Does a .44 cal muzzleloader have too much kick for a 13 year old?

Answer 1

No it should be OK, black powder tends to have a lower kick than a modern smokeless cartridge.

Answer 2

A .44 cal. muzzleloading rifle with a normal charge of somewhere between 30 and 50 grains of fffG powder does not have that great of a recoil. However, most of the black powder guns that are chambered for a .44 cal. bullet are pistols. You didn't say whether you were asking about a rifle or a pistol. Of course, a pistol will have a greater recoil with these charges than will a rifle. Depending on your son''s experience wihta gun and how well he can handle recoil, will determine if he can handle a .44 cal. pistol.

The recoil of as muzzleloading rifle is somewhat different from that of a modern smokeless powder rifle. It is more of a push than a sharp recoil, much like a shotgun recoil. The recoil of a muzzleloader can be controled by reducing the powder charge. I own several muzzleloaders and alter the amount of powder that I load depending on the distance to the target. Recoil is not an issue in my case but I can sure tell the difference between a light load and a heavy one. When my son was about 8 years old, he wanted to shoot my .50 cal. Hawken rifle. I was loading 80 grains of ffG powder in it but for him I reduced the charge to 40 grains and he could handle it just fine. If you are shooting an inline muzzleloader and using the preformed pellets, just use one pellet instead of the usual two pellets. If you are loading loose powder, just set your powder measure for a lesser charge that he can handle. If he is an experienced shooter and used to some recoil, just reduce it by about 1/4 and slowly work up. If he is not experienced, it would be better to start with a charge that is reduced by about 1/2 your normal charge. These reduced charges will change the point of impact of your bullet and that will have to be taken into consideration. If you plan to let him use this gun for hunting, he will have to work up to where he can shoot the regular full charge to ensure that the bullet has enough energy for a clean kill. Until he can handle that, he is not ready to hunt with that particular gun.

Answer 3

They aren't that bad. Plus, the powder charge in black powder guns can be lowered a little bit so it has even less recoil.
I shoot .50 black powder rifles and using a safe charge that is midway between minimum and maximum; the recoil is much like a 12 shotgun. It feels more like a shove rather than a sharp kick.
A 13 year old could probably handle one, but the 13 year old should remember to have it firmly shouldered.

Answer 4

Not at all. I went through one child who's a little sensitive and another who was always pretty well impervious to recoil, but black powder firearms tend to push more than rap and are easier on the sensitive. My youngest, when he was a bit younger, had a lot of fun with a 500 BPE (cartridge) double rifle despite its 14+" LOP and had no difficulty with 50 and 54 caliber front-stuffers.

Answer 5

Not at all. Black powder firearms have more of a "push" than an abrubt kick like modern cartridge fireing guns do. I really enjoy shooting the .44 it is the same one that all my kids shot as well. Just relax and enjoy, it is really not much at all.
Good shooting.
Ignore the people telling you it kicks hard, they obvioulsy are guessing. I have years of experience with black powder weapons.

Answer 6

no and a .50 smokepole and a .54 does not have that much recoil either.when you buy a really high powdered rifle like a .300 weatherby there is too much recoil for many men.my first magnum was a .300 winchester.i shot 7 times and sold it.but when i travel to the midwest i needed heavy duty fire power so i bought a 7 mm wsm and a .300 wsm.taking shots over 400 yards you need the extra boost for long range hunting and the deer out there in nebraska are 3 times the size of eastern whitetails and a 06 or a .270 wont do the job.

Answer 7

im 15 and shoot a .50 cal. muzzleloader so i dont see why you cant shoot a .44 unless its a pistol then it might kick out of your hand so hold it thght (i made that mistake)

Answer 8

no about the same as a 20 gauge shotgun

Answer 9

NO it does not have any hardly at all.*

Answer 10

Sure, it is the same as it would be if it were a modern cartridge gun.