The .62 rifle took a 2022 deer
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I started Getting a 62 rifle a Bob Hoyt rebore to 1 in 66 on a renegade barrel. I was getting 4” groups at 100 think I could maybe do better make it my main sidelock. Great caliber. With the bones I brown them first then insta pot them.
Thank you. This was its 2.5th deer. It began hunting last year and was successful right out of the gate. It’s taking me time to figure out distance shots, like 95-110 yards.
I appreciate everyone’s kind support for taking a young deer
I have two Plains rifles in .62 and two smoothbores. My favorite guns they just hit hard. And with that big ball and knowing your hold over I generally shoot 60 grains of 3F. Haven’t recovered a ball yet.
So does PA not require flintlocks anymore? Or is that an early vs late season thing?
So does PA not require flintlocks anymore? Or is that an early vs late season thing?
PA allows caplocks and even inlines with optics in the early, antlerless-only season. The after-Christmas is still flintlock-only, but you can use bullets and peep sights. Used to be round ball and open sights only.
As Dave says above, we have two black powder seasons because it's Pennsylvania and what would hunting here be if not complicated as heck so that we all have plenty to argue about endlessly and forever...?! Flintlocks, percussion, inlines, and now breech-loaded charge guns (bullet goes down the muzzle) are all kosher for the early one-week season. After-Christmas season is flintlock only. I know, it is messy. A hunter here needs a lawyer in his pocket. And every little eensy weensy change comes incrementally and with great foaming of mouth and gnashing of teeth and wailing of voice and beating of breast...because it is PA and we move incrementally slowly here. Like the Ice Ages here were an inspiration to our decision makers. For example, our doe tag process is an UNREAL super complicated process of application with two postal stamp bright pink envelopes that anti hunting postal employees just looooove to throw out. Lots to improve here...and yet...a great cry has gone up about breaking tradition. As if loyalty to a broken paper process is meritorious in a day of near-instantaneous electronic lottery.
I could go on, but yeah, your .62 is an awesome weapon. Awesome, truly.
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Glad to see that the "rifle of your dreams" is a good shooter. Nice shooting!
congrats,
your dinner guests will be none the wiser........and will not complain.
great kill with a good weapon.........good food for the soul.
be well.
camo
your dinner guests will be none the wiser........and will not complain.
great kill with a good weapon.........good food for the soul.
be well.
camo
That was a really good hunting story, @pamtnman ! A very good read.
What a shot, too! A deer's neck is a mighty small target, and I'd say you hit it dead center.
It sounds as if the family who received the meat knew what they were getting and appreciated it very much. That was the right thing to do.
I remember reading about that rifle when you were researching it and after it was finished. If I remember correctly, the original was a Folsom trade rifle with a Henry (breechloader) rear sight, originally owned by Baptiste "Little Bat" Garnier. A very interesting historic rifle, owned by a remarkable scout. The rifle is a beauty, in form and function.
If the lock needs attention, I would agree with sending or taking it to Brad Emig, right there in Pennsylvania. He tuned up two flint locks for me, one L&R and one Pedersoli, and the difference in performance after he "doctored" them was like night and day. I called him a couple of days ago about a lock on an original pistol. He spent a little time on the phone explaining what he could do, and how he would approach the job. It was a very educational conversation, for me. He used to only work on flint locks, but will now consider cap locks, which is good. The man knows locks!
This is a good thread.
Best regards,
Notchy Bob
What a shot, too! A deer's neck is a mighty small target, and I'd say you hit it dead center.
It sounds as if the family who received the meat knew what they were getting and appreciated it very much. That was the right thing to do.
I remember reading about that rifle when you were researching it and after it was finished. If I remember correctly, the original was a Folsom trade rifle with a Henry (breechloader) rear sight, originally owned by Baptiste "Little Bat" Garnier. A very interesting historic rifle, owned by a remarkable scout. The rifle is a beauty, in form and function.
If the lock needs attention, I would agree with sending or taking it to Brad Emig, right there in Pennsylvania. He tuned up two flint locks for me, one L&R and one Pedersoli, and the difference in performance after he "doctored" them was like night and day. I called him a couple of days ago about a lock on an original pistol. He spent a little time on the phone explaining what he could do, and how he would approach the job. It was a very educational conversation, for me. He used to only work on flint locks, but will now consider cap locks, which is good. The man knows locks!
This is a good thread.
Best regards,
Notchy Bob
Thank you for the nice comment, NB. We are bear hunting here in PA right now, and the .62 is next to me. Yes, it is just one shot, but i shoot so well with it that I am confident of killing any bear that provides a broadside within 100 yards.
Brad Emig has done excellent work for me in the past. I sold him and his son a large amount of curly maple gunstock planks five years ago. Both sugar and red maple. He told me in February they have already used it up. He’s a very talented and classy guy. I bought the last child size Colerain .45 barrel from Brad for my son’s flintlock at his 13th birthday. Bill Slusser built that gun and my son killed a small doe with it the first time he took it out.
Mark Wheland built this 62, so he’s the guy to do any fixin to it. But I’m glad you promote Emig, who lives only about 45 minutes from me, whereas Wheland lives about two hours away.
Back to bear hunting here….i think we are going to do a small drive through the laurel.
Thank you. Presently I am up north bear hunting and not seeing any deer or bear. I’m thinking this may be the only deer I’ll get a shot at this season. Hope I’m wrong, but there are no acorns anywhere
mtfishn
40 Cal
Sometimes my nipple gets hammered into a larger diameter and the caps then do not seat properly and tend to cushion the blow of the hammer. I place them in a drill and touch them up with a file to return them to their original diameter.
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I'm glad that you got to use this new rifle, nice shooting!
Ballshooter
50 Cal.
I just got a .62 rifle can't wait to get something with it!
Congrats! You are going to really enjoy this caliber. My own 62 has very shallow and slow twist, designed for round ball only. But I imagine it’s easy to have a faster rifling cut to handle conicals etc. However, the 335-grain round ball is a heavy enough shove backwards for me, thank you very much. I can only imagine the punishment a 400-550 grain conical would dish out on the buttstock end. This rifle’s accuracy is phenomenal as is its crushing power. It’s everything a hunter needs, because it will cleanly take pretty much any North American big game animal short of a grizz. It’s not a target gun. Let us know how you do.
Couple things. You can use your front sight as a simple rangefinder. An adult deer broadside is about 18” from belly to withers (vertically just behind the front leg.) northern deer are a few inches over that, but close enough for use here.
Take an 18x11 sheet of paper and learn how it compares to your front sight at various ranges. Make notes. I’ve been known to etch this info on the inside of a patch box (minds are for thinking, paper is for remembering.)
Shooting at distance is easy, just hold center and watch on paper targets at each range how the ball drops. One target and you moving back in 10 yard increments make this easy. Now you know your drop, just apply that to the target while thinking about the size (18”) of the target.
I zero my .62 rifles dead on at 75. Down about three at 100 and 5/6” at 125. I know that as long as the target is not further than 125 yards, I simply hold just below the top of the back (on hair) and let fly. Don’t over complicate it worrying about “Where do I hold?” for 95 vs 115 yards.
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Intriguing. I did have it zeroed dead-on for 100 yards. It's that last 25 yards beyond that I need to figure out. It appears that the 335-grain lead ball is perfectly centered in the bullseye at 100 yards, and then drops like a cinder block a couple yards beyond that distance.
