Vintage Hunting with the 1873

[Rowdy Fulcher]

Howdy
Well I finally got my rifle out and shot it . Hey it still works . She still prints a nice group at 50 yards . I even broke out my Cimarron 44wcf and shot a nice group at 15 yards . This rifle pistol combo works Great .

[Rowdy Fulcher]

Howdy
Today I went to my Hunting camp . The weather is HOT , it sure doesn't feel like Hunting season . I was checking my stands and blind . I wish the Deer was as thick as the mosquitoes . Rifle season will be here in a month . I sure hope it's cooler then . Has anyone done any Scouting ?

[Jake C]

Howdy all,

Rowdy, just wanted to say thanks for this thread - it's been fun and informative reading. I'm going hunting with my father & step-brother next week, and this thread inspired me to take my Uberti 1873 sporting rifle in .44-40. I figured I'd rather take my first deer with a rifle that is truly special to me than borrow a gun. Loading up cartridges now. Full charge of 3F Olde Eynesford under a 200 grain big lube bullet.

Not expecting to have any luck, but I'm very excited for the experience and the chance to do things 'Old School.'

[Rowdy Fulcher]

Jake
Good luck and Happy Hunting . I killed a 8 point Buck yesterday . Nice Deer but no monster . I can't get my pictures to down load ? Oh well I've got all winter to figure it out . I think you will love Hunting with your 73 . The  44wcf will do a great job good luck .

[Sarge]

Rowdy,
OUTSTANDING!
You gotta give more than than, detail wise. Please!
Distance, what bullet, hit location, how much penetration?

[Jake C]

Howdy all,

Unfortunately, no luck. There were deer about but none came by our (my family's) stands. That aside, it was a nice little trip, and I think I've been bit by the bug. I'll look into hunting here in good 'ol Kentucky next season; the in-laws have plenty of farmland and they saw a ton of deer on the same morning I was hunting, so maybe I'll have better luck up here.

Hope you all had successful hunts!

[Bryan Austin]

Rowdy,
Thank you for the update on the bullet performance.

Savvy Jack recently tested.44-40 original bullet (pure lead) and a 75/1 lead tin mix over b.p. in ballistic gelatin.
Interesting!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0cfvsruBuQ&feature=player_embedded

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRPrCl02R7E&feature=player_embedded

http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/team-44-40/148227-clear-ballistics-gel-44-40-a.html

w44wcf

I have the videos back up on youtube but have different address now.

[Rowdy Fulcher]

howdy
This is the 2018 Deer .

[Bryan Austin]

NICE!!!!!!

[Rowdy Fulcher]

Howdy
Here is another picture of my buck . We have been feasting on Deer steaks and they are Excellent .

[Coffinmaker]

Some time back, when I was hanging around and hunting in Montana, a fella dropped a real big buck.  Put his rifle across the rack for the obligatory photo documentation.  All of a sudden the buck shook his self, jumped up and ran off with the rifle.  Took 'im three days to find the rifle.  Never found the buck. Least wise that was the story.  Must have been some fun!!

[Baltimore Ed]

Kind of an anachronism there with your 1873 next to your four wheeler. Nice buck.

[Rowdy Fulcher]

Ed
I gave up dragging (by hand ) Deer out of the woods 25 years ago . That ole 4 wheeler makes getting your Deer out of the  woods easy work compared to hand dragging .

[Oregon Bill]

Rowdy, my hand dragging and/or packing out days are over. Absent a mule, an ATV is an elegant solution.

[Rowdy Fulcher]

Bill
Your right hand dragging a Deer is an Excellent way to have a Heart attack . The farm that I hunt on is a mile off the pavement .   on the wet years I use the 4 wheeler to minimize the damage to the dirt road . Now if you shot a nice Buck and was hand dragging  all the way up to the vehicle ?
Well that wouldn't be healthy or smart .Can't wait for Deer season .

[Baltimore Ed]

My hunting bud had permission to hunt the huge fields across from his house so his hunt involved riding his bicycle down the field roads, stopping every so often to glass the soybean fields. He was meat hunting not horn hunting so whenever a curious buck would stick his head up to figure out what that thing on the field road was my bud would lay it down with his trusty .243. Drag the deer to the road, pedal back to the house unlocking the gate and drive his El Camino to the deer, load up, drive back home and process the deer. His wife made the best tenderloin biscuits.  Mmmmmm.

[shrapnel]

Here are a few critters taken with a few 1873's...

[Coal Creek Griff]

Hey, Shrapnel, am I seeing a .22 '73 there?

CC Griff

[shrapnel]

Yes, it is a 22 Long and has a shiny bore, shoots great...

[Rowdy Fulcher]

Shrapnel
Thanks for posting the pictures . You always post excellent pictures .