Multi-purpose Flinter

[Vic Price]

Howdy folks....Seasons Greetings, no - Merry Christmas !

Anyway.....I've been shooting a .54 plains (percussion) rifle for about 20 years. I've always had an attraction to flintlocks and am planning for one, however - I'd like one for recreational shooting ( plinking and friendly matches ) and maybe hunt whitetails as well. I'm considering a "Southern Mountain" style of rifle. In WI one must have a rifled barrel of .40 caliber or larger to hunt deer. I can't hardly picture hunting deer with a .40, but.......

Can a nimble, well crafted flintlock in .45 cal (or so) serve this "dream" of mine ? I'm assuming flintlocks, for the most part - fire round balls only.

Regards, TraderVic

 

[rebuse]

Here's a link for ya to look at. And I'm sure others could lead you down the right path as well.

Track of the Wolf

Preacher

 

[Stumpkiller]

Multi-purpose Flinter

It's been my experience that the best multi-purpose flinter is the one you have. :haha:

When I owned a Bess, it was my multi-purpose flinter. Deer and targets with round ball, squirrels and rabbits with shot. Now, my multi-purpose flinter is a .54 longrifle, PRB for deer, targets, squirrel and rabbits; I just have to find them holding or wait for them to stop. :grin:

Limit yourself to one and that will be the best multi-purpose flintlock you've got.

Flintlocks can shoot anything a percussion can, but they do require blackpowder for the priming. It's just poor form to shoot conicals in them. :winking: The .45 should be a good choice for what you describe. I'd prefer a .50 or .54 for a primary deer rifle, but a .45 will serve if deer are secondary and be more ecomomical for other uses.

 

[No Deer]

Howdy folks....Seasons Greetings, no - Merry Christmas !

Anyway.....I've been shooting a .54 plains (percussion) rifle for about 20 years. I've always had an attraction to flintlocks and am planning for one, however - I'd like one for recreational shooting ( plinking and friendly matches ) and maybe hunt whitetails as well. I'm considering a "Southern Mountain" style of rifle. In WI one must have a rifled barrel of .40 caliber or larger to hunt deer. I can't hardly picture hunting deer with a .40, but.......

Can a nimble, well crafted flintlock in .45 cal (or so) serve this "dream" of mine ? I'm assuming flintlocks, for the most part - fire round balls only.

Regards, TraderVic

Why not think about a flintlock smoothbore? Very versatile, can shoot roundball for deer and other big game, and then can load shot for turkey and other birds and small game. Lighter to carry (in general) than a rifle, and just as accurate for game out to about 50 or so yards. Just my two cents worth.

 

[bamamarine]

If you're looking stricktly at rifles and there is any chance you might hunt in other states you might want to get a .50 cal, just so you know you'll be legal. And smoothies cover a very wide range if you're willing to shorten the range. My opinion, keeping the range short is not a problem east of the Mississippi.

 

[Chiefs50]

Well, I presently hunt with a Lyman percussion, Trade Rifle in .50 caliber and am well pleased with it. My true love however, and the gun I am saving my pennies for, is a fusil de chasse. To keep within my budget I will probably go with a parts kit from TOTW. Besides being, IMHO, one of the most graceful and elegant looking/handling flintlocks ever made this "fusee" is very versatile. Good for deer at reasonable ranges and, loaded with shot, good for rabbits, squirrels, grouse, etc. There, I've had my say.
mike

 

[Wart]

If you decide to go with a flinter - give yourself time to adjust to it. I've seen people that were percussion shooters that tried to go back and forth between flint and caps get frustrated with the flinter and give up.
Ok - now that you've decided to do this, please give some thought to a smoothbore as it is an all around good choice for small and large game.
Personally, I prefer a 20 guage, 62 cal. smoothbore, flinter - thats just me though. I shoot paper, woods walks, small game, turkey and deer. No, you can't expect a smoothbore to shoot as accurate as a rifle - if your expecting your shots to be 100 yards, by all means go with a rifle - NOT saying you can't hit something that far with a smoothbore but your pressing your luck for sure.
It may be due to the fact that bowhunting was my first passion - because of this, I learnt to wait until the animal was within range. This is just carried over in my smoothbore shooting.
Well, thats my two cents worth - hope it helps.

 

[Rocky Johnson]

TraderVic Yes a well crafted 45cal.flinter would be a good all round rifle. That 45 cal. pbr don't have a lot of engery left at 100 yrds.so shot placement would be important or keeping the range a bit closer. Are you going to build it yourself? :winking: Rocky

 

[Birddog6]

I think you are going to find that Southern rifle very muzzle heavy, unless you get one made with a short barrel like a 36" one......
I suggest you go with something in a halfstock as you have or a longrifle with a swamped barrel & FEEL how they shoulder & handle.
After buying & selling over 40 ML rifles over the past 30+ years, one day it hit me it really doesn't matter what they look like if they don't Feel right when ya shoot them. (duh.....) I was buying rifles based upon style & looks & history and it hit me one day none of that reall matters if they don't fit me well. I would own it a while, sell it, buy another one, etc. Good example is a Hawken rifle....... Now I just love the looks of a Hawken with some killer wood (even tho they weere plain rifles)...... but I don't like to shoulder or shoot a Hawken rifle.......

