Wing shooting with flintlocks

[SetterChaser]

OK...it can be done. Shot doves with a 20 ga flinter and actually hit them (while they were buzzing over at several hundred miles per hour....) Definitely surprized myself. Heading to the quail season with a finter designed for wing shooting. A Caywood 12 ga "Game Gun". Can't say how great it actually is (have not gotten it) but everything I read about the Caywood guns is over the top.

Anybody else afflicted with this disease? Only problem I have is that my hunting buddies are needing dental work after they hunt with me. Crack the enamel on their teeth from grinding away waiting for me to reload.

 

[ArmedBear]

Sounds like fun, actually.

I've toyed with the idea of getting a percussion double, myself.

What I wondered about is how do you carry all the stuff to reload it in the field, and how much of a PITA is it?

 

[sm]

I know very little about BP.

I do know about Wingshooting.
So I have felled Skeet Targets, Doves, Quail, Ducks.. with a BP shotgun.

Smoke-pole handed to me.
I shoot
*cough* *ack* "Plop!" *cough*
Hand Smoke-pole to owner, get handed another and Repeat.

I sorta like this BP gunbearer bit.

Dr. Rob around here has a Pedersoli, and I like the looks of his gun.

Smoke_Rizen, is an accomplished wingshooter with BP, maybe he will chime in.

I just shoot the durn gun.

 

[SDC]

Wingshooting with a flintlock is supposed to be aggravating enough that it's the reason Forsyth developed his "scent-bottle" percussion lock.

 

[Pulp]

Never with a flint lock, but once with a T/C Hawken, .50 caliber. A friend and I went to sight in our rifles. It was dove season, and we saw some doves flying. He said, "I wish we'd brought our shotguns." I said, "Ya got any shells?" One thing lead to another, and we cut open a 12 gauge shell, split the shot between us, used paper towel for wadding, and dang if he didn't drop the first dove he shot at. He killed a couple more. All I could ever get was feathers.

 

[SetterChaser]

mostly smoothed out when it comes to the gear to carry. 250 years of working out the details. One pouch, with every necessary gizmo. Wads, powder flask, with pre-measured spout, shot flask, extra flints, and tool kit (flint hammer and vent pick)...probably about the same amount of gear as most carry to shoot a pump (choke tubes, wrench, shotgun shells, prayer book, snuff, etc.)

hitting doves with a .50 cal....need to go to Field and Stream with that story.

now for quail season...

(doves taste better when dropped with a flinter)

 

[Thomas Hawkins]

10 ga double

I shoot ducks and geese with a Peder 10 ga double. Everything I need goes in a pretty little shoulder bag. My buddies call it a man purse. What do they know.

 

[SetterChaser]

TH...tried to hunt without the bag (called a "possibles bag")...and loaded all my gizmos in my hunting vest. Nearly slapped myself silly. When I had to reach in pockets for wads, etc. it looked like I was doing some old guy version of the "macarina". And the bag looks pretty great...maybe I will use it as a brief case off season. Last time I saw a guy with a purse it was a 6'4" weight lifter who would have wimped out Swarzenegger. NOBODY was gonna make a wize crack to that dude.

If you guys get the flinter disease, great bags are to be had at "The Leather Man"...Gary Featheree makes incredible (authentic) fowler bags. Also google out "Caywood Gunmakers" .....Danny Caywood makes top drawer flintlock fowlers and game guns. And Danny is a great guy. Although he has a life style that makes mine look pretty dumpy.

 

[ArmedBear]

Do you use an over-the-shoulder shot pouch?

How much shot do you carry?

 

[ky_man]

Wingshooting with a flintlock is supposed to be aggravating enough that it's the reason Forsyth developed his "scent-bottle" percussion lock.

Well apparently someone besides me reads Muzzle Blasts.

 

[SetterChaser]

AB...nope..use a shot flask...a leather one with "English" style spout...throws 1 1/8 and 1 1/4 charges. Pretty accurate. I also like the over-shoulder style...(called a "shot snake"...) Watch out for the "Irish" style spout if you get the over-shoulder style or a flask...it is complicated as heck, and will not measure out correct charges with shot bigger than size 8. check out "Track of the Wolf" for great gear for flint/percussion ML's. They have custom made guns for sale too. Some real beauties.

