H&R Huntsman .58

[Tubby’s Canteen]

Evening gents , I recently bought a .58 H&r huntsman. Well I’m waiting for Canada post to see fit to deliver it I was wondering if anyone had any experience with them?

 

[John Wasmuth]

Love mine! Had it since around 74 I think. Killed a few bison, cattle, hogs and deer with it. Never failed me. 90 grains of FFG and a 625 grain Minnie ball goes clean through bison. Easy to clean.

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

Love mine! Had it since around 74 I think. Killed a few bison, cattle, hogs and deer with it. Never failed me. 90 grains of FFG and a 625 grain Minnie ball goes clean through bison. Easy to clean.

Any good round ball loads? I’m planning to start with those, i us round balls in my Lyman .50 and .58 round balls in 20 gauge shotgun shells.

 

[John Wasmuth]

Any good round ball loads? I’m planning to start with those, i us round balls in my Lyman .50 and .58 round balls in 20 gauge shotgun shells.

They shoot roundball just fine. Mine likes a .577 hornady with an .018 patch 85 to 90 grains of FFg but a comfortable white tail load 75 gr is fine but I get better groups at 75 to 80. When I bought the rifle the guy tossed in a .45/70 shell he fixed up as a powder measure he said a full case of that worked great and it did. I started messing with lower loads but it shot better with 70 and above. Big bores like big loads I suppose. I know for sure it wouldn’t shoot for a darn with synthetic powders but that was years ago with Pyrodex R and never used it again.

 

[John Wasmuth]

By the by, if you use Minnie ball the skirt has to be soft or it won’t flare out into the bore properly and you’ll get disappointed in performance.

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

That’s a shame all I have right now is pyrodex, I can’t get any real black here.

 

[John Wasmuth]

Try it and see what happens. It may work out in your rifle, all rifles are different and some are more picky than others. My friend has a .58 remington replica and it shot fine out of his.

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

Try it and see what happens. It may work out in your rifle, all rifles are different and some are more picky than others. My friend has a .58 remington replica and it shot fine out of his.

Have you had any issues with hang fires some of the reports online say they can be an issue with the rifles using musket caps?

 

[John Wasmuth]

I use number 11 CCI’ or remington and only had one issue and that was caused by a broken nipple. I was told when I got it to make sure the firing pin was clean by pulling the trigger and pressing the hammer forward and wiping down with rubbing alcohol, then a light coat of oil.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Evening gents , I recently bought a .58 H&r huntsman. Well I’m waiting for Canada post to see fit to deliver it I was wondering if anyone had any experience with them?

@Skinnersblade
I had an experience many years ago with a 58 cal front suffer that made me never want to go down that road again.
A gent asked me to try his hunting load so I said ok.
When the smoke cleared all I did was stand there with a WTF look wanting to know what just hit me.
The clown loaded a 600gn Minnie with I think either 150 or 120gn of black powder.
When you touched that baby off it really got your attention. The eyes lit up the toes curled and the shoulder hurt. Man NEVER AGAIN.
Bob

 

[crs]

Bob, is he now a former friend?

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

Bob, is he now a former friend?

Given the loads mentioned he could also be a late friend.

 

[John Wasmuth]

100 grains is about the max load for the huntsman and you really don’t gain much if you go over 90 grains. I’ve used 30 grains with a patched round ball for rabbits and it just punches a .577 hole through them with nothing blood shot. But at the price of things these days anything over a .32 is a waste of lead.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Given the loads mentioned he could also be a late friend.

@Skinnersblade
Wasn't my idea mate. I trusted the bloke. He didn't tell me anything until after the shot. Holy geeze it went off with a bang. Rifle was fine and he told me it was the recommended Max load.
Never again. You can keep your front stuffers.
Bob

 

[Sarg]

Not a Huntsman but a .58 I only got it last week Antonio Zoli, it has the front band & rammer end missing, I thought it was a Zouave & it would be no problem to get the bands but it would appear it only has one band & is in fact a Mississppi Rifle, any one know where a person might source a front band/Nose cap ?

Wow Bob that was a good load alright, I hope you were standing not from the bench, not the rifles fault that for sure, it was in bad company !

​

 

[John Wasmuth]

Check with Dixie arms or track of the wolf. They may have what you need.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Not a Huntsman but a .58 I only got it last week Antonio Zoli, it has the front band & rammer end missing, I thought it was a Zouave & it would be no problem to get the bands but it would appear it only has one band & is in fact a Mississppi Rifle, any one know where a person might source a front band/Nose cap ?

Wow Bob that was a good load alright, I hope you were standing not from the bench, not the rifles fault that for sure, it was in bad company !

​

@Sarg
Standing fortunately but all the same, holy shit batman it was one hell of a surprise when I touched it off.

 

[fourfive8]

Hah! Oh ya, heavily loaded muzzleloaders can get your attention! Selous was very adamant about that after shooting a gross over load in his 4 bore. He (or his tracker) loaded a full charge of ball and powder over the top of a full charge of ball and powder already in the gun- then pulled the trigger on an elephant. Yeowza! He said it ruined his shooting from then on!

I think the 58 cal Huntsman has a 56" twist which obviously will work for a patched roundball load. I'd be tempted to try to develop an accurate Minie load. If it were mine I'd use either a .578" or .580" RCBS-Hodgdon Minie cast of pure lead lubed with Crisco over about 60 gr of real FF blackpowder. I don't believe RCBS is currently making that mold, unfortunately. It has proven to be the most accurate Minie design in all my rifle muskets. NOE molds does offer a clone of the RCBS-Hodgdon Minie though. The RCBS Minies I shoot, depending on the diameter, average about 460 grs.

Here's an RCBS-Hodgdon hollow base Minie and a 50 yard, 5 shot target I shot with an all original 58 cal M1863 US Springfield rifle musket using pure lead RCBS-Hodgdon Minies lubed with Crisco over about 60 gr FF blackpowder. These original 58 cal rifle muskets have twist rates ranging from about 72-78". No reason a 58 cal Huntsman, with probably a better twist rate for conicals of 56", wouldn't do at least equally well.

 

[Forrest Halley]

@Skinnersblade
Wasn't my idea mate. I trusted the bloke. He didn't tell me anything until after the shot.
Never again. You can keep your front stuffers.
Bob

Ole Bob is leaving us the front stuffers...opting for the rear stuffers...after trusting a bloke that didn't tell him the whole story up front.

Yo ho! Yo ho! A pirate's life for heeee!

In his defense those large bore BP rifles do roll back a bit and he's got a tender shoulder hence all this .25 and .32-20 talk.

I'm personally not the largest fan of the long lock time especially when you know there's going to be a ride coming.

 

[John Wasmuth]

Hah! Oh ya, heavily loaded muzzleloaders can get your attention! Selous was very adamant about that after shooting a gross over load in his 4 bore. He (or his tracker) loaded a full charge of ball and powder over the top of a full charge of ball and powder already in the gun- then pulled the trigger on an elephant. Yeowza! He said it ruined his shooting from then on!

I think the 58 cal Huntsman has a 56" twist which obviously will work for a patched roundball load. I'd be tempted to try to develop an accurate Minie load. If it were mine I'd use either a .578" or .580" RCBS-Hodgdon Minie cast of pure lead lubed with Crisco over about 60 gr of real FF blackpowder. I don't believe RCBS is currently making that mold, unfortunately. It has proven to be the most accurate Minie design in all my rifle muskets. NOE molds does offer a clone of the RCBS-Hodgdon Minie though. The RCBS Minies I shoot, depending on the diameter, average about 460 grs.

Here's an RCBS-Hodgdon hollow base Minie and a 50 yard, 5 shot target I shot with an all original 58 cal M1863 US Springfield rifle musket using pure lead RCBS-Hodgdon Minies lubed with Crisco over about 60 gr FF blackpowder. These original 58 cal rifle muskets have twist rates ranging from about 72-78". No reason a 58 cal Huntsman, with probably a better twist rate for conicals of 56", wouldn't do at least equally well.

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The huntsman.58 is an extremely accurate rifle with both roundball and Minnie’s. That’s a fine group you have there for sure. And I’m pretty sure your 1:56 is correct if I remember right.