Deer Hunting with cap/ball Revolvers

[sundance44s]

I use to do alot of test fireing my Remmie 44 through wet phone books and pine boards before I broke down and bought a crono ...You`d be supprised at how many pine boards the ole cap and ball Remmie will shoot through .
The latest testing I`ve done has been with my 45/70 black powder loads 65 grs of Goex 3f under a .405 gr lead bullet will shoot through a railroad tie at 30 yards . Shame I`ll never go hunting in Africa and find a real use for this cannon .

 

[.44walkersabot]

I don't really get to take THAT many shots with the Walker. I'm hid real good and I wait there patiently until they start by me so to speak. Lot's and lots of times I don't take a shot because I'm just not sure. (The Walker will probably do it but I'm not sure about me) I don't want to hurt him and make him suffer, plus I'm not really starving to death, plus I don't want to have to spend all that time trying to find him. If I'm going to hunt in sort of an open place where I have to shoot on out there a ways I use a CVA inline .45..It is very accurate the best I can tell. I'm sure some of the people on here will smile, but the reason I decided to go with an inline when I got interested in muzzle loading is because it has a removable breech plug. They even give you the tool with it. Of course they caution you all to hell and back in the manual about removing the plug, but I always do. That's the only way I can rest comfortable in my mind that the rifle is really clean for sure. That Walker though. Man that thing is something else. I know it's not a big pretty and shiny magnum and all but I like the weight, the noise (sometimes), the smoke, everything. I was scared about the blued finish that came on it when I first got it. I know I had a Ruger .357 Blackhawk single action. I BELIEVE it had a 71/2 inch barrel. It shot the yellow and green real good and all, but the bluing wore off on the barrel pretty quickly, sliding in and out of the holster. My Walker hasn't done that. It changed color some and look's sort of grayish but it's still blued. Look's better now than it did when I bought it...Well, anyway. If I'm deer hunting with it (like around the heavy undergrowth close to a river or something like that)I use 48 grains behind a .457 ball. Remington # 11...I know it would hold a little more powder than that without being overloaded and just spewing it out the muzzle, but I'm comfortable with what I use. People get stuff in their minds. Hell, I might have settled on 48 because that's the year I was borned. I know it get's the job done. If someone started breaking into my house tonight I'd reach for the Walker. Wouldn't have to hit him. The noise and the flame combined would probably give him 87 consecutive heart attacks right on the spot. Thank ya'll for the information on the Keith. I am going to check into it tomorrow morning...This is a good site. Hell, I may never get off of this one thread...Okay...

 

[Shureshot]

All this techno-babble aside, I hunt deer with my Pietta .44 all the time, as well as Russian Wild Boars. I have never had a problem. They drop where they stand.

Of course, I am staying within the limits of the firearms performance. 20-30 yards, from a tree-stand is about right.

Use logic for bit. Archers regularly kill deer with a projectile that is slower and smaller than any BP revolver. You just have to use the weapon within it's limitations.

Semper Fi!

 

[Blackfork]

This sounds really cool!

If I ever bought a vintage cap and ball or even flintlock...the FIRST think I would think about is shooting a deer with it. Crockett, Boone, those revolutionary guys and civil war guys are my heroes.

Thanks for the postings, lots of great info! Good luck this season.

I'm hunting with a K98 and a Krag this season...now I feel like a new guy.

 

[.44walkersabot]

Mr. Shureshot, after seeing those 2x4's shot through and knocked around, and after walking back over and looking at those beer cans and seeing a couple of them torn almost half in to, I have absolutely no doubt but that you're telling the whole truth, the complete truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God. Blackpowder season opens here 'officially' in a few hours. I have examined my .44 Cattleman's Carbine in minute detail, busted 6 # 10 Remington's to dry the nipples good. and it is now leaning up here about 2 feet from me, loaded all the way around with exactly 31 grains of Triple Seven 3fffg in each chamber behind six .451 balls. The fresh caps are not on it yet. Other than that it's ready to go. In a few more hours I'll be ready to go to.. I'vd shot a few wild hogs (their meat taste's better to me than the 'supermarket pork' plus it's a lot cheaper), but I don't know what a Russian Hog is. Might like to get me one sometime..SEMPER FIDELIS..Okay...

 

[Shureshot]

In the N. Ga. mountains, we have Russian Boars, decendents of one brought here from Russia in the early 1800s. Here's what they look like on a good day:



They average 300-400 lbs. They are Big, mean, ugly and delicious. They are also incredible tough and hard to put down.

We also have Buffalo hunts here (on private land), but I use my Sharpes .54 for that.

Semper Fi!

