Talk me out of it please

[Bushfire]

I've still got a at least 6 weeks worth of waiting for my pedersoli hawken hunter to turn up. Instead of stopping thinking about it my mind keeps going back to the missouri river. The turn off for me at the time was the crescent butt plate (the main one), lack of swivels for a sling (a sling is practical for my stalking/still hunting style) and the flat end ramrod (wouldn't be ideal for plastic tipped sabots). But by gosh it's a beautiful rifle and I do enjoy iron sights.

My shooting can be 20 yards in tight cover during rut but many of the deer I shoot are in the 100 - 200 yard range. I just don't know how the hawken hunter ghost ring will handle those longer ranges. And I'm not sure what I could replace it with (no interest in scopes).

Can someone please talk me out of changing my mind or provide some suggestions for how I can extend the range on the hunter at least. I've not used ghost rings but have read that accuracy even at 150 yards is a big ask on deer sized game.

 

[deermanok]

I have a ghost ring sight on one of my rifles. Although I haven't tried any long shots with my setup, (sighted in at 50 yards), I'm sure out to 100 yards or more it would be effective.

 

[Idaholewis]

This is kind of a Tough one, The Pedersoli Missouri River Hawken is a Rifle that i have wanted for a LONG time, i have spoke of them for several years. If it were me, and i had the Extra Money? NO QUESTION about it I would buy the Missouri River Hawken in Maple. It is gonna be a MUCH MUCH Nicer Rifle. That said, I would end up spending another 200-250 or so Dollars adding a good Tang mounted Peep Sight and Globe front sight to it. Which would also require me to Drill & Tap the Tang, I don’t believe the Missouri River Hawken comes Drilled & Tapped for a Tang Peep? That isn’t a Big deal at all for me as i do a lot of that stuff, BUT it’s something to keep in mind, Not everybody has the Tools, and Confidence to start Pulling apart, Drilling and Tapping a 1500 Dollar Rifle.

The Pedersoli Hawken Hunter is Pedersoli‘s “Meat & Potatoes” Rifle, It is nothing Fancy, It is a “No Frills“ Hunting Rifle. It comes READY to Hunt. The only thing i can think of that would be a nice addition to the Hawken Hunter for Hunting is a Fiber Optic bead front sight. The Hawken Hunter would require a Lot of Work to add a Globe front sight, The Barrel mounted sight that comes on the Hawken Hunter is Held in place with 2 Screws instead of a Dovetail Cut in the Barrel.

Think of it this way, the Missouri River Hawken is a Cadillac, It could be an Heirloom Piece, VERY NICE Rifles! If i were Spending the Money on the Missouri River Hawken I would Spend the little extra and go with Maple Wood Instead of Plain Walnut.

The Hawken Hunter is a Toyota/Jeep, You use it, if you put a Scratch in it, it’s not the End of the World, it’s a ROUGH/TOUGH Hunting Rifle, Shorter & Easier to Handle. They are Nothing Fancy but will Go anywhere & do ANYTHING the Fancy Missouri River Hawken will do. With The money Difference between the 2 Rifles you could easily get yourself Setup with everything needed to Cast your Own Bullets. Remember, a Rifle is only as good as the Bullet you shoot. It takes a Good Bullet for a Rifle to Shoot Well

 

[idahoron]

I have a friend with the Missouri River. His is a very nice rifle, and he also owns a Whitworth.
This big thing that holds me back with the Hunter Hawken, and the Great plains hunter rifle, is the drum. Pedersoli started to build the Lyman rifle and added the drum too. I have seen guys talk about the drum blowing out of their rifles. Shooting big bullets is going to increase the pressure a TON.
To my knowledge the Missouri river Hawken still has a Snail.
I know the friend of mine with the Missouri rifle installed a Lyman 57SML peep on it. I thin he stuck with a glow type front sight. He doesn't shoot over 150 or 200 yards.
The Crescent butt plate would have to be turned into a pad for me.
The lack of a snail is the deal breaker for me.

