Hunting with Milsurps- 2012 Edition

[jmoore]

Time again to creep about the woods. This year we have a new property lease, obtained fairly late, so it'll be scouting as much as hunting this season.

But today's star is the Yankee rifled musket in the Rebel forest.:


Which is older? The pine or the musket? That's a mighty big pine for these parts. Several of those monsters on this hillside.

The 1863 and '64 dated S.N & W.T. for Massachusetts Model 1861/"1863 Type II" .577" bored rifled musket handles surprisingly well even in dense undergrowth, provided attention is paid to where the muzzle is a'fixin to go next! Balance and weight are good. Sights are fine in good light, but not great in low light conditions early in the morning.

Haven't had much success getting standard Minie ball to shoot all that accurately, but the Hornady "Great Plains" bullets are more than adequate. Since i only shoot this thing standing, group sizes are more dependant on the shooter, but the Minie ball just don't do nearly as well- say 3 times worse! Probably won't shoot at game much past 50 yards with this rifle, regardless.


Some of the .577"/.58 bullets tested. None as good as the Hornady bullet,(not shown).

A few more photos of today's outing:


That's not a tiny sling (Ow ! That hurts just thinking about it...) but a "wind gage" hanging from the swivel. Note the heavy undergrowth here. Very nice, but very slow to hunt. Fun until it gets "hot" .(about 60 deg. F/ 15 C or more)

BTW, this is quite similar to what the conditions were like at the battle of Chickamauga, not terribly far from here, in which rifles of the same ilk were used.

Feel free to relate your experiences with your milsurps in the field. What about the rifle's features do you like the best? What idiosyncrasies do you find less than ideal? Dead critters are entirely optional, and are actually a small part of the total hunting experience to me. Photos of your rifles are most welcome, though. See the link below for a similar discussion from a couple of years back (Can't remember if we had one last year...):

Hunting With Milsurp Weapons- 2010 Edition

Information

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[noomi]

Hmmm, I seem to have just the rifle to do that. But it's not a milsurp, although I got it from one our members due to it's Lee-Enfield/Mauser derivation.

[jmoore]

Hmmm, I seem to have just the rifle to do that. But it's not a milsurp, although I got it from one our members due to it's Lee-Enfield/Mauser derivation.

I'm curious. What is this rifle?


BTW, Deer 1, jmoore 0. Was within 30 yards or so of one yesterday with the .58 rifled musket before he snorted and took off. Never got a good look. Too much brush!

[dgray64]

Nice. That should bring down a lot of deer. I will probably use my 91/30. I'd rather use the M44 with the same round, as it's shorter and quicker, but it has the built in bayonet that folds back and I don't think that's legal to hunt with.

Dave

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

One of my milsurps if going to the woods with me this season. No 5 Mk 1 perahps.

[jmoore]

I'd rather use the M44 with the same round, as it's shorter and quicker, but it has the built in bayonet that folds back and I don't think that's legal to hunt with.

Could you temporarily remove the bayonet?

After having used the super-long rifled musket all week in thick cover, the long barrel just hasn't been the bother that one might think. But I hunt in "slow motion" if at all posible. In fact, frozen in place more often than not. So there's time to think about the next move.

Had to bail out today when the mist started coating the old rifle. Rusting it up wasn't in the plans. But no damage after a wipe down. EezOx is good stuff.

[jmoore]

The 55gr .223 Sierra soft point scores again out of the old 1-12" twist M16 upper at about 08:45 this morning. Have yet to render him down to see the horror show, but that buck did not go 30 feet after a shoulder hit at about 100 yards. Much further away than Monday's multiple doe walk-by at about 40-50 feet! Same spot, making like a tree. All that practice shooting standing pays off. Pressure's off now, after no deer last year. So now the other weapons can have their turn.

Y'all have probably seen this upper before, but here's a shot from last year, just in case;

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

The 55gr .223 Sierra soft point scores again out of the old 1-12" twist M16 upper at about 08:45 this morning.

Meat in the freezer. Well done.

[jmoore]

Meat in the freezer. Well done.

Well, that's about it. No "trophy" buck, but I'm not a trophy hunter. I just like the meat. Very lean. No additives.

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

A buck with and AR and a 1970? Mustang. You are living the dream!