October Muzzleloader Season - Today Is The Day

[Half-cocked]

Someone I know once said that pellets were invented to make percussion rifles every bit as reliable as flintlocks.

 

[SOMDSHOOT]

Someone I know once said that pellets were invented to make percussion rifles every bit as reliable as flintlocks.

LOL yeah INLINE percussion rifles.

Let me be more specific. #10 caps, #11 caps, Musket caps, 209 Primers, are ALL "percussion" caps. Meaning they need a hammer strike ( smack it with something hard ) to make them fire.

Matchlock, Flintlock, ect are all "muzzleloaders" but are not of the "percussion" ignition style.

PS - Throwing a stick or rock at a Deer is more reliable than a flintlock.

 

[SOMDSHOOT]

I am hereby heading to the farm for the last day of the season. Next week I guess I'm back to shooting at Crows.

 

[wilcam47]

OMG no wonder you had problems. Pellets are only to be used in "inline" rifles... that's what the hole in the center of the pellets are for. That's their "ignition point". Trying to set fire to the side of the pellet is no good a'tall.

They ignite like this:

This is also a major reason why I do not, never, ever, under any circumstance use pellets. The biggest issue I have seen with them is one pellet will light and the other one, or two, get blown out the barrel either unburned or smoking. Also, technically the pellets are supposed to be inserted in the muzzle in one direction. Look at your pellets and you'll notice a black, darker band, at the base of the pellets on the part that was in bottom of the factory box. That is the ignition end.

good pic! I hadn't seen that before...

 

[Marshmallow]

Just looking for some clarity. Can muzzleloaders be used during general firearm season?

 

[Half-cocked]

A muzzleloader is a firearm, so yes.

 

[Marshmallow]

I'm aware. But with the way the seasons at posted, it gives very vague information to new hunters.

 

[iH8DemLibz]

Just looking for some clarity. Can muzzleloaders be used during general firearm season?

ABSOLUTELY!!! Rule of thumb: You can always down-scale your hunting weapon.

After my freezer is full and I just want to have fun, I use my home grown Kentucky Indian rifle. Traditions kit with a personal touch.

The star burst is made from leather rivets from Tandy Leather Company. Just drill holes slightly smaller than the studs and hammer them in. TLC has the Indian beads and the leather (duh) too.

It's Bambi Bling.

 

[SOMDSHOOT]

I'm aware. But with the way the seasons at posted, it gives very vague information to new hunters.

Just to clarify further so you understand the vague part of it. Firearms season includes any legal firearm such as rifle, shotgun, muzzleloader, and pistol, depending on your local county regulation of course. The confusion comes when guys call it "Shotgun" season or "Rifle" season, which is incorrect, but, that's what they use for that season and that's what they call it, so, it can confuse others. I have been using Muzzleloaders for both seasons my entire life and I only recently a few years ago bought a slug gun to be used for the firearms season, if I so choose.

And don't worry... the Maryland DNR gives vague information to us decades old veteran hunters as well.

 

[Marshmallow]

Glad to see I'm not the only one shooting an old school firearm. Went out yesterday in Delaware with my fiancé's mommas tc encore, and it felt too easy. Easy to dump some pellets and bullet. No measuring of powder, no really having to ram the bullet and pack it in. And optics that could let me see veins at 75 yards.

 

[Marshmallow]

Just to clarify further so you understand the vague part of it. Firearms season includes any legal firearm such as rifle, shotgun, muzzleloader, and pistol, depending on your local county regulation of course. The confusion comes when guys call it "Shotgun" season or "Rifle" season, which is incorrect, but, that's what they use for that season and that's what they call it, so, it can confuse others. I have been using Muzzleloaders for both seasons my entire life and I only recently a few years ago bought a slug gun to be used for the firearms season, if I so choose.

And don't worry... the Maryland DNR gives vague information to us decades old veteran hunters as well.

Thank you. I really enjoy using my muzzleloader and the wonder of, "will it fire". So it'll be nice to use it throughout the season.

 

[SOMDSHOOT]

Glad to see I'm not the only one shooting an old school firearm. Went out yesterday in Delaware with my fiancé's mommas tc encore, and it felt too easy. Easy to dump some pellets and bullet. No measuring of powder, no really having to ram the bullet and pack it in. And optics that could let me see veins at 75 yards.

There's still a few states out there that don't even allow inline Muzzleloaders. I killed many a Deer before the Inline ever came around. Oh the Hammerlocks I have owned in my lifetime.

 

[SOMDSHOOT]

Thank you. I really enjoy using my muzzleloader and the wonder of, "will it fire". So it'll be nice to use it throughout the season.

No problem. Muzzleloaders are just a lot more fun than a rifle or a shotgun. I call rifles and shotguns "Point and Click" hunting. I think the real draw to ML's is the fact that they a more interactive than sticking a bullet in a modern rifle. The payoff comes when you see the smoke come out of the muzzle.

 

[Half-cocked]

Thank you. I really enjoy using my muzzleloader and the wonder of, "will it fire". So it'll be nice to use it throughout the season.

If you want to increase your accuracy, and reduce your chances of a misfire, dump the pellets - literally. Go old school and use powder. See SOMDSHOOT's comments yesterday in this thread, for a good explanation of the why's and wherefores.

 

[SOMDSHOOT]

Well here's my last few days of the season went. I sat in the tree and watched the Does play on the field every evening at 5 PM for 3 days in a row. I sat on the field two days in a row to kill one of those Does and never seen a single Doe. I sat in the tree yesterday and I watched the Does play on the field from 5PM to dark... Don't it figure. I need to clone me so I can be everywhere at the same time.

 

[iH8DemLibz]

Just when you think you gotum, they tear pages out of the play book.

 

[shrpshtrjoe]

Just when you think you gotum, they tear pages out of the play book.

Aint that the truth

 

[byf43]

I gotta brag on my youngest son, here.

He called me on Friday, on my way home from work, and asked me IF I'd let him use the Remington 700ML Friday afternoon.

"Sure."

So, I got home, put my 'stuff' away, and opened the safe and retrieved the 700ML.

He got all of his 'stuff' together, and put it in the truck (after I inspected his "Possibles" bag).

I ran a dry patch down the barrel and proceeded to load it with two (2) Pyrodex pellets and a 250 gr Shockwave boolit.


Off he went, to the farm.

I got a call about 6:30 stating that he had shot a 'big' doe!!
(I don't have pics, but, he and the guy that owns the farm guestimated it to be about 145-150 lbs on the hoof.)

Here's the kicker. He was VERY lucky!!!
The shot was at 119 yards, according to his rangefinder.
He had slid down a hill and bumped the scope, on his way to 'his spot'.

When he shot, he aimed at the left shoulder (deer facing left, from where he was) and squeezed the shot.
He said that a big cloud of smoked blocked his view, but, the doe dropped where she stood.

When he walked up to the doe, he had hit it in the spine. DRT.

I cleaned the ML and boresighted it again.
The scope was waaaaaaaaaaay off.

This 700ML will 'sit' until we can get it sighted in, again.

 

[iH8DemLibz]

And the moral of that story is: Don't bump your scope.

Congrats on the doe though.

If you get pics, put them on the Official 2013 Bambi Whacking Picture Thread.

 

[Marshmallow]

If you want to increase your accuracy, and reduce your chances of a misfire, dump the pellets - literally. Go old school and use powder. See SOMDSHOOT's comments yesterday in this thread, for a good explanation of the why's and wherefores.

I don't use pellets. I have an older tc hammer lock. A Cherokee to be exact. Shoots power and a lead bullet with a rifled barrel.