I suggest you to a place that has allot of rifles & FEEL a bunch of them & it will be a day or two well spent. Take a day & drive to a place (if ya have to), spend the night, next day try a bunch of the. Forget what they look like, Feel the rifle shoulder & swing & the muzzle weight & etc., that is the key.....

After years of searching I found that a Lancaster rifle like Isaac Haines with a swamped 38" barrel or a G.Jaeger are my favorite rifles to shoot because of the balance of the rifles. The weight didn't bother me of other rifles, it is the balance of them.....

As for a rifle being multi-purpose, I would not go under a 50 cal, you can load it up or down & still hunt deer & shoot target. Better to have 2-3-4-5-6 rifles & cover all aspects of hunting & target....... ha ha ha !! :thumbsup:

 

[Vic Price]

Hmmmm...........haven't ever really given any thought to a smoothbore. I'll have to study this some.......

Alot of good information and "food for thought" with all of your comments and opinions. Thanks for your time and it's a pleasure visiting with all of you folks !

Regards, TraderVic

 

[CrackStock]

For a target gun, I love my .40. It also does a great job on small game. I agree with you that the .40 is too small for deer.

My best all around game gun is a 20 gauge smoothbore. Not the best for the local shooting competitions as these are run by and for rifle shooters, but it does a job on squirrels, rabbits, turkeys and I am still trying to entice a deer to its muzzle!

CS

 

[jderrick]

I've got a .50 flinter. Is that too small to fire shot practically?

 

[Rebel]

If your .50 is a rifle and not a smoothbore, shot isn't going to work well at all out of it. The rifling will cause the shot to throw rotten patterns.

 

[ffffg]

i think youll like the .40 for squirrels and rabits and maybe compettition, but thats a big difference when it comes to deer. the best all arround caliber is 50 cal.. in the summer when not using a coat and just pleasure shooting the bigger calibres are noiser, harder hitting on both ends and not as pleasant to shoot,.. in the winter with a coat and looking thru the sights of a deer it will not even be noticed.. so your trying to get 20 pounds in a 10 pound bag.. if you like rifles get a rifle, if you want a smoooth bore get a smoothbore,, . a rifle will hit the kill zone on a deer at 100 yards, a smoothbore probably wont.. some can do it but the average shooter cannot.. get the .40 with swampped barrel, or octagon to round, quality gun,, and hunt with the 54 percusttion until you can replace it with a flintlock swamped .54, or 20 ga, or 16 ga. my two flintlocks are .16 ga chambers getz barreled mark silver and the .62 rifle in same gun.. they are 8 1/2 pound and 9 pound respectively and the .62 shoots 125 grains 2fg at 1500 fps.. a .40 cal should be about 7 pounds.. if it gets up toward 8 i wouldnt want it personally.. to get this light i think you may need to go octagon to round. which in 42-44 inch barrel at 6 1/2 to 7 pounds in .40 cal makes me start to drool.. anyway dont try to get that 20 lbs into the 10 lb bag, get one then the other, or go .50 cal.. my opinion only.. dave..

 

[CrackStock]

Vic,

The Links forum provides access to hunting regs all over.

http://dnr.wi.gov/org/es/enforcement/safety/muzzleqa.htm
http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/wildlife/regs/SGHunt05.pdf

I might look at the .50 as an all around single gun. But, I would likely get a .40 for target and small game and then get a 20 gauge for deer, skeet and small game. Then get the .50 for...

CS

 

[PvtC]

http://www.flintlocks.com/images/RK-7.jpg

A Chamber's smoothrifle in 28 or 24 gauge would be sweet. Graceful and has a rear sight. Shoots ball or shot. Make it a 20 gauge if ya wanna hunt turkeys with shot.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I have a 20 gauge, ( 62. cal) smoothbore American Fowler, with 30 inch barrel, left handed flint lock, that was made for me by Craig Witte, Fairmount, Il. I can shoot both round ball, and shot, and take both upland game, deer, wild boar, and turkey. I also have a 50 cal. flint rifle for deer and wild boar. Having taken a boar with it, I think it is better to shoot a gun that can handle a conical bullet for heavy skinned and boned animals like boar. Mine is a round ball gun. The American fowler uses the heavy buttplate of the German Jaeger, the half round half octagon barrel with wedding bands in the middle from the French fusil, an English style lock, and an thoroughly American shaped stock to make a fine gun. You can get the barrels longer, but I wanted something that I could swing on rising birds when shooting shot loads. My 30 inch barrel seems to work very well for that purpose. The gun has enough forward weight to hold well during off-hand shooting.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I have a 20 gauge, ( 62. cal) smoothbore American Fowler, with 30 inch barrel, left handed flint lock, that was made for me by Craig Witte, Fairmount, Il. I can shoot both round ball, and shot, and take both upland game, deer, wild boar, and turkey. I also have a 50 cal. flint rifle for deer and wild boar. Having taken a boar with it, I think it is better to shoot a gun that can handle a conical bullet for heavy skinned and boned animals like boar. Mine is a round ball gun. The American fowler uses the heavy buttplate of the German Jaeger, the half round half octagon barrel with wedding bands in the middle from the French fusil, an English style lock, and an thoroughly American shaped stock to make a fine gun. You can get the barrels longer, but I wanted something that I could swing on rising birds when shooting shot loads. My 30 inch barrel seems to work very well for that purpose. The gun has enough forward weight to hold well during off-hand shooting.