Double Rifles, who's using them?

[Supercracker]

I'm FINALLY getting ready to make it to the woods this year for the first time and have decided to be serious about optimizing my Kodiak .50. Planning on spending this weekend working up a load more accurate than "minute of pig" at longbow ranges.

I'm curious how many others are wacky enough to carry around a rifle that heavy on a hunt?

 

I've got a CVA Express double rifle in .50 caliber that is unfired. Have had it for 4-5 years and have never had it out. Got it on a whim and it has been taking up space in a rack ever since. Probably ought to pass it on to someone who will use it.
Mark

 

[pchwcf50110]

i will be using the Kodiak .72 in two weeks for a managed deer hunt. i love that thing as it pounds game.

 

[tiger955]

I have been thinking about getting on of them for years, I don't want to buy a gun I won't use though. My single barrel rifles are heavy enough to carry around the hills around here, I'm afraid a double would stay home too much. I like the idea of 2 quick shots though, but then I would worry about the second ball being knocked loose from the powder charge with the recoil from the first shot.
In short... I have no advice

 

[Snow on the Roof]

I grew up reading Capstick, Ruark, O'Conner and Elmer Keith. I told everyone Ernest Hemingway was my Uncle. Spent most of my youth dreaming of muzzle to nose shots on lion and cape buffalo in darkest Africa. The only thing between me and "black death" was a big english double!! Ahh youth! :wink: Any man who wants to take on a blood thirsty "poor man's grizzly" with a .50 caliber double is all right by me...we're probably related somewhere along the line. :grin: Be sure to tell the story and post pics!


Snow

 

[oletymepreacher]

I have the Kodiak in .72. Where I live, this weapon is not legal for big game. But, I used it a few years ago to take a buffalo at 100 yards. I had to travel to Kansas to do this. It is not that heavy to carry, just needs to get used to. Rear sight is set to be on the x at 50 yards, and front sight is set to be on the x at 100 yards. Good luck on your hunt.

 

[RedFeather]

LOL, a common theme. I bought a .54 Kodiak about six years ago (THAT LONG, Yikes!!!) and still haven't gotten around to shooting it. Was a good deal, last half hour of a gun show, etc. Always wanted one. Just something about those big doubles. Glad I don't have $1000 tied up in it. I, too, should probably pass it along. Even so, I almost bit on a like new .50 Kodiak with sling for about $400. They're sexy. And usually illegal in most states during ML season. And those .50's are heavy, too. If you do get one, try to find the peep which goes on the tang. That would be really slick.

 

[saber]

I carry a swival breech I did fron Mr prices parts in 54 cal and am going to build another one this yr with a 54cal rifle barrel and a 54 smooth barrel the weight is not to much

 

[MercerLake]

:v I have a .72 Kodiak and have taken black bear with it a few years ago. Just came back from Alberta from a moose hunt, weather turned hot, moose quit coming to calls and holed-up. No moose!
I've always felt the gun was too heavy so I weighed it, about 10-11 lbs on the bathroom scales. I have single barrel rifles that feel lighter but weigh the same. I prefer to use mine on a stand rather than wandering over hill and dale. Hills seem to get higher every year or something! :v

 

[Billnpatti]

About a year ago, I bought a Kodiak Double .50 with the idea that it might make a good deer rifle. I have not yet taken it hunting because I am still trying to optimize a load for it. I have tried all sorts of conical slugs for it in hopes of finding a heavy bullet for hunting. Next on my agenda will be testing patched round balls and some of the R.E.A.L. bullets. It had a scope on it but until I can get a load which will place the bullets from both barrels the same place (or nearly so) on target, it is pretty useless and I have to use the two open sights (one for each barrel). I know I xcan get it to shooting the way I want it, I just have to spend the time at the range. Shucks, having to spend lots of time at the range shooting....gotta hate that :haha:

 

[Brent]

this is a picture of my old double with the "Right Barrel Buck". It is a Joseph Lang, 18 bore (.635 caliber) made in about 1830. It weighs about 8.5 lbs or so. No reason that a double rifle has to weigh a lot.

I sold this rifle this summer, but it was an excellent deer rifle and then some.

 

[Supercracker]

now that's a GORGEOUS rifle.

It's in my semi long term plans next year to restock and redo my kodiak. Right now the plan is to style it after a W Richards double 12 bore that was in DGJ a couple of issues ago. Definitely better stock wood, definitely lower express sights, probably new locks.

We'll see how it goes. Right now I'll just be happy if I can find a load that regulates to less than 4" at 50 yds. With luck I'll be able accomplish this with big conicals. Mine is a TVA kodiak that has 1:48 barrels. So It's kind of in between.

 

[Brent]

Yes, it was a very handsome rifle and then some. And it handled beautifully as well. But the most beautiful part of the whole thing was looking down those muzzles with a light and seeing the perfect rifling. You won't find many muzzleloaders that are even half that age that have one bore that nice, much less 2!

It was a grand rifle for me for a while, but it was time to move it along to the next custodian. I was lucky enough to shoot it for a few years and then turn it over at essentially no cost to me at all. And that is the final beauty of a classic rifle.

Brent

 

[Darkgael]

There was an article a couple of years ago in the DGJ - I'll look for it - written by a fellow who took a Pedersoli DR to Africa. He had altered the gun by adding a quarter rib on to the gun for a single sight and had developed a load that regulated well from the two bbls. It was, IIRC, quite a heavy load.
He took a Kudu with it.
Pete

 

[jernestc]

I recently got a .50 caliber swivelbreech flintlock. I plan to hunt with it once I figure out what loads it likes. It weighs in the 8 lb. range, about the same as my TC Renegade so I don't think I'll mind the weight.

 

[Supercracker]

Yeah, I've been thinking that mine could handle a whopper of a load if need be. It looks as though they use the same blank for all the calibers (other than .72). So the smaller calibers just have correspondingly thicker barrel walls. So the .50 has huge walls.

I would be very interested to see what kinds of loads its upper end would really be. :shocked2:

 

[Dphar]

I shot a deer before the rifle was finished.

Hunting with it this year as well but deer are pretty scarce on public land.

So far this year its been rock soup.

Dan

 

[gordy]

Always had a soft spot for the dbl. rifle . I think the reason they wern"t more popular is that most State Game Depts. didn"t allow them in the ML seasons . If I could afford the money I"d have one just to target shoot and admire. I have some singles that weigh in at nearly the same wgt. I prefer a heavy rifle . :thumbsup:

 

[pchwcf50110]

i'm surprised that people keep mentioning that their game dept. dosen't allow their use. my home state (MO) dosen't care, thank god. what do they think? that you are going to decimate the big game populations in you state? i had a .50 Kodiak many years ago. it would never regulate with any load. i tried for two years with every ball, bullet, and powder charge. the individual barrel groups were great, just a foot apart at 75 yards. i got rid of it as i wanted regulation. for whoever asked, the load in the unfired barrel dosen't move when firing the first barrel. i must have checked hundreds of times when shooting that rifle. my .58 and .72 regulate good enough to use one rear sight.

 

[ohio ramrod]

I have a swivel breech that is accurate and moderate in weight. It has acounted for several ground hogs and a few rabbits.(While deer hunting I would get tired of waiting for deer so before going in I would take down one of the rabbits that seemed to always be around. This was before the coyotes moved into our area.