How old is your hunting gun?

[30coupe]

TC Hawken is 33. I've had the .32 Frontier for about 3 years I guess.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I just wonder how long some of us have been using the same gun for hunting.

My .54 is about 12 years old as far as I can tell..., she was bought used but I don't think she was a year old when I bought her.
My SxS 20 gauge is 30 years old
My .45 caplock is 40 years old, and is my oldest black powder rifle.

LD

 

[Grimord]

My .32 squirrel gun is 176 years old, and my .36 rifle is 170 years old. Most of my contemporary BP guns range from 5-30 years old. The old guns are family hand me downs. I have been shooting them for the nostalgia. I couldn't bear just hanging them on the wall, they were made to be shot.

 

[CTShooter]

My hunting gun is about 15 years old, put it together from an old T/C kit I was given. Had no clue what I was doing, no directions.
Got me hooked on muzzleloading and has taught me a ton.

 

[robinsroost]

I built my .50 caliber Investarms Hawken in 1970, that makes it 48 years old. My Traditions Crockett and my .54 caliber GPR are both about 5 years old...………….robin

 

[longcruise]

My first gun, a tc hawken has been hunting for 43 years and a GPR is on it's 38th year.

 

[Juice Jaws]

I just wonder how long some of us have been using the same gun for hunting. I have a 544 cal. TC Renegade percusion that I have been using for deer hunting for about 25 yrs. Doesn't have the orginal barrel. I shoot the rifling out and sent it in to TC and all it cost me was shipping. It has a 1"-48 twist barrel and can use round ball and maxi-balls equally well. Maxi I use 90 grs. of 2f and round ball I use no more than 75 grs 2f. I have found that the accuracy stays the same without touching the sight for the change in powder charge balance out the different in bullet weight. I have taken with both round and maxi balls. This is my "get meat" gun. It has gotten everything from button bucks to does and up to a 14 pt buck that dressed 195 lbs. I have taken deer with my flintlock rifle and my Tulle musket--I even taken deer with 44 mag handguns and shotguns, but my RenegadeRifle is my hunting buddy I have to take along. Just not right unless I take at least one deer with it a season and this pass season it took 3--button buck, a doe and a nice 8 pt. :thumbsup: I refer to it as "Big Thunder" for you can hear roar when I shoot and usually everyone hears and knows it voice.

Heavy Eagle, how many shots did it take to shoot out your barrel?

 

[Jack Ryan]

My T/C Hawken 45 is about 40 years old or so. No clue how old the rest of mine are. They are all replicas.

 

[Stumpkiller]

My T/C Renegade is about 38 years old. My T/C New Englander maybe 25 years old (added the rifle barrel a couple years later). My Donelson flintlock rifle 14 years and my Brooks flintlock smoothbore a mere 6 years or so.

 

[okawbow]

My main deer rifle for the past 42 years, since I built it in 1976.
Many fine deer have fell to a .530 roundball from this little rifle.

 

[Nodrama43]

T/C Hawken is 43 years old. 1975 kit gun in 50 caliber. If I was allowed to keep just one that would be it. Lots of memories.

 

[Sparkitoff]

My first build was only 10 years ago. I still use it and so do my sons. I've had others previous to that but they found new homes for different reasons. There are a lot more in the rack now but none have been with me longer. Now there are a few "old" rifles. Two of them are each from about 1987, but they have only been with me since recently.

 

[Rat]

I have only had my flintlocks from about 2004, (bess) 2006 (Jeager), but I still have the Japanese Remington 1863 Contract Rifle that I got in about 1978. That poor rifle, in my youngness and dumbness, I first cut it down into sort of a "musketoon", then into a sort of half stock carbine with wood ram rod, (like those Navy Arms "Buffalo Hunters") tried a bunch of different tang sights which buggered up the wrist area really nice...!! It has always shot fine, and survived my "magnumtitus" phase, shooting 600+ grain slugs over 120 grains of black. My son used it this year during ML deer season, almost got a shot with it. It's light, handy and carries well, not a bad carbine really. Not sure how I will mess it up next....might shorten the barrel even more for a hiking/berry picking gun. Don't need it to hunt with, and recently picked up another replica 1863 Rem Contract rifle that is in good shape, except for the bore. That one I plan to have it bored out to .62" or so, for round ball. But no more chopping barrels and stocks, tang sights screwed into the wood, etc. !!!

 

[Khufu]

my first and still my favorite hunting rifle is a CVA Mountain Rifle kit gun I built in the mid 70s. got lucky with it, has nice curly maple wood, and a super good shooting barrel. I now have 3 mountain rifles, including a Douglas .54, but I seem to default to that first one to put meat on the table. I have now got a whole bunch of muzzleloaders, but somehow, they just are not the ONE. many are built with the best parts, and are fine rifles, and shoot great, but they are not the one.

 

[jackley]

My oldest is a English flint fowler, Made by Patrick for Duke William of Glouchester,Liverpool 1805 to 1810.
Then a E Allen and sons double percussion 12ga. that I've used for 47 yrs. 1840 to 1850ish.
A J.C. Grubb 16ga percussion I've had for 20 years.
A beautiful 16ga flint double
A 62 cal full stock Hawken flint I made 36 yrs ago. And some more from 36 yrs ago till yesterday.

Jerry

 

[Eric Krewson]

My primary deer rifle is my first build ugly duckling from a plank, it might be 10 years old. Actually the ugly is a good thing, I don't care if it gets banged up in the woods. It has a ton of scratches and dings from being lowered out of treestands but is a tight cloverleaf shooter at 50 and shoots less than 2" at 100.

Old ugly has too much wood in a lot of places but it is a loyal and faithful provider of deer for the freezer.

 

[hanshi]

I nailed my first critter (a bobcat) in the mid 1960s with a .45 H&A underhammer, and the last being a deer around 2006, a span of, oh, around 40 years (+ or -). Since then my go to has been a .45 late Lancaster flintlock. My smoothbore is now the "understudy".

 

[RHensley]

I built my 54 in 1985 and hunted with it until this year. I built a 45 last winter and hunted with it this year. both are kind of like the J P Beck and the landcaster rifles. I tried to up load a photo but couldn't. Both are 1/4 sawed hard maple with quite a bit of sttrip. both flinters. The 54 is a large siler and the 45 is the large siler deluxe. The 54 Is getting a little too heavy. Both have 42 in. barrels but the 45 has 7/8 and the 54 has a 1 in. At 69 the weight makes a difference.

 

[RHensley]

 

[RHensley]

I had this 1/2 photo of the 54. My computer skills are not very good. maybe both post will show the 54.