light cap n' ball gun

[Don]

Lookin to buy a cap n' ball gun suitable for carrying while fishing from a boat. Been lookin at sheriff models with the 5" barrels. Wouldn't mind havin a .31 cal for ease of carry but seems too enemic in case I really need to use it. Thinkin about a .36 cal. Little more power and maybe less weight than a .44. Any opinions guys?

Don

 

[Dale D]

I have a Navy Arms Sherrif's in .44 and I don't find it heavy at all.Plus it's fun as hel to shoot. Dale

 

[WV_Hillbilly]

The shorter barrelled .44cal guns work nice, and can handle home-made shot loads too, if you are in a snake-infested area.

A .44 is much more comforting to have if you are confronted by any larger critters or other vermin.

You're right about the .31, nice and light, but very low on the power level. The .36cal gun will weigh almost as much as the .44, but there are some nice short barrelled variations in .36cal. also.

Is there a local shop where you might be able to handle these various types of cap-n-ball guns? The size of grip and grip shape can make quite a difference in the gun's handling characteristics.

Shoot Safely
WV_Hillbilly

 

[[email protected]]

I think it illegal to have a gun in the boat ...in my state (WV) anyway...

***WV SCROUNGER ***

 

[Stumpkiller]

Well, seems obvious that the cap n ball for boats would be a Colt .36 Navy. ::

 

[dodgecity]

Of the ones I have, my favorite for carrying fishing, or just roaming around the woods and fields around home is my .36 cal steel frame 1862 Colt (Pietta) with 5 1/2 " barrel. Comfortable carry, and an extremely good shooter.

 

[Walker357]

Yep, can't carry one in a boat in Illinois. :nono:

 

[Deadeye]

That's a strange law. Do you have a lot of pirates in Ill. and WV. :crackup: That used to be a favored way of hunting squirrels in the south. Floating quietly down a stream and shooting them from the boat.

 

[Walker357]

If it is camaflauged(Spelling?) and anchored, it is a duck blind. Otherwise, the DNR considers it a private vehicle and you better not get caught with a loaded firearm. We have a lot of strange laws in this state, but it isn't worth losing my gun rights to argue. :curse:

 

[jim gray]

Don't you guys hunt ducks?

In PA you can't have a loaded gun in a boat with a motor or sail unless the motor is shut off (or the sail unfurled), and progress from the motor or sail is stopped.

A cap and ball revolver isn't considered loaded as long as the nipples are not capped.

Check out Cabela's for a wide range of C&B revolvers, particularly their short-barreled colt reproductions.

 

[Stumpkiller]

In PA you can't have a loaded gun in a boat with a motor or sail unless the motor is shut off (or the sail unfurled), and progress from the motor or sail is stopped.

NY considers a boat a "motorized vehicle" if the engine is running or the key is in the ignition (I believe). And drinking alcohol or shooting from one is illegal (as it should be).

And I think you meant the "sail furled". That's "rolled up" or "tied-down" in Landlubber. :: "Unfurled" is a deployed sail.

 

[WV_Hillbilly]

Since according to BATFE, muzzleloaders aren't considered as "firearms" but as "antiques"... I'm not sure how West Virginia really would handle that situation. And having a CCW permit might change things too. But I think State and Local jurisdictions can make laws and regulations that are tougher than the Federal ones. For example,look at Maryland's laws. OK, that's enough, don't look too long... you may get violently and copiously ill. :crackup:

Shoot Safely (AND legally!)
WV_Hillbilly

 

[Ohio Joe]

Of the ones I have, my favorite for carrying fishing, or just roaming around the woods and fields around home is my .36 cal steel frame 1862 Colt (Pietta) with 5 1/2 " barrel. Comfortable carry, and an extremely good shooter.

I like this same .36 also! I too have found it to be very comfortable to carry, and it is also accurate! :thumbsup:

I don't know about the boating laws here or anywhere else, but I have seen folks here in parts of Nebraska canoeing some waterways with muzzleloaders. I believe they were part of reenactment groups by the way they were dressed? Not to many places to canoe or boat in my area.

 

[jim gray]

And I think you meant the "sail furled". That's "rolled up" or "tied-down" in Landlubber. "Unfurled" is a deployed sail.

Oops, yep, that is supposed to be "furled".

I should've also said that this doesn't apply to licensed concealed carry when the license is specifically issued for protection.

 

[Stumpkiller]

We've had some pretty good discussions on this on a sailing list I belong to. If a vessel is documented it falls under Federal jurisdiction, and if it has a bed, galley and seperate head it is also a "second residence" in the tax codes, and could be argued as such as it has been so recognized by a Federal Agency.

I spend about 60 nights a year aboard our boat. If someone breaks in while I'm there and does anything but "drop" when I ask him nicely he's going to get a copper-jacketed angioplasty.

It's one of those cases, like a distress call from an unlicensed E.P.I.R.B., where if it becomes necessary I'll pay the fine as long as me and mine survive.

It was also suggested that if you need to deploy a gun you're not supposed to have, you might also be better off investing a spare anchor-chain in placing the second-place winner 700 ft deep in the lake or ocean and keeping your mouth shut.

 

[Keith]

It was also suggested that if you need to deploy a gun you're not supposed to have, you might also be better off investing a spare anchor-chain in placing the second-place winner 700 ft deep in the lake or ocean and keeping your mouth shut.

It is better to be tried by twelve than carried by six is an old saying that has some merit. Many people, Bernard Getz the subway gunman comes to mind, have successfully defended themselves in court after a shooting with an illeagal gun. A weapons conviction is often the result, but could be worse.

I understand what you are saying and why Charlie, but if someone did take that advice and get caught. I can gaurantee an otherwise clean shooting will be turned in to something else. The person will almost certainly be convicted of at least manslaughter if not murder 2nd. That sort of thing also gives the antis a great deal of ammunition. :m2c:

 

[jim gray]

Maybe you can just refer to the old maritime codes and consider said intruder to be a pirate.

 

[Stumpkiller]

You're right.

That was actually taken from a book by a well known cruising author and the case in point was a man who shot a machette carrying intruder after being hacked at a few times while in a small foreign country. The boat owned used a gun that was not declaired when he passed through customs (which is the only way you'd be able to keep one aboard). I forget the country, but the shooter spent several years in a very unpleasant penal system until our embassy could arrange his release and his advice was to row the body out and sink it with chain rather than rely on foreign justice. But he was guilty of smuggling firearms no matter how you slice it.

Of course I recommend doing whatever it takes to get yourself licensed for the laws of your local government.

I'm from a generation that was taught that when you're in trouble you find a policeman. Honesty is always the best policy, I truly believe that.

 

[mississippi]

Deadeye is right here in MS. you can hunt tree rats in a boat just remember tree rats don't float they go straight
to the bottom. have lost alot in the water

 

[Walker357]

Not absolutely positive about this, but the way I understand the law is that you can not have an uncased, loaded firearm in a private vehicle, boats included. Muzzleloaders are not considered firearms until they are charged and capped. It is a felony in Ill to discharge a firearm from a vehicle, moving or stopped. :no: