Timing the load and the second shot

[Spot Shooter]

Anyone got a tip (aside from do it as fast as ya can).

On how to time when ta move / reload when your critter turn's and run's right tword ya? (hopefully, it ain't no bear).

maybe I need to build myself a BP hog leg fer just such incidents... I ain't learnt how ta reload with by holdin' a ball 'n patch in me teeth yet.

Spot

 

[Ohio Joe]

Bullet blocks if your using patched round balls, or quick loads from Thompson Center if conical (or patched round balls). The rest is just practice and knowing your procedure. It always seems like an eternity when reloading on the hunt... I'd go for the Harpers Ferry .58 as a backup huntin' grizz... Don't need anymore, Hugh Glass stories... :no:

 

[musketman]

I have the advantage of dropping a ball in the barrel without a patch and using the "THUMPING" of the butt plate on the ground to seat the ball against the powder...

The powder fouling will hold the .735 round ball in place for a if all else fails quick second shot...

Best advise I can give, don't miss on the first shot... :winking:

 

[Stumpkiller]

How many holes you wanna put in the poor beaste? Asuming it made it out of sight and I didn't hear it pile up before the woods settled down I usually reload before I move my feet to look for hair & the blood trail. Once I've found the evidence of a hit I wait 20 minutes before I begin bloodtrailing to give it a chance to expire without pushing it. A paniced deer in open woods can make 50ft/sec. (35 mph). Even with a hole through both lungs they can put 15 seconds of flight time in and be 250 yards away before they pile up. If it hears the "BANG", feels the bullet's bite and see's you move it's making for the state line. But if it's in cover and hasn't seen or smelled you, it will likely bolt a ways and then stop, or at least slow down, to get a handle on the moment.

If it was a m-m-m-miss I guess I'd begin reloading immediately. The deer would likely be curious of all the goings on, grunting and cussing, and come over to get a better look.

One good shot.

 

[roundball]

Same here...I wouldn't even worry about hurrying with a second shot...I use TC 4-N-1 Quick Shot loaders for the convenience of them but definitely not as "speedloaders".
He'll either be down where he stood, in which case you don't need a fast 2nd shot, or he'll have bolted and you couldn't reload fast enough for a second shot anyway.
I just quietly slip down out of the tree, then take my time (10+ minutes?) and completely field clean the bore, lock, etc (cause I may be in the woods for a few more hours), then I build a fresh load into a fresh clean barrel, and go see what's what...(only 30 more weeks to go!!)

 

[Spot Shooter]

I guess I should have asked how long do ya wait?

 

I don't mean to sound overly simplistic, (but ain't that part of what muzzleloadin's about), the best way is to make sure of your first shot. Then you don't have anything to worry about. Even the lightly built whitetail can take a bunch of punishment sometimes and will run quite a distance before expiring. Having said that, here's what I do. First off I make sure of that first shot and watch the reaction of the animal and where it goes. Then I reload and go find the animal. If it ran toward me, which so far hasn't happened, I'd most likely stand still and watch it go by and try to determine if my shot went where I wanted it to go. So far I've not needed a second shot to finish off a big game[url] animal......ain[/url]'t sayin' it won't happen, but it hasn't yet!!!!

I don't believe a person could load fast enough to get another round in an animal that was running toward you or was actually charging. I know I couldn't.

Vic

 

[Spot Shooter]

Have any of ya taken a second shot at a critter?

I've done it with my Bow (even with a good hit, and a complete miss). Then again, the bow don't make no Ka-BOOM neither.

Spot

 

Last moose I shot with the .69 took 2 balls.(100 yds) The first went through about 30yds of red willow brush, thdddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd WHACK
: With the paper ctgs. as issued in the 1800's for the .69 muskets, it takes approx 8 seconds to load & cap the .69 rifle. A flint-gun wouldn't take that long as part of the charge is used for priming.
: The first ball, badly damaged and slowed down by the willow, slapped the moose on the point of the shoulder, broke that leg but stopped there. The moose just pointed his head straight up and bellowed somehing like "Moounhh"
: The second shot hit in the midle of the lung , just behind the front leg, taking a 6" piece of rib and slashed it through the lungs angling down and sticking between two ribs on the far side. The ball went straight across through the lungs, making a 5" horizontal hole, then smashing the off shoulder. It was under the skin, slightly flattened.
; The first slightly flattened ball had grouves wrapped around the frontal area, back about 1/2 way on the ball, from the willow, I presume. Both shots were wheel weight alloy balls, 465gr., in paper ctg. of 165gr. 2F.At that time, I didn't know that was the normal service load for the US Model 1795 .69 Muskets & until around 1830 or so. Their ballistic pendulum in those days, chronographed that load at 1,760fps while the GOEX, in my rifle gave only just over 1,500fps. As powder quality improved back then, the service charge was lowered to 130gr. but giving the same veloctiy.
: Our MODERN BP is POOR in comparrison. 'Course, BP Cg.Rifle shooters know this well. Good thing it's being made though. If not for the military, it probaby wouldn't be made today, just for us- hard to say.
Daryl

 

[musketman]

Daryl:

How much meat do you get out of a moose and did you have to section it to get it out of the woods?

