Hunting with Cap and Ball

[James Hall]

Would any of you hunt with something like an 1851 Navy or 1858 Remington?

[Montana Slim]

Yes, I've shot rabbits and squirrels with round ball loads....certainly adequate for small game....but the models you mention would be marginal at best for larger game, except at point-blank range. Certainly not legal for deer in MY state.

A heavily loaded Dragoon would likely be capable of taking larger game.

Slim

[hellgate]

In my college days I used my '61 Navy 36 for jackrabbits, close ground squirrels, rattlesnakes and when trapping  nutria.

[Tsalagidave]

I've bopped a few Jacks with a 51 Navy. I don't recall using it to shoot anything else. I have a .54 plains rifle and a 20ga fowler that I use for BP hunting.  I suppose a Dragoon  is powerful enough to pistol hunt with but I've never tried it.

-Dave

[Noz]

It is so easy to get a pistol with a LOT more punch than the cap and balls that it would be foolish to not use the more modern guns.

[James Hall]

So I guess deer hunting is out of the question.....LOL!

[Cherokee Bob]

I've shot gators as big as nine feet long with a 1858 Remington New Army 44 with no problem as long as I could keep my powder dry.  To take down a deer a rifle will probably be needed.  The pistols only take around 20 grains of powder.  A long rifle takes around 50 or more grains of powder.  That extra punch makes a BIG difference.  I've shot 200 plus pound hogs and dispatched them easily with a .45 caliber cap and ball Kentucky rifle.  The pistols sometimes didn't even slow'em down.  PS: To kill big gators with the New Army takes a head shot to the base of the spine.

[wildman1]

How about a C&B revolver with 60g 3f and a .454 RB?  Would that do it?  50g gives me a little over 1050 fps. WM

[Cherokee Bob]

How about a C&B revolver with 60g 3f and a .454 RB?  Would that do it?  50g gives me a little over 1050 fps. WM

60g of 3f in a pistol???

A .45-70 is a .45 cal (maybe 300g bullet) with 70g of BP.  it pushes speed to >2000 fps.

[wildman1]

60g of 3f in a pistol???

A .45-70 is a .45 cal (maybe 300g bullet) with 70g of BP.  it pushes speed to >2000 fps.

Walkers, got two of them.  Have shot them with 50g haven't with 60g yet. 50g 2f gave me 1058 fps with a .454 RB. WM

[rickk]

It is certainly possible to take a deer with an 1858, but i think that if one has to ask, then one needs to start with something much different.

Leaving bleeding deer in the woods is not my idea of a good time. Bigger is always better.

[Maj.Bull S. Hitter]

Google it. You will find that if you stay within the limitations of the weapon you are using even a rock can kill first round . Shot placement and keeping it close, with as much powder as can fit in the chamber will do it .
Also . Check out the article in "The Backwoodsman" by Frank Twist,"Cap and Ball Revolver Ballistics" .Not saying to do as Frank has,just to check it out.

[Pulp]

I know of a feller who uses a '60 for deer hunting, he's never lost one yet.  But he hunts an apple orchard and only takes very close range shots. 

I've carried my Walker during ML season, but have never fired it at a deer.  If a deer came within 10 yards of my tree stand, I'd probably take a shot with it.

[Jamie]

Robert T. Shimek wrote about cap and ball revolver hunting in an old (1989 page 124) article in the Guns and Ammo Annual.  It would be a good resource to use if you're thinking about hunting with one.  He is pictured with a spike buck he had taken, holding a Walker replica with which he took it. Additional pictures show a woodchuck and lots of various guns, targets, and field position suggestions. His comments are extremely gung-ho and extremely limiting at the same time.  Self imposed and realistic limits are the absolute.  If you couldn't quite resist taking a 50 yard quartering shot at a big buck, no matter the cap and ball capacity or bullet diameter, you should be the target instead of the deer.  Chucks, rabbits, squirrels, foxes and coyotes at CLOSE range are all good targets in his opinion.  What's close?  Ten to 35 yards with small game.  I can shoot my Pietta Remingtion '58 as well as any big bore handgun I've got out to about 20 yards, and wouldn't be afraid to "interact" with any small game animal I'd hunt with any handgun out to that limit personally.  Shimek suggests the following: 
Non-dangerous thin-skinned animals up through small whitetail size - say 135 maximum - constitute fine targets for the skilled and cool caplocker using a 1,000-fps .45.  There are restrictions, however:  shot should be from an angle that ensures holing of both lungs and an exit wound; range should be sub-40 yards no matter how accurate shooter and gun are; raking forward shots and shots which might strike the near shoulder should not be attempted.  Yes, this does mandate the "picturebook shot" that can be so hard to engineer in the real world..."
Note the word MANDATE in the last sentence.  There are other articles I've read on hunting with caplocks - Micheal Hovey Smith does a fair amount and it's chronicled in various places including The Backwoodsman magazine - if you aren't getting that magazine, WHY THE HECK NOT!!?  One thing that is clear on every reasonable article I've read is that if you are going to do it (no matter the game) practice is NOT optional, it is required, load selection is critical, and a casual attitude MUST be left at home.
The most I've done so far is a woodchuck.  It was particularly satisfying.  It was also about 10 feet.
Jamie

[Blackfoot]

I took a Whitetail with a '58 Remington.  I used it from a blind that was set up for bow hunting.  The shot was taken at about 25 yards.  I used a conical bullet with a full  charge of 777.

Blackfoot

[Dick Dastardly]

A customer of mine has a .50 Cal. C&B ROA.  It has a five shot cylinder.  He asks me if this gun would "take" dangerous North American game.  I answer, take along a good backup partner with a 12ga.

Whatever happens after the chunk of lead leaves the barrel is pure physics.  If you intend to hunt, and humanely kill, wild game, you owe it to yourself and the quarry to deliver a quick kill.  We are meat eaters and have risen to the top of the food pile.  That doesn't absolve us from being as humane as possible.

Never doubt the shot that hits outside the "kill" zone.  There's lots of room around your beast.  Shot placement is your primary objective when the game is in your sights.  Shoot well.  Quick kill.  Take to bag and enjoy them well.  Shame on you if you kill and trash.  When that happens, you are less than trash.

DD-DLoS

[hawkeye2]

DD that was very well put.  Your second paragraph should be printed on a business size card and everyone should read it every morning before they step foot in the woods.

[Noz]

When I desire to hunt with a handgun i strap on a 22 revolver for squirrels and rabbits, my Ruger Super Black Hawk Hunter Bisley in 41 mag for everything else. I load 175 gr jacketed hollow points up to 1800+ fps with W296 or 260 wide meplat LBT bullets over all the W296 I can get in the case depending on whether I'm looking for small deer/coyotes or wild hogs. The latter load would be perfect for black bear.

[cpt dan blodgett]

60g of 3f in a pistol???

A .45-70 is a .45 cal (maybe 300g bullet) with 70g of BP.  it pushes speed to >2000 fps.

Was a time when the Walker was the most powerful handgun in the whole world and would blow your head clean off.

Then they invented the 357 magnum

[Percussion Pete]

Keep that 58 in your holster, and buy a Hawken.

The deer will be happier not being wounded.