Elk/black powder

[furtaker]

I'm sure this has been asked before but I didn't find anything in the search box. What's your guys opinion on the best black powder rifle for elk hunting(caliber, brand, cleaning, accuracy). Any advice would be a great help as I have never owned a smoke pull before!

Thanks!!!

 

[4V50 Gary]

58 caliber minie rifle, preferably an Enfield (.577 backed by 65 grains FF). Practice out to 500 yards but they'll go longer and were the choice for the Confederate sharp shooters.

 

[spitpatch]

Elk

To answer a question with a question are you wanting a modern inline or a traditional side lock? If the traditional is your choice factory or custom rifle. Myself I would not own a inline. For elk my choice would be a Lyman great plains with the hunter barrel just for the hunt. Then if interested in some club matches get the one in 60" barrel. Some of my hard core friends hunt with a flintlock. I have never killed anything bigger than a mule deer. But I am thinking for elk a .54 would be the choice of cal. Hope this helps.

 

[furtaker]

spitpatch,

Thanks for your reply. I was thinking inline, but i'm curious why you are against owning one?

Thanks!!

 

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

I'm sure we all have our preference's. But as I recall the T/C Big Bore 58-cal was designated as T/Cs answer as a elk rifle. Kind of unusual I thought at the time. As T/C also sold some pretty decent inlines at that same time. But none of their Inlines were suggested as a proper elk hunting weapon. Only the traditional model Big Bore was. As I remember.
Perhaps in this elk circumstance "bigger is better." So my vote goes to the Big Bore or the Enfield as proper elk harvesting weapons. If you've ever held any 58 cal projectile in your hand you'd be impressed. I know I was the first time I held T/Cs 58 cal 560 gr. Maxi Hunter in the palm of my hand. What a nightmare piece of lead for an elk that thing is.

 

[Old Stony]

Some of us old guys hunt for the experience and not just necessarily for the meat...that's a side benefit. Somehow using the zip guns don't reflect the same experience. Dropping some pellets down the barrel of a scoped rifle just isn't the same.
If you spend some time with a traditional muzzleloader you will grow to love them. You can build your own..if you like..cast your own balls or bullets..cut up your own pillowticking...experiment with your own patch lube. It becomes a part of you in the end as you bring the whole experience together to harvest an animal. A real muzzleloader is a joy to be proud of....a zip gun is...well...just a thing to go bang with no soul.

 

[Captchee]

My choice has been the 54 in full stock an 42 inch barrel . Though I have killed elk with 50 cal and much smaller .
I took a nice cow one year with my 62 cal smoothbore .
58 is a good choice but normally production gun wise , they are just to heavy barreled for my liking .
Myself I hunt with a flintlock . But my wife uses a 50 caliber cap lock and just fine

As to range ?? That depends a lot on you , your area and how you hunt .
Around here . Your lucky if you get a shot that’s over a 100 yards . Most times the elk are under 50 . Well unless you want to hunt from a ridge top and shoot across canyons and such .
Myself I have never been one to do that . One way or another your going to have to go over to where you shot . Elk are mighty big animals and nothing sucks more then to get over there , look back at where you have to go . Then end up questioning your sanctity as to why you took the shot to begin with .

Now this is just my opinion based on growing up in a family that hunted truly for sustenance as much as we did enjoyment of the hunt .
If your truly a substance hunter , there isn’t much reasoning in using a BP rifle in the first place

 

[spitpatch]

When I see the term smoke pole traditional long rifle comes to mind. Most that shoot inlines don't use real black anyway. Old Stoney said it best.

 

[spitpatch]

Sorry for the photo not the one I wanted. I have never been able to post pics. When I finally did wrong one. Not trying again.

 

[Hawg]

The .58 Enfield is a good choice but a little long. The Mississippi Rifle or Zouave are both .58's with shorter barrels. A .54 or .58 half stock would be good choices. If I had to use an inline I'd stay at home and eat Ramen noodles.

 

[Pahoo]

Your money, your call ...

What's your guys opinion on the best black powder rifle for elk hunting(caliber, brand, cleaning, accuracy).

The best, is always subjective and although it was not your intent, post like this always bring out folks "opinions", that often turn into a spitting-contest. The push-back seldom comes from the inliners and more often from the traditionalists. Personally, the only relationship between the two types, is that you load both, from the muzzle. ....
Your use of the term, "smoke-pole" is usually associated with the traditionals as well "Side-Cockers" and "Rock-Crushers". ....

On both types, there are many good choices. The Lyman Great Plaines is at the top three, for Side-Locks. As for "In-Lines" there are just too many to list and some can get fairly pricey.
Last week, I held two Austin & Hallecks; one was a Sidelock and the other an in-line. Even though the In-line will never touch my heart, I see no dis-loyalty in it's selection. .....

