronaldrothb49 · Oct 22, 2024

reddogge said:
I built this one around 1980 and knew little about anything. That's why it has a Germanic Siler lock on an SMR. But it is a deadly accurate .50 rifle. Hey, an old mountain gunsmith could have had a Germanic lock lying around.
View attachment 357095

A little later I built this .32 squirrel rifle with a walnut stock and a little better architecture.

View attachment 357096

Look in Rifles of Colonial America Shumway shows several Southern rifles with Germanic locks.

mikesto44 · Oct 22, 2024

I have a short absolutely ugly 45 caliber plains style rifle. It is my swamp deer killing gun. Not sure if the deer die from shock of seeing such an ugly gun or the pb that hits them as they drop...lol

deermanok · Oct 22, 2024

No beauty queen but it shoots pretty good for me. I'll be out with it on Saturday, opening day of muzzleloader season in Oklahoma.

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