Navy Arms Buffalo Hunter

[tom45]

I have recently located a Navy Arms Buffalo Hunter for a decent price and am looking for info on it.  Cannot find anything anywhere on the internet.  I am particularly interested in the twist rate, what type of nipple it takes and if I can replace it with a musket nipple (comes with a #11), and where to find other spare parts.  It also comes with no ramrod, and I noticed that a standard size rod won't fit.  I assume I will have to make a rod for it.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Seems like a very nice rifle and I don't want to pass it up.

-Tom

[filmokentucky]

Mine came with two nipples--one for #11 caps and one for musket caps. The one not being used screws into a hole in the cap box. Navy or Dixie should be able to help you out with new nipples. You can make a hickory ramrod easily, but a friend of mine uses a cut down Zouave ramrod in his rifle. These are rugged, reliable and accurate rifles. Mine likes 80 grains of FFg and a 560 grain Minie. There is nothing on the North American continent that can stand up to that load.

[tom45]

Thanks for the info.  I usually get my minies from Black Jack Hill, they have a .575 minie and a .578 minie.  I am assuming the standard .575 will work fine (still have a few of them left).  Does the cut down Zouave rod fit in the thimbles on the Buffalo Hunter, or does it need to be modified somehow?  The military style rods I've seen look like a thin steel rod with an enlarged ramming end, and the thimbles on the Buffalo Hunter look like they accept something closer to a standard ramrod, just a bit smaller.

[coyotejoe]

  I'd first advise you get a bore light which will drop to the breech plug and take a good hard look at the bore. Most secondhand muzzleloaders I have seen have had rust pitted bores and/or rings from firing with a ball not fully seated and that rifle has been kicking around for 30 years or more. As a general rule I will not buy a used ML rifle unless I get it cheap enough to afford to replace the barrel. On the buff hunter that would be pretty much out of the question. 
You will want a steel ramrod for the buff-hunter, the thimbles only take a 5/16" rod and in wood that is way too flimsy for a .58 caliber, which is probably why it has no ramrod. The Zouave rod is only about 1/4" diameter, will rattle badly in the thimbles and is hard to hold on to if you need to ram a tight load or worse, to pull a load. I'd go to the hardware store and get a 3' length of 5/16" steel and a brass pipe fitting which can be slipped onto the end of the rod, soldered or JB Welded in place and filed or ground to a nice contour to fit the bore.
  The twist is listed differently from different sources but it is a slow twist, somewhere around 66-72". The Buffalo Hunter is not "rendezvous legal", being post 1840, and not legal for civil war events either, being not military issue. That leaves hunting, and for that I would highly recommend the patched round ball. While it is true that a well placed minie will drop anything on the continent, the low velocity and rainbow trajectory makes shot placement a bit difficult, not to mention it will kick like a mule in that little rifle. The load recommended by "filmokentucky" will leave the muzzle at only about 900 fps. Zeroed at 50 yards it will be 4" low at 75 and 12" low at 100. The round ball will shoot much flatter, kick less, cost less and be easier to find an accurate load, while still being more than enough for any game out to 100 yards. My Zouave is reserved for elk hunting with round balls only, I'd prefer the lighter buff-hunter but they never were common and are downright scarce today. If the bore is good, you have a real find!

[tom45]

I have a drop in bore light that I carry around with me to every gun shop I go to just in case I run into something interesting.  I started doing that after I bought a perfect external condition used GPR with a badly ringed bore.  The bore in the Buffalo Hunter is simply spectacular.  The rifling is sharp and there are absolutely no pits or dark spots.  Bright all the way.  The guy at the shop said he didn't think it had ever been shot.  The only bore I have seen that is better is my 32" Green Mountain 58, and I got it new.  I don't know the length of the barrel, but a tight patch pulled from breech to muzzle seemed rotate about 1/3 of a turn, making it a slow twist barrel as you have said, almost ensuring the gun's ability to do well with fairly inexpensive round balls.  I put a down payment on it today, so its officially off the market.  Thanks for all the info you guys have supplied, there is twice as much info on the Buffalo Hunter in this thread than anywhere I can find on the net put together.   And for historical accuracy, I do own a Parker Hale Enfield musket, but wanted a hunting musket of the same caliber, as I have become quite fond of the .58.  My Renegade with the previously mentioned 32" Green Mountain barrel is a shooter as well, but as you can imagine is also quite long to carry in the woods.  The Buffalo Hunter seems like it will fit the bill perfectly. Thanks everyone.

