Flintlock pronghorn?

[Ddubs20]

Drew a muzzy pronghorn doe tag. I hunt with a T/C renegade 50 cal flintlock. Does anyone have experience taking a flintlock shot on pronghorn? Wondering if the delay / pan flash results in them taking off while shooting. I've killed a bull w/flintlock and some pronghorn w/rifles, but is this a stretch or doable?

 

[m4ddis]

Drew a muzzy pronghorn doe tag. I hunt with a T/C renegade 50 cal flintlock. Does anyone have experience taking a flintlock shot on pronghorn? Wondering if the delay / pan flash results in them taking off while shooting. I've killed a bull w/flintlock and some pronghorn w/rifles, but is this a stretch or doable?

I’d say 75 yards and in you should be golden. Good luck. Muzzy hunting pronghorn is an absolute blast of a time. One of my fav hunts.

 

[long hunter]

If you have a delay in the prime setting off the main charge, I suggest having a competent flintlock smith tune the lock, and good luck on your hunt.

 

[Ddubs20]

Thanks, may well be a low chance of harvest hunt. Looking forward to hunting with 2 friends and chasing goats after a few years of no tags.

 

[Stalker69]

I watched my brother take a doe antelope with flint lock, just under a 100 yards ( 98 on the range finder) head shot, with patched round ball. So yes it’s for sure doable.

 

[TaperPin]

Spot and stalk pistol hunting is somewhat common. We took two small bucks with a 44 mag contender pistol one year. It makes it much easier when the terrain has fairly closely spaced draws for cover. This kind of hunting requires a lot of crawling - compact knee pads and light leather gloves are worth their weight in funny smelling antelope jerky.

 

[Ddubs20]

Round balls are gutsy! I used them when I was young, and you can see it spiraling. Thanks for the reminder to get some kneepads.

 

[TaperPin]

I should probably show a photo (not my picture) since hills and draws are relative. This is prime country for short range shooting.

Any antelope area will usually have some wide open flats and some areas with more elevation variation as in the photo. At least in Wyoming on public land there are two track dirt roads everywhere - we would first slowly drive around a hilly section from below and glass up the various draws. Seeing a lot of antelope is easy, finding them in an area you can stalk takes more doing. Binoculars and spotting scopes are a must to plan which draws are deep enough for concealment and which aren’t. Don’t spend all day walking - find spots to drive concealed and down or cross wind - it can take a while to get a feel for what spooks them and what won’t. You may have 10 stalks a day that don’t work out - odds go way up the better you get at visualizing the rat maze path needed to pop up close to them without being seen. You also may drive and glass hundreds of goats, but none are accessible or staying put long enough to get a plan together.

I’ve always enjoyed watching antelope stalks through a spotting scope - it’s also a favorite pastime of game wardens so dont be surprised if they pull up about the time you’re loading one up.

From any road there will be depressions and draws that can’t be seen - if we don’t find an opportunity from below, we’ll then follow two track roads that wind around the tops. You’re much more likely to run into groups that are too close this way, but go slow and watch where they move off to.

It’s easier to sneak up on two goats than 20 - after the rut males are allowed to rejoin the doe fawn groups, and smaller bands join and they really bunch up.

Should be a fun trip!

 

[Stalker69]

Round balls are gutsy! I used them when I was young, and you can see it spiraling. Thanks for the reminder to get some kneepads.

Something is terribly wrong if your " balls" are spiraling. Seriously wrong.

 

[William Sublette]

I've shot a lot of roundballs, I've never seen one in flight.

 

[Stalker69]

I've shot a lot of roundballs, I've never seen one in flight.

Yea, that's what iam thinking. Some things wrong, big time.

 

[Novashooter]

Drew a muzzy pronghorn doe tag. I hunt with a T/C renegade 50 cal flintlock. Does anyone have experience taking a flintlock shot on pronghorn? Wondering if the delay / pan flash results in them taking off while shooting. I've killed a bull w/flintlock and some pronghorn w/rifles, but is this a stretch or doable?

The biggest problem is you have a TC Renegade flintlock with the old style lock. No judgement, I had one too. Their locks are garbage, plain and simple. If you are dead set on using the TC, then I highly recommend getting the L&R lock from Track of the Wolf. They require a little bit of work to put in, but nothing too crazy. They are in stock now, so buy while you can. These aren't the highest end locks, but they do work decently. I wish I could give you a cheaper option,, but there really isn't. Just ditch the TC lock for the L&R. I wouldn't bother trying to hunt with it otherwise.

Once you get a good lock on there, 95% of your problems will be solved. You should get a decent amount of sparks so you get super fast pan ignition. Some claim agate flints work, but I can only recommend real knapped flints. Sometimes they work better upside down too. If you've never touched it, your touch hole liner probably has too small of a hole drilled in it. It's not bad for target shooting, but for hunting you definitely don't want to be having pan flashes with no fire. 1/16" drill bit is the standard, but even a #50 (.070") is not excessive. I've heard of good results with 5/64" too.

Actual scientific testing has shown that smaller grain powders do ignite the main charge faster, but the differences are so small a human can not perceive them. I'm a proponent of using whatever powder your main charge is as your flash pan powder. If your ignition is any slower than a whoosh, you have some kind of problem. The klack-flash-bang of a TC is entirely the fault of a poor lock design.

 

[Ddubs20]

Buying $45 worth of projectiles was a stretch for my budget, so another lock is out of the question. I appreciate the input.

 

[87TT]

Too much powder in the pan will slow down the timing of the shot. A good touch hole liner like White Lightening also helps speed it up. If you lock is throwing a lot of sparks, it's OK. Sharp quality flints are a must.
Like was said, check the touch hole and drill it out to 1/16 at least. My flintlock is as fast as any percussion.
Save money and cast your own bullets and spend it on a lock or liner.

 

[Novashooter]

Too much powder in the pan will slow down the timing of the shot. A good touch hole liner like White Lightening also helps speed it up. If you lock is throwing a lot of sparks, it's OK. Sharp quality flints are a must.
Like was said, check the touch hole and drill it out to 1/16 at least. My flintlock is as fast as any percussion.
Save money and cast your own bullets and spend it on a lock or liner.

It's been proven by Larry Pletcher the "fuse" theory is bunk. Too much powder will not slow down ignition. Same with powder against the hole, vs banked away. It's actually slightly faster against the barrel, but not enough a person could perceive it. Same thing with touch hole position. High, low, off center, doesn't really matter as long as its in the pan. One example Larry showed was a pistol with a touch hole below the pan, such that the gun maker filed a V in the pan to make it work. That one still fired fast.

The problem is there is no set minimum for sparks, but in general TC will never throw very many sparks. They simply aren't a good lock design, they smash a flint straight into the frizzen with poor results. I'm sure some rifles are better than others, but I've never seen a good one.