Enjoy and;
Be Safe !!!

 

[mehavey]

This:

I've used down to 45 patched ball and up through an original `61 Springfield/58cal, (... even using a ParkerHale Musketoon in the Gila wilderness back when I was a real person). But the best combination of terminal impact, accuracy, portability, sighting precision and -- admit it -- "style" for Western big game is what you see above.

 

[Wyosmith]

Just a thought;
Maybe we are asking the wrong question.
What is the best weapon to hunt elk with?
Or--- What is the best stone tipped spear to hunt elk with?
You see the "best weapon" is one that is powerful, accurate and 100% reliable under ANY condition. It's also extremely user friendly.
Now we ask about such a weapon that used black powder and loads from the muzzle?
It seems to me that if we are hunting in a season designated for muzzleloaders and black powder, the 1st question falls apart. The reason armies of the world today don't use muzzleloaders is that they are NOT the "best weapons" available.

Is not the reason for such seasons to accept the extra challenge?

In archery season we accept the limitations on weaponry. And of course the companies that make archery equipment make “better and better” bows and arrows, but loose sight 100% (on purpose I believe) of what archery season was made for.

So asking what is “best” is maybe the wrong prospective. I think the first and most important focus was and should be to make a more satisfying hunt and kill using an old fashioned weapon, and not just a legal way to by-pass the intent of the law and the seasons made for old fashioned weapons.

In Wyoming I hunt with a flintlock and I always do it in the regular season along side of many hunters shooting modern weapons and scopes. Is that “wrong”? I don’t think so, but it’s not wrong to hunt with a 300 mag either. It’s just a personal choice and if a hunter is ethical, any weapon that is up to the task is fine if the man or woman using it is hunting ethically.

I disagree with anyone hunting with anything in a way that is unsafe, or in a way that is more likely to wound an animal than to kill it cleanly. I have killed a few animals with a long bow and one deer with a recurve. All with wood arrows.
I am not a good archer, so I refused to shoot past 25 yards.

I have hunted MANY times with bow and arrow and I have killed only a FEW deer, one elk and one antelope.
But I know MY limitations and I accept them when I hunt with such equipment. If I need to fill the freezer and meat is more important than fun, I take my 270 or my 6.8SPC and I get the job done in a lot less time.

Looking for “the best bow” or “the best muzzleloader" usually means that someone is looking for a way to increase the range of the weapon. In many cases, that can be done too.

But nothing can be done to a muzzleloader to make it shoot alongside a 300 magnum for range and accuracy. So if you don’t want to hunt in a way that makes you hunt better, and get closer, why don’t we just get the 300 magnum?

Here is the muzzleloader I think is “the best" for me to hunt with.





I have killed deer, elk, moose and antelope with it. It is satisfying to me. If I kill with my 270 I can enjoy myself too, but not as much as when I kill with my flintlock or my wood long bow.

But that’s just me
Your mileage may vary.

 

[Hawg]

That's a beautiful Isacc Haines.

 

[Captchee]

I think Steve pretty much said it .
I would have to disagree with the comment about the traditional guys normally being they ones to have an issue . I go to a lot of modern muzzle loading webs sites and would have to say I see it more as a 50 /50 type of thing .
While I would agree that a lot of time it’s the more traditional minded folks that speak up . But at the same time its often from being , so to say , poked with a stick time and time again ..

But past all that . As I said growing up we hunted mostly for sustenance . We did not eat domesticated animals . As such our pantry was full of birds , fish and big game year around . Thankfully or unfortunately , depending on how you want to look at it . that’s not the case today . I hunt because I want to. Sometimes I take game and other times I pass them up .
Like steve I also hunt with my flintlock during the general any weapons season .
I don’t feel handicapped in any way by doing that . My rifle is accurate, very consistent in ignition as long as I do my part , easily maneuvered and more then adequate to take elk and moose within the ranges we normally take them here .

Let me say also that while I have owned center fire rifles of larger calibers , growing up the largest caliber rifle we had was my fathers 6.5 . The rest of the family used 30.30’s or at times 22s and yes they took big game just as quickly . In fact the first elk I ever killed was with a 22 .
So I don’t feel hampered in any way with by 54
But if a person is truly a substance hunter a muzzleloader frankly would be a pretty poor choice unless you were somehow confined to use them

 

[Hellgate]

I killed my cow elk with an Enfield Musketoon using 90grs FFg under a Lyman 577611 heavy skirted 530 gr minie. It shot all the way through both shoulder blades, nicked the spine and off into the woods. I would recommend either the Musketoon if in brushy country or the 2 band Enfield if a longer sight radius is wanted.

 

[4V50 Gary]

Bravo Hellgate. I don't see any advantage of an inline over a minie gun. Range and hitting power with those Civil War replicas outshines inlines.

 

[highbrow]

58 cal round ball works well