What to buy????

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Mon, 2011-04-18 19:15

#11

sabotloader

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Joined: 04/18/2011

Posts: 14

What to buy?

arrowflipper wrote:

Years ago I decided that I NEEDED to start hunting with a muzzle-loader. I talked my wife into buying me a CVA 50 cal. kit. (the only gun she has bought me in 45 years of marriage) I put the rifle together very carefully and it turned out great. Wasn't all that great of a shooter, but hey, I didn't know the difference. Less than a year later, we were broken into and that rifle was stolen, just one week before the black powder season opened.

A few years later I went out and got myself a Lyman Great Plains kit. ( I taught wood shop at the time) I put that one together and it turned out beautiful. I hunted with it and took an elk and some deer. I still have that rifle today, but it's about 20 feet long and very, very heavy. Not what I would call a rifle to haul around all day while climbing hills.

I picked up a Thompson Hawkin in 50 cal. Don't remember if I ever took it hunting but ended up giving it to my grandsons.

That really is a very good muzzleloader... if the kids have they should be happy campers...

Quote:

Which brings me to today..... if I were to go out and pick myself up a new black powder rifle, what should I get?

Were it myself I would look very hard at a Knight DISC Extreme... There new ones coming out next month, but if you check the auction sights, you can find one at a very resonable price. I would suggest you get the DISC Extreme, not an Original DISC, I would also suggest a Stainless steel model, uch easier to take care and a more resistant to rust. Plus these guns are extremely accurate, and built tough as a tank.

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Do I buy "in line"?

Inlines are legal in Idaho and if you are centerfire shooter you will find them very easy to adapt to. Under the Idaho rules, actually the rules for Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, There really is not a big advantage of the inline over a traditional sidehammer. So the choice is yours to make.

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Do I go with a long barrel or short one?

Barrel length on the newer ML's is pretty standard to 26 - 27", although you can find some older percusion models that have a 24". I prefer the 26" for the hunting that I do in north Idaho.

Why? I believe the 26" offers just the right length to get the most out of my loose powder load and still have the luxury of the 26" for longer range accuracy.</p> <p>[quote] What caliber?  Again I would suggest a 50 cal as the are far more bullet options available for that caliber.</p> <p>[quote wrote:

Synthetic or wood?

Easy one for me... well it is now... For years I always hunted with rifles with wood stocks... but it did not take me long to figure out that composite stocks are much more durable and easier to take care of than wood. And you know how bad Idaho's hunting weather can get at times. The synthetic (composite) stock will not move as much as wood stocks...

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So many questions...... and they all need answers. Help me, help me, help me. I'm just a guy that flings arrows so how would I know?

You might take a look at this thread that I just put up...

http://www.biggamehunt.net/forum/oregon-territory-legal-oregon-washington-idaho-knight-disc

Fri, 2011-04-22 13:52

#12

arrowflipper

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Joined: 01/03/2011

Posts: 570

thanks

Thanks for a great reply.... full of good information. I will certainly look at that rifle. Where in Idaho do you hunt? I started my hunting just outside Kendrick about 50 years ago. Did some elk hunting on the Idaho - Montana border. Owned some land just outside Sagle. You must be in the neighborhood somewhere.

Anyway, thanks for the great post and information.

arrowflipper

Fri, 2011-04-22 17:11

#13

sabotloader

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Joined: 04/18/2011

Posts: 14

Hunting Idaho

arrowflipper wrote:

Anyway, thanks for the great post and information.

arrowflipper

I am in Moscow and hunt pretty close to home - pretty much in the Palouse River Drainage ( I worked for the Forest Service there for 28 years so I knw the area fairly well) occasionally I make it over the Elk River area and the N.FK. of the Clearwater Drainage....

Picked this girl up in 2008

Sat, 2011-04-23 12:25

#14

arrowflipper

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Joined: 01/03/2011

Posts: 570

Great pictures

Hey Sabotloader, thanks for the great pictures. Very pretty girl you got there. And I'm guessing she was mighty fine table fare. I used to hunt just out of Deary a very long time ago. Did a heap of learning on how whitetails were smarter than I was. Did way more learning than harvesting. I went to the fair a lot of times in Moscow as a kid. Took my oldest grandson there this past summer as he had heard it was one of the best places in America to live. He got that from a sporting magazine. He's in the service and is looking..... and wondering how he would make a living in Moscow.

Can you use a scope on the black powder rifle in Idaho? We can't use one here in Washington. I wish we could. I sure like the looks of your rifle though.

Thanks for the reply. I'm headed off turkey huntin this next weekend. My son, also in the service, is flying out from Maryland to hunt with me. My old huntin partner is also going and is contemplating using his black powder scattergun. I want to use my bow but haven't decided if I will or not.

Sat, 2011-04-23 18:43

#15

sabotloader

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Joined: 04/18/2011

Posts: 14

Turkey hunt.. but know turkeys

arrowflipper wrote:

I am originally from Boise, got out of the Navy came up to go to school and never left, I really like it up here in northern Idaho.

Quote:

Can you use a scope on the black powder rifle in Idaho? We can't use one here in Washington. I wish we could. I sure like the looks of your rifle though.

Can not use scopes in the ML season, but I hunt all year now with a ML, regular rifle season and ML season. Haven't shot a centerfire in years....

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I went out yesterday on a Turkey excursion... you can see we are still having winter here, but I was determined to go and get a walk in... Not a sign or sound of a turkey, but I did find about 30 head of elk, 15-20 whitetail deer and one Ring Neck Pheasent... he has no idea how close he was to meeting disaster... but I fought back the urge...