i am seriously thinking about buying one of these

[Busyhands94]

it is a Kentucky pistol kit. http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_162_194&products_id=3450 do you think this is fine to hunt deer with? i know you can cleanly kill a deer with a well placed shot from even a .22 LR, however it is 50 caliber, and that packs one heck of a wallop. besides using it for deer i think this would be a really fun build to do with my papa. he is kind of a city slicker and i want to get him outdoors and away from his Crackberry and computer. i have taken him to shoot guns in the past and he always had a good time, and we often enjoy building stuff together as well as the thrill of power tools (a gun is a power tool too) so this kit looks to me like a good plan! i like big bore handguns, they are very fun to shoot. also does anybody have any experience with these? how is the recoil? back in the day they had .50 caliber muff pistols. if people could handle those and kept buying them then this shoudl be fine, but i am not sure.

 

[Magwa45]

Not to be a buzzkill, but I took a quick look at California hunting regs (I assume that is where you hunt). It does not look like you can use muzzleloading handguns for big game. See below and consult with your local fish and game authorities:

§353. Methods Authorized for Taking Big Game.

(a) Except for the provisions of subsections 353(b) through (h), Title 14, CCR, big game (as defined by Section 350, Title 14, CCR) may only be taken by rifles using centerfire cartridges with softnose or expanding projectiles; bow and arrow (see Section 354, Title 14, CCR, for archery equipment regulations); or wheellock, matchlock, flintlock or percussion type, including "in-line" muzzleloading rifles using black powder or equivalent black powder substitute, including pellets, with a single projectile loaded from the muzzle and at least .40 caliber in designation. For purposes of Section 353, a "projectile" is defined as any bullet, ball, sabot, slug, buckshot or other device which is expelled from a firearm through a barrel by force.

(b) Shotguns capable of holding not more than three shells firing single slugs may be used for the taking of deer, bear and wild pigs. In areas where the discharge of rifles or shotguns with slugs is prohibited by county ordinance, shotguns capable of holding not more than three shells firing size 0 or 00 buckshot may be used for the taking of deer only.

(c) Pistols and revolvers using centerfire cartridges with softnose or expanding projectiles may be used to take deer, bear, and wild pigs.

(d) Pistols and revolvers with minimum barrel lengths of 4 inches, using centerfire cartridges with softnose or expanding projectiles may be used to take elk and bighorn sheep.

(e) Except as provided in subsection 354(j), crossbows may be used to take deer and wild pigs only during the regular seasons.

(f) Under the provisions of a muzzleloading rifle only tag, hunters may only possess muzzleloading rifles as described in subsection 353(a) equipped with open or "peep" type sights only except as describled in subsection 353(k).

(g) Under the provisions of a muzzleloading rifle/archery tag, hunters may only possess muzzleloading rifles with sights as described in subsection 353(f); archery equipment as described in Section 354; or both. For purposes of this subsection, archery equipment does not include crossbows, except as provided in subsection 354(j).

 

[Busyhands94]

well that is too bad i am thinking about getting a Kentucky rifle kit someday, that might be better.

 

[mykeal]

Muzzle velocity of a .490", 177 gr prb over 40 gr/vol real black is about 900-950 fps (325-360 fpe), dropping to 850 fps (290 fpe) at 50 yards. That's the most I'd shoot or you'll be risking the stock, although the gun will do it. I think that's too slow for deer. Plus, accuracy will be an issue the higher you go. I don't recommend it.

 

[dodo bird]

Anyone have one? I might get one if people say it's a decent piece.

 

[arcticap]

Dixie has some user reviews linked to the product page:

http://www.dixiegunworks.com/produc...=3450&osCsid=ee8e2725590cf242d37d9b8afdbc64f9

Midsouth Supply sells the factory built .50 Kentucky pistol for $186.01:

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=00139P1060

They also sell the Lyman .50 Plains pistol kit but it has an 8 inch barrel instead of a 10 inch:

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=000156010610

 

[scrat]

like you need a kit. hahahha. with the work you have done on guns you can make your own without one

 

[Busyhands94]

well thank you! i will be building a .22 flobert pistol for my mother to shoot, we went shooting this morning and the 12 gauge was a little much for her to handle. however she told me she wanted to shoot a .22 so i figure i will build her one! it will be rather simple to operate and will be ergonomic and light.

 

[ElvinWarrior]

Just an FYI Guys, with all this talk about shooting shot from pistols, et all, I was a wonderin myself how the standard Shotgun Gauge sizes compared to Caliber diameters. I came across this little nifty chart...

I also noticed, that some of the caliber equivalents worked out to close to some of the standard sizes for mini-ball mold diameters. Although no-one has brought it up, I think that if people can shoot solid lead plugs out of standard shotguns, there should be no reason why a muzzle-loader couldn't fire out a properly sized mini-ball, of course, with no rifling in the barrel, they would not be as accurate as a mini-ball fired out of a rilfed barrel, but, for short shots, they would be accurate enough I think.

Gauge Milimeters Caliber
-----------------------------
06..... 23.3......... 0.92
10..... 19.7......... 0.77
12..... 18.5......... 0.73
14..... 17.6......... 0.69
16..... 16.8......... 0.66
20..... 15.6......... 0.615
24..... 14.7......... 0.58
28..... 14.0......... 0.55
32..... 13.4......... 0.526

I noticed two things about the chart, they left off the bore diameters for the gauges that are reffered to by diameter, and not by Gauge, such as the 410 Gauge size, which is a diameter of .410. The chart also does not include the 8 Gauge size, If anyone has that information, that would be helpful to completing the chart.

I learned a couple of interesting things from the chart, for one, the 20 Guage size comes out at .615, which means that its the perfect size for a patched 61 Caliber round ball, and that the 14 Gauge size works out to exactly .690, 69 Caliber, so you would need a sllightly undersized patched ball for that one, perhaps a .680 or thereabouts.

And, since we have the standard gauge sizes compared to caliber, in some of the calibers I think that the standard shotgun solid lead cylindrical wads would work out nicely, as well as, some of the properly diameter sized BP mini-ball molds. But, I would, when shooting those, use cardoard and cork shotgun wads over the charge and under the lead.

I hope you all find this helpfull.

Sincerely,

ElvinWarrior... aka... David, "EW"

 

[arcticap]

There's an extensive gauge/diameter chart on the following Wikipedia page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauge_(bore_diameter)

 

[Busyhands94]

cool! very helpful info!