Flint Lock Hunting Rifle

[nchawkeye]

Swamped barrels are worth more than they cost...

Brass doesn't shine after you shoot the gun a few times and let it age naturally...It will age and inless you polish it, the shine will disappear...

If you are wanting a gun that is historically correct to your area previous to 1790 or so, brass is the correct metal for the furniture...Brass was easy to cast and work with, iron furniture came later in the period...

I'd look at getting the Chambers Haines rifle and doing the work yourself...Buy some good wood and let God decorate it...

 

[Tom Compton]

I am lucky enough to have more than one custom. There is not one that I wish had cheaper wood or a lesser quality component.

I have wished a couple were flintlock instead of per-suction tho.

I've never wished the .40s were .36 or .32 and never wished the .50s were .45. If you said you were trying to decide between .54 and .58 I'd recommend the .58 but you said either .50 or .54 so I recommend the .54 - - always choose the larger. While I believe the .50 to be the ML capability of a .30-06 and a .30-06 OK for elk, I have a .338 Win Mag for elk hunting when not using a .54.

Merry Christmas and enjoy the process.
TC

 

[86marine]

When it comes to West Virginia, Back then yinz were Virginia before the Civil War that is. So yes Early Virginia's and possibly some Bedford school rifles, I believe would have been the norm.

 

[smoothy]

I have a 54 caliber southern mountain style flintlock rifle in left hand that I use for hunting. It was my ideal rifle as I built it and the simplicity makes it easier to build. I used curly maple.
But if you already have a 36 caliber southern mountain style rifle you may want to have a little variety and try something else. If you are using a rest then maybe you aren't limited with a length. Maybe you would want a smoothbore, trade gun style. You can shoot small game, fowl, and deer with it. Look at the smoothbore posts and see if it interests you, if you haven't already.

 

[hoochiepapa]

Tom;
I speak from experience. If you plan to do ANY elk hunting at all, get a .54. I have seen too many elk lost with a .50, and not just from poor shooting. My dad had a .50 to start with, because he figured the recoil on a .54 would be too much.
(And this man hunted with a 7mm mag before going to the dark side)
He shot a bull at about 20 paces, we found bone and blood, lost the blood trail at dark, came back the next morning and spent most of the day looking but never found anymore blood or hair, or anything. And he was an excellent tracker.
A .54 has so much more ooomph and an elk is so hard to kill, especially if it knows it's being hunted. And, a .54 can be loaded down, but you can't load a .50 up to do the job. :thumbsup:

 

[mfwing82]

I like the 54 cal just because the barrel is a little lighter . every little bit helps this old guy

 

[doegirl]

My vote for a .62 cal. for deer and elk. Some may say to big, but after all its just a 20 guage slug.

I would rather have tarnised iron. But a good tarnished brass looks good too. JMHO. :grin:

Never have gone in for high flash, glizty guns.
again just one man's opinion.
The nice thing about brass, and I believe this was already mentioned, you can tarnish it out, and bring it back to high gloss at will.

 

[Rusty Spur 82]

I have never hunted Elk myself,not that I wouldn't like to if I had the chance but I do have a friend that moved out to Oregon about 20 years ago.He shoots his bear and elk with a 50 cal.that he built himself.Now here is a man who can put together any rifle that he has a mind to and he chose the 50 cal.His brother,who lives just on the other side of the Cascades,takes all of his elk,bear and black tail with a 50 cal.also.It's all about shot placement.You sure can't prove to those two guys that a 50 cal. is a handicap.Now that is my experience solely based on just two of my friends but you are getting some good advice from other true elk hunters as well.It just makes it a hard choice for you.I myself have four 50 cal.rifles but am now having a 54 cal. made by TVM. Why? Because I live in Ohio and we have 500 pound White Tail deer here.(wink)
I think you will be happy either way.Good luck and Happy New Year.

 

[hoochiepapa]

Rusty Spur :v
I didn't include that the bull was running past my dad having been spooked by other hunters.
And he was an excellent shot. :hatsoff:

 

[Herb]

Your dad didn't fail to drop that bull because he used only a .50 caliber, he shot him in the shoulder with a mild load that didn't break the bone. You said you found bone, meaning not a rib or neck shot. Since he is recoil sensitive, he probably used a mild load. Let's say 80 grains of 2F. Muzzle velocity and energy are 1694 fps and 1128 ft. lbs for a .50 caliber. An elk has large and very strong bones, and he didn't break any. If he has used a .54 with the same 80 grains, his velocity would have been 1442 fps (252 fps slower) and the energy 1062 ft lbs. Even less punch. The .530 .54 ball is less than a dime's thickness (a dime is .050 inch thick) larger than a .490 ball, and weighs only a pennyweight more. (225 grains compared to about 180 grains). A 1970 penny weighs 48 grains, but now (2005) they weigh only 38.5 grains. Your dad is a good shot and hit where he probably aimed at this running bull, it just was not a good place to shoot it.

