doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com OT-since I couldn't hunt grouse...

Stan: Thank you for that. Now, how does one determine proper fit on a smokepole? I'd guess LOP still matters, as well as comb height, and perhaps even cast?

Stan;
Yes, I know that deer have been well killed with a 45 cal round ball but I still consider a 128 grain round ball on the Light side. The slow twist rate eliminates most anything other than the round ball in this rifle. A .54 cal round ball is around 230 grains, a lot of difference from 128 grains. My "personal limit" for a round ball on deer is about the 180 grain of a .50 caliber, but that's just me. I know they have been killed with .22 LR & I personally know of an 8 or 10 point buck which was killed with a shotgun loaded with a field load of # 7 1/2 shot, but I would like to think I would not have taken the shot, however tempting it may have been. I only have the word of a former co-worker that he did it. He had been hunting hard, though unsuccessful, for deer. The season had just closed & he went "Bird Hunting". His dog in circling a fence row jumped the big buck which came around the fence toward him. He stood still & the wind was apparently with him. As the deer closed in he threw up & shot it & killed it out right on the spot. He was spotted skinning it by an older gentleman who had an ongoing feud with his Grandfather who reported him & almost cost him both his car & his gun, but he managed to squeak out with just a fine & loss of the deer. Note I am not condemning any one for having made an illegal shot, have in the past made a few myself. First goose (A young Blue) I ever killed I had absolutely no license, either state or federal & not sure if season was open or not. He just happened to drop in on a little tobacco field all by his lonesome not far from my house which had been sewn in winter wheat. I picked up my little Richland 707 in 20 gauge with a 1 1/4 oz load of #4 & slipped up a fence row as close as I could get, around 35-40 yds, waited for him to raise his head & pot shot him, hitting the back trigger, full choke barrel. He just rolled over on the ground. I can assure anyone a young Blue properly cooked, which my Wife who had been raised on wild game & fish knew how to do, is delicious eating.
For a number of years the record, typical whitetail deer was killed with a .32WCF (.32-20) but I would not personally choose this caliber as a deer rifle either.
I guess what I am saying is in my developing years I read enough of The Old Man & the Boy by Robert Rurak that I adopted his philosophy of "Use Enough Gun". I simply do not like to feel I may be under gunned for the game I am hunting.

Something like this from Allen Martin?

http://www.allenmartinrifles.net/gallery-of-guns/schimmel-rifle-lehigh-valley/

or this?

http://www.allenmartinrifles.net/gallery-of-guns-2/265-2/

Or maybe this?

http://www.natemckenzie.com/gun-galleries/southern-rifles/


Or a Tennessee Mountain or Soddy Daisy from Jack DuPrey?

http://contemporarymakers.blogspot.com/2015/06/jack-duprey-rifle-from-gary-ganas.html

Treb: Many thanks for the above. An apt comparison.

I now have additional questions about what I saw and liked about that rifle last summer. Tennessee Valley Muzzleloading makes a Tennessee Rifle model that looks very close (at least to my eye) in it's lines and appointments (ie. similar drop and stock shape) to that really exceptional one I held and enjoyed at Dixon's. Evidently, it can even be built as a "Po-boy".

Where does one go to get more information about such rifles? The more I learn about them the less I seem to actually know.

Hi Lloyd,

Give them a call.

http://www.tennesseevalleymuzzleloading.com/

Tell them you want this bad boy!!!

http://www.tennesseevalleymuzzleloading.com/tennessee-rifle

or

http://www.tennesseevalleymuzzleloading.com/southern-rifle

Delivered right to your door.

They're great people to deal with. And the girls that work there are as sweet as molasses.

That Tennessee Rifle looks more like mine than any of the others, except that they all have more furniture than mine. Mine has no buttplate at all.

Lloyd, the best way to determine fit is just by trying different rifles. One with a "hooked" buttplate will feel different from one without. IMO, rifle fit is much less important than shotgun fit, within reason. You have sights which align you properly, as long as you don't have to be a contortionist to line them up. Also, remember that the design of nearly all m/l long rifles requires them to be shot best offhand, or at least off a set of cross-sticks. I have a couple of "lightweight" benchrest m/l rifles (14 lbs.), but they require a pretty high sandbag setup to shoot right. They're fine with X-sticks.

Many of the TN Rifles had a flat bottomed hole in the right side of the stock back in the area where a patch box would be fitted. This hole was normally packed with patch lube, such as a mixture of Beeswax & Bear Grease.

Many experienced ML'ers say one should Never Ever put any petroleum product down the bore of a black powder gun. It will produce a gum which makes cleaning harder. Beeswax, animal fats etc can actually be used to Season a bore much like seasoning a cast iron skillet. Some fats such as hog lard will turn rancid fairly quick. Bear Grease was supposed to be good, never had any to try, also Mutton Tallow is supposed to be one of the best when mixed 50-50 with beeswax.

There are now several modern products available which apply this principal, Wonder Lube is one which comes to mind off hand, but there are some other brands available. You want to get the barrel as hot as you can with boiling water, let it quickly dry out & then swab on a good coat of the lube down the bore. Let set about a day, then repeat the process. After this it should clean easier & give it a coat of lube after cleaning each time.