AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Black Powder Shooting => Topic started by: bob in the woods on June 05, 2024, 03:41:55 PM
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Any one have experience hunting with a matchlock ? I have been hetting the urge to give it a try this Fall I don't think the match
would necessarily bother/ alert deer but I'm guessing a black bear would notice . Being in a tree stand might help ? I usually hunt from the ground
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Knowing nothing about whats normally done when hunting with a matchlock I'm curious about when you light the match. Before your target is spotted, when your target is spotted or just before your shot? :-\
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Also: A couple of weeks ago I was Bear hunting in Saskatchewan during a rainy spell and decided to try one of those enclosed pop up blinds. It kept me and my flint lock dry during the intermittent showers. Keeping a matchlock dry might be more challenging. :-\
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Years ago--early '90s maybe--Doc Carlson wrote a product review about a matchlock, and mentioned hunting with it. I ran into him a few months later and we briefly discussed it, turned out he was hunting from a stand. I had to give it a try so I built a matchlock, and was out with it that fall. Problem is I'm a still-hunter.
Managing the match was a headache. I was checking it every few minutes to make sure it hadn't gone out or burned down too far. A couple times the free end managed to get tangled in brush. I was using a nitrated hemp/cotton cord that burned at a fairly fast rate (we know today that a bucked hemp cord soaked in lead acetate burns slower and hotter).
I hunted into the wind. If any deer noticed the smell of the burning match it didn't seem to bother them. A couple times I stalked within ~25'. I filled my tag and as best I recall didn't shoot the gun again before I traded it off.
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Justin Urbantis has ikilled a deer with a matchlock gun. Maybe he will see this thread and post to it?
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One of my pals, several years ago deer hunted with one he made,
He used a Bic lighter to light the wick and felt pretty bad about that.
After that he sold it and went back to his flintlock
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I'll admit I had a Bic in my pocket in case the match went out or got dampened. It wasn't needed, but it was probably a good idea.
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I’ve hunted with my .75 cal. Matchlock a few times. Always hunted from a blind where I could have a candle lit. When I saw a turkey or deer, I lit the match. Never took a shot at game with it yet, but the candle made lighting the match quick and easy.
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Justin Urbantis has ikilled a deer with a matchlock gun. Maybe he will see this thread and post to it?
Ein luntenschloss fur hirsch? Steinschloss,gestern,heute,morgen.
Bob Roller
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Larry Horrigan , from Michigan shot a 8pt. Last year with one he built.
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I have used my homemades for hunting.
Got a nice muley with the long one, but no chances with the short snapping lock.
Deer do not seem phased by 'wood smoke".
I carried the hemp match one end lit, and only applied it to the serpent when I felt a shot was likely.
Burned about 18 inches before I got a shot at the mule deer. (inch in 5 minutes stuf I made)
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Yep. I got my deer about 15 years ago with my .75 matchlock. I set up in a tree stand in an area where the deer would travel. I sat there until one got to about 60 yards. When it stepped behind a tree I quietly lit the match, and waited till it got closer and gave me a good broadside at 40 yards. Dropped with one shot easily. I actually brought out the matchlock and some others for a demonstration at a local gun club last week. Blew up a watermelon spectacularly at 25 yards with it.
(https://i.ibb.co/WPx8ypp/20240601-152325.jpg) (https://ibb.co/2snVtYY)
post a pic (https://imgbb.com/)
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Here's a couple videos I made with the matchlock years ago.
https://youtu.be/_ynEquVaAA4?si=6v3vq4KlFDLoXvLf
https://youtu.be/YhNTB_4DjDg?si=E6TfM0YAoBL2rMJs
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Wow ! Thanks everyone. Big congratulations to Justin and Pukka :) I did make some match cord per the instructions in a video by Cap and Ball on Youtube, which involves boiling the cord in water and wood ash. It worked well. I took some with me on a scout in my woods and the deer don't seem to mind at all, so this looks like a go for this Fall :)
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ON AVERAGE, how long will the cord last when lit? As in an inch per hour, foot per hour etc :-\
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I did burn tests years ago with different recipes. A foot an hour is probably close.
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OK, thanks Justin.