ML hunters here?

Crossbow Hunting

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crazyfarmer
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ML hunters here?

Post by crazyfarmer »

how mnay do we have on here? Muzzleloader season starts saturday here. It figured cause the wife won tickets to a monstor truck show saturday also. I have never missed the first day of ML season.. but if I dont go to the show, I might have couch duty for a few weeks :lol:

anyway, im shooting the Knight Revolution with the laminated stock and SS barrel. Awesome piece! Of coarse after I got that, TC came out with the Pro Hunter which I would love to get.

im shooting 100gr's of XXX powder and just tried the new TC shockwave powerglide 250 gr bonded sabots this year. Lemme tell ya, those things slide down the barrel like butter! I was grouping 3inchs at 100yards which wasnt to bad considering im not a good long range shooter.

whats everyone else shoot?
Grizzly Adam
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Post by Grizzly Adam »

Hey, Crazyfarmer ...

Love to hunt with smokepoles!

Here's my current baby:

It's a 1760 period fowling piece in .62 caliber (20 gauge) smoothbore. It is the type of gun that was most commonly found in the hands of early settlers in this area, and in yours. Contrary to popular notions, relatively few common folk carried rifled arms, because they were expensive, slow to load, and not as versatile as smoothbores. Besides, many men didn't have the vision to use a rifle, or simply weren't good enough shots to justify ownership. Fowling pieces of this type were versatile enough to hunt small game, waterfowl, and deer and bear ... and were good for home defense too. They were the working man's gun of the era, and could be loaded with shot, buckshot, patched ball, and buck and ball. Think of it as the Remington 870 of it's day.

This one is a handmade piece built by a gunmaker in Texas, with a Getz swamped barrel, a Chambers lock, and absolutely authentic construction. There are no maker's marks of any kind on it, save a date on the bottom of the barrel (hidden) to prevent it being offered as an original.

She is sweet to shoot ... mounts smooth, points naturally, and is light. 41" barrel. A real joy.

Deer load is 80 grains of FFg black behind a patched .610" pure lead ball.

Groups of three inches and less at 70 yards are possible (remember, it's a shotgun!).

Grizz

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wabi
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Post by wabi »

Grizz,
That's a good looking fowler!
I had a .62 smoothbore, but unfortunately someone asked me to put a price on it, and it was sold before I could think it over. Been thinking of another one, but it may be some time before I can afford another. The beauty of the smootbore is that you can hunt just about anything with it! A load of shot for birds and small game, and a round ball for big game.
Now I'm hunting with a .50 T/C NewEnglander. I also have a 12ga barrel for it, but never managed to get good groups with the smoothbore barrel and round balls. The .50 barrel likes Lee R.E.A.L. bullets. I use a peep sight and can shoot decent groups out to 100 yards (3 or 4") with it. I use 80 gr FFg black powder and the 325 gr conical for deer hunting. Just like crossbow hunting I like to get close, so the sidelock isn't that much of a handicap compared to an inline for me. I've had a couple inlines that I could shoot sub-1" 100 yard groups with, but that was deer "shooting" and not deer "hunting" for me. Just a personal choice, not putting down inline shooters, but it just didn't get me too excited to get in the ground blind where I knew deer were going to appear in a bean field and at about what time they would show up. All I had to do was pick a target, range it, and make a good shot. I finally decided I'd sell the inline and drag the old sidelock out and get close before I shoot one. I might not get one, but I'll enjoy trying to outsmart one. I'd prefer to keep shots under 75 yards with it, and hopefully I can get even closer to one. :wink:
(crossbow tactics with a muzzleloader)
wabi
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Post by hawg hunter »

before i started shooting crossbows ml 'rs was the only way i've hunted since 1970 . MY first ml rifle was a TC hawken in 45cal . no 183 was on the barrel. now there are 6or 7 digits ; any how that smooth bore will proably shoot a little tighter groups if you harden the lead abit , about 30 to 1 and then take a horse shoe rasp and roll the balls so they dimple all around the surface so that they kinda look like a golf ball. they fly much straighter. we shoot smooth bores alot around here and they are v
ery versatile. who was the builder of that rifle? P A Laake? Kevin Lee?
Mike Timmermann all good smoothbore makers here in Texas.
DavidT
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Post by DavidT »