I would suspect they're too heavy to drag...

 

We drag moose back to camp (after gutting)using 4-wheelers if possible and hang to skin them there. A big one will provide over 450 pounds of meat wrapped, but it does take a big one for that.
; A long yearling, 1 1/2 yrs. old will average about 275 to[url] 375lbs.in[/url] quarters.(spike bull or two point bull)
: Adult cows are generally good for about 300 to 325lbs.
: There have been a few big ones around that run upwards of 750lbs. hanging in quarters, but they're rare.
: We do get a few Alaskan moose through here, time to time.
Daryl

 

[musketman]

We do get a few Alaskan moose through here, time to time. Daryl

The worse thing about moose hunting is the size of the decoys... :haha: :bull: :haha:

You're tired by the time you set them all up... :winking:

 

We do get a few Alaskan moose through here, time to time. Daryl

The worse thing about moose hunting is the size of the decoys... :haha: :bull: :haha:

You're tired by the time you set them all up... :winking:

That decoy joke reminded me of the 1st time I went ice fishing.
By the time I chopped a hole in the ice big enough to launch the boat I was too tired to fish! :bull: :bull:
(Whoooo-boy that was BAD!)

 

Maxi....I chopped enough ice to fly fish one time...the first 50 yards was the worst....I never did put the boat in tho

Vic

 

"Fly fish'n" is fun,.... but them "liddle drum-sticks" are hard for me to find on my plate!! (be'n "blind" don't help none neither!!) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[musketman]

So, has anyone ever TIMED their loading procedure?

Actually get the old stopwatch out and race the clock, it sounds easier than it looks...

I'll bet the range loading time and the hunting loading time is different, hunting should be slower because of bulkier coats and cold fingers...

I was just wondering...

 

I can "load and fire" 3 aimed shots per-minute purty easy (30+ years practice, and I DON'T "swab" 'tween shots!). I load from the "pouch only", and I'd git "thoughly confused" if I tryed to "load" with my stuff laid-out on a bench or table!!

I've loaded more'n "1" charge'n ball in my rifle many times, while talk'n to other fellas and NOT pay'n attention to what I was do'n!! ("load'n" is jest a "habit" fer me "hands"!!) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

We timed the .69(14 guage) English Rifle many times. After firing one shot, load and ready for the second, using paper ctg.s and a priming disk of leather for caps, 8 seconds is all it takes, time after time. I could never get below that, though.
: The first Moose I shot with that rifle, after receiving the ball on the point of right shoulder, shuddered at the impact, then turned around till the other side was facing me & when he stopped, with his head and rack held high, shaking his head. I put the second ball through his ribs into the right shoulder, then reloaded again and he'd walked about 20' and lay down.
: The big bores that will allow the use of paper ctgs as loaded for the military, are tremendous for hunting rifles or smoothbores. The short starter isn't needed, but the rod is. I made them to be a tight fit in the bore, no lube, but that could be done around the top of the ctg.
: As soon as the shot is made, butt dropped to the ground while reaching into the pocket or bag for a ctg., tear the end off with your teeth, and stick it into the muzzle. But the time the rod is out, the powder has pretty much drained into the bore and the whole works is shoved down with the rod in one stroke - rod dropped and rifle capped with the leather disk.
: The cappers I made, are two thicknesses of 3/16" leather, sewn together, about 3" in dia, hold 26 caps - only one layer has the holes for caps. Loading time is 8 seconds. Yeah- you could very esily get three aimed shots off in one min. - with LOTS of practice, that is.
: The nice thing about the English rifle with it's shotgun-type butt & shotgun-type fit is the speed of aiming. The sights have to be right down low on the barrel. This gives the longest point-blank sighting with the ball no more than 1" above or below the sights as described by James Forsythe in his book of 1858. As soon as the stock hits your shoulder, you are looking right down the sights at the mark, just with a fine English shotgun. it's remarkable how fast this type of rifle is.
:At the club shere I shoot, we have an upright steel post, with a crossbeam that has two 10" steel plates, one on each end about 1 1/2' from the upright shaft. These swivel on the shaft as they're welded to a short tube that fits the upright loosely. When a paddle is hit it instantly spins around 90 degrees so the other paddle disappears from view. A bungee cord returns them to the front. We call this the duel. Rifles pointed down, on signal hit your plate, 50 yds away. No matter who shoots my English Rifle, it has never been beaten. See - you concentrate on the spot on the middle of your 'plate' boring a hole thorugh it with your eyes- very high concentration. On the signal, you raise the rifle to your shoulder and pull the trigger, that's all. No aim is taken as none is needed. It is ON. That's the beauty of this type of rifle.
: OOPs - I think I wandered a bit.