Flintlock vs caplock for hunting

[Bushfire]

G'day all,

I've been back and forthing and have decided I probably will just buy a pedersoli hawken hunter. But to lay out that type of money I want to be sure it is the gun I'll be happy with.

My preference has always been for flintlock purely from a historical/romance/cool factor, the caplock for me fits in with a seemingly more practical side and also fits in with my fascination of the US civil war era.

Looking at it though is there a clear advantage to one over the other in the field?

In Australia we do very little hunting from stands, it's all spot and stalk or bush stalking so your gun is exposed to the weather which in autumn through spring can be warm and nice or windy and raining. There can at times be a lot of Bush bashing through thick crap so it will get dinged and donged. Climbing over logs or crawling on the ground tilts and tios the gun at all angles.

Is there a clear winner in these scenarios?

Are there any other pros/cons to either? Specifically in terms of maintenance, cleaning etc.

Thank you.

 

[Matthew323]

If I was going to spend Pedersoli money, I don't think it would be for a flintlock.

NONE of the flintlocks that they sell are historically correct, which means that they ALL have built-in design flaws as far as geometry is concerned.

NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING is more important as regards a flintlock than the geometrical relationship of its moving parts.

A finely tuned flintlock is a joy to shoot, whereas a lesser lock can range from adequate, to a major PITA causing its owner NOTHING but frustration and heartache.

Most Pedersoli flintlocks are OK. NONE ARE GREAT. Some are terrible. It can be a crap shoot as to which you will receive on your particular gun.

The flintlocks on the historical military smoothbores are more likely to be reliable than the smaller lock on the fast twist Traditional Hawken Hunter rifle that you are considering. The reason being is that Pedersoli has more faithfully copied the original lock designs without putting their own spin on the geometries in order to cut manufacturing costs.

The lock on the Traditional Hawken Hunter rifle is a completely in-house design, paying only the most cursory attention to any traditional 18th, or 19th Century lock design. It therefore has more built-in flaws, and is quite likely to "eat flints".

Since you already have other m-l rifles, and since you have to deal with Australia's draconian gun laws; give some consideration to one of the Pedersoli military smoothbores. Any of them, especially the Brown Bess's, will drop a feral water buffalo in its tracks with a well placed round ball. You can shoot pure lead balls for maximum expansion, or wheelweight alloy for breaking bones and penetration.

A smoothbore can shoot.......

PATCHED BALL
Powder
Patch
Ball

BALL & TOW
Powder
Double paper wad
Tow wad
Ball
Tow wad

BARE BALL
Powder
Ball
Tow wad, or wool wad

At the distances that you say you take most of your shots, a smoothbore musket can often rival a rifle for accuracy. It is past 50 yards that a rifle starts to show its superiority.

NOTHING can be more satisfactory than a big game hunt with a smoothbore flintlock musket. Other than a muzzleloading handgun, or a primitive bow.


There are things you can do to hunt with a flintlock when it is damp, but switching to percussion is always better if it is raining hard.

 

[Bushfire]

@Bruce Mattes that pretty much sums it all up, thank you mate!

 

[michiganmuzzy]

I would go with the caplock for the reasons you yourself put up. A caplock was an evolutionary advancement from a flintlock for a reason. More reliable ignition. Less tuning to get it to fire reliably. If a real challenge is your thing go with the flinter. Heck just huntin in Australia sounds like enough challenge to me.
Here in Michigan the only thing we have thats poisonous is(are) some of the people.

 

[Bushfire]

I would go with the caplock for the reasons you yourself put up. A caplock was an evolutionary advancement from a flintlock for a reason. More reliable ignition. Less tuning to get it to fire reliably. If a real challenge is your thing go with the flinter. Heck just huntin in Australia sounds like enough challenge to me.
Here in Michigan the only thing we have thats poisonous is(are) some of the people.

Thanks mate

Haha yes I always hear about that, I'm pretty lucky here. I'm south east Australia so no irukandji or box jelly fish, no crocodiles or funnel web spiders. We do have tiger and eastern brown snakes though, which is why in the warm months you just stay clear of the bush. I don't go in the ocean so sharks don't bother me!

You guys have bears and wolves though, that seems worse to me!

 

[Bushfire]

This is a medium size eastern brown caught at the back door. Excuse the mess we were just updating the place at the time.

 

[michiganmuzzy]

Bears and wolves wont hide in your house and bite you when yer having a piss or drinking coffee. But i hear what yer sayin bout them.

 

[Bushfire]

Bears and wolves wont hide in your house and bite you when yer having a piss or drinking coffee. But i hear what yer sayin bout them.

Haha very true, my dad's mate used an old outhouse at a shearing shed few years ago and got bitten on his pecker by a red back spider.

