I'm looking at my options right now for building a flintlock pistol that will be capable of cleanly taking a deer within 25 yards. Here's my question , my caibers range from .66cal to .50cal, the .66 being a heavy dragoon from TRS with a 12" barrel my other choice is a colonial style pistol from york county firelocks, it comes in .50 and .54 with a 10" barrel, now this pistol I can put sights on and not feel too bad about it and it comes rifled, it is oviously a later style pistol. I like the dragoon more as a build and for histories sake. Now down to the caliber, since these are pistols you are limited to how much powder you can use, and from what I'm gathering the bigger .60cal bored pistols lack penetration due to low velocity. Now with a .50cal I can obtain higher velocities than even the .54 but of course the .54 has more mass. I'm now leaning towards the .54cal firelock pistol because I know I can make it accurate and use sights. What do you guys think about caliber selection for deer hunting.
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flintlock deer pistol
- Thread starter texcl
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I've wondered about this myself. In my state I would have to go with a minimum of 54 caliber if I want to shoot roundball from a pistol. I would want at least a 12" barrel, preferably longer. That's just personal preference however.
More than enough to take whitetail deer at the ranges you're talking about.
I'd be interested in knowing what you decide and how it works out -
:hatsoff:
Spot
More than enough to take whitetail deer at the ranges you're talking about.
I'd be interested in knowing what you decide and how it works out -
:hatsoff:
Spot
hoochiepapa
75 Cal.
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Sounds interesting! I used to hunt deer here with cf handguns, and would like to witness your progression. :hatsoff:
IMO, based purely upon "caliber" in a short barreled pistol, I'd go with the .62cal because even at slower velpocity it would still have strong penetration.
But, then the comment that you'd have rifling & sights on the .54cal would make me pick that because IMO, the .54 with sights would trump the .62cal without sights...hitting a precise POA in low light under hunting conditions with a ML pistol will be challenge enough even with sights.
But if everything else was equal, I personally would go with the heavy dragoon with the larger .62cal ball.
But, then the comment that you'd have rifling & sights on the .54cal would make me pick that because IMO, the .54 with sights would trump the .62cal without sights...hitting a precise POA in low light under hunting conditions with a ML pistol will be challenge enough even with sights.
But if everything else was equal, I personally would go with the heavy dragoon with the larger .62cal ball.
Spot, chambers makes one with a 13" barrel in the ketucky style. I want one that has a nice colonial look, I could put sights on the dragoon but that would not be correct at all. The nazareth pistol that york county makes looks right with sights, though sights on a pistol back then was super uncommon.
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Based on over 20 years of shooting deer numbering well over 100 with handguns, I think you're on the right track in making the sights a first consideration--- even for 25 yard shooting. The nutshell for my experience is that where you hit them is more important than what you hit them with.
Choosing calibers?
I'm down to prejudice rather than experience with muzzleloading handguns, but my pick would be a 54 or 58 caliber just cuzz I like them. My single experience shooting 62 caliber was a caplock howdah, and a stiff load in that was a whole different beast than the 54 I shot, also with stiff loads. Split the difference at 58, and I think the recoil would still be up there, but more manageable than a 62.
Choosing calibers?
I'm down to prejudice rather than experience with muzzleloading handguns, but my pick would be a 54 or 58 caliber just cuzz I like them. My single experience shooting 62 caliber was a caplock howdah, and a stiff load in that was a whole different beast than the 54 I shot, also with stiff loads. Split the difference at 58, and I think the recoil would still be up there, but more manageable than a 62.
Rhett Griffith
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I would personally always want sights and rifling for this kind of work. I have taken a dozen deer with CF handguns and took my first deer with a BP revolver this year. I used a Uberti copy of a Colt 2nd model Dragoon, which pushed a .454 ball (141 grains) at 1100 fps using 45 grains of FFFg. This load penetrated completely through the deer from 10 yards and the deer went about 20 yards before expiring. This is a pretty anemic load in the grand scheme of things, comparable to a .38 Special load. As a result, I think good sights are important to ensure that you can put the ball where it will to the most good.
I would think that either a .50 or a .54 should be capable of generating a good deal more power than this. You should be able to use at least as much powder in a single shot pistol and have no cylinder gap to bleed off pressure.
I would think that either a .50 or a .54 should be capable of generating a good deal more power than this. You should be able to use at least as much powder in a single shot pistol and have no cylinder gap to bleed off pressure.