 

[Bushfire]

I have a friend with the Missouri River. His is a very nice rifle, and he also owns a Whitworth.
This big thing that holds me back with the Hunter Hawken, and the Great plains hunter rifle, is the drum. Pedersoli started to build the Lyman rifle and added the drum too. I have seen guys talk about the drum blowing out of their rifles. Shooting big bullets is going to increase the pressure a TON.
To my knowledge the Missouri river Hawken still has a Snail.
I know the friend of mine with the Missouri rifle installed a Lyman 57SML peep on it. I thin he stuck with a glow type front sight. He doesn't shoot over 150 or 200 yards.
The Crescent butt plate would have to be turned into a pad for me.
The lack of a snail is the deal breaker for me.

The whole drum issue is something I hadn't heard anything about and to be honest don't really understand as this sidelock world is all new to me. That sounds like a pretty serious issue to me though.

 

[Bushfire]

This is kind of a Tough one, The Pedersoli Missouri River Hawken is a Rifle that i have wanted for a LONG time, i have spoke of them for several years. If it were me, and i had the Extra Money? NO QUESTION about it I would buy the Missouri River Hawken in Maple. It is gonna be a MUCH MUCH Nicer Rifle. That said, I would end up spending another 200-250 or so Dollars adding a good Tang mounted Peep Sight and Globe front sight to it. Which would also require me to Drill & Tap the Tang, I don’t believe the Missouri River Hawken comes Drilled & Tapped for a Tang Peep? That isn’t a Big deal at all for me as i do a lot of that stuff, BUT it’s something to keep in mind, Not everybody has the Tools, and Confidence to start Pulling apart, Drilling and Tapping a 1500 Dollar Rifle.

The Pedersoli Hawken Hunter is Pedersoli‘s “Meat & Potatoes” Rifle, It is nothing Fancy, It is a “No Frills“ Hunting Rifle. It comes READY to Hunt. The only thing i can think of that would be a nice addition to the Hawken Hunter for Hunting is a Fiber Optic bead front sight. The Hawken Hunter would require a Lot of Work to add a Globe front sight, The Barrel mounted sight that comes on the Hawken Hunter is Held in place with 2 Screws instead of a Dovetail Cut in the Barrel.

Think of it this way, the Missouri River Hawken is a Cadillac, It could be an Heirloom Piece, VERY NICE Rifles! If i were Spending the Money on the Missouri River Hawken I would Spend the little extra and go with Maple Wood Instead of Plain Walnut.

The Hawken Hunter is a Toyota/Jeep, You use it, if you put a Scratch in it, it’s not the End of the World, it’s a ROUGH/TOUGH Hunting Rifle, Shorter & Easier to Handle. They are Nothing Fancy but will Go anywhere & do ANYTHING the Fancy Missouri River Hawken will do. With The money Difference between the 2 Rifles you could easily get yourself Setup with everything needed to Cast your Own Bullets. Remember, a Rifle is only as good as the Bullet you shoot. It takes a Good Bullet for a Rifle to Shoot Well

It's a bloody dilemma mate! If I went the missouri direction I'd go maple no question though.

You are right though that I could spend the difference getting gear to cast my own if I stick with the hunter.

If I went missouri I'd probably stick with the buckhorn sights for the short term at least, I dont mind them. My main issue would be the recoil pad, then what to do about the sling and ramrod.

The missouri is about $3000 here, I don't really have that money except that I got a chunk paid back last tax time after I completed paying off my degree. So I could grab the difference there.

Is the globe front sight and tang peep just for a target set-up or would you like it for hunting as well?

And I've seen your recoil pads for your hawken rifles, from memory you add a piece of memory foam as a spacer? How does that go for taming recoil and where do you get the actual pad?

I like three things in a rifle those being shootability, accuracy and looks. Not being booted to buggary and actually being enjoyable to shoot is a big thing for me.

 

[Bushfire]

I wouldn't mess around with it myself but I'd be very tempted to get the missouri and have my father in law just cut the butt plate off and install a recoil pad if I could find one that fit. I'm not that much a traditionalist.

 

[BrantSFGDS]

Why not a Pedersoli Great Plains Signature? They are drilled and tapped for tang sight and you can get fast or slow twist, cap or flint.
On a side note, I'm not positive that the MRH has a drilled and tapped tang but the pictures I've seen show that it is and the parts manual shows two plug screws in the tang.

