Flintlock elk!

[Flintlock Hokie]

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. :D

http://home.comcast.net/~flintlock.50/pwpimages/flintlock%20elk.JPG

[michael30.06]

Very well done.

[222]

Way to go what cal. did you use.

[PS Paul]

Oh, man! That is SPECTACULAR!!! Good work!

[mainiac]

Nice job,,,,,,now tell us about the rifle,,what is it...who made it....

Did the ball pass threw or stop in the body?

[OBXPilgrim]

Nice. Not just an elk, a nice elk. I'd be.pumped. And no super hot rod, earsplittinloudenboomer to boot.

[richhodg66]

That's awesome! Congratulations!

[Geraldo]

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.

[Junior1942]

3rd request for more rifle info. Powder, patch, lube, etc.

[Flintlock Hokie]

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.

http://home.comcast.net/~flintlock.50/pwpimages/IMG_0951.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~flintlock.50/pwpimages/IMG_0955.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~flintlock.50/pwpimages/IMG_0965.JPG http://home.comcast.net/~flintlock.50/pwpimages/IMG_0953.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~flintlock.50/pwpimages/IMG_0952.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~flintlock.50/pwpimages/IMG_0967.jpg

[bowfin]

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!

[PS Paul]

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!"......

[garbear]

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

[Suo Gan]

I bet he looked as big as an elephant at 40 yards. Good job!

[EMC45]

Wonderful rifle and write up.

[John in WI]

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.

[Flintlock Hokie]

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.

[Ramjet-SS]

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.

[Junior1942]

Man, if I were wearing a hat I'd tip it to you.

[MBTcustom]

Man, if I were wearing a hat I'd tip it to you.

I second that!
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!

[swheeler]

FH; You da man! Nice bull and beautiful rifle, way to go.

[TCLouis]

Now that is the way to collect an elk

[bronte454]

Awesome story , hunt , rifle , elk . Congradulations , just curious , how many grains did that ball initially weigh

[Whiterabbit]

You must be quite young, cause I've seen that smile before. Always on a young chap.

[Flintlock Hokie]

just curious , how many grains did that ball initially weigh

Ball weighed 175 grains initially. It retained 94% of its weight (total of two pieces).


You must be quite young, cause I've seen that smile before. Always on a young chap.

"Young chap"? I think so. I'll be 64 in November.

[fishnbob]

Great pictures and story. It belongs in a deserving magazine for all to enjoy. A fine, fine rifle. I can only imagine the satisfaction of building, shooting and harvesting with a quality firearm like that. Kudos for selecting the flintlock and being obviously proficient with it. I am amazed at one's ability to put fire in the hole and hold steady for the big boom.
BTW, are you a real Hokie?

[captaint]

FH - Beautiful job... The rifle and the Elk. This is the stuff of dreams - for most of us, I think. enjoy Mike

[Flintlock Hokie]

BTW, are you a real Hokie?

Yes, I am a real Hokie. BSChE class of 70, MSChE 72 :-D

[Flintlock Hokie]

Great pictures and story. It belongs in a deserving magazine for all to enjoy.

I'll probably send the story with pictures to Eastman's Hunting Journal. Their focus is mostly public land do-it-yourself hunts for impressive trophies, but maybe the uniqueness of taking an elk with traditional flintlock will catch their interest. Any other magazine ideas?

If EHJ isn't interested, my son wants to publish it on his Facebook site: Leave Your Legacy Outdoors. He's just getting it started. Check it out.

Interestingly, just this week a show on Versus channel caught my attention. A guy was hunting elk in New Mexico with a muzzleloader. It turns out he was using "The Ultimate Muzzleloader" reported to be effective to 500 yards. He took his bull at 309 yards. Yeah, you load it from the front, but other than that...

[Fishman]

That is simply awesome.