Navy Arms 58 cal Buffalo Hunter

[DixieReb]

I hunted for this particular firearm for several years and when I found it for sale at a very good price I didn’t hesitate to drive 2-1/2 hours one way to get it, this 58 cal will put a deer down, love to take it hunting more than any other BP rifle I’ve owned, I don’t care for modern day inline bp rifles, this Buffalo Hunter is my favorite. I’ve got several Hawkins rifles in different calibers and a Tennessee rifle as well.

 

[RackinRay]

Nice, and Navy Arms imported some good ones!

 

[DixieReb]

Well this 58 cal has been loaded since November 2020, rather than pull the load fixing to go shoot it and burn some more powder, normally don’t leave one loaded but about 3 months max but this gun stays in my den so no worries about condensation, bet this first shot that’s been in for 11 months will be dead on….

 

[DixieReb]

Well the 11 month old charge went off as suspected, shot a 55 gallon drum top at 100 yds resting the rifle in sand bags, now got to dig out some more powder and lead, never cared for the modern inline muzzleloaders that are scoped

 

[DixieReb]

Well the 11 month old charge went off as suspected, shot a 55 gallon drum top at 100 yds off of sandbags

 

[indy1919a4]

Great tale ..I love it... I will agree with you why get an inline when you can get a nice historical arm.

 

[Rebel_Rider1969]

Deer Cannon!!

 

[indy1919a4]

Well the 11 month old charge went off as suspected, shot a 55 gallon drum top at 100 yds off of sandbags

Sorry meant to ask was this real black powder or one of the substitutes..??

 

[DixieReb]

Pyrodex is all I use in it or my others for hunting . I’ve got some real black powder that I use to light up back in the days when I was part of a Confederate Honor Guard unit but I’ve never used the real stuff to hunt with. We used to do a lot of grave marker dedications for Confederate Veterans and families thoroughly enjoyed it, burnt a lot of the real powder all over Covington, Butler, Coffee, Crenshaw , Geneva and Dale counties back in the day doing 21 gun salutes.

 

[Welldoya]

Nice.
I really think they messed up when they started allowing scoped in-lines during black powder season.
A lot of young guys are missing out on what a true black powder rifle should be.
40 years ago I was squirrel hunting in the old St. Regis WMA when I ran into an old guy carrying a TC Hawken.
I was so impressed with it that I ordered one the next day.

 

[DixieReb]

Nice.
I really think they messed up when they started allowing scoped in-lines during black powder season.
A lot of young guys are missing out on what a true black powder rifle should be.
40 years ago I was squirrel hunting in the old St. Regis WMA when I ran into an old guy carrying a TC Hawken.
I was so impressed with it that I ordered one the next day.

I too think they messed up allowing scoped inline muzzleloader hunters to hunt during the traditional bp hunting season. I’ve hunted with sidelock percussion rifles in 45,50, 54 and 58 for whitetail deer for 30+ years. Nothing like hunting with a side lock and making a good shot. Have always wanted a 36 cal to try out on small game. I’ve probably irritated a bunch of folks over the years with modern inline scoped guns, they ain’t hunting with nothing but a modern weapon and no challenge at all for taking game

 

[Tuck]

That's cool. I've heard piratex (pyrodex) breaks down over time, while holy black does not. It obviously went boom well enough, though. I've used a substitute in my revolvers but I prefer true black just because I know it's the real deal.