Is the Brown Bess good for hunting?

[Shot deer]

Is the Brown Bess good for hunting? I will probably be getting a Miruko when I get a Bess as I do not have one. I am going to try to reenact with it, but it would be nice if I could hunt with it. What are the biggest and smallest animals you would hunt with the Bess? Any recommendations, suggestions, advice etc is appreciated.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Check my hunting posts here regarding my short pedersoli Bess.
It's taken plenty over the years.

 

[Baxter]

Ah! Jess and the Bess. Lovely!

 

[Black Hand]

What are the biggest and smallest animals you would could hunt with the Bess?

Mouse to moose (with a Grizzly bear thrown in).

 

[Shot deer]

Mouse to moose (with a Grizzly bear thrown in).

Thank you Black Hand

 

[Black Hand]

It's all about shot placement and distance to target. With ball, I would concentrate on 25-35 yard shots and practice until you can consistently get them in an area the size of a paper plate (~8 inch diameter).

 

[Shot deer]

It's all about shot placement and distance to target. With ball, I would concentrate on 25-35 yard shots and practice until you can consistently get them in an area the size of a paper plate (~8 inch diameter).

I'm just wondering, what load would you use to get max accuracy at that distance?

 

[Black Hand]

I'm just wondering, what load would you use to get max accuracy at that distance?

Depends on your gun - Start with 70-80 grains of FFFG or FFG and work up/down from there to find the most consistent load. I use 75 grains FFFg in my 20 gauge smoothbore, with a 0.010 patch and 0.600 roundball. Accuracy will be a matter of practice and learning a consistent cheek-weld when shouldering your smoothbore.

 

[Shot deer]

I am currently looking to get a Brown Bess maybe in the spring or something, so that info is very informative. Thank you, and I'm open to any suggestions anytime on any subject.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Yes.

A little heavy for wing shooting but great for squirrel and rabbits with shot or deer with a round ball.

 

[BrownBear]

I had one with a standard long barrel and found it useless for wing shooting and fast moving small game. Just too heavy, long and awkward, and not at all fun to carry all day in the field. Never tried it with ball on deer.

Picked up an early Pedersoli with the "carbine" barrel much like Brit's, and all that changed. It's a delightful field gun, one of my favorites for ducks over decoys, ptarmigan and 100 MPH snowshoe hare in the brush. So much better than the usual, it's from a different planet.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Start with 70-80 grains of FFFG or FFG and work up/down from there to find the most consistent load. I use 75 grains FFFg in my 20 gauge smoothbore

Um..., I'd have to say, for that much bigger a bore than a 20 gauge...for the 11 gauge Bess (.75 caliber)... use 2Fg or even 1Fg. At least 80 grains, and a lot of folks use 90 grains with a .710 ball, and the same 90 grain volume measure setting to shoot birdshot. A lot of guys use a patch around the ball, but I like to fashion a paper cartridge that is just snug enough to easily go down the bore, and holds the ball, thus is even around the circumference of the ball and centers it.

The trick is that your Bess won't have a rear sight. So you need to work on consistent head placement for sighting. On the other hand I just use a ¾" Brass Angle Brace, from Home Depot or Lowes, held under the tang-bot as a basis for making an easily removed, rear sight. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-3-4-in-Satin-Brass-Corner-Braces-4-Pack-20374/203401987

Mostly we're talking 50 yards and under, but..., a lot of us with our rifles take deer at under 50 yards, so encountering a deer within the effective accurate range of the Bess is very possible.

LD

 

[Britsmoothy]

My carbine Bess shots an odd ball load surprisingly well.
It involves some .760" ball I happened on and I use a leather punch to shave enough lead so they load.

They shot good.
Three shots, two on top of each other. 30yds.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Mouse to moose (with a Grizzly bear thrown in).

Wow! Congrats.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Yes.

A little heavy for wing shooting but great for squirrel and rabbits with shot or deer with a round ball.

I once was invited on a quail hunt with my BB. Was only guy to kill a bird that day. Other hunters were using modern shotguns. Other than that mine has been used as a squirrel gun

 

[Black Hand]

Wow! Congrats.

I was giving the range of possibility, not indicating what I had hunted.

 

[Rat]

The Bess is a great hunting gun. Look left...at avatar. She'd deadly on grouse, and I have taken two turkeys.

