Sadistic buttstock is killing me!!

[Gordon H.Kemp]

Mark are you shooting off-hand or off a benc/rest?  The cresent butt is best suited for standing off-hand. and as cb said if you keep your elbow as level to your shoulder as possible it helps.

[Three Hawks]

180 grains of 2F--why?  

Assuming a .610 RB at 340 grains that's 520 grains of mass exiting the muzzle at what? 1800-2000 fps?    No bloody wonder you hurt.   Shorten your loads to about 1000-1100 fps and hurt the target,  not your self.  

If you insist on heavy loads such as that, consider a Jeager with a shotgun style buttplate.

I was taught to shoot by my insane uncle, a WWII era Marine DI.  If he had ever seen my right elbow fall below shoulder level while shooting off hand, he'd have knocked me half silly.  Same if he saw my left elbow anywhere but directly below the fore end.   (He was kind of like R. Lee Ermy except not so wussy.)

Just sayin' is all.

Three Hawks

[Captchee]

as others have said , those type of  but plates are ment to shoot from the arm not the shoulder .
 what that means is  what CB said .  IE in the mit of the arm  and outside of the  bone of your shoulder . some also are smaller . these are ment to be shot alittle firther down the arm .
 I am also courious as to why the heavy load ?

[tg]

I think guns of that style were typicaly of a much smaller bore as well I have not had one of the crece3nt dtocked guns for many years I found the wide flat buttstocksd like the Early Virginia by Chambers otr the Fusil from Tulle to handle heavy loads better should I choose to shoot them which is ratrely as my type of hunting finds moderate loads sufficient. the wider stocked guns allow a diffewrent standing position to put the recoil where it does the least harm, I don't know what to advise as I have not had to over come such a situation, I don't know if the typical stance with the crecent buttplate will reduce the recoli as much as needed, I would think a pad of some sort on the gun and maybe on the jacket may be the answere, good luck maybe some more helpfull replys will follow.

[swampman]

I am shooting 180 grains of 2F in .62 cal.

There's your problem.  Try 1/2 that much of 3F.  You're using way too much powder.

[Longhunter]

Quote:
I am shooting 180 grains of 2F in .62 cal.


There's your problem. Try 1/2 that much of 3F. You're using way too much powder.
_________________

 I shot  200gr's of 2FG in my .62 Jaeger when hunting moose. That heavy of a load of coarse wasn't needed to kill a moose but at the time I wanted to increase my range. As it turned out it may have helped because the ball penetrated full length of the bull.

It gave me a pretty good "push" but the  wide flat butt on my Jaeger is pretty comfortable.

[Stryker]

My first flint lock rifle was a Tennessee style as well. Like every one else here has said they fit on the upper arm, not the shoulder.

I hunt with a .54 now and I use 55-60grains as a dear hunting load and I've never had a deer run more than 50 yards after being hit.

If you want to shoot 180 grains, it's your shoulder. but IMHO, it's too much powder for anything east or west of the Mississippi. I might consider a heavy load like that if I was in Alaska and had a chance of running into a grizzly, but not in the lower 48. but that's my two cents.

good shooting!

[Bigsmoke]

Mark,
Possibly I missed it, but what is the rate of twist on your rifle?  And how did you decide to start at 180 grains?  I think if we have some basics here, we can figure this out.

[mark davidson]

Good morning men. Thanks for the information. I am sometimes controversial but never that hard headed. I will defer to your advice and experience and try this bruiser out on my arm a bit.
     I respect all of you and appreciate your opinions. Ron LeClair in particular has been an inspiration to me and has my real attention as a credible source who has killed LOTS of game with big bores and heavy charges. Many of you others may have done so as well; I just do not know it yet. I managed to whack fifteen or so whitetails in the last two seasons with a .54 with very "mediocre" results in terms of penetration and "put down and stay down." Personally, I like big bores and I am not opposed to recoil; I like performance. I figure if Ron's 200 grain load in .62 worked that great on moose then something similar has got to be good on whitetail deer and about anything else I want to shoot. I got a lot to learn but I am trying so be patient and thanks for helping.

[Stryker]

I use 140 gr of 3F Goex  in my 62.  I have killed deer, antelope, elk and moose with it.  I use that charge because it shoots best.  I worked up and down between 100 and 170 grains and the load of 140 shoot the tightest group.  
:shock: But then again I live east of the Mississippi. The biggest dear I ever shot field dressed at 235 and the load I was using was more than enough to bring him down.

[mark davidson]

Wyosmith, Thanks so much. That post is one of the most informative and honest explainations I have read. All the deer that I have shot and the ones my hunting buddy shot with .54s were with Hornady factory round balls .535s with patch and 100 grains of 2F.  We chose the 100grain load cause it gave good trajectory and good accuracy. The results were almost 100% dismal with only three or so exits out of close to 20 deer shot! I do not think I have gone in error in my move to the .62 cal. ball. I can cast a hunting ball from pure linotype if you think it will be better. Surely with .62 caliber and the heavier ball and enough powder I can start shooting all the way through even the shoulders of our relatively small whitetail deer. (Note: I already know yall's thoughts on not shooting the shoulder but I simply disagree and for my purposes need to be able to break both shoulders and get an exit.) Wyosmith, thanks again for the moose story and the information. I for sure have elk on my mind for hopefully the near future!

[Uncle Russ]

I agree 100% with what Steve has said about cast round ball.

The lowly wheel weight is a God send for casters, and shooters.
The average BHN on WW will run an honest 11 or 12+ while pure lead "supposedly" will only yield 6...........a BIG difference.

Just my thoughts.

Uncle Russ...

[jbullard1]

I agree 100% with what Steve has said about cast round ball.

The lowly wheel weight is a God send for casters, and shooters.
The average BHN on WW will run an honest 11 or 12+ while pure lead "supposedly" will only yield 6...........a BIG difference.

Just my thoughts.

Uncle Russ...

   :horse

And I can get all them I want for FREE
Just have ti clean them up and start casting  

[Indiana]

I have to agree with Mark, this has been a really informative post!  All sorts of good information in here.  I haven't used WW for my hunting round balls, but I'm going to be casting some up for sure now and set them aside for hunting this fall.  

[Indiana]

Also, steve, do you have anymore pictures of this gun:


That's a beautiful design!  I may incorporate some of that into my new 54.