Navy Arms buffalo hunter

[barbarossa]

Just finished refurbishing this old girl and am going to take her out for a woods walk tomorrow.I always wanted one of these since I was a young fella reading about John Wooters hunting with his in the gun magazines back in the day

[Bronco]

That will be fun!

What calibre ??

[barbarossa]

58 cal basically a sporterized rifle musket

[6pt-sika]

58 cal basically a sporterized rifle musket

Sporterized 1861/63 Springfield rifled musket . I think it’s the 1975 Shooters Bible has an article about Val Forgett and someone else going to Africa and hunting with a Navy 58 Hawken and a Navy 58 Buffalo Hunter .

[6pt-sika]

Do you plan on shooting roundballs or conical bullets in that bad boy ?

[barbarossa]

I’m going to shoot conicals

[Bill in Oregon]

It's basically a sporterized Zouave. I have had a couple over the years and they are handy, fun to shoot and can pack as much punch as you can absorb.
They benefit from improved sights and a Minie mold perfectly matched to the bore diameter. I don't know how many times I read Val Forgett's article on that African hunt -- with George Nonte IIRC.
I had the pleasure of chatting with him on the phone not long before he turned Navy Arms over to his son. Struck me as a real nice fella.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I love those guns!

[JDL]

That was my first muzzleloader back in the mid part of the last century. I shot mostly round balls but, had a mold for Lyman's "improved minie" which backed up a good bit more than balls. Traded it back in '76 for a CVA Harper's Ferry which, while fine looking on the outside was junk on the inside.