blackpowder revolver

[Gote Rider]

If that pistol is loaded with 35 to 40grs.of pyrodex P with a .451 ball and a deer is shot thru the lungs are heart you will have meat in your freezer. Try to keep your shots 30yds and less and you will have no problem.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Not sure that you can get 35 or 40 grains of Pyrodex or anything else into one of those revolvers. And if you did it probably would shoot loose in a short time. I think using one of these guns for deer hunting would be most unethical even if you found a place where it was legal. The muzzle energy produced would be much less than that of a Walker, and the Walker produces well under 500 f.p.e. at the muzzle using a 55 grain charge of FFFg and a .454 ball.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

hunting with it would be a short-range proposition(20-30 yds max) but is feasible if you develop skill. a warm loading would be adequate for deer but as stated before much shooting of anything but practice loads will eventually cause trouble. best use that brass frame for a 'coup' gun or shooting paper/cans with around 22 grs powder. or less and filler over.

 

[mykeal]

If that pistol is loaded with 35 to 40grs.of pyrodex P with a .451 ball and a deer is shot thru the lungs are heart you will have meat in your freezer. Try to keep your shots 30yds and less and you will have no problem.

Nope. 35-40 grains in that brass frame is NOT recommended. First of all it will be at best marginally accurate even at 30 yards, and second, that load is likely to damage the brass frame.

Russ and Blizzard are right on.

 

[bob308]

i would get a steel frame remington in .44. then later you can get a conversion cyl. in .45 colt then that will drop a deer. i have shot groundhogs with mine.

 

[Gote Rider]

35 to 40grs. is what I hunt with. If you do alot of shooting with these loads they will cause the screws to work loose so you will have to keep a check on them.Practice with light loads hunt with heavy loads your gun will last longer. I have seen deer droped in their tracks with a 22 short and some shot with a 3006 that ran a 1\4 of a mile. Its not what you shoot its how you shoot. The .44 will drop deer and hogs if you do your part. Work up a good load and practice and you will have a great hunting season.

 

[Darkgael]

I have read a number of times - on this forum - that when we hunt with a PRB fired from a rifle, we are in modern magnum handgun territory energy-wise.
Where does that put a BP revolver?
Of course, shot placement is everything (the gun writer Ross Seyfried once stalked and took and elk with a single-shot rifle chambered for the .455 Webley - an anemic cartridge in the hands of a skilled shooter - though it was still something of a stunt) but, that being said...just because I can doesn't mean I should.
Just my .02.
Pete

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

i would get a steel frame remington in .44. then later you can get a conversion cyl. in .45 colt then that will drop a deer. i have shot groundhogs with mine.

But a drop-in cylinder in .45 Colt kind of takes you out of the realm of muzzleloading. Might as well go for it and use a scoped .30-06.
Hunting deer with this popgun is a bad idea even if you can force the ball down on 35 or 40 grains of powder. I just tried it with my Uberti Remington and 30 grains is about it. As Robert Ruark once said, "Use enough gun." A fowler or rifle is the way to go here. A brass framed Remington isn't. If you are really a good shot and don't have a nice little pea rifle, you could use it on rabbits. Get real close. Tin cans would be even more sporting. They don't crawl off and die a painful lingering death if you don't get a good hit.

 

[mykeal]

35 to 40grs. is what I hunt with. If you do alot of shooting with these loads they will cause the screws to work loose so you will have to keep a check on them.Practice with light loads hunt with heavy loads your gun will last longer. I have seen deer droped in their tracks with a 22 short and some shot with a 3006 that ran a 1\4 of a mile. Its not what you shoot its how you shoot. The .44 will drop deer and hogs if you do your part. Work up a good load and practice and you will have a great hunting season.

I find it very difficult to agree that 35-40 gr bp is an adequate load for deer. In my opinion, that is woefully inadequate, even if you are a superb shot and very experienced hunter. In fact, an experienced hunter knows that he isn't always right on target (that is, sometimes he doesn't 'do his part') and makes sure that in those 'rare' instances he has enough gun and ammo to make up for his inadequacies. Leaving a wounded animal to die is completely and totally unacceptable, the very thing that gives hunting a bad name. Take enough firepower to do the job just in case you're not always perfect.

 

[Darkgael]

Take enough firepower to do the job

Yep. Robert Ruark wrote a book about it - "Use Enough Gun".
After my post about RB energy above, I went and looked at energy figures in the Lyman BP manual. Yeah, yeah, I know that it's just paper stuff but it is also a place to start making decisions.
.44 and .45 cal revolver loads using a RB at 138 -143 grs. and pushed by 35-40 grs. of FFFg yield MEs of less than 300 ft/lbs. That's at the muzzle. RBs drop energy VERY quickly (for ex.:from a rifle, a .50 cal. PRB of 180grs. pushed by 90grs. of ffg will start off with over 1400ft./lbs ME. By the time it has gone 100 yds. it has lost almost 1000ft/lbs.of that.). Shot placement - of course, but why always be on the edge?
Another .02.
Pete
PS - In PA, where I am, the smallest ML pistol allowed for hunting is a .50.

 

Folks,

Sound advise and counsil, I'm glad I signed up. The Pistol or the revolver is a coup weapon only.The only other time I would use my .44 is if something with more and sharper teeth was threatening me.5 shots, alot of noise and smoke.And I use 30 gr. in the .44 no matter what seems to be doing ok.

James Taylor

 

[gooddw]

Blizzard:

Beg to differ. NC does not allow hunting with BP revolvers but does allow carrying a "coup" pistol as long as it is only .22 caliber. I had this explained to me by a game warden as he was writing me a ticket. I was target shooting in the game lands during off season. Stupid me, I thought it was it was for the public.

 

[Gote Rider]

nmubowyer I have seen where a video can be added to a topic for all to see.I will video some of my deer hunts this season with the load that I talked about for deer and hogs. I have killed lots of deer and hogs with these loads. Seeing is beliveing.I will show everything from the loading to the kill. You can expect to see deer dropping in their tracks to deer running no more than 40yds. I am not a tin can or paper shooter I am a hunter. And yes a cap and ball is legal to hunt with in GA. not during muzzleloading season but with regular gun season. Buy you some popcorn and a coke and be ready for a great show.

 

Cool :thumbsup:

James Taylor

 

[Rollover Jack]

Anything that will give the "coup-de-grace" (even a .22 rimfire if legal) will save you from a possible wrestling match with only your knife or gun-butt if you don't re-load before approaching. But to hunt "first shot" in my state requires what game biologists suggest -- a minimum of 500 foot-pounds delivered to the target. The further the target is, the bigger the loss in velocity -- I could bore you with Newton Physics -- Won't do it. A .50 handgun, 8-inch barrel, round ball, won't have 500 even at the muzzle. A conical might, just barely, but less at 25 yards. Not to say it hasn't been done, though. But now for a "coup-de-grace" it would be adequate. Also for smaller incidental targets. Maybe even close-up two-legged predators. Do I hear "dueling banjos" ringing in the distance?

"When you see the smoke on the wind, look for me."