Wisconsin has a special muzzle loader season and this year has started allowing people to hunt with black powder pistols .44 cal and larger.I noticed traditions makes a single shot .50 cal. in-line pistol, would this make a good whitetail pistol. the range will be close, between 20-40 yards. thanks for any advice.

the tradition "buckhunter"....... i think it would be good for the ranges you speak of especially. i had thought about trying one a couple times myself. i think it takes like 70gr of powder. traditions recomended the lighter weight lead conicals when i inquired about it. i think hornady makes a 240gr "pa. conical".
if ya try one out let us know. i'd like to hear how it shoots.

i hunted with BP rifles for years, but have yet to try the short smokepoles.

see what you should do is use this as an excuse to get your self a new encore an get the 15' muzzle loader barrel for it

I'd probably opt for the TC Encore ML Pistol before the Traditions if your budget allowed. More versatile for additional barrel acquisitions down the road.

thanks for the input, I do own an encore, just like to keep my b.p. stuff seperate and the traditions pistol is realitivly in expensive.

fpm....that was kind of my rationalization. i dearly love my TC's, and just dread the thought of subjecting them to that corrosive stuff. i know....probably wouldn't hurt nuthin, but just my silly way of thinkin. plus...like you said the buckhunter is fairly cheap in comparison. about the price of a TC barrel probably. i would expect more range, and possibly accuracy from the BP encore barrel though.

Good rationing there KYODE, good excuse to try something else I kinda like the way that buckhunter looks

I got to handle a Traditions BP Pistol recently and the owner told me it was only "rated for 70 grains".

Also he assured me that the recoil would really "get your attention" due to a not so good grip design.

But he didn't think that my 629 with nuclear loads behind 300gr XTP's was uncomfortable...

Just thought you guys would want to know.

$bob$

I got me a bullberry 209x50 contender barrel. I use it for most of my deer hunting.
I have taken a few deer with ti but missed many as well.
I am using 90 grs of pyrodex P under a barned 250 sabot.

As or corrosion I have gotten more from hunting in the rain then firing the black powder.
every time I fire it I clean it ASAP and give it a nice coat of oil.

fpm,
I can't speak for the traditions pistol but I can say that blackpowder pistol hunting is superfun. I have a couple of the old T/C Scout .50 cal pistols that I have been hunting with since the mid 90's or so. I shoot 80 grains of black over a 370 grain Maxi-ball and it is big medicine for deer and hogs. I have not shot nor would I at anything past about 60 yards.

I would hope that the traditions pistol would shoot well enough at the ranges you are talking about to get the job done. I am not sure how sabots would shoot in those barrels, but to me the attraction of the pistol is that I can shoot those big full-bore conicals. I believe those bullets allow me to take full advantage of the pistols capability and I like the way they perform on critters.

The Encore pistol with the black powder barrel would be nice but it is considerably more expensive and money sometimes comes into play into any decision.

Oh well, my main point is that black powder pistol hunting is absolutely fun. If you find yourself in the field with one next year I am sure you will enjoy.

BP pistol hunting has caught my attention as well, though I have yet to venture into it. Hopefully the good replies will keep coming, so we may learn more about it!

fpm, by all means keep us posted on what you decide to go with!

Thanks for the info tc scout I was not sure if many people hunted with b.p. pistols. Also thanks Kyode you always awnser all my questions, Iam fairly new to handgun hunting but I think Iam hooked.