 

[Idaholewis]

This is a medium size eastern brown caught at the back door. Excuse the mess we were just updating the place at the time.View attachment 9875

I’m glad we don’t have Snakes like that around here! We don’t have any Poisonous Snakes here in North Idaho (At least that I’m aware of?) Rattlesnakes are not very far away, But i have never heard of one around here?

 

[deermanok]

Here in southeast Oklahoma, especially in my yard we have copperheads and western cottonmouth snakes.
Feral pigs too, which can be dangerous.
Our bluetick coon hound, Cassie has been bitten twice by venomous snakes.
I keep my pellet gun handy. Along with my 12 gauge loaded with slugs.

 

[Bushfire]

I’m glad we don’t have Snakes like that around here! We don’t have any Poisonous Snakes here in North Idaho (At least that I’m aware of?) Rattlesnakes are not very far away, But i have never heard of one around here?

Maybe I'll put northern ID on my list of places to hunt in that case! Having said that it definitely gets in your psyche, even in NZ I feel uneasy walking through long grass when hunting in warm weather (no snakes there).

I'm always careful, I just worry about my 2 year old. We had 3 browns around the house last summer, only got 1 of them.

 

[michiganmuzzy]

I’m glad we don’t have Snakes like that around here! We don’t have any Poisonous Snakes here in North Idaho (At least that I’m aware of?) Rattlesnakes are not very far away, But i have never heard of one around here?

Ha. How far are you from yer state capital? Betcha got more venomous snakes nearby than ya realize.

 

[sdporter]

Ha. How far are you from yer state capital? Betcha got more venomous snakes nearby than ya realize.

He’s a long ways from the capital. Much too cold for rattlers up there. That’s basically the only venomous snake we have out west.

 

[Idaholewis]

The State Capitol is 500 Miles South of me, I have never heard of a Rattlesnake anywhere up here? We have Harmless Garter Snakes, I have only seen a Handful of them in the 10-11 Years I have lived here. Rubber Boa’s (Kinda rare, I have never seen one? But we do have them, they are non venomous)

I am out & about in the Mountains here on a VERY REGULAR Basis, and I rarely ever see a Snake (Garter Snake) We just don’t have many Snakes in this Area, NO COMPLAINTS from me

 

[sdporter]

I was walking out of a blind last year at dark and had one rattle BEHIND me. That’s an eerie feeling. I left about twenty minutes earlier the rest of the Hunt it’s my flashlight scanning every nook and cranny...

 

[Idaholewis]

I was walking out of a blind last year at dark and had one rattle BEHIND me. That’s an eerie feeling. I left about twenty minutes earlier the rest of the Hunt it’s my flashlight scanning every nook and cranny...

That would freak me out Those things (All snakes) give me the CREEPS, I don’t even like Harmless Garter Snakes, I use to have a Jack Russel Terrier on the Wa Coast that i trained to Kill Garter Snakes, He HATED them worse than i did When He got ahold of a Snake you wanted to GET AWAY quick or you would be Wearing some of it! He would literally shake the Guts Out of Them

 

[Bushfire]

Snak

That would freak me out Those things (All snakes) give me the CREEPS, I don’t even like Harmless Garter Snakes, I use to have a Jack Russel Terrier on the Wa Coast that i trained to Kill Garter Snakes, He HATED them worse than i did When He got ahold of a Snake you wanted to GET AWAY quick or you would be Wearing some of it! He would literally shake the Guts Out of Them

Snake dog is a good dog, depending on what snakes you have though they're not always long for this world. I've seen the mating thing garter snakes do on attenborough. Poison or no I wouldn't want to stumble amongst that!

 

[deermanok]

I've read about and seen on TV that Australia has some serious wildlife. Just about every critter will bite, sting or claw.
Any good hunter there sure has my respect.

 

[michiganmuzzy]

The State Capitol is 500 Miles South of me, I have never heard of a Rattlesnake anywhere up here? We have Harmless Garter Snakes, I have only seen a Handful of them in the 10-11 Years I have lived here. Rubber Boa’s (Kinda rare, I have never seen one? But we do have them, they are non venomous)

I am out & about in the Mountains here on a VERY REGULAR Basis, and I rarely ever see a Snake (Garter Snake) We just don’t have many Snakes in this Area, NO COMPLAINTS from me

I meant the politician kind of snake.

 

[wmdbowman]

We have those polit. snakes here in Indiana as well as copperheads and Timber rattlers. Killed a Timber one time while turkey hunting. The thing was as big around as my forearm.
Bushfire , I spent some time in Adelade . Have many good memories and you do have some crazy animals down there. What are those big crazy birds that will run into the side of a car?