In the Field Does anyone hunt with their ACW guns?

[ConfederateCanuck]

Well, it's deer hunting season in most places right now. Just wondering if anyone uses their ACW guns to hunt? While asking this, of course, I get to show off our own successful hunt. My son bagged this large buck yesterday using an 1863 Sharps Carbine. 65 yard shot...used a 68 grain FF load and a 480 grain bullet. I got a similar buck 2 years ago using an 1853 Enfield.

What do you use, and what did you get? Post some pics if you have any...would love to see them.

 

[Kurtlg]

Well, it's deer hunting season in most places right now. Just wondering if anyone uses their ACW guns to hunt? While asking this, of course, I get to show off our own successful hunt. My son bagged this large buck yesterday using an 1863 Sharps Carbine. 65 yard shot...used a 68 grain FF load and a 480 grain bullet. I got a similar buck 2 years ago using an 1853 Enfield.

What do you use, and what did you get? Post some pics if you have any...would love to see them.

View attachment 489247

Nice buck!!

 

[ConfederateCanuck]

Nice buck!!

Thanks! Made all the more special cuz he used the Sharps. He's been dreaming of getting a deer using that gun.

 

[Cornpone and Molasses]

Awesome post. I love this!

 

[Kurtlg]

Inline muzzle loaders are the big thing for deer hunting so it was nice to see this post. My only black powder hunting was with a . 32 caliber flintlock mountain rifle I bought decades ago from Dixie Gun Works. Lots of fun to shoot and if I missed a squirrel it didn't bother me.

 

[ConfederateCanuck]

Inline muzzle loaders are the big thing for deer hunting so it was nice to see this post. My only black powder hunting was with a . 32 caliber flintlock mountain rifle I bought decades ago from Dixie Gun Works. Lots of fun to shoot and if I missed a squirrel it didn't bother me.

Oh, you mean the modern muzzleloaders with high-power scopes, piccatiny rails, flashlight/laser sights, and suppressors? Those are definitely not in the spirit of the special muzzleloader hunting seasons...

Squirrel hunts with a flintlock...sounds like great fun! I use a Colt 1849 Pocket with 4" barrel for squirrels...talk about a challenge!

 

[Kurtlg]

Oh, you mean the modern muzzleloaders with high-power scopes, piccatiny rails, flashlight/laser sights, and suppressors? Those are definitely not in the spirit of the special muzzleloader hunting seasons...

Squirrel hunts with a flintlock...sounds like great fun! I use a Colt 1849 Pocket with 4" barrel for squirrels...talk about a challenge!

I probably couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with that ! The flintlock is pretty accurate but the small bore fouls quickly.

 

[Mrs. V]

Somewhere on this site there is an article about a poor fella who shot himself..accidently while hunting with a historic rifle..the injury has been studied as an example of the damage that a period bullet could inflict..

Nice shot, enjoy your venison. Make some meatballs for me please!

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

My son bagged this large buck yesterday using an 1863 Sharps Carbine. 65 yard shot...used a 68 grain FF load and a 480 grain bullet.

Magnificent !

I don't own any ACW weapons. My rifles are old but in good shape.
However, I have two early 1970's Remington 1100 12 gauge shotguns.

One is "museum quality", the other has some rust on the vent ribbed barrel .

While I've removed most of the rust, and I think its safe to fire ... I'm waiting on a final evaluation by a local gunsmith
before I let anyone use this shotgun.

I'm still very impressed that your son harvested a buck with a 1863 Sharps Carbine.

 

[ConfederateCanuck]

I probably couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with that ! The flintlock is pretty accurate but the small bore fouls quickly.

I didn't say I actually got any squirrels...LOL! I only said I hunted with the 1849 Pocket. Haven't done it much, but I did get one...scouts honor!

 

[ConfederateCanuck]

Somewhere on this site there is an article about a poor fella who shot himself..accidently while hunting with a historic rifle..the injury has been studied as an example of the damage that a period bullet could inflict..

Nice shot, enjoy your venison. Make some meatballs for me please!

Ya, gotta always be super careful. No cap on the nipple while I climb up and down the treestand.

Haven't tried venison meatballs...hmmmmmm...

 

[ConfederateCanuck]

Magnificent !

I don't own any ACW weapons. My rifles are old but in good shape.
However, I have two early 1970's Remington 1100 12 gauge shotguns.

One is "museum quality", the other has some rust on the vent ribbed barrel .

While I've removed most of the rust, and I think its safe to fire ... I'm waiting on a final evaluation by a local gunsmith
before I let anyone use this shotgun.

I'm still very impressed that your son harvested a buck with a 1863 Sharps Carbine.

The Sharps is very acurate, and powerful...so its not surprising if you think about it. We love hunting with the historic weapons. Very special to get something with them.

I've got a mid-1970s pump shotgun. Still does the job! Old doesn't mean defunct.

Would love to hear more about others using the old smokeys to hunt...please post pics.

 

[Pollaco]

I'm assuming you meant reproductions too.My "made-in-Spain" percussion is a very accurate rifle.The rifle is,however my eyes aren't.I'm not a big believer in scopes.

 

[Jeff in Ohio]

I didn't say I actually got any squirrels...LOL! I only said I hunted with the 1849 Pocket. Haven't done it much, but I did get one...scouts honor!