Got pretty and practical both covered. Pretty one is a .50 percussion Lyman Great Plains. Good shooter, but a bit heavy and long for brush hunting. Practical is a little Rossi breakdown .50 inline with a 4x scope. 2 Pyrodex pellets, 250 Hornaday .45 in a sabot and Federal mag 209's. Nail driver out to 50 yards. Can't see any farther than that where I hunt.
Thwackem!
crazyfarmer
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Post by crazyfarmer »

Grizz, thats to darn nice to take in the woods! Awesome looking smokepole
tkstae
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Post by tkstae »

I own two, but I pretty much turned over my 50 cal. Remington inline to my Son. It's topped with a 3x9 scope and is a real shooter. Took my first deer right between the eyes at 60yds with it. I've got a Lyman 54 cal. that's loaded with a patched round ball with 90 grains of fff blackpowder. I haven't taken a deer with it yet but It holds a 2 in. group at 75 yds. Just a matter of finding the Deer. Best of luck to you guys in the up coming season.
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DuckHunt
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Post by DuckHunt »

Thats a nice smokepole Griz.

I hunted with ML far longer than with archery just not as successfully. I guess the real long bow season has a lot to do with that.

A couple years back I finally put the CVA Mountaineer out to pasture. In it I shot 100gr of FFg with a patched round ball. I could get 3" groups at 50yds with open sights and it worked very well within its limitations.

I now have a .50 CVA Optima Pro. I fire 150gr of FFg Clear Shot and a T/C 235gr HP .45 sabot. Topped with a 3-9x scope it hits <3" at 100yds. It is a sit still gun. You definately don't want to walk around with this long lead pipe. It is a beast and about as pleasant to shoot as an elephant gun. I have an Exomax, so I guess you can see my trend. :)

For my kids I picked up a CVA Wolf. I have it loaded with 75gr FFg and a 200gr .45 sabot. It is much more fun to shoot and hits very nice at 50yds.

I'm looking forward to Saturday morning. Except for a few weekdays when I can sneak away from work, I'm relegated to the role of backup shooter to my kids for the remainder of this season. This is the best part of deer season. :)
TPM
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Post by TPM »

I shoot a Thompson/Center Hawken .54 cal. percussion. For hunting it's Hornady Great Plains 425 grain conicals, hollowpoint, hollow base, 110 gr. of FFg. At the range I often shoot patched ball with 90 gr. FFg. behind it.
Grizzly Adam
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Post by Grizzly Adam »

Hey, JH ...

I shoot an underhammer too! It's an H & A .45 caliber.

Underhammers are a good design ... just came along too late in the percussion era.

That sure is an interesting lock / trigger assembly you made. I'm a bit of a blackpowder gun crank myself, so am always interested in such things.

Grizz
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Doe Master
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Post by Doe Master »

Just started with the muzzleloader I won it couple of years ago . Going to try it this year for the controlled hunt . Its a cva optima in 50 cal. I`m using 300 gr. sst`s with 110 gr. of 3f ignited with the new remington 209 primers. The new primers are worth anyone looking at , they make cleaning up the barrel alot easier .
deerman
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Post by deerman »

USA MADE TC ENCORE.Shock wave 250gr 150gr xxxseven.My son will be 13 November 19 four days after opener of rifle season.I got him a TC OMEGA saturday at Pro Bass for his birthday.He may have to open it early to use on the opener.We live in the shotgun only zone so you have to use a slug gun or Muzzleloader;I prefer the one shot ML.Also picked up a super deal on rubber camo boots.Field and stream brand,they were $99.95 on sale for $24.95 or just miss priced.Omega was $299.00 with case,bullets,bullet starter.Now its sight in time.
shawn_b
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Post by shawn_b »

50 CVA Optima american poineer power ffg t/c shockwave 250 gr.
Sierra
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Post by Sierra »

I bought a Savage 10MLII in October 2005 to use in the Ohio gun season. (I had given my flintlock & percussion to my sons) I had intended to use Pyrodex or T7 with the Savage, but after trying smokeless powder I can not bring myself to use anything else.

Call me lazy but as much as I like to shoot I did not relish the cleaning chore of black powder.
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exocet
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Post by exocet »

Oh man, where too start :lol:

T/C Hawken .50 Flint 31 inch 1:66 roundball barrel
T/C Renegade .50 Caplock/GM .32 caplock barrel also
T/C New Engalnder 12 gauge smoothbore caplock
NEF Sidekick .50 break open
Knight LK-93 .50 inline percussion

Jack
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