Looking for a Nice Muzzleloading pistol as a gift to my Father

[SmoothboreMurph]

Me and my Grandfather are big into ML hunting and we even use them all season as long as a firearm can be used in place of a bow. My father now wants to get into ML hunting with us. He used to use his T/C Renegade .50 cal but he wants a nice pistol to use in place of a rifle. A local gun store which my family frequents enough to make our wallets shiver in fear had a Pedersoli Bounty Hunter flintlock .50 caliber. My father liked its barrel length as he had looked at a Traditions Trapper and found it too short for him to see the sights well. I cant really find a lot of information online for this pistol besides 40 second firing videos and 2 posts here on the forum. Is this pistol good for hunting ? I'm sure most use Revolvers, but is this pistol decent ? If anyone can share some information or personal experiences with the Bounty hunter that would be great. Also if anyone wants to recommend a better handgun that would also be appreciated so that I can get a larger scope on things. My father doesn't care about caliber just as long as it is .40 caliber or larger and can hold a charge of 40 grains of powder for my state's hunting laws also the pistol needs to be a sidelock or a revolver. He is only using it on Whitetail Deer. Price and action (Flint or Percussion) doesn't matter to me either so suggest away if you have a better pistol in mind. Thanks all for your replies and help, Happy Holidays to all.

 

[FishDFly]

Send a note to Richard at Flint Locks Etc. to see what he has in stock.

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

I have several pistols and revolvers. But my absolute favorite one to go to and shoot is my TC Patriot in .45 cal percussion. The Traditions offering is kind of a knock-off of the Patriot. You’ll have to find one on the used market because they are no longer being produced. The sights are easily adjustable. I wouldn’t go over 35 gr of powder. If I remember, that’s what TC recommended in the instructions that came with the pistol.

Lots of people have listed concerns about the Patriot, especially cracking the stock. If you treat the pistol right, you shouldn’t have any problems. For twenty plus years, I’ve been very fortunate and have had zero problems with mine. I would never part with my Patriots.

 

[SmoothboreMurph]

I have several pistols and revolvers. But my absolute favorite one to go to and shoot is my TC Patriot in .45 cal percussion. The Traditions offering is kind of a knock-off of the Patriot. You’ll have to find one on the used market because they are no longer being produced. The sights are easily adjustable. I wouldn’t go over 35 gr of powder. If I remember, that’s what TC recommended in the instructions that came with the pistol.

Lots of people have listed concerns about the Patriot, especially cracking the stock. If you treat the pistol right, you shouldn’t have any problems. For twenty plus years, I’ve been very fortunate and have had zero problems with mine. I would never part with my Patriots.

That sounds like a nice pistol but for my state's hunting laws a pistol is required to hold at least a 40 grain powder charge. Will look into it though to see if it would a nice target gun.

 

[Bad Karma]

That sounds like a nice pistol but for my state's hunting laws a pistol is required to hold at least a 40 grain powder charge. Will look into it though to see if it would a nice target gun.

The Patriot can hold 40 grains. Most of the cracks in the stocks probably came from a bad loading technique…

 

[SmoothboreMurph]

The Patriot can hold 40 grains. Most of the cracks in the stocks probably came from a bad loading technique…

Yea I wouldn't doubt it can hold 5 more grains of powder I once went hunting with a guy who put 150 grains of Pyrodex into his 1856 Enfield Rifle and did it many times not knowing any better. The only problem I see with the Patriot is the barrel length it isn't much longer than the Traditions Trapper and my father had a hard time with seeing the sights proper. He is farsighted due to Presbyopia, in kings English he is old and his eyes are aging first. Thanks for the reply though I've been seeing some pretty good videos on the T/C Patriot and I have a friend of mine who has been looking for something to carry when bowhunting in Washington County Maryland where he has property to protect from Bears and he wants a ML pistol that is small and won't necessarily kill an animal like a bear but drive it off.

 

[Columbus]

Me and my Grandfather are big into ML hunting and we even use them all season as long as a firearm can be used in place of a bow. My father now wants to get into ML hunting with us. He used to use his T/C Renegade .50 cal but he wants a nice pistol to use in place of a rifle. A local gun store which my family frequents enough to make our wallets shiver in fear had a Pedersoli Bounty Hunter flintlock .50 caliber. My father liked its barrel length as he had looked at a Traditions Trapper and found it too short for him to see the sights well. I cant really find a lot of information online for this pistol besides 40 second firing videos and 2 posts here on the forum. Is this pistol good for hunting ? I'm sure most use Revolvers, but is this pistol decent ? If anyone can share some information or personal experiences with the Bounty hunter that would be great. Also if anyone wants to recommend a better handgun that would also be appreciated so that I can get a larger scope on things. My father doesn't care about caliber just as long as it is .40 caliber or larger and can hold a charge of 40 grains of powder for my state's hunting laws. He is only using it on Whitetail Deer. Price and action (Flint or Percussion) doesn't matter to me either so suggest away if you have a better pistol in mind. Thanks all for your replies and help, Happy Holidays to all.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/913865384
Pedersoli Bounty Hunter .50-Caliber Percussion Pistol - Black Powder Pistols & Muzzleloader Pistols at GunBroker.com : 919250089

 

[SmoothboreMurph]

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/913865384

Thanks for the link but the gunstore by me is selling the pistol for $395.00 in the flintlock configuration. At least they have some killer value in case my father wants to sell his if that is what I buy him.