When I was a boy on the farm, we had a hired hand who kept a light ball peen hammer with him, and he could throw that like a tomahawk and hit rabbits and squirrels for his supper. You don't need a sharp edge to stun or kill, you don't cut open your supper, and you can't cut yourself on a hammer.
So, you could consider throwing your Model 1849 at your squirrel.

 

[Cavalier]

Back in the 50s and 60s used to try to hunt snakes in the Mojave desert with my 69 caliber 1826 Waters S/B musket. Never even saw any snakes though. Killed a couple of man eating beer cans however.

John

 

[Rhea Cole]

Well, it's deer hunting season in most places right now. Just wondering if anyone uses their ACW guns to hunt? While asking this, of course, I get to show off our own successful hunt. My son bagged this large buck yesterday using an 1863 Sharps Carbine. 65 yard shot...used a 68 grain FF load and a 480 grain bullet. I got a similar buck 2 years ago using an 1853 Enfield.

What do you use, and what did you get? Post some pics if you have any...would love to see them.

View attachment 489247

"Hunting Wisconsin Whitetail Deer with a 12 Pound Mountain Howitzer." is, perhaps, the ultimate Civil War weapon hunting experience.

 

[R. Porter]

Well, it's deer hunting season in most places right now. Just wondering if anyone uses their ACW guns to hunt? While asking this, of course, I get to show off our own successful hunt. My son bagged this large buck yesterday using an 1863 Sharps Carbine. 65 yard shot...used a 68 grain FF load and a 480 grain bullet. I got a similar buck 2 years ago using an 1853 Enfield.

What do you use, and what did you get? Post some pics if you have any...would love to see them.

View attachment 489247

I have a friend at work who is the only active hunter I know. He bow hunts, black powder hunts, rifle hunts and shotgun hunts. When it's not hunting season he fishes. Growing up I would hear lots of hunting stories where the hunters never saw any prey or it was a miracle if a hunter bagged a deer. My work buddy has bears coming to his house to raid his trash can. I think he lives a little north of Charlottesville and commutes to Richmond a couple of times per week.

I'm not sure what his black powder gun is but I think it's a full stock percussion made to look something like a Kentucky rifle. You can use a modern black powder firearm to hunt as long as it functions like a historic weapon (i.e. a weapon made before 1898.) If it can have its barrel replaced by one that can handle smokeless powder you can't use it. So far, in the past two weeks, he has bagged two deer. One with tiny two-prong antlers and a larger one with three-prong antlers. I tease him about it being truck season and ask how many more deer he can cull before the end of the season. I'm guessing that a black powder truck would have to run on diesel.

I'm not surprised that a Sharps took down that magnificent deer. I believe Sharps was what brought the American Bison to near extinction. I'm tempted to copy your picture and text it to my friend to say, "Look what I can do!" But it wouldn't work, he knows what I look like. Good shootin'!

 

[Rhea Cole]

In answer to a PM, the companion site to hunting deer with 12 pound canister is, indeed, "Hunting Feral Cats With a Coehorn Mortar." & no, it isn't a joke… far from it. Indeed, it is not for the faint of heart.

In Tennessee we have both a bow & muzzleloader deer season. Deer & wild turkeys have reached pestilential numbers here in Middle TN. Formerly I hunted with a Thompson Center 50 cal Hawkin cap & ball rifle.

I sold it to a friend whose wife hunts with it. She sits on their back porch in her bathrobe drinking her morning coffee & picks off turkeys, deer & feral pigs with it. She has been known to rise early & take shots from their bedroom window… don't mess with her gardens or chickens, for that matter. He is an especially loyal spouse, just saying.

I know people who make their own edged weapons & do primitive hunting with long rifles. The delay between the spark of a flintlock & the ignition of the charge can be the cause for errant shots. Indeed, that was especially true when bird hunting, which inspired the invention of the cap.

I have it on good authority that a repro 50 cal Spencer repeating rifle is an excellent hunting weapon. The rounds aren't cheap. It costs the equivalent of a used car to shoot the barrel in.

 

[CowCavalry]

Magnificent !

I don't own any ACW weapons. My rifles are old but in good shape.
However, I have two early 1970's Remington 1100 12 gauge shotguns.

One is "museum quality", the other has some rust on the vent ribbed barrel .

While I've removed most of the rust, and I think its safe to fire ... I'm waiting on a final evaluation by a local gunsmith
before I let anyone use this shotgun.

I'm still very impressed that your son harvested a buck with a 1863 Sharps Carbine.

I would be extremely surprised if there was anything seriously wrong with that 1100, a little surface rust on the rib shouldn't compromise it.

 

[Sowbelly and Hardtack]

I grew up hunting with muzzleloaders.

State Muzzleloader Hunting Season Dates | Knight Rifles

Search All State Muzzleloader Hunting Season Dates To Find Out What Days You Can Hunt Deer, Elk, Turkey And More With Black Powder Rifles.

www.muzzleloaders.com

Pennsylvania is the only state that dedicates a deer season to the flintlock muzzleloader. Launched in 1974, the season runs for for three weeks after Christmas. During those weeks, hunters can punch their unused permits using only these weapons.