[Blue Bird]

Anyone going to be turkey hunting this year with a flintlock?

One reason I built my smooth bore was in the hopes of using it on at least one turkey hunt. I've already hunted pheasants and squirrels with it, and even though I wasn't successful yet, I had a blast, as I did get to shoot it while afield. I'd love to drop a turkey with it.

 

[Matt / PA]

Everyday............ It's thoughts of toting this around in the spring that will keep me from going crazy the next couple months!

 

[mauser06]

I will be toting the flinter! I kinda have a wild hair wanting to try one with the bow and no blind too...





I have a Colerain turkey barrel as does Matt. It is a 62cal that tapers to somewhere around 58cal the last few inches acting like a choke of sorts...Matt and I have compared a bunch of patterns...I know I'm "stuck" with patterns similar to his 30yd pattern he posted...Not a bad pattern for a flintlock..I figure I have a 35yd range and I'm very happy with that. 40 seems to open up a lot..


Last year I had a mishap...Shot it the day I got it and it went off like a champ...Cleaned and went hunting the next morning and called a big ole strutter into 15yds and the gun clicked like 12 times lol. Pan never ignited. Flint looked great..But she wasn't sparking...Knapped the flint and she went off like a champ....Lesson learned lol. After that I shot one with the 870..I was in big woods and it was supposed to rain...Which it did drizzle and then rained after I was at the truck...As you can see, I shot my 2nd bird with the flinter in the rain...Big confidence booster and lesson learned...Keep the lock dry and she's gunna go off...Gotta quit using modern guns as a crutch and making excuses lol.


I wanted to take mine squirrel hunting yesterday but came down with the flu...Gotta check to book... Maybe next week if they are still in..One of my rut stands has entirely too many squirrels...I need to think them out a bit!

 

[Blue Bird]

Man, those are some beautiful guns there fellas. Mine looks like a wheel off of Fred Flintstones car as compared to those.....But it does shoot. I'm going to try some heavier loads in it once it gets warm. I'm partial to #6 shot so am looking forward to working up some loads. A friend of mine has been successful using 90 grains of 2fg and 1 3/8 oz of #6. I may try that load as well.

 

[mauser06]

I'm running nickel plated #6 shot in mine too...Matt runs nickel plate 5.5s I believe.

The options for was combinations, buffer, shot, powder etc etc is endless. Seems mine likes a lot of wool cusion wads and buffer. I've bumped it up to a stack of 5. 1/16" cusion wads and commercial buffer to the point the measurer is full and there's no voids...2oz worth...

Kind of a pain to load...And I have to come up with some kind of reload system..But not usually a concern while turkey hunting...

With the Colerain turkey barrel I can't run a plastic was like a smoothbore or jugged barrel could..

I've tried a few combos...So far that's where I am...Have to look at the patterns again soon and re-fire a few and decide what to use...

 

[wstrouse]

This thread is going to torture me. I need to move some modern guns before I can even order my kit. A smooth bore sounds like a all around fun gun to own.

 

[Blue Bird]

I kept things very simple with my loads. I figured out a way to make up speed loads out of the type of paper from a Hemmings motor news, which holds shot and powder. I use the paper itself for the wadding. I simply crumple up a wad of paper, run it home, tamp it flat, then pour the lead and insert another crumpled wad as an over shot card. It works fairly well, and the shot shoots right through the paper, leaving no doughnut holes in the pattern. I know historically similar methods were used , not that I care to be totally historically correct mind. I wanted a way to reload as fast as possible while pheasant hunting and for me this method works about as good as I'm going to get. Now I haven't tried one with a larger turkey load, but I'm sure my results will be similar to the pheasant loads I've patterned so far. My gun is cylinder bored, so I won't ever get patterns like yours, but if I get results like my pheasant loads have shown me, these loads will get the job done. On a hunt, I'll need only to make up four or five loads similar to a deer hunt( I never carry more than four rounds when deer hunting), as opposed to 10 or 12 for a pheasant hunt