 

[Columbus]

Thanks for the link but the gunstore by me is selling the pistol for $395.00 in the flintlock configuration. At least they have some killer value in case my father wants to sell his if that is what I buy him.

I was just sending the link - no comment on prices - most on GB are way above value.

 

[SmoothboreMurph]

I was just sending the link - no comment on prices - most on GB are way above value.

All the same it gives me an idea of what to expect if the one at store sells and I have to look elsewhere for one, I will save that gunbroker page in my back pocket as a wild card as Midway USA is selling them at $800 but they are Out of Stock no backorder.

 

[stikshooter]

All the same it gives me an idea of what to expect if the one at store sells and I have to look elsewhere for one, I will save that gunbroker page in my back pocket as a wild card as Midway USA is selling them at $800 but they are Out of Stock no backorder.

NO stock /back order is exactly why GB has them ,folks that want one buy and usually get bored and sell (profiting)

 

[SmoothboreMurph]

NO stock /back order is exactly why GB has them ,folks that want one buy and usually get bored and sell (profiting)

Yea I'm now experiencing that problem locally. Gun shops near me were always good even during the recent years debacle to keep Black powder, percussion caps and lead ammo/ patches in stock. Now no one has blackpowder or any synthetics, no more caps and no more patches and shotgun wads. I put up both my Brown Bess Musket and Carbine because they ate too much powder. Then I had to put up my H&A Underhammer because of a lack of caps. Right now me and my Grandfather have Pedersoli Mortimers that we have enough supply to use. Hopefully by late 2022 or early 2023 we can have some steady stocks of supplies.

 

[Roundball2319]

Good luck finding one that will work for your for your father. To future hunts together and amazing memories.

 

[SmoothboreMurph]

Good luck finding one that will work for your for your father. To future hunts together and amazing memories.

Yea I hope I find something he likes, he really liked that Bounty Hunter but he seemed like he desired more than what was before him. That is why I'm trying to see what other members have used to hunt with or have experience shooting or using so that I can see what other handguns might be a good match for him.

 

[MrMackc]

Me and my Grandfather are big into ML hunting and we even use them all season as long as a firearm can be used in place of a bow. My father now wants to get into ML hunting with us. He used to use his T/C Renegade .50 cal but he wants a nice pistol to use in place of a rifle. A local gun store which my family frequents enough to make our wallets shiver in fear had a Pedersoli Bounty Hunter flintlock .50 caliber. My father liked its barrel length as he had looked at a Traditions Trapper and found it too short for him to see the sights well. I cant really find a lot of information online for this pistol besides 40 second firing videos and 2 posts here on the forum. Is this pistol good for hunting ? I'm sure most use Revolvers, but is this pistol decent ? If anyone can share some information or personal experiences with the Bounty hunter that would be great. Also if anyone wants to recommend a better handgun that would also be appreciated so that I can get a larger scope on things. My father doesn't care about caliber just as long as it is .40 caliber or larger and can hold a charge of 40 grains of powder for my state's hunting laws also the pistol needs to be a sidelock or a revolver. He is only using it on Whitetail Deer. Price and action (Flint or Percussion) doesn't matter to me either so suggest away if you have a better pistol in mind. Thanks all for your replies and help, Happy Holidays to all.

Dadburn it, I was hopeing this was my grandson's post, but heck no it was someone else!.....

 

[SmoothboreMurph]

Dadburn it, I was hopeing this was my grandson's post, but heck no it was someone else!.....

My Christmas gift to my Grandfather was a Pedersoli Mortimer Flintlock .54 caliber Target version I gave it to him a week early so we could go hunting with them and at Christmas I will give him the 12 gauge barrel.

 

[Rawhide67]

I'm curious, lots of input on what pistol to get, what about the issue of shooting a deer with muzzleloading pistol. A colt Walker, maybe, but I don't think I would shoot a deer with my patriot, or either of my Lyman pistols, 50 and 54 cal. Too much respect for the animal and not interested in very likely wounding it and having it wander off to die a slow and miserable death. Just my 2 cents.

 

[FishDFly]

That is a much debated topic, 2 camps, for and against.

I am in the against group. Most pistols do not have the energy to get the job done. From watching folks shoot pistols, most cannot shoot pistols well enough to hunt deer. There are folks who say I killed one or more, but how many are lost each year?

Folks say the .45 is enough for deer, but they are using 70 grains in a rifle to get the job done.

Let the fight start.

 

[cynthialee]

Plenty of deer have been harvested with BP pistols. I have hunted with my CVA Hawken Pistol a few times. While I never got my shot I felt confident that so long as I stayed at 30 yards or closer that pistol would do the job in spades.

There have been posts in this forums hunting forum demonstrating clearly these pistols are up to the job. Shot placement is key like any other gun.

 

[SmoothboreMurph]

I'm curious, lots of input on what pistol to get, what about the issue of shooting a deer with muzzleloading pistol. A colt Walker, maybe, but I don't think I would shoot a deer with my patriot, or either of my Lyman pistols, 50 and 54 cal. Too much respect for the animal and not interested in very likely wounding it and having it wander off to die a slow and miserable death. Just my 2 cents.

My father has an older Montgomery Ward .50 caliber kit gun which is smoothbore percussion and he has taken 5 deer with it where they died moments after being hit if not when they were hit. He has an old Armi Sport Walker but it isn't functional anymore and we can't find parts he got 3 deer with that one.