Tom 

 

[coyotejoe]

Sounds like you got a deal on a rare rifle, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

[longcaribiner]

I had a problem with a ram rod channel and thimble on a large caliber half stock I opened the channel and thimbles a 16th of an inch and then used a piece of 5/16 th Delrin plastic rod to make a ram rod.  Delrin is stiff, but flexible, and cuts like wood to mount ram rod ends.  In addition, it is impervious to most solvents and corrosives.

It is used by some suppliers to make those wonder rods that can be bent in a circle.   

[dodd3]

I have a drop in bore light that I carry around with me to every gun shop I go to just in case I run into something interesting.  I started doing that after I bought a perfect external condition used GPR with a badly ringed bore.  The bore in the Buffalo Hunter is simply spectacular.  The rifling is sharp and there are absolutely no pits or dark spots.  Bright all the way.  The guy at the shop said he didn't think it had ever been shot.  The only bore I have seen that is better is my 32" Green Mountain 58, and I got it new.  I don't know the length of the barrel, but a tight patch pulled from breech to muzzle seemed rotate about 1/3 of a turn, making it a slow twist barrel as you have said, almost ensuring the gun's ability to do well with fairly inexpensive round balls.  I put a down payment on it today, so its officially off the market.  Thanks for all the info you guys have supplied, there is twice as much info on the Buffalo Hunter in this thread than anywhere I can find on the net put together.   And for historical accuracy, I do own a Parker Hale Enfield musket, but wanted a hunting musket of the same caliber, as I have become quite fond of the .58.  My Renegade with the previously mentioned 32" Green Mountain barrel is a shooter as well, but as you can imagine is also quite long to carry in the woods.  The Buffalo Hunter seems like it will fit the bill perfectly. Thanks everyone.

Tom 

tom the navy arms buffalo hunter was made by antonio zoli in itali, i had one they have a 1in48 twist barrel mine shot a 625 grn minie with a thick skirt  i took an aisan water buffalo with mine in the north of australia,the ram rod that came was 5/16 that ia all you will get through the ram rod pipes i used a solid 5/16 brass rod for mine, they are a very srongly built rifle if you can get hold of the lyman black powder hand book first edition it has a story in it about val forgert the founder of navy arms he used one in africa he tells you the loads for it.
bernie

 

[coyotejoe]

I just read on another site that they are being produced again, I have no details but it seems they are back in production.

[tom45]

What would be a good place to look for a mold for the heavy minies?  We have one for a original style minie, but its 500 grains, I believe.  Is there a source for a mold for the 625 grain minie?  I'd like to try a number of different bullet weights and charges, and as they may be a bit heavy for deer (in which case I'll set up a good round ball load), I like shooting the big loads at the range, and may use them for larger game some day given the opportunuty.  I've fired a number of rounds at the range through a friend's .458 Win Mag Ruger #1, and the recoil never really bothered me all that much, but I don't really know how the two will compare.  In the past, I've hunted with a NEF/H&R Tracker II single shot with Remongton Buckhammer Slugs, which felt quite stout as well.  I'm not particularly concerned with heavy recoil, it never really bothered me.  I wouldn't like to shoot that Ruger all day, but experience with the 500 grain minies in the Renegade tells me the Buffalo Hunter won't be near as bad as the Ruger anyway.