New 44 cal flint, need help.

[dfulmer]

I have owned and shot several 50's & 54's over the years but this is my first 44 cal. I recently picked up a "KENTUCKIAN" Jaeger rifle in 44 cal. marked made in Italy. I have not slugged the bore yet but my question is simple. What do you recommend for a powder, patch and ball combo for both target and for white tail hunting? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Dan

 

[tg]

I used to have a pair of Kentuckian longrifles (35" barrels if I recall) one in flint one in cap, they both did well with a .440 ball and .015 patch with .50 gr or less of 3f these guns had pretty shallow rifleing and did better with lighter loads, the lock on the flinter had poor geometry and metalurgy and needed a lot of tweaking, they were very slim well put together for import guns.I think at one time some of the makers called their guns by the size of ball they shot rather than the bore size back in the 70's

 

[dfulmer]

Thanks for the info. The barrel is indeed 35 inches and the rifling does appear to be shallow. By tweaking, Do you simply mean the usual things like flint angle and clearance, touch hole opening, hardening the frizzen, etc? Or are there other tips you can suggest?

 

[tg]

You pretty much hit all the things I had to do with the flintlock, but it may have just been a lemon, others may work fine, those are very nice sleek little guns, hope yours works well for you, keep us posted.

 

[Jarikeen]

If that barrel, made in Italy, is from the Dikar stable (as were the early CVA's) then it should be a fine shooter, even with shallow rifling. I have an aquaintance who has one, and he said it was a better barrel than what was on his Lyman.

If it truly is a .44cal barrel, you might find a .440 RB with a 9-10 thou calico patch might work just fine. I've owned a CVA Kentucky in .45. As my target load (even out to 100 yard gong) 25gr 3F was very accurate, and 40g wasn't bad either. At 45-55gr accuracy suffered, and I wasn't really interested in going higher than that - but it may have shot better at 60gr.

Could you post a picture prehaps, as I curious to see a Kentuckian Jaeger.

 

[dfulmer]

Here is a link to a percussion version of the same gun. This is not my gun but it is identical other than the percussion lock.
[url] http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=78507442[/url]

 

[dfulmer]

One other question, Has any one had any experience with the 44 cal PRB not being enough gun for hunting deer?

 

[paulvallandigham]

use a .430 ball, if its a true .440 barrel, and a .012-.015" patch, in front of 60 grains of FFFg powder, for hunting. That should give you more than 1800 fps in velocity, and should be good for deer out to about 75 yds. Keep your shots under 50 yds to be sure. Remember, that the weight of the ball is much more important for penetration, than velocity, which is shed quickly, because the Round Ball has such a poor Ballistic's Coefficient. Use this rifle within its range limitations, and you should be okay.

For target shooting. start with 45 grains, and go up and down by 5 grains to see what is the most accurate. Your max charge for that barrel will be between 60 and 65 grains. You can put more in, and it may shoot faster, but your recoil forces will climb, and between that, and burning powder in front of the muzzle, accuracy usually suffers. The real problem is that so much of that extra velocity is going to be shed in the first 20 yards, or so. Lots of deer are killed each year with well placed shots out of .44 and .40 caliber rifles, at reasonable ranges.

 

[tg]

'"One other question, Has any one had any experience with the 44 cal PRB not being enough gun for hunting deer?"

I have taken a few deer with that size ball, the only problem I had was with one that I missed, I would not try for 100 yds shots, 60-75 are more realistic, particularly if a lighter load is needed for accuracy.

 

[roundball]

One other question, Has any one had any experience with the 44 cal PRB not being enough gun for hunting deer?

Essentially a .44 is like a .45 and they're fine for deer...but...neither of them are .54s or .58s so I'd personally think long and hard about a shot beyond about 75yds.

My longest with a full power .440 in a TC .45cal x 1:66" RB barrel was 60 yards...hit a rib going in, went through the heart and stopped bulging the hide on the far side...and that was just 60 steps...and frankly with "woods steps" being what they are the actual yargage may have only been 55 yards...energy falls off quickly with a smaller lighter ball and IMO, beyond 75yds it is getting risky with a .45cal (.44cal).

In shallow groove TC standard barrels, a .440 and .015" precut/prelubed patches start very easily and I use them for plinking with target loads...just shot 50 of them yesterday.
An .018" pillow ticking patch makes for a tighter patch/ball combo which usually improves accuracy...personal experience is that .010" patches were way too thin.

And don't over look the benefits of using something like Oxyoke prelubed wool wads over the powder...acts like a firewall to protect the patch, seals gases better / more consistently, normally tightens groups, puts more lube in the bore, and reduces fouling...I use them with full power deer rifle loads for those reasons.

My advice would be to mind your distance, wait for a clear shot to the heart of a standing deer, use max/near max hunting load powder charges, and the .44 will get it done as well as a .45.

90grns Goes 3F
Oxyoke wonderwad
.018" lubed pillow ticking
Hornady .440

 

[dfulmer]

Thank for all the info guys. Especially to Roundball. I appreciate the help and if you have any other thoughts please keep them coming.

 

[juancho]

If it is of any hepl, my .45 will clear right thru a 4x4 post at 100 yds with 60 grains every time.I understund that we are not going hunting for wood, :rotf: , but worse case scenario, even going thru a leg on its way to a lung/heart, I doubt a dear is as hard as a 4x4 post.It does not matter that it doesn't exit, it matters that it hits the right spot .Perfect shot placement means little or no tracking,and not how deep it goes into the tree behind the dear.