Have you changed your favorite?

[Hanshi]

Time has passed along with hunting seasons so maybe your thinking has changed.  So what are your favorite rifles/guns for targets, small game and large game?  We don't want to lose this site again!

[Fredredcj]

For deer my 58 is still favorite but that may change this fall. I just did a kibler smr 45. The kibler may well be my new favorite. It is incredibly accurate and comfortable

[bubba.50]

My overall favorite is my Renegade stock assembly with the slightly longer 54cal Hawken barrel on it. If TC woulda put about a 32 inch barrel and about an extra inch or so of trigger pull length on it, it would be about the perfect gun.

[Hanshi]

If I still hunted deer my favorite now would be either the former .40, now a .45 or the delightful .50 frankenrifle I had built several years ago.
About this .50.  I asked for an early Lancaster to start with.  But with my size limitations I had to get it to fit me.  Lop is 12.5 " X "B" wgt X 38" barrel.  In order to accommodate the measurements Late Lancaster mountings had to be used instead of the early larger pieces.

The Bobby Hoyt .45 conversion.

[Hanshi]

Hmmm...I really expected (hoped) more interest in this thread.  Oh, well; same OH, same OH.

[Hanshi]

WELL!?

[beowulf]

I have owned and used many muzzleloaders over the past 44 years , flint and percussion , half stock and full stock new ,and antique , custom made and off the shelf ! and have changed my favorite many times ! among my favorites , cva big bore mountain rifle .50 cal , rifle was more accurate than I was , my first tc renegade , and the four that followed 1 flint ,3 percusion all good shooters , my antique english sporting rifle , you had to see it to believe it , half stock .45 ,figured  circassian walnut stock , steel and silver mountings and inlays , three leaf folding rear sight was gold as was the the front site ! ( guy owed me money , could`nt come up with it ) old custom .40 long rifle , curly maple stock , silver running fox inlays along the fore end , very nice patch box , loaned it to a " friend"  who without my permission traded it to an indian at a rondy in tennessee  for a hand full of silver and turquoise jewelery , no I did not lift his scalp though I should have ,  a hatfield long rifle , .50 cal flintlock , good shooter and a nice looking rifle over all , dixie gunworks tennessee poor boy .50. cal , another good one , a hatfield half stock , in .50 flint , it was gorgeous and I got it at a good price from the dealer , and among all these favorites , the best of the bunch was my .40 cal custom tennessee rifle in .40 flint with a decent curly maple stock , great little shooter , traded an old gun and 50 bucks for it , in rough condition , took it home , worked a little magic on it , and used it for many years  before parting with it , only rifle I ever named was emmylou !it was sold to a truck driver in georgia , who I lost touch with many years back ! it and the english rifle are the two I actually regret parting with ! there have been several others as well !

[Hanshi]

I'm right there with you, beowulf.  I even thought of building a custom "kicking" machine to use on a regular basis as my penance.

NEVER LOAN A RIFLE TO ANYONE, FRIEND OR NOT, UNTIL YOU GET HIS SIGNATURE ON A PAY FOR DAMAGE OR LOSS GARUANTEE AGREEMENT WITH AT LEAST ONE WITNESS SIGNED ON.  AND NOT UNTIL YOU OBSERVE HIM/HER LOADING & SHOOTING AND AFTER A THOROUGH QUESTIONING.

[Patocazador]

The answer is mostly NO. However, I mainly use a muzzleloader only for our very short muzleload season. I hunted with a full size T/C Hawken and shot a couple of bucks but I hated the weight and length. I saw and bought a Sile Hawken Hunter with a chrome-lined barrel and a 1:28 twist. It is short and semi-light and shoots everything I want to ram down its throat VERY accurately. That was about 1980 and I've used it ever since except for a few times taking my ungodly-long .45 flint long rifle.

[Hanshi]

Just had to respond "to" beowulf.  Beowulf, You've likely gone through many more MLs than I have.  But again they were also over the counter and hand built guns.  But I've never owned an antique ML.  I have used MLs from these sources:  Numrich Arms (flint and percussion), T/C, Pedersoli, Traditions, CVA, Mike Lange, TVM, Euroarms, Navy Arms and a few more I can't recall from where.  The only ones I regret letting go were a Matt Avance .50 Virginia rifle and a Traditions Crockett.  Both took loads of game over the years I used them.

Just thought I'd mention it since we've sort of run a past ML history that's rather similar.

[beowulf]

the danged things are like potato chips , you cant have just one ! 

[flintboomer]

the danged things are like potato chips , you cant have just one ! 

I agree.
I have several favorites but my favorite would be my Pedersoli kentucky .50 cal if it would still shoot consistantly. I should rebarrel it but because it has a 13/16 .50 caliber barrel I would have to rebarrel it to .45 or smaller and I haven't felt like it was worth the cost.

[hotfxr]

Not much has changed in the rifle department. My favorite rifle is a tie between my Mongrel .36 and my Hatfield .50. But I haven't been hunting with either of them. Come to think about it, I Haven't hunted with any of my muzzleloaders, rifle or pistol. But bird hunting, that is another story. Still haven't been hunting in the last 4 or 5 years due to the clubs closing and my dogs heading out over that rainbow bridge. Until this year. Went pheasant hunting with a friend a few months back (we will be hunting again come October) and left my cartridge shotguns at home. I have two antique (1870 or so) Damascus barreled shotgun's.

So right now my favorite is the 10 gouge side by side. Not exactly a rifle, but it will reach out and touch the birds. Or at least it will when I get the range down.

[Red Badger]

My TVM Early Lancaster "Patience" is the only one of 14 long rifles that eat BP that I would call my favorite.... Although the Tennessee I got from Dryball is a close second, and the 12 Guage double barrel I got from Hanshi is in that mix also... then there is the ..... ARGH I can't choose one to be my favorite without the others getting upset at me... Yes I do hear them talk and I understand what they all say... the rifles want me to spend more time with them and the pistols don't want to be left out and and and .... "their coming to take me away, ha ha, to the funny farm where life is wonderful all day long".....

[Hanshi]

Well, hotfxr, It's about like that for me as I haven't hunted deer or small game or birds or anything else for that matter over the past 6 years.  And I just don't want to shoot any critter; the autumn fire in me has burned out.  Health issues are a big part of quitting.  I still shoot targets and unanimated objects.