Traditions Deerhunter Rifle or the Traditions Springfield Hawken. 50

[Wheelman]

I have the deerhunter in composite and it is fine. No regrets as my first (and only) muzzleloading rifle.

My old eyes need those dayglow sights that come std.

Great gun to learn with. Plenty of support and parts available.

Nice and light. No quality issues to date.

Around 80 rounds down the pipe so far.

You will enjoy either one.

Wheelman.

 

[nkbj]

Hello, I have narrow it down to my first blackpowder rifle, the Traditions Deerhunter or the Traditions Springfield Hawken .50 cal.
I would like a little feedback or opinions on which one you think would be a better first timer rifle I would appreciate all the info you give thanks. I would love to have a double barrel but the price i have seen,but just like I said I would like to hear some feedback on the two. Thanks and God bless.

Hey Arthur.
I have both.

The Deerhunter
It's a really cool zero frills light weight little rifle with a big fifty caliber punch. Relatively short barrel. I have a percussion model that was painted black at the factory (marketing people can get pretty weird sometimes) with the stock barrel and a flintlock version that started out with a black plastic stock. The flintlock is so reliable that I obtained a second hand wooden stock for it (ten bucks well spent) and a second barrel (smoothbore 31" long). I think it needs a sling that looks like a poverty stricken Spanish shepherd boy made it. here's a picture without the ram rod in place. The ram rod holder is a piece of brass soldered to the barrel.

The one with the factory painted stock got a long eye relief pistol scope added for the scary black rifle elimination of feral tomato cans with hollow base bullets.

I really need to get this never to be seen again mold dialed in before the killer tomatoes attack.

Springfield Hawken
It's heavier, has more furniture, same fifty caliber. Longer barrels add a quality all their own for some shooters so maybe it's better.

As to which one to get...
Get either one or some other rifle second hand for a low price. If you find one that has the bore totally trashed by a neglectful shooter then get it super cheap and have it rebored to a size just barely big enough to clean up the corrosion.
As always, be careful around purveyors of second hand muzzleloaders, inspecting the bore closely by both Mk. I eyeball and running a patched cleaning rod down the barrel.

 

[64Springer]

Shoot what?

We don't talk about sabots here.

But the Deerstalker in 1:48 twist will shoot petroleum-based bullet koozies just fine.

 

[Steve Wagner]

Yep, been known for deer to become alerted when the set trigger is engaged.

You can actually 'set' the trigger on a Woodsman before you cock it and leave it on half cock that way. It will be on 'hair' when cocked. I was meaning to ask the gurus here if that is a legit way to go when hunting. Haven't tried it yet, but with my one year old Woodsman, it seems to work fine. Not sure if they all do that. SW

 

[Steve Wagner]

Same trigger function with my Traditions St. Louis Hawken and a TC Hawken. Just checked. All 1/48, 50 cal. The Trads are very accurate w PRBs, PA cons and H-GPlains. And I can practice [or hunt] w PRBs and not adjust much in trajectory for the other 2 bullets out to 100 yard. L-R stays the same. I know the TCs and others are a bit stouter builds, but for hunting, the Trads are hard to beat. And very light. When I bought my Woodsman I was a bit worried about the sights and cheek weld because it wasn't quite comfortable. But they were set to the bottom from the factory and when I raised them up to get in the bull, they were perfect for me. You wouldn't think that raising them that little bit would make much difference, but it was huge. Using 70 grains t-7, 2f in them w no hang or misfires. Wish I could say the same for the 2 TCs I work with. The Trads just shoot. 70 grains of t-7, 3f doesn't seem to change much at all. SW

 

[Steve Wagner]

Can the Traditions Springfield Hawken shoot saboted rounds.

They can out to about 15 yards. After that, they are really hard to hit. PRBs seem to work best when targeting sabots. SW

 

[Frontier's]

Best to keep the sabots weight to 160gr. Anything heavier and they don't group well.

My brother in law used the 160gr reduced recoil Thor sabot on a hunt. Shot once at 100, once at 150. The bullets were touching.

A hard long 7 day hunt. Last day, early morning. We were exhausted and excited when this guy stepped out.