Flintlock pistol hunting loads.

[Hornsmith Brad]

I just puchased a .62 caliber smoothbore flintlock pistol to carry as a back-up/finishing shot during regular flintlock season here in Pennsylvania. I'm shooting 40 grains of FFFG in the barrel with a .610 dia. roundball on an .018 thick patch. The pistol shoots surprisingly well at 30 yds. considering it's a smoothbore. My question is...is this a sufficiant load for humanely taking deer at 30 yards or closer??

 

[mykeal]

Assuming you are close enough and practiced enough with the gun to accurately place your shot, yes. The issue, of course, with a smoothbore pistol, is the working range - not much. 30 yards is stretching it.

 

[Hungry Seagull]

If you can get the velocity up to a suitable speed, once the ball arrives it will do the job. The ball itself is massive enough to shatter bone but need adequate velocity.

Humane kills? You will need to be right in the heart probably. If hit vitals around the top of the heart, it will die after a time.

30 yards is quite a distance.

 

[Hornsmith Brad]

Thanks guys.....30 yards was a bit extreme as far as my shooting distance with this pistol....personally I don't plan on shooting at any deer much farther than 15 yards or so....I was just "sighting it in" at that distance. I figure if it holds a nice group at 30 yards, like it did, than I'd feel comfortable at closer ranges. My main concern was if 40 grains of powder would be enough to produce the killing energy needed to take deer at close range.

 

[Hungry Seagull]

I dont know about the amount of powder on the pistol. But it would take a healthy handful to fill a charge on a Enfield .57 Percussion of the Civil War Era. You can expect to drop a man at about 200 yards or more with it.

Deer is about the same weight wise to a man, maybe a bit larger.

 

[elmerfudd]

40 grains really doesn't sound like much for a .62, especially with a pistol length barrel. I think that before I shot a deer with that, that I'd either want to chronograph it or do some penetration tests with it.

On the other hand, a .61" RB is going to have some bone smashing momentum even if it is going slow. I'd still want to run some tests though. See what it will do to a pile of wet newspapers first or something.

 

[Brett Dixon]

62

Bring it up to the house and we will check it out. Dan has a chron that he will let us use.