I totally forgot that I had posted this already. I did not intend to double post. Blame it on excitement I guess.
Wyoming! Taken with a traditional flintlock firing a patched round ball cast from wheel weights! He came to a cow elk call with only one thing on his mind. I pulled the trigger when he reached 40 yards.
Last edited by Flintlock Hokie; 10-13-2012 at 09:41 AM.
Very well done.
Way to go what cal. did you use.
Oh, man! That is SPECTACULAR!!! Good work!
Nice job,,,,,,now tell us about the rifle,,what is it...who made it....
Did the ball pass threw or stop in the body?
Nice. Not just an elk, a nice elk. I'd be.pumped. And no super hot rod, earsplittinloudenboomer to boot.
Avatar - 2006, my oldest son (6'2"), trying to lift the 95lb Cobia he caught at Cape Hatteras, NC from the beach.
That's awesome! Congratulations!
Great bull! Too bad you weren't on a hunting show, it would be a great contrast to shooting at animals from 800 yards.
PS-Add a second request for more rifle info.
Most people would sooner die than think, in fact, they do so. -B. Russell
3rd request for more rifle info. Powder, patch, lube, etc.
To answer several questions...
I was shooting a 0.490" ball with 0.015" Ox Yoke patch lubed with mink oil tallow from Track of the Wolf. This was pushed by 90 grains of Swiss 3F powder. This chronographs at 2000 fps MV.
The bull had been coming towards me at a slight angle. I shot him in the chest just to the right of his right front leg. The ball passed diagonally through the chest cavity, taking out both lungs, and stopped just under the skin on the far side. The ball had broken into two pieces, which I found side-by-side. Deformation of the two pieces indicates the ball hit something hard that caused it to shear into two pieces. Most likely this was the far side rib. If the ball had broken on hitting the front rib, the two pieces would have diverged as they passed through the chest cavity.
When I shot him, he staggered then turned and stumbled away on three legs. He dropped after 40 yards.
I built the rifle. It has a .50 caliber 38" Getz swamped barrel, Davis double set triggers and a large Siler lock. I had the muzzle coned to ease loading. Metal engraving was done by Greg Dixon of Dixon's Muzzleloading Shop in Kempton, PA. Here are a few pictures.
I am truly happy to see threads like this. Someone who turned some plans and dreams into picutres and memories...not to mention meat and antlers!
Oh, come on! What a thing of beauty! I mean, REALLY, does a firearm get any MORE gorgeous? I think not.
I showed this to my wife, who couldn't care much less about firearms/my "hobby", and she was really struck by the photo of the elk and the rifle. In her words, "that's beautiful!"......
Congrats. Thanks for sharing. That is an inspration for me. My dream hunt is to hunt with a muzzle loader I have built buffalo and a bear
Garbear
I bet he looked as big as an elephant at 40 yards. Good job!
Lotta people die in bed: Dangerous place to be!
Wonderful rifle and write up.
You can miss fast & you can miss a lot, but only hits count.
That patch box is a work of art. Man--calling in an elk, and taking it with a hand crafted .50 flintlock.
You can't get more dedicated than that.
Too much of a good thing is an awesome thing!
The patch box is a copy of one from an original Pennsylfania rifle. I'm pretty sure the reference I used is "Thoughts on the Kentucky rifle in its Golden Age " by Joe Kindig. Unfortunately, I can't remember which rifle it is without the reference in front of me and I'm not at home this weekend.
I inlet the patchbox and made the spring and release. I did not do the metal engraving. That was done by Greg Dixon of Dixon's Muzzleloading Shop in Kempton, PA. Without his work, the patchbox would be just a piece of brass.
BTW, thanks to all for the many, many congratulations and compliments on the rifle.
Nice story, the gun is a piece of art. The round ball is an effective cast boolit great job and great story. Man that rifle really gets me fired up. Got get the 58 cal big bore flinch lock out and shoot.
Man, if I were wearing a hat I'd tip it to you.
I second that!Originally Posted by Junior1942
It just doesn't get much better than what you have done. I hope each and every one of us gets a slice of what you have experienced some day. I believe I will wait until I am older though. It would be a shame to attain such a goal too early. I forgot who said it but the quote I'm thinking of goes something like this:
Pity not the man who died trying to realize his dreams, instead, pity the man who got everything he wanted and had nothing left to strive for.
Congratulations, that looks like the ultimate experience!
Precision in the wrong place is only a placebo.
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