My friend 1895 Man killed a big bull elk (see the Traditional ML Forum, 11/17/09, "Utah Trophy Bull Elk with a Bill Large .58 Hawken", posted by Herb). He called it in to 45 yards and had about one second to shoot it, hitting it in the shoulder with a 130 grain Goex 3F charge and a .570 roundball. This load broke the bone, and the bull died. Had he used a moderate load, it might not have broken that bone. If he had shot it through the ribs, a .45 roundball likely would have killed it.

 

[nkbj]

Fellows I think I want to have a hunting rifle built. It has to be left handed, it must be a FL. Those are my two main necessities.

I am wanting it for a hunting rifle only. Show is not important, however I would definitley like to have it built out of Walnut, and I want a good grade of wood. Maybe even a little more than good, but that would go hand in hand with price.

If you guys were putting together the perfect hunting FL rifle, how would you do it?? 50 or 54 caliber?? I want to shoot PRB's out to 100 or 125 yards.

Please don't leave out any details!! Any good builders where I could order one and expect to receive the rifle in 6 to 8 months?? All pictures also welcome. Also please help me on trigger choices.

Is the Southern Mountain Rifle a good pattern to mimic?? I bought a 36 caliber custom built SMR last year. And the noticable quality difference has me sold on a custom big game rifle. Thanks, Tom.

If this is a hunting rifle I'd have it distinctly suited to devastate with the one shot. Big enough ball, big enough powder. Then I'd decide on a design that suited my physical abilities, the terrain where I lived, the behavior of the quarry and expected circumstance. Lastly, I would consider "style". It would be pleasing to my concepts of beauty but style would not dictate function.

 

[Twice boom]

Wow! now that's one fine looking rifle.Kick arse I agree..
Twice.

 

[doegirl]

I suppose a .25 cal. would kill an elk if slipped through the ribs.

But ideal hunting shots vary rarely are afforded me.

More often then not they are shots that include heavy bone or quartering away. Or even the dreaded head on, were the heavy sternum might need to be penetrated. I have shot enough game to know that I always want to err toward the heavy side.

 

[hoochiepapa]

You are probably right about the shot placement, Herb, but he was not recoil sensitive if he hunted with a 7 mag before bp. At least he said he wasn't. I do know that the .54 I bought him after that episode, beat him up. He wasn't big-5'7".
I'm like Elmer Keith. Give me a large slow moving bullet and turn me loose. I love the .54 for elk, and I would probably wound elk with a .50 just because of my prejudice. :v

 

[tg]

".He shoots his bear and elk with a 50 cal.that he built himself.Now here is a man who can put together any rifle that he has a mind to and he chose the 50 cal.His brother,who lives just on the other side of the Cascades,takes all of his elk,bear and black tail with a 50 cal.also.It's all about shot placement.You sure can't prove to those two guys that a 50 cal. is a handicap."

Many of us outhere have hsed the .50 with good results the main factor is keeping the shots within a sensible range, I would not feel undergunned with a .50 for Elk on the west side, it has worked for me in the past, the cover is pretty thick and if you work on then the shots are usually under 50 yds unless you spot the clearcuts from 250-300 yds then the cal. of a ML is moot, back when the ML Elk seasons were born a .50 was a big ML and most learned how to use then effectively, for less experienced hunters I would suggest a larger bore just for the confidence factor, I do not hunt Elk any more but may put in for a tag someday and try the .58 Fusil.I really do not think the Southern MY and such cresent butted guns are good choices in the boresof .50 or larger if one wants to work up a strong load,there are a lot of nice looking guns with wider/flat buttplates which will make the shole experience a lot more comfortable.

 

[rusty]

I think if you put a ball be it .50,.54 or .58 in the ribs aka. the lungs of any elk,you will make meeat

 

[Herb]

Doegirl, That is a good point. Welcome. My main point was that it takes a lot of power to break elk bones and it is better not to hit them, making rib shots instead. You would like the flintlock load I used on my last elk hunt. A .58 caliber fullstock Hawken I built with 140 grains of Goex 2F and a .570 roundball, at 1816 fps. Only thing is, I did not find a spike bull for my license...

 

[tg]

"More often then not they are shots that include heavy bone or quartering away. Or even the dreaded head on, were the heavy sternum might need to be penetrated." I cannnot count these type of shots presented over the last 40 years, they are the "let'em walk shots for me" if it is not right I think it is best to pass even the .62 may not compenste for a possible bad angle, just MHO

 

[longbow1]

tg, that is a true assesment if the shot looks so bad for a .50 then in most cases it will be bad for the larger cal. I guess I have killed my share of colorado mulies and elk with a .50 But I have passed up more shots than kills for that reason it wasn't worth the chance. Wounding an animal and not finding him is a nightmare for me . :hatsoff: to you sir and good for you

 

[doegirl]

Because I am sustanance hunter, and I know my gun and what It will do, I may take shots that others will not, over all the years I have been hunting I can count on one hand and still have fingers left over, of deer I have not recovered.