Hunting rifles from the 1800's

1899

1899

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Do any of you hunt with a rifle made in the 1800's? I've been wanting to do this for some time but have never gotten around to it. I think it would be a neat nostalgic kick. The oldest firearm I've shot game with was made in 1921, but I think I may set this goal for myself for next year.

Tell us about your rifle, game taken and loads used.
 
why would you trust any thing that old to function correctly, when you really need it, wall hangers nothing more
 
Muzzle loading 12 bore single barrel rifle made by Joesph Egg London in the 1840's used a round ball and 90 grains of 2F powder and shot a buck
 
Grock-co said:
why would you trust any thing that old to function correctly, when you really need it, wall hangers nothing more
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Did you have to take lessons or are you naturally gifted?

To the op, I don't hunt with anything that old but I shoot competitively with an original Rolling Block.
 
1899 said:
Do any of you hunt with a rifle made in the 1800's? I've been wanting to do this for some time but have never gotten around to it. I think it would be a neat nostalgic kick. The oldest firearm I've shot game with was made in 1921, but I think I may set this goal for myself for next year.

Tell us about your rifle, game taken and loads used.
Click to expand...

I was gifted a made in 1899 Winchester 94 in 30-30 with 26" octagonal barrel, it has several problems but I am going to include it in
the Standing Offhand Challenge this weekend and if I (and it) perform satisfactorily, I will consider using it for hunting.
 
Grock-co said:
why would you trust any thing that old to function correctly, when you really need it, wall hangers nothing more
Click to expand...
You're like, 16, right?
I have a Lee Enfield Calvary Carbine chambered in .303Br, built in 1898. It has been sported and the sights had been changed, but it functions flawlessly. Every time I shoulder it, it hits what I aim at.
Loaded with 200 gn bullets, it is my bush-pushing rifle.
Far more reliable than a new rifle, IMHO.

Oh, and since it was better built than ANY battle rifle of today, it'll STILL be functioning flawlessly in 2098.
 
1871 Rem RB 12x44 but chamber rim opened up to accept 50-70 2 deer, Same RB action with 45-70 barrel 2 deer (one of these was a 245 yrd shot), 1895 Marlin (circa 1896) 38-56 one deer, Marlin 1895 45-90 (circa 1895) hunted but no kills "yet". 1886 Win (circa 1890) 45-70 hunted but no kills yet. I have a 50-90 barrel for the RB action as well that may go on a hunt sometime soon. Oh, almost forgot hunted with a Snider .577 one fall but no kills.

And Grock... every deer killed was a "one shot used" kill...not one malfunction in the bunch.
 
I love kick'n it old school but I'm a huge fan of modern metallurgy. I love blackpowder and all the challenges associated with it but personally I would never shoot a gun that was over 100 years old. YMMV though
 
My LSA.co martini henry was born in 1886 and later converted to 303 British in 1899 so it became a martini enfield. It's killed a deer or two and the odd coyote with smokeless factory loads, and god knows what kinda surplus ammo it's digested or what it's been pointed at in its life. I imagine it will be doing the same thing long after I'm gone.
 
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I think it was marstar that had a reproduction double barrel flintlock rifle awhile back ( around 3/4 of a inch bore ) , I thought something like that would be interesting to go hunting with . ( even though it was recently built ) .

a 577 snider also gets the juices flowing :)

the oldest rifle would be a 1902 6.5x55 Swedish mauser , shot a few deer and a moose with it using a 140 grain barnes x bullet and a compressed load of imr 4831 .

does a 45-120 on a ruger #1 with open sights even factor into this discussion ?( pick the 400-450 grain bullet of your choice , fill the case to the top with imr 4831 , tap the case a couple times to settle it out , then seat the bullet )

oldest gun that has been with me while hunting ( not used for hunting ) is a 1873 French mas in 45 schofield . ( 5.5 grains of trail boss behind a 216 grain soft cast hollowpoint ) .
 
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Not to mention BP elephant with ball and larger bores.Antiquated equipment........guess that makes crossbows and long bows ridiculously unsuitable for anything but targets............ Harold
 
Deer stalking rifles back in the mid 1800's were loaded with loads of 2 to 2 1/2 drams so 90 grains of powder with a ball but most shots were short range, yes the guns that went to Africa could be 10 drams or more (273 grains) but again were for short range power. I have a 8 bore rifle I shot with 5 to 6 drams with a .810 ball. You don't have to ask anyone if it went off.
 
Grock-co said:
why would you trust any thing that old to function correctly, when you really need it, wall hangers nothing more
Click to expand...

I've killed stuff with everything from original Sniders to muzzle loading shotguns, and from deer to geese.
My got to upland gun is an 1878 made Westley Richards, and my Snider is stamped 1862.
You really need to learn a bit more about fire arms, if the gun is in good shape it will hunt.
if it isn't, it doesn't matter how new it is!
Cat
 
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