Why am I writing on this site when I could be hunting? Probably because I am supposed to be working!

 

[SetterChaser]

AB...I carry about a pound of shot...about the same weight as a box of shotgun shells. I am using copper plated shot lead shot for upland/doves...got to try some Bismuth next. The copper plate stuff gives great patterns. I don't use shotcups...the plastic leaves a goo in the barrel. And with the right wads, (1/8 over powder, 1/2 cushion, 1/8 over shot) all flies nicely. I am shooting cylinder choke in my 20 bore, but going to IC for my 12 bore. Gonna use a "jug choke" system in my 12 bore. Ingenious, those Jug Chokes.

 

[Redd Flynt]

Other than being impossibly slow on doubles, my French Fusil and Brown Bess do just fine on clays and Quail.

Just get used to "One shot, one kill".

Regards, Redd

 

[SetterChaser]

RF...what brand of French Fusil are you shooting? Caywood makes one and it is a honey. Classy shooting iron. I think there were some FF's being carried in "Last of the Mohicans".

 

[Redd Flynt]

SC

My Fusil is a custom build.

Regards, Redd

 

[SetterChaser]

Got after doves with my Caywood Game Gun in 12 ga. Handles great, works great, looks great. A delightful gun. Fast ignition and as long as I do my part,(keep flint sharp and vent open) completely reliable. Going to have jug choke cut to modified to reach out and touch some ducks. With the 30" barrel the gun balances a nice 4.5" from the trigger. Feels like the way a fine double gun handles. What a deal. Now for chuckars and pheasants. Might try round balls also...a .715 ball has got to hurt! Put a sling on it since it has swivel and stock button. Nice to have when scrambling around rocks and hills. I think I will keep it.If I could figger out how to post pics, would send some. Hey, I shoot flintlocks! Computers seem a bit more tricky.

 

[SetterChaser]

the chucks were taken with the 12 ga flint game gun. The same chucks were pointed by Gabe (on the tailgate). He did great...his boss did OK (one missfire). Gabe looked at me kinda funny when the gun didn't go off but he did come home with me.

 

[Macmac]

I use the Nor'West gun as a main hunting gun for anything.

This is a little historical referance
http://www.thefurtrapper.com/trade_guns.htm

Where I got it is gone under, but sort of still lives on here:
http://www.northstarwest.com/index.html

Back in the 80's I bought the ruff kit for a few hundred dollars, but those days are gone under too..

It is lighter than my Bess, points quick and works out well for my style of snap shooting. I happen to be lefty but the gun I use is set up for righty's..

So far anything I ever shot drops. Once though I did stun a bird with out knowing it, and if came to after it was in the back of my truck.

With a lot of practice you can learn to load fairly fast..

I use an antique Irish Charger sewn to a snake I rebuilt with new leather. it has 2 settings for shot, and a cut off door closes after you trip the switch to pull the charger spout.

I have doubled partridge with this gun many times.. Getting 2 for 1 is a nice feeling.

 

[Misfire99]

What was the name of the guns that bolted to the bottum of a boat and took ten or more ducks at a time?

 

[confed sailor]

Punt gun, usually 8 gauge and down, some were even 2 gauge. Banned in the early 20th century by the same law that ended market hunting.

 

[GENTLEMAN OF THE CHARCOAL]

Deliberately bird hunting with a flintlock huh?
Must not be very hungry....

 

[TAB]

Sounds like fun, actually.

I've toyed with the idea of getting a percussion double, myself.

What I wondered about is how do you carry all the stuff to reload it in the field, and how much of a PITA is it?

I go upland hunting with a guy that does... he has every thing pre packed in paper in a small pouch. Kind of like how they use to do musket loads.

 

[bwkelly]

"Deliberately bird hunting with a flintlock huh?
Must not be very hungry...."

I have no problem getting my bag limit with a 12 Ga. Fowler. As long as the vent is clear and the flint is sharp, ignition is near instantaneous. I prefer my fowler to my percussion double since it's just as reliable and easier to clean.