Traditions Deerhunter

Just bought a Traditions Deerhunter 50 cal shot it today and 70 gr 3f home grown and caps shot .490 round ball with .015 cotton patch around 2 - 2 1/2 inch group at 50 yards. Thought that was pretty good with my eyes Its a side lock wood stock. Nice looking rifle for what it is. Compact, light and fiber optic sights. Should be a good woods gun. Much easier the pack than my great planes rifle. Sucks getting older Every thing seems to get harder and heavier this gun is light. Any one have one and have any opinions on them? So far i like it.

I know what you mean about the rifles seem to feel heavier when we are older and take it hunting.
Last time I was out Elk hunting.
I wished that I had taken a hack saw with me so I could cut off the barrel and lighten up my rifle

No body here has a traditions deerhunter that they can give there opinion on? Shot mine again the other day and it is very accurate easy to clean. I can adjust the trigger the fiber optic sights are real easy to use. Its not a TC Hawkins thats for sure but what a pleasure to shoot.

I agree that Traditions rifles are not a top of the line gun.
But they do function , and function well for the price you pay for them.
They can be upgraded , but not really that important if you adjust and maintain them well.

The only Traditions gun I have is my 32 Crockett. The little bugger is accurate for sure, but it’s a cap lock and the older I get the bigger the aversion I have to cap locks. I am seriously considering buying a Kibbler in a 32 cal. I like my 36 Hawken that I built, but it is a heavy dude. About 2.5 times that of my Crockett. I know my next will be a 32 and either a Pedersoli Pennsylvania Rifle, or the Kibbler Southern Mtn Rifle.

I built several rifles and pistols that I considered Too heavy.
So I just reshaped the stocks or barrels to lighten them up.
I took up starting to lean towards building more flintlock guns.
The next flintlock I have to build is a .32 Pedersolli "Cub" after I finish that rifle I am trying to build that is both Flintlock and Percussion locks.
I did find a TC flintlock and it is in its way.
I hope it works out like I planed.
The stock is already inletted for the TC percussion lock.
And I think the TC flintlock will drop right in.
I just hope the hole for the nipple drum lines up correctly for the flash hole liner.

I picked one up cheap about 5-6 years ago but only shot about 6 balls thru it so far. It is nice and light.

I don't have a Deerhunter.
But I bought and built a Traditions St Louis Hawken.
I bought it for my wife.
But she preferred the Crockett that I built for her in .32.
The drop in the stock on the .50 St Louis did not fit me well because it wasn't as much drop in the stock as the other rifles that I like.
The St Louis was a percussion.
So I sold the rifle with a fancy customized stock to a guy that teaches kids to shoot muzzleloaders in the 4H organization.
The rifle shot well and didn't take anything to make it work more reliable.
The only reason I fancied up the stock and Lictenburg burned details on the stock was to fancy it up to impress my wife.
She loved it , but likes the lighter Crockett better
And it is a smaller caliber.
I also fancied up the stock and did things like install a patch box plus some brass inlays of Dragonfly's that is one of her favorite details.

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Originally Posted by lead chucker

No body here has a traditions deerhunter that they can give there opinion on? Shot mine again the other day and it is very accurate easy to clean. I can adjust the trigger the fiber optic sights are real easy to use. Its not a TC Hawkins thats for sure but what a pleasure to shoot.

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I'm pretty sure the Traditions sidelocks are the same as the old CVA's and various other Spanish imports. My dad and I put together a "Plainsman Rifle" from a mail order kit in the 80's and it looks identical to an old CVA or current Traditions percussion. Very accurate rifle that has accounted for a number of deer. Questionable ignition with Pyrodex RS, which is all we could find at the time in Podunk KY. With musket caps, a clean ignition path, and Pyrodex P it is about 98% reliable and shoots really well. PRB shoots best in ours so that's what we stick with. I'm switching to real BP when the Pyro runs out, but I will admit it does good with Pyro P. My next smokepole will be a Traditions Kentucky rifle kit that I can put together with my kid.

You are correct about the Traditions being like old CVA's and other Spanish rifles like Jukar.
A friend passed away a couple years ago.
His Widow gave me his Traditions Kentucky Rifle Kit that he had not put together .
It looks like the old Spanish kits that I built back in the '80s.
One of the locks I have from an old Jukar one matches the lock on the Traditions almost perfectly.
Last night I came up with an idea to build that Kentucky Rifle into a Hybrid that shoots both percussion and flints.
Now I just have to find a Used CVA or Jukar flint lock lock that matches this traditions lock.
A used lock is going to be so much cheaper than buying a New Traditions Flintlock.

A friend just bought a new traditions deerhunter flintlock in the blister pack with all the accessories. It came with saboted bullets. We had a he'll of a time getting them loaded! Good thing he brought a rubber mallet because we had to pound them all the way down the barrel?

I've never liked most sabots for that reason.

Harvester crush rib sabots became my friend when I was still shooting with them. Still could only get two shots before cleaning. That was when I went back to full size bullets.

He tried power belts and the loaded easily and grouped well. He called the traditions rep who told him power belts would ruin the gun and to send it back ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lead chucker

Just bought a Traditions Deerhunter 50 cal shot it today and 70 gr 3f home grown and caps shot .490 round ball with .015 cotton patch around 2 - 2 1/2 inch group at 50 yards. Thought that was pretty good with my eyes Its a side lock wood stock. Nice looking rifle for what it is. Compact, light and fiber optic sights. Should be a good woods gun. Much easier the pack than my great planes rifle. Sucks getting older Every thing seems to get harder and heavier this gun is light. Any one have one and have any opinions on them? So far i like it.

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I'm 99% sure the Traditions sidelocks are the same thing as the old CVA's. I have a CVA that me and dad put together from a kit in the 80's and it shoots really well with PRB. Dad has killed a few deer with it no problem. Only thing that sucks is the dogleg ignition path can be iffy with Pyrodex RS. Surprisingly, mine is super reliable with T7 or Pyrodex P. I'm using P until I can order the real stuff. I'm planning to get a Traditions Kentucky Rifle at some point.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lead chucker

No body here has a traditions deerhunter that they can give there opinion on? Shot mine again the other day and it is very accurate easy to clean. I can adjust the trigger the fiber optic sights are real easy to use. Its not a TC Hawkins thats for sure but what a pleasure to shoot.

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I put a Deerhunter kit together maybe 25 years ago. It's nothing amazing, but I love it. It's a no-nonsense gun that I've never had any problems with, and I've had a great deal of fun shooting it over the years. That kit is actually what kicked off my interest in refinishing/restoring. I've found a lot more enjoyment in the simple, basic guns than the high-value stuff. I see Deerhunters come up at auctions frequently, and I'd recommend to anyone that they grab a cheap one if they can. It's a solid grinder, like the Honda Civic of black powder rifles.