There is about a 50 yard range limitation, or whatever range you can consistently kill the paper plate. With a good steady hold, I'd shoot out to 60 yards on a deer, bear, or elk that was standing still. I did use my Bess for big game when I first got it, but had to pass on a really nice bear, because it was at 90 yards and moving away, so I graduated to a Jeager rifle. However, although range is limited, power is not. You can knock anything over with a Brown Bess. (I have the Pedersoli carbine) I have old fashioned buckhorn rifle sights on mine, they look perfectly natural on the gun, and they make a BIG difference on accuracy, especially practical, in the field accuracy.

I still take my Bess out deer or bear hunting once in a while when I know I'll be in very thick woods, but never have shot big game with it.

I shoot a .690" ball with a denim patch, or "chew" that same ball and use a .028" patch. The "chewed" ball seems to be more accurate. Both are accurate with a heavy load. Large bore muskets shoot better with heavy loads. I believe that is true. Not saying they don't with light charges...just saying. My experience. Some of the Brown Bess service loads were as high as 150 grains of powder. I use 140 grains of 1fg for best accuracy, in my gun. It sounds extreme if you are used to, and versed in the smaller bores. But it's not. Not exactly a "tame" load, but not extreme. I do not find the recoil objectionable. I often hunt in a grizzly recovery area, and the Bess with a heavy load keeps me feeling warm and fuzzy and safe. !!!!

I love to carry the Bess carbine in the woods, it handles and points super-well, and is not a heavy gun. Considering the punch it packs, it is super light! I think mine weighs in at around 8&1/4 pounds, and that's well within my comfort zone for long-guns.

Embrace the Bess!

 

[Britsmoothy]

I have a stack of .690" ball and never did very well with them.
Maybe I should revisit them and denim and 150 grains of powder.
Woohoo that sounds like fun

 

[Stumpkiller]

I once was invited on a quail hunt with my BB. Was only guy to kill a bird that day. Other hunters were using modern shotguns. Other than that mine has been used as a squirrel gun

Never tried quail. I'm a ruffed grouse aficionado. My seven lb. 16 bore fowler (42" barrel) is WAY more the upland gun compared to my 10 lb Bess. At least in my hands.

My Bess was also built to Tower pattern by Kit Ravenshear but my fowler was built to fit me by Mike Brooks. HUGE difference in stock fit.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Funny, I've read where folks "chewed" ball by applying a farrier's rasp to them and rolling against a wooden board. Some folks thought the ball was like a golf ball in flight, BUT a golf ball has rotation, just not along an axis oriented to the flight path.

Another idea was to do something very similar to Britsmoothy…

It involves some .760" ball I happened on and I use a leather punch to shave enough lead so they load .

What they did is they "dimpled" or "chewed" large sized ball, such as .735...but when there were bits of raised lead on the surface of the ball..., they just fit within the bore (.75), but with very little friction as it was a very small amount of lead coming into contact with the barrel wall. They were just a tad snug, needing a little pressure, and these shot very well, it was reported.

Now .690 I've used in plastic shot cups in my 12 gauge, to make a "punkin' ball" load, PLUS....

We found when shooting Goex 2Fg in live rounds, that if the shooter (in Maryland with June humidity) was to shoot all 24 cartridges from his box..., the musket ball for the Bess had to be .675 - .678.

Now some caveats with that test..., it was five fellows. A mixture of Pedersoli and Jap Bess, all checked to be .75 bore. Five pounds of GOEX from a single lot of the powder. We found that with the .690 ball, two of the five shooters were able to finish the box, and all of the five had to start to load the last few rounds "bare", without any paper wrapped around them, due to fowling. Three of the five got roundballs stuck. (So we had to clear those to continue) The next size down offered for sale was .678...but a couple of the guys had gotten .675 instead when we checked them. So we shot both. All 24 rounds from all five muskets, were fired in volley, no problem. We did notice both times as we neared the end of the box..., accuracy improved. So.., I can't say that a .685 or .680 ball wouldn't work as well, since we didn't have any to test.

So I see that Track is offering .750 cast round ball...and I have a small section of the end of a Bess barrel, that I use along with a small piece of an octagonal rifle barrel, that I show tourists at historic sites when explaining muskets and rifles..., maybe I should get some .750 and swage the ball like Britsmoothie.

LD