 

[Bushfire]

I spoke with Pedersoli in Aus, I have 2 weeks to decide whether or not to change the order. The missouri wouldn't arrive until late March which throws out a hunt I had planned for my 30th st the beginning of the month. Some thinking to do I reckon.

Any thinking points appreciated

 

[deermanok]

Are you going to get a 45 or 50?

 

[Bushfire]

Are you going to get a 45 or 50?

50, I know there are arguments for 45s and 54s etc. But for me there is something about 50s.

 

[deermanok]

I gotcha, I've owned a 58, 54 and several 50's over the years. I recently bought a 45 cal. which I really enjoy shooting. The 50 caliber is probably the most common and easiest to get bullets for.

 

[jcnull2305]

I think if you got the Missouri, you could get a leather lace-on recoil pad that would do what you're looking to do, but preserve the the rifle.

On another note, this is the Modern Muzzleloader Forum. We are not in the business of talking anyone out of anything when it comes to spending money. That's what wives are for.

In fact, I'm surprised that no one has yet to encourage you to get the hunter now, then immediately get the Missouri. I mean, why have one rifle when you can get two at twice the price??

 

[Bushfire]

I think if you got the Missouri, you could get a leather lace-on recoil pad that would do what you're looking to do, but preserve the the rifle.

On another note, this is the Modern Muzzleloader Forum. We are not in the business of talking out of anything when it comes to spending money. That's what wives are for.

In fact, I'm surprised that no one has yet to encourage you to get the hunter now, then immediately get the Missouri. 8 mean, why have one rifle when you can get two at twice the price??

I'm leaning toward that option with the missouri.

Haha yeah very true! My wife did ask me last night just how many guns I own when I was going over the pros and cons of the new gun. I managed to reel off a justification for each one (though a couple were borderline!). I told her if I love the new rifle I'll sell my inline, that ticked a box with her.

Most of my big game hunting is done with one or two of my guns, this will slot in nicely amongst them.

 

[Bushfire]

My wife last night when we were chatting put her hands behind her back and said i have one of those rifles in each hand and whatever you pick is is the rifle you're buying. I went left and she said "buy the cheap one". She then smiled and said "you're disappointed aren't you? So buy the good one and stop thinking about it". She is a great woman that's for sure!

Just got off the phone with the gun shop and now have a Missouri River in maple due in late March. Just enough time to work out some loads for the April rut.

 

[snapbang]

So buy the good one and stop thinking about it". She is a great woman that's for sure!

Yeah, Im lucky too. I have plenty of guns. (at least by some standards) I bought 2 Knights, conversion kits, scopes, bullets by the hundreds, powder in multiples, and 2 Pellet guns, scopes, 14 tins of pellets, plus some in the last 12 months.

I have an ultralight fishing pole I'm making along with some custom lures I know the fish cant resist.

Im thinking about a dog for pheasants.

I hunt in at least 1 other state almost most every year.

She doesn't even give it a second thought.

Im a lucky man.

 

[Bushfire]

Yeah, Im lucky too. I have plenty of guns. (at least by some standards) I bought 2 Knights, conversion kits, scopes, bullets by the hundreds, powder in multiples, and 2 Pellet guns, scopes, 14 tins of pellets, plus some in the last 12 months.

I have an ultralight fishing pole I'm making along with some custom lures I know the fish cant resist.

Im thinking about a dog for pheasants.

I hunt in at least 1 other state almost most every year.

She doesn't even give it a second thought.

Im a lucky man.

I'm much the same, mine is always supportive of anything hunting because she knows it's a big part of who I am and makes me happy. She won't touch q gun herself but enjoys game meat and has been on several hunts with me and enjoys it (except for the time she cut open her thumb on a broad head)

 

[michiganmuzzy]

When Im in a situation like that Bushfire my tells me to "quit buying around it and get what you really want". It is less expensive in the long run.

 

[deermanok]

I'm much the same, mine is always supportive of anything hunting because she knows it's a big part of who I am and makes me happy. She won't touch q gun herself but enjoys game meat and has been on several hunts with me and enjoys it (except for the time she cut open her thumb on a broad head)

Wow, you could be talking about me. It's a small world my friend.