Flintlock Snobbery

I own several flinters but I use a Jonathan Browning mountain rifle as my target rifle and I get the sly remarks about when am I gonna grow up and all that Jazz. I just give a sly remark on how my targets usually are scoring pretty good for a “kid”

slow said:

I guess I'm a flintlock snob!

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The percussion cap will never catch on.

I am presently reading "Commmodor Hornblower" and his wife presents him with a boxed set of double barreled, rifled, percussion pistols. New fangled stuff for the times. The cannons on his ship seem to be flintlocks. Interesting reading.

mushka said:

I am presently reading "Commmodor Hornblower" and his wife presents him with a boxed set of double barreled, rifled, percussion pistols. New fangled stuff for the times. The cannons on his ship seem to be flintlocks. Interesting reading.

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Flintlock naval artillery...

Griz44Mag said:

Now I am REALLY confused........What are the cartridges in the belt for?

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Batteries for his bionic arm and for the motor that spins the wheel that generates the sparks to make the pistol go bang.

I’m not a Flintlock snob, also hunting with longbow and rifle. Having had good success in the Northeastern area for over 50 years with my flintlocks, serves as a great rebuttal to those that chastise my long range rifle hunting methods out West

Do these men look as if they'd use anything but Hand knapped black English Flint.

First Royal Regiment of Foot Grenadiers.

I've mentioned it here before. I built a CVA percussion Kentucky rifle in school when I was 14. It was my only gun for years. There was no internet, no television signal, we lived in the sticks. I hunted with it daily, we ate lots of game it provided.

When I was about 16 my dad took me to a gun show an hour away. There was a local group of black powder shooters that were into period dress and gear. They were dressed in skins, posing for pictures, and had set up a table of their finest equipment.

I spend several minutes drooling over their fine accoutrements on the table when I proudly said I shot black powder and had built a Kentucky rifle. The ringleader, a huge man as big as a tree, snarled back, "What school is your Kentucky?" I didn't understand him, but told him it was a CVA.

He proceeded to denounce the gun, my gear, and my skills to assemble a "proper muzzleloader " in the most rough terms. I told him of the game I had shot and he all but called me a liar.

I turned away, completely dejected and humiliated, and found my dad. After telling him about what had happened, my dad told me that some people were just a$$h@£€$, and to ignore them.

At the time I had bought a Foxfire book and was gathering hides to make myself some buckskins to be like those guys.
I gave them away. If I'd had another gun I may have stopped shooting black powder.

Thankfully, I didn't.

Eterry said:

I've mentioned it here before. I built a CVA percussion Kentucky rifle in school when I was 14. It was my only gun for years. There was no internet, no television signal, we lived in the sticks. I hunted with it daily, we ate lots of game it provided.

When I was about 16 my dad took me to a gun show an hour away. There was a local group of black powder shooters that were into period dress and gear. They were dressed in skins, posing for pictures, and had set up a table of their finest equipment.

I spend several minutes drooling over their fine accoutrements on the table when I proudly said I shot black powder and had built a Kentucky rifle. The ringleader, a huge man as big as a tree, snarled back, "What school is your Kentucky?" I didn't understand him, but told him it was a CVA.

He proceeded to denounce the gun, my gear, and my skills to assemble a "proper muzzleloader " in the most rough terms. I told him of the game I had shot and he all but called me a liar.

I turned away, completely dejected and humiliated, and found my dad. After telling him about what had happened, my dad told me that some people were just a$$h@£€$, and to ignore them.

At the time I had bought a Foxfire book and was gathering hides to make myself some buckskins to be like those guys.
I gave them away. If I'd had another gun I may have stopