Cap and Ball Muzzleloading

I know cap and ball muzzle loading is a dying category, but for every traditionalist, or man that enjoys westerns or hearing/reading about Elmer Keith's adventures... (most young bucks have no clue the significance of the name).... you cant help but own one.

I recently bought an 1858 Buffalo .44 caliber 12 inch barrel, black powder revolver and my question/debate is what is the largest game you "could" take with it? You could do coyotes and small game I imagine.....but what about deer? Back in the day they used to.....I do realize that's all they had at that time though as well....

I'm not sure about the exact model that you referenced but I used to hunt deer with a TC .54 cal black powder gun before switching over to the modern inline disc guns. I've taken numerous deer with the round ball without issue. Again, .54 cal is what I used, not sure about .44. You'll want to be sure to check your local state regulations on limits if there are any regarding caliber.

I enjoyed using the old style gun but have to admit, I've had too many missed opportunities due to misfires (gun not going off). Thus the reason I only hunt with my new modern muzzleloader.

Good luck.

I'm goin to tell you a story as to why I do not use a cap and ball muzzleloader haha. About 9 years ago during the OH muzzleloader season I was walking a fence line back to the creek. It was really cold and windy that day I think it was about 2 deg. I get about 100 yards away from this ditch and about 7 deer run out of the ditch into the wood along the creek, at the time I could not really tell what they were because it was snowing so hard. Well I slowly made my way down to them and when I was about 50 yards from the tree line, they start commin out the side to go around me at about 55 to 65 yards on a slow jog. The 1st buck was a 130, 2nd was a 170+ easy 3rd was a doe, 4th was a 150+, the 5th was a mid 140s, the 6th was a nice 130's young. Then it happend the last buck was no lie a 190+ maybe a 200 I don't know for sure, by far the biggest thing I have ever seen. I mean this thing was huge, body and all. While they were makin there way out of the woods I got down and crawled to the fence popped up and rested my Hawkins muzzleloader on the fence. I am so excited I could have a massive heart attack right there in the field haha. I settle in on this monster open sites, I mean really taken my tmes to make sure I really nail him. I take a deep breath and slowly pulled the trigger and then nothing HAHAHAHA nothing I am in a state of panic. I quickly pull what I thought to be a bad cap off and put another on and try in again, but nothin oh man what a heart breaker. I had to watch him jog off, I have no doubt it would have been the biggest buck I would have ever taken but because the night before I failed to prime the gun hahaa I will never know just how big he was. I was young and dumb back then but it still hurts tellin the story to this day. I have to go with an inline with a 209 primer sorry man I have been burned to bad to go back.

I agree with Storm Dog that you'll want to be sure to check your local state regulations on the possible restrictions of pistol hunting and the legal calibers allowed. However, as for that actually ability of the gun to take down a large animal, I have several questions for you first. What type of power do you plan on shooting? (Traditional black powder [if so what grade], pyrodex, or the new 209 powder ) Also, do you plan on keeping to the old ways of pouring your own lead bullets, or are you going to purchase them. What do they bullets weigh? Keep in mind that in order to correctly assess the capability of the gun, we need to calculate the highest gross amount of energy the gun is able to produce safely and the type of ammunition being shot through it. Ultimately, it comes down to the transference of energy from the bullet to the animal. This is exactly the type of thing Keith experimented with. He found a gun and cartridge he liked then played and modified it to suit his needs in a safe way. As I found out more information about what you are shooting I will explain in more detail. Hope this helps, keep us informed!