Hard conditions to shoot in....?

[ebiggs1]

Everybody goes on about shooting flintlocks in the rain, drizzle or snow as problems. :hmm:
But my thinking is wind is much worse to shoot in than those. We had 20 mph winds steady with gusts to 35 mph yesterday and it was nearly impossible to shoot or even load in that situation. A whole different approach needs to be taken. Of coarse, here in Kansas, when do we not have a pretty stout “breeze” blowing? Yesterday was brutal!
What say you? :grin:

 

[roundball]

Strong winds don't bother me hunting as I hunt thick woods...tree tops and whole trees are swaying but at ground level its hardly noticeable.

But 20+ mph at the range is tough for me to shoot offhand as my rifle and body are being pushed around, worse if its gusting/swirling

 

[courdebois]

When you find out post it,i just went out to retrieve a garbage can fore it blew across the field, lose a least one every winter,nice thing bout the wind,if a rabbit is running south i don,t have to lead him, running north i lead him bout 4 yds,when the north wind blows up here you can shoot around corners an the smoke is non existent.

 

[BrownBear]

Strong winds don't bother me hunting as I hunt thick woods...tree tops and whole trees are swaying but at ground level its hardly noticeable.

Sometimes the breeze drops to 20 around here, and once in a while it even quits raining. Your description sums it all up. When the breeze tops 20, game dives into deep cover and it's not an issue for loading.

Hunting small game out in the open has caused me to trade off my last cans of 4f though. The stuff is worthless if you can't keep it in the pan till you close the cover. If I was to carry a priming flask, it would have to be modified to dispense 3f, and 2f would be better, all theories aside about faster ignitions with 4f. ANY powder in the pan gives better ignition than no powder in the pan.

Wasn't it the band Kansas that sings a song called "Dust in the Wind?" I suspect they're flintlock shooters priming with 4f. :rotf:

 

[roundball]

If I was to carry a priming flask, it would have to be modified to dispense 3f

FYI, in case you haven't seen this item, the larger size pan primer has a larger diameter barrel that will dispense 3F.
(small one has the typical 3grn/4F dispenser)

 

[BrownBear]

That's good to know. Thanks! :hatsoff:

I had the smaller one, but gave it away when I traded off the 4f.

 

[wattlebuster]

I tried hunting this morning but the wind here is over 20 mph or real close to it. I did'nt even see a squirrel. I never have done any good in a high wind. Besides all of that I dont think it was meant for fat rednecks to be up in treestands in high winds :idunno:

 

[wattlebuster]

RB I have both of those an really like them. The big one I use when Im out shooting in the yard just messin around an the small one I carry with me hunting. I use fffg in both for prime cause I had too many moisture problems with ffffg :thumbsup:

 

[Robby]

Woke up clear headed and ready to test fire my just finished(well, almost) .62, Christian Springs type rifle. The wind was (is) terrible, but I had to give it a test run. All shots I could cover with my hand, just left of the bull, but with the wind, I didn't want to fool with the sights. All in all, great way to bring in the new year. Happy New Year to all of you! :hatsoff:
Robby

 

[Rifleman1776]

Flintlocking doesn't really get to the fun part until the temps are below 30 degrees, wind is above 30 mph and there is blowing sleet in your face and your hands are chapped so badly they are cracked and bleeding.
So, now....what was the question? :rotf:

Really, we do it because we are wired differently than the rest of the world.

 

[HuntAway]

Rifleman1776,

Those were the conditions I had today. Didn't have the cracked and bleeding hands but they were numb by the time I finished.

Going to do it again tomorrow too! :grin:

HA

 

[hanshi]

I hunt in the woods and that really does help. Still, I'll take cold, rain and snow over wind anytime. Give me 20 degrees and still over 40 degrees and any kind of wind.

 

[flintlock75]

Today it is -25 deg, no wind, hard to hold rbs when you cant feel your fingers, i have hunted at-20 deg but its not that fun. as for wind i have no problems loading and shooting, several years ago i was hunting in a wind storm 30+ mph winds with gusts to 45, the stand i was in was rocking and swaying, after 3 hours i had enough of that, went to ground and went done the trail 100 yards and jumped a fork bull moose at 20 yards, he was beded out of the wind, my bess worked just fine in that wind.

 

[smoothy]

Uhhhmmm...I chickened out today as we had a steady 30mph wind in Northern Illinois during a late winter deer season. One of my sons didn't go and I left my flint rifle at home and took his percussion rifle. So take me out back and shoot me. Just make sure you're using a flinter in 30mph wind. :surrender:

 

[Grizzled Roberts]

The wind is no problem until it gets up enough to blow the prime out of the pan. It is hard to shoot with no prime. Luckily this is rare around here.

 

[Stumpkiller]

That's when you find out why the outfit of a rifleman was frequently a wide brimmed hat and a caped frock. Stand with the wind at your back and loading is easier in wind or rain.

And, as Hanshi says, find a place in the trees to load. (I like hemlocks for wind and rain breaks - as do the deer often enough).

 

[M. De Land]

Would that be cross wired ?

 

[Rifleman1776]

I hunt in the woods and that really does help. Still, I'll take cold, rain and snow over wind anytime. Give me 20 degrees and still over 40 degrees and any kind of wind.

In reality, I don't take cold very well anymore. At about 30 degrees, even with slight wind, it can be difficult to stay warm. I have to dress like 30-below. However, I'll still go out in any weather except rain. Rain is super miserable, with or without a flintlock.

 

[ebiggs1]

It was kinda surreal because the flash from the pan was huge and up in the air in front of me. Kinda like those old time black powder photo flashes.

I have a weather station that I check and that was how I was determining the wind speed but............
I heard later that evening on the news we had gusts over 45 mph.

 

[hanshi]

Being a Southern boy I'm thin blooded and consider such conditions toxic to my health. I've only seen the conditions you describe in movies! I stand in awe of those who can tolerate such weather.