 

[.44walkersabot]

You're right.Very impressive. Lean and mean. I bet that's some damn good eating right there..Well, I went out this morning with the carbine, but I still had the Walker holstered on my belt. Didn't see anything except a couple of squirrels and I think 3 rabbits. (I might have seen one of the rabbits twice I'm not sure) Might ease out there late this evening right before dark and see if I can catch one moving. I know pretty well where they pass..I looked at that picture again. That's a nice looking hog Shureshot..SEMPER FIDELIS..Okay...

 

[.44walkersabot]

Just came back in awhile ago. Got too dark to see how to shoot straight. Getting kind of chilly out there again to. I'll be back out there in the morning though. I'm just out back behind my brother's place. There's deer all over. (except for right where I was I reckon)...I talked to a product specialist today at Cabela's about the Keith bullets. Someone from the special products dept. (there's a difference between special products dept. and the products specialists dept.) is supposed to be calling me back in the next couple of days or so. I also talked to Cabela's about the carbine and the regular revolver. I was thinking, after seeing the deal with the 2x4's, and reading Mr. Shureshot on here, that I might save up some money and buy an 1858 .44 New Model Army. 8 inch barrel, 2 pounds, 11 ounces, etc...I was thinking that if I had a loaded cylinder in one that maybe if I took the notion I could just swap cylinders from one to the other but Cabela's said no. They told me the cylinder from the revolver would fit easily into the carbine but not to do it because it left too large of a gap. Also, they told me the cylinder from the carbine was longer and would not fit into the revolver even though both of them are built on what appear's to be the same frame. Cabela's also told me their revolvers were made by Pietta. I explained to him and somebody else he had dug up there that my carbine was made by Uberti and reckon was that the reason the cylinders were not interchangeable. They told me they couldn't answer that and didn't have any specs. that would help me. They also told me that although the cylinders would not interchange the powder charges for both of them were the same. They also told me they sold spare cylinders for the revolver but not for the carbine. I'll talk to DGW tomorrow and find out if they sell spare cylinders for the carbine (I'm almost willing to bet they do) and/or if I buy a Uberti revolver will the cylinders interchange..I know both of them will push .451 balls...I went on Cabela's site awhile ago and looked at the revolver. I had to call them back and get a unit numder on the one I wanted to see because it wasn't listed. It's the blued target model with adjustable sights. I got a closeup on it and studied it real good. It's a damn good looking revolver. The reviews spoke very highly of it. Shureshot (and I'm sure a lot of other people also) said he hunted deer and wild hogs with his (his post is on here) and he said he's never had a problem with his Pietta. Said it had plenty of power to so long as one stay's within the normal working range of the piece. It's got an 8 inch barrel so it SHOULD be fairly accurate on out there a little ways.,,Well, anyway, I'll be checking into all of it. I'm going back out in the morning about daylight. Just have to walk about 75 yards and I'll be at my spot..Okay...

 

[mykeal]

A Walker has a 9" barrel and holds 60 gr of powder under a .454 ball. It weighs 4 1/2 pounds. There's no comparison between it and a Remington New Army.

 

[DrLaw]

Illinois, nope

I answered my own question by checking the Illinois regs. We can't use a black powder handgun here. Only cartridge handguns of .30 caliber or higher and a certain power, forget what that is right now (basically a .357 or larger).

Still, it was a nice dream while it lasted.

The Doc is out now.

 

[.44walkersabot]

Yeah, I know about the Walker. I use .457 balls. I'm not giving up my Walker. That's my mainstay right there. See, the only handguns I own right now are all blackpowder. My Walker, a Colt 1849 Pocket .31 with a four inch barrel, and I bought one of those North American mini .22 mag. 5 shot blackpowder revolvers. Little by little I have bought lot's of spare parts for all of these revolvers. (cylinders. mainsprings, loading levers, grips, cams, all sort's of stuff. Mostly from DGW. I can tell you right now some of those parts don't come that cheap. Like a cylinder for the Colt Walker 're-issue' dosen't cost that much, but the cylinder for the Uberti [which is what I have] ColtWalker is pretty damn expensive) I'vd never had to use any of the spare parts and I don't carry extra cylinders around with me. I'm trying to keep it simple. I'm already keeping up with number 11 caps, number 10 caps, 209 magnesium primers, .22 mag. balls, .451 balls, .457 balls, and .45 sabots (not all my .45's are saboted) ranging from 180 grains up to 300 grains. Plus trying to keep a little Triple 7 3fffg to push this stuff. That's plenty enough for an old man to have to worry about...Man I really like this site. I can just get on here and talk my ass off. Love my brother but can't talk to him about this stuff. He deer hunts with a damned ol' 30-06, and squirrel hunts with either his .410 shotgun or one of those Ruger 1022's. No challenge there..Like shooting a buffalo. Good meat and it'll feed you for a long time, but I've shot a couple in Wyoming and it's just like walking out there and shooting a cow. (beef cow).. That picture Shureshot posted of that hog, I really like that picture. I like cooking and eating wild hog..I have knocked a few hogs ass over teakettle in my life with that Walker. Just regular old wild hogs I reckon. Some of them (most of them) were fine looking animals but none of them looked quite as good as the one in that picture I think. I have never shot real blackpowder in my life. When I decided to try muzzle loading and see what was so wonderful about it I turned to Cabela's because I was already familiar with them, having bought cold weather clothing and stuff from them. I tried some of their 'Black Mag' which I guess shot alright. (I didn't have anything to relate it to) It kept me in plenty of Antelope meat I know that, and got a pack of staving assed dogs (coyotes) off my ass one time. Then they either ran out or quit carrying it so I tried Triple Seven. It seemed to shoot alright to so I just stayed with it. Hey! If it's not broke don't fix it...Well,anyway, I'vd rambled on enough here. Really like this site. I would be willing to bet that if someone had time to really go through this entire site they could find the answer to any firearm question they could possibly have. If they didn't see it they could just ask and someone on here could answer it for them...Well, anyway...Okay...

 

[BP pistol hunter]

You can get 1000 + fps (313 ftlbs) with a 141 gr .454 ball and 35 gr of 777 in an 8 inch Pietta 1858 revolver and over 1200fps (450 ftlbs) if you go up to the 12 inch version. I have them both and that is what I have chronographed them on both my chrony and my hunting buddies as well. I use a wad between the powder and ball. 777 is way hotter than pyrodex or swiss but it does not liked to be compressed too much. I have gone as high as 40gr of 777 and have reached higher velocities but accuracy starts to fade a bit and velocity spread gets too unpredictable. 777 powder has given these old guns a very welcomed power boost. I have taken a wild boar with my 1858 stainless bison revolver with a 12 inch barrel using a .454 ball and 35 gr of 777 and the boar dropped dead no need for a follow-up shot. This load creates a very serious and large wound channel due to the soft lead expanding rapidly and basically just tearing it's way through the flesh dumping all it's energy on the target. A pure lead ball driven with 35-40 gr of 777 has far more killing power than most people give them credit and will take deer or hogs cleanly up to 50 yards with authority.

 

[Snowdog]

BP Pistol Lover, you are one hardcore disciple of 777. Was that post a cut 'n paste of the reply you posted on my thread? That was also dug up from the dead, being 6 years old.

Good to hear you're getting good result with 777 and thanks for the head's up. I'll give that stuff a try. But I think we got your point within your first 5 posts describing your 777/ 12" barrel results.

 

[BP pistol hunter]

Snow Dog, yep I cut and pasted the info because it made no sense to type it all again. 777 is a great thing if loaded right. These cap and ball pistols with stout 777 loads are very efficient hunting weapons in the right hands providing humane kills on deer and hogs out to 50 yards. As in all types of hunting you must use correct bullet placement or it won't work no matter how powerful a weapon is used. I will be posting some of my kills soon. I have shot a lot of game with cap and ball revolvers with stout 777 loads and good quality wads and balls and let me tell you they make a hell of a wound channel. I just bought two new pistols, a Vortek 50 cal single shot and a William Parker 50 cal pistol. I am about to start working up some real powerful loads for these with 777 and sabot conical bullets and will be posting my results here soon. Here in Florida you may hunt wild hogs all the way through March in most public lands and year round in private land so I will be using these guys next and see how they do.

 

[robhof]

robhof

44 your talk of hunting buffalo reminded me of my wife's uncle in South Dakota; seems their neighbor used to raise rodeo stock including buffalo. He sold off most, but had one very tame bull that was too old and going blind. He called the uncle to shoot it for him, he didn't have the heart to shoot a pet. The uncle had some hunters up from NY(lawyers) and asked if they wanted to hunt a buffalo, one jumped at the chance, the uncle warned him about how dangerous they can be so he would take a long shot, when they got to the field the bull started toward them, the hunter got his buf, but wanted it caped and the meat shipped to him, the uncle ended up working hard for the freebie. The poor buf was probably looking for treats, the hunter was shaking when he took the shot and was wired for hours.

 

[andrewstorm]

bp hunter

I have recently took my first r o a killed deer,and im tempted to do all my hunting with a roa ,ive stalked bucks to 20 yrds,with a 50 cal,now i like the long range running shots with my omega,but theres nothing like being there eye to eye......................................................

 

[x_wrench]

Hunting regulations seldom make much sense. The obvious problem is that they are usually proposed by people who don't know what they are doing, but even if they do, it's pretty difficult to come up with a rule that will cover all the bases. Here in Iowa a 357 SuperMag is legal for deer but a 357-44 B&D is not. Both will propell the same bullet to about the same velocity. A 44-40 is illegal on grounds that it's too powerfull, but a 445 SuperMag is legal o ngrounds that it's not too powerfull. The 445 will propel the same bullet to nearly twice the velocity a 44-40 will.

YES SIR, AMERICA'S FINEST CRIMINALS (polaticians) HARD AT WORK. chipping away at our rights with every law they pass. never mind if it makes any sense or not, as long as someone slips something into their pocket!

i do not know if it still holds true or not, but a long time ago, my uncle told me that colorado had the best law on firearm restrictions for deer hunting. i believe it was the gun had to have 1000 ft pound of energy at the muzzle to qualify. period. i do not know if it was true or not. he went there and hunted deer several times. but using a 30-06, i do not think he had to worry about the restrictions anyway.

 

[45-70 Ranger]

An old C&B revolver shooters take on this subject. Killed first deer with a .45-70 in 1963. Used an old 1878 TD Carbine. Load was 55 gr. of 2F and an Ideal 385gr. RN. Dropped in his tracks.

In 1965 shot 150# buck with a 2nd Mod. Dragoon. 20 yd. shot. Took one step and fell dead. Same year, doe at 25 yds. same pistol. Fell dead on the spot. 1966 4 hogs from 150# up to 350#. Same gun. The 350#er went ten feet then went down. The others dropped like hit with a poleax. Took a total of 12 deer with Dragoon from the first in'65 to the last in 1996. Last hog killed with BP wheelgun. 11-10-2010. Remington .44. RB with healthy load of 777. 250# boar. Instant kill. Have probably taken over 2 dozen hogs with Dragoon. Three with the Remington. Have never attempted this with a .36, but I know from my hunts with the .44 Dragoon and the Remington .44 that there is no magic to it. Keep your shots close. Use the best shot placement you can. And hunt like you mean it.

I was a cop for 25 years and have seen all kinds of wounds on humans. Have hunted much longer than that. My point is this; properly placed shots from ANY weapon can be lethal. Inteligent shots WILL be lethal when using a weapon that is capable of doing the proper amount of tisue damage. A .44 cal. C&B revolver with enough power behind it will bring down a deer, hog, coyote, bobcat, well you get the picture.

A Dragoon, Walker, Ruger Old Army, Remington .44 all will do the job IF you do yours. Hunt responsibly. Like I told my son long ago, "If you can't make the shot, don't take the shot." Keep the range short. Your paitence long. And pass on the ones you KNOW you can't make. It's that simple.

Off my soapbox and going to bed.
Wade

 

[BP pistol hunter]

45-70 Ranger what loads are you using in your 1858 Remington to hunt with? I use 35-38gr of 777, a wad and a.454 141 gr ball in my 12 inch barreled stainless 1858 and have been extremely pleased with it's performance and accuracy out to 50 yards on wild hogs..

 

[45-70 Ranger]

BP Pistol Hunter, I see that you're a fan of 777. Me too. In fact today I was out back at my range popping rounds with my .44 Rem. Fired off 12 rounds with 777 and then just for old times sake, 6 rounds with some old DuPont fff black. That was just to keep this old man happy by sniffin' the old stuff. But, I almost never use anything else but 777 these days. It is amazing.

As to loads, for just plinkin and such, 24 gr. of 777 3F with Wonderwad. Hits point of aim at 25 yds. with this load. Tight groups. Huntin takes on a whole new light. 35 gr. of 777 3F and wonderwad. This is flat shooting out to around 50 yds., but I won't take a shot at game at that distance. I keep them close and right. The 35 gr load is a barkin son of a gun I gotta admit. It does punch deep into the pigs we have at where I work. (Love that part. After retireing from law enforcement, I moved to east Tx. and now do private security at a site way out in the woods. I get to kill as many hogs that I can find.)

The Dragoon is just fine loaded with Pyrodex and good ole BP, but with 777 that big boy goes into hyper drive! So, using 777 in the Rem. is now a fine balance between size, weight, and great shooting with a punch. Yup, is a good combination for me. This Rem is the third Rem I've had. Got talked out of the first two by another re-enactor buddy...MY BAD. Shoulda kept 'em both. But the Pietta Rem. 44 is straight shooting. Well balanced and nice. My Dragoon, an, old Replicia Arms import from the early 60's has been my "go to gun" for hunting and such for decades. But......this Remington is a fine shooter....

Ok, I went on a bit, but I do love to hunt with BP wheelguns and my trusty .45-70!

Later,
Wade