Survival Muzzleloader ! Your Pick ?

[rabjr]

I'd have to stick with my .12 smoothie, ball or shot will do or get me what ever I need.

 

[Bob Gular]

I was replying to the same post. I guess it all depends on how you choose to interpret "defend".

 

[jimmy82]

Depends on what I'm surviving and where.

Zombie attack - 9 pounder w/ grape shot

Rockies wilderness - .62 smoothie flint

Midwest wilderness - .50 rifle flint

East Coast wilderness - .40 or 45 flint and hope I don't meet a bear

 

[Grizzled Roberts]

That's a hard question! I am torn between my .54 flint rifle and my .65 caliber flint musket! It would probably be the one I had the most ball for
when the S%*T hit fan!
I have several .62 caliber short rifles which would also be great.

Like I said this is a hard question!

 

[Rancocas]

Let's imagine that we find ourselves in a survival situation. We are able to have only one longgun and it must be a traditional frontstuffer. Rifled or smoothbore. Any caliber or gauge. Flintlock or percussion. The choice is yours!

What longarm (exactly) would you choose to feed and defend yourself (if need be)?

My first thought was .62 flintlock smoothbore. However ...
In a real life or death survival situation most of my food gathering will be by the use of bow and arrows, traps, fish nets and trotlines, and gathering edible plants. I wouldn't be doing much shooting because I wouldn't want to give away my location, and I would want to conserve ammo.
So, my firearm would mostly be for self-defense. If it had to be a traditional muzzleloader then I think I would choose a .54 flintlock rifle. With such a weapon it is powerful enough for anything I might encounter in North America (except Old Griz), and I could pick-off enemies at 100 yards or more. Being flintlock, I could knap my own flints whereas I might not have a source for more percussion caps. I could also make my own blackpowder, although it would probably be of mediocre or even poor quality, it would work in a pinch.

 

[Dphar]

A 32 to 40 caliber is just fine for obtaining food, but part of the original question was self defense. Although no specific geographical area was referenced, I believe that anywhere and everywhere was included. That introduces large predators into the equation, bears, cats, wolves, etc. I believe these factors preclude economy of resources and tip the odds in favor of a large caliber smoothbore.
Just a couple sparks from this side of the fire.

I hunt and gather firewood in G bear occupied areas every year. We have large cats and wolves too. I have lived and hunted here since the 1970s and have yet to see Gbear outside Yellowstone NP.

But the chances of having problem with Gbear is there and must be considered but a ML capable of RELIABLY keeping a gbear from eating you is too large and uses far too much powder and lead for a "survival" situation. If you meet the gbear just after shooting something or when loaded to hunt rabbits you may well have a serious problem no matter the bore size.
So use a small gun and evade or better kill the g-bear with a deadfall trap and bait when he shows in your area. This will work for any predator, which you need to get rid of anyway to keep down the competition and keep them from eating your sheep/cows/horses/chickens/kids.
You have a problem with a pack of wolves you better have more than one shot or be able to climb a tree. Mtn lion? Head shot. People? You then need a group so you can run 24-7 security.

Short term survival you can use what ever you like but long term you must assume something less than a infinite supply of ammo and live by using your head not by how big the balls are. At 11 balls to the pound a Brown bess needs 100 pounds of lead to make 1200 rounds of ball, 50 caliber makes 3800, a 40 caliber about 7500.
100 rounds of ball is only about a 1.1 pounds for the 40, 2.6 pounds for the 50 and 8.5 pounds for the Bess. Chances are the amount of game, harvested per pound of lead will be about the same.
The 50 is an excellent choice and is one of my favorite calibers, but it uses twice the lead. So the 40 may be the best compromise. In the east a 32-36 would likely work OK.

One more thing, I am not going to live in the mountains. Can't grow enough food in the mtns where I live due to climate. Nobody lived there year round pre-columbian and no reason to try now.
This will reduce problems with large bears and lions just by location.

Dan

 

[tg]

I would opt for a .58 or .62 smoothbore with a supply of ball, buckshot and birdshot,and asumimg I would have all my 18th century gear available to me. Wedge tent, snapsack loaded with gear and haversack loaded, and a couple of blankets.

 

[cottonmouth]

I think Iwould stick with my .62 Leonard Day swivel breech with one smooth barrel and the other rifled. Shot or balls for whatever!

 

[LeMat1856]

Let's imagine that we find ourselves in a survival situation. We are able to have only one longgun and it must be a traditional frontstuffer. Rifled or smoothbore. Any caliber or gauge. Flintlock or percussion. The choice is yours!

What longarm (exactly) would you choose to feed and defend yourself (if need be)?

i love this line of thinking.. it's the very reason i got into blackpowder..."prepare for the worst and hope for the best." anyone not armed won't stand a chance.

actually, the choice is pretty easy for me since i only have one: .58 jp murray carbine

it's rifled, fires .570 prb or .577 conical, weighs only 9 lbs, and is just under 40" total length.. and, it has been successfully tested on both man and beast at 100 yds. (though not by me personally).. travel light and move fast will be the name of the game.

unfortunately, i'll probably be wiped out in the first round because i'm living in a city where modern weapons are the defacto choice of both the good and the bad guys.

~d~

 

[Dphar]

I would opt for a .58 or .62 smoothbore with a supply of ball, buckshot and birdshot,and asumimg I would have all my 18th century gear available to me. Wedge tent, snapsack loaded with gear and haversack loaded, and a couple of blankets.

In most cases I can kill anything with a 40 that you can kill with the 58-62 SB and just about as far. If the critters big I just shoot it in the head.
I just can't see shooting 20-24 to the pound at rabbits or squirrels and you WILL be shooting small game,though rabbits can be snared.
The smoothbore as a survival gun is grossly overrated. This is borne out buy the number of rifles on the colonial frontier where people really were surviving, rifles appear to be the norm by the 1750s. These were not 58-62 either, 50 and below was the the typical caliber from the accounts *of the period*.
The basic firearm question is "how long can you feed yourself on a pound of powder and a pound of lead?".

I have a 16 bore rifle I really like. But its not a survival gun. Ammo is just too heavy.

Dan

 

[longrifle78]

I'll agree with Dan, i'd take a .40 flint,easy on lead and powder and more accurate than a smooth bore.

 

[MSW]

i concur. if i can't get my 12 guage pump (with #4 buckshot, etc) then a .62 smooth flint.

 

I would probably use my original side by side percussion combo rifle .40 cal./shotgun 16ga. The concern would be keeping the caps dry , otherwise I would go with my smoothbore flinter in .28ga. :wink:

 

[hanshi]

If what I've been lead to believe (reading/listening/seeing) is true, .40+- was quite common in the latter 18th & early 19th centuries. I would also have no qualms using a .40 on most everything normally found in the east, myself. I have a .40 and love it.

 

If what I've been lead to believe (reading/listening/seeing) is true, .40+- was quite common in the latter 18th & early 19th centuries. I would also have no qualms using a .40 on most everything normally found in the east, myself. I have a .40 and love it.

A good little .40 cal flinter will knock down mule deer all day long here in the west.

 

[Mulebrain]

This question has hit this board many times. The overall conclusion has been this!

Flintlock, Smoothbore, .62 caliber, etc... Maybe not for everyone, but for the majority!

If need be, you can keep that flinter up and running while others are trying to find caps!

You can shoot ball, and shot! Large, and small game! Waterfowl and other birds can be had!

The versatility of the flintlock smooth bore is undeniable!

Yes I do have the described gun! :thumbsup:

 

[Tommy Bruce]

I'd opt for my .58 cal flintlock smoothrifle. I can still shoot bird/buckshot and roundball with the rear sight and cheek piece I get a little more accuracy than a military musket or fowler. One more advantage for a flinter is that if we are talking an extended period of time, one has a better chance of finding flint in the wilderness than percussion caps. If I were going with a rifle it would be a .45 flinter which is my next project for many of the reasons Dan mentioned in his previous posts as securing lead could be an issue for the larger bores as well as making shot.

 

[sutherland]

I'd go with the best quality and most accurate flintlock Pennsylvania longrifle of .50 caliber that I could afford. The .50 is potent enough for deer, antelope, black bear, caribou and similar-size game. Yet it won't destroy s rabbit or grouse if you're careful where you aim. As long as I keep my powder dry and have plenty of round balls and some flints, I can feed myself and have at least some defense against enemies, two-legged or four-legged.

 

[Dirk Perry]

either a .50 or .54 smoothrifle. i like the versatility and the economy.
barring that:
M-4 with a scope.
no more ammo?
then its a bow and arras
:v

 

[cowpoke1955]

I have to go with a .62 caliber smooth bore flinter for the same reasons Brain mentioned. Also, for self defense, the smooth bores are faster to reload against the two legged critters. My great grandfather use to tell me stories when I was a kid about the Indian Wars. He said they loved the smooth bore field pieces. He said when they were out on a campain and low on ammo, they would load up on smooth gravel from a stream bed, cut up barbed wire, broken glass, horse shoe nails and what ever they could put thier hands on. They would use these objects for close in shots. If you can shove it down the barrel, you can shoot it. Unfortunately, he was killed in 1961 by a drunk driver as he was walking to the store at the age of 101.