hunting deer with new englander

[TrevorAaron]

has any one ever had trouble with there cap not going off after a morning hunt? my gun has never misfired and i have shot it alot. i heard that moisture can get into your cap then it wouldnt go off.. would there be any way 2 make sure that the cap would go off? has any one else had any trouble with this?

thanks aaron

 

[buttonbuck]

I did once when I used remington caps the green charge of it fell out of the copper cap I fired at a doe and said what the ---- looked on top of my boot and saw a green colored charge. I recapped and saw no more deer that day.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Not so far. But then I am meticulous to clear the channel and remove any oil prior to loading. I also keep the lock area covered with a waxed "cow's knee" leather cover until needed in any wet or damp (or snowy) weather.

Love my New Englander. It's a handy little deer rifle (and a great shotgun, too).

 

[tg]

The most likely cause of a cap not going off is the cap not being seasted all the way, i would take a look at that possibility, you can work down the nipple a bit if needed to let the cap all the way down. A small piece of surgical tubing makes a good seal between cap and nipple,just make it long enough to cover the cap and go over the nipple do not let it go to high on the cap or it will interfere with the hammer when it falls

 

[Goshawk]

Nice pictures. It looks like a Handy Little Gun.

.690RB

 

[Stumpkiller]

It really is. As I said on another thread I assembled it from a kit in 1988 and it's just that "mousey little girl" that steals your heart among the beauties. I haven't used my slug shotgun for regular season deer hunting since 2003 and that is my rainy day rifle when I don't want to take my Lehigh flintlock out.

This is three at 50 yards offhand with my hunting load of a .490" PRB & 85 gr FFg.

Stick around and you'll likely see this image again and again. Unfortunately it's rare enough for me that I like showing it off. :haha:

The N.E. is also a gas with the smoothbore barrel for grouse and bunnies. I had CoyoteJoe jug choke her to 55% and it has guaranteed that more often I do a little more than just scare them now.

{PS - for many years between 1988 and 2003 I used Maxi-Hunters in her during the regular season as I could not get a round ball load to shoot well. But I never posted about it on a traditional hunting website, either. :wink: Now I'm older and wiser and spent a lot of work getting a round ball load worked up. Went so far as to work up my own lube. My Renegade shoots anything - not so this New Englander.}

 

[BrownBear]

Cows knee here too, for wet weather. And we've got lots of that (120" a year). The only cap failures I'm aware of came to my hunting pard when he had a good sweat on while hanging his capper from a thong around his neck.... inside his raingear. No rain problems there, but sweat did the evil.

Not a New Englander in my rack, but I'll jump on the same bandwagon with Lyman's "version," their Deerstalker. Got my wife one in 54 caliber, and it's unbelievably handy, fast swinging and accurate. It's about like Stumpie's Renegade, in that it thrives on almost anything you shove down the bore.

Gotta love those little rifles for quick shooting, especially when they're also plenty accurate for slow, deliberate shooting!

 

[nw_hunter]

If I could shoot three like that off hand at (25) yards, my head would be so big, I couldn't get my hat on.... :grin:

 

[dbutch]

I love your tacky driver!!!!!

 

[smoothy]

My ritual for a muzzleloader is to set it in the garage the night before the hunt to let it reach near outdoor temperature. With a percussion cap I would snap a cap off pointing at a leaf or piece of paper to make sure the nipple was clear. With the barrel at near outdoor temperature there is hopefully negligible moisture accumulation when pouring the powder down the barrel the next morning.
Some states, like mine, considers the gun unloaded by removing the priming powder/hammer forward/frizzen open or removing the cap on percussion gun. I won't take a gun into the house this way since moisture can accumulate if the temperature diffential outdoor to indoor is significant.