[NativeTexan]

I was messing around with my camera yesterday. The business end of my .50 Hawkin Hunter Carbine is pretty intimidating. I like shooting this thing, pretty accurate and makes a HECK of a cloud. LOL I have hunted with it, but haven't taken anything with it, yet, just paper. It'll put 3 385 grain Minie balls into a couple of inches at 100 yards. It'll do the same with saboted 240 grain Hornady .44mag bullets. I prefer the Minie balls, though, a CHUNK of lead there. I have a mold now that throws a 360 grain Minie that's just as accurate as that 385 grainer.

I'd kinda like to get a modern front loader, inline, and mount a scope on it. I'd hunt more with a scoped one. I'm usually too lazy to hunt with one, though. Rather just load up the .308. LOL

 

[Cimarron]

Well... I've been building and shooting smoke poles since the 70's.

I built some Kentucky kits until I tried to cut my index finger off... always be sure your finger is not directly under the stock when you are trying to gouge out of tenon with a sharp chisel.

The only one I kept was this .45 Pensylvannia which has been my pride and joy

The barrel is 36 inches long with an overall length of 60". It may look a little front heavy, but it is a joy to shoot... and I've taken everything from squirrels to deer.

I'm especially proud of the inlays... all of which I enlayed into the stock and some of the I hand made. It's fun to reflect on what our forefathers had to do to provide food and defend hearth and home with a single shot which takes deliberate practice to load and only allows for a cloud of smoke to retreat under.

I've owned and shot most of the types over the years. My latest is a Traditions Pursuit Pro .50 caliber which is a tremendously accurate gun and I think will easily give 150-200 yards with the right combination. I'll be trying a .357 double sabot over 100 grains Triple Seven.

 

[NativeTexan]

Wow, that's nice! I've shot percussion revolvers since the early 70s, but only got my Hawkin hunter carbine about 1991 or somewhere there. It's fun to shoot, but I get tired of the slow loading and clean up. LOL I take it out now and again just to play. It's an effective gun and I ought to start hunting with it I guess. It groups about 3" at 100 yards with sabot 240 grain .44s or my cast 360 grain Minie. It's got a rather tight 1:24 twist and at the range I have to clean the bore about every other shot. It groups the first three then goes to squat if I don't scrub the bore. LOL