Deer hunting ?

[FlintlockJonny]

Hi, I have been flintlock hunting for deer for about 4 years now and love it! My wife got me a traditions deerhunter .50 cal for Christmas a few years back. I have recently upgraded to a used .50 cal Dixie Gun works Tennessee mountain rifle. I haven't shot it yet, just got it a few days ago and it's been bitter cold and windy in Carlisle Pa. The terrain I am hunting is widely varied to open woods/fields to very thick brush. Before I go to the range and freeze my fingers off, what type of load for this type of gun would you veteran mlers suggest? I do plan to do a good bit of shooting before Christmas. Cold or not. I was to get confident with my rifle before I take it afield.

 

[longcruise]

Just start with what worked well in the Deer Hunter and experiment around a bit.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

You'll probably end up with something like 80-90 gr of real BP.

 

[paulvallandigham]

When I tested my .50 caliber Poor Boy rifle, with its 39 inch barrel, I found it shot both 70 grains of 2Fg and 80 grains of 2 Fg to about the same size groups off a rest at 100 yds. 90 grains began to open the groups, but it also recoiled a lot more. So, I went with the 70 grain charge, of powder, and haven't looked back. BP hunting is all about accurate placement of your ONE Shot. The 178 grain lead ball I shoot will completely penetrate a deer's lungs and chest when shot broadside, with any load from 70 grains up, so I spend more time working on accurate placement and less time considering some "extra power". A round ball loses a lot of velocity out of the muzzle when it hits the air. " The fast it flies out of the muzzle, the quicker it slows down." You can expect 25% of your MV to be lost in the first 50 yds. You will see 40 % or more of your MV lost in the first 100 yds. The loss of velocity only improves over distance traveled when the velocity of the ball falls below the speed of sound, and then not by much. The Round Ball( any round ball including bird shot) simply has such a terrible Ballistics coefficient that you can't expect it to be a good long range projectile. My data shows that a .50 cal round ball shot in front of 70 grains of 2Fg will give a MV of 1550+ fps, depending in the brand of powder used. That is plenty of velocity to kill a deer inside 100 yds, and most deer are still shot at under 50 yds, if the truth be told. :hmm: :thumbsup:

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Your barrel is 15" longer than his.

 

[luieb45]

In our .50s we use anything from 70-80 gr. of 3fffg black powder.

 

[roundball]

.50 cal Flintlock

I've settled on the following
50grns Goex 3F for range practice.
90grns Goex 3F for deer hunting.

I suspect 2F would work just as well, but I prefer 3F as its faster and cleaner

 

[FlintlockJonny]

Thank you so much for your influence! I was told the previous owner used 65 gr. of 3f. with a prb. I will start there and let you all know of my results! Can't wait to fire it off on friday!

 

[jrmflintlock]

Good Luck and don't forget to post pictures of your Harvest!!

 

[FlintlockJonny]

I took to the range. from 50 yards....65 gr. 3f, prb w/spit lube (all i had, forgetfulness!) Shot one, got used to double set triggers. :idunno: shot two was right off the paper to the left. shots 3 and 4 are pictured. Shot 5 never happened, forget my bore butter and cleaning solution. plus it was a bit nippy and I was a bit unprepared!

 

[Thing]

Do you know what the twist is in that barrel

 

[FlintlockJonny]

I have been out quite a few more times and have settled with a 70 gr. 3f load. Got very consistent groups from 25 and 50 yards with a patched round ball. Thank you all for your help and I will post pics of my harvest this season!

Also, how exactly do you figure out the twist in your barrel?

 

[Skylinewatcher]

Aw, I wouldn't worry much about the twist. I would just tweak those pills and powder a bit more until I was satisfied. Might have to file some off the front sight if possible. Or you can just do what my pap always told me to do, in his own words "well, just aim the barrel where the ball is hitin, boy. You got to larn your rifle son!" Didn't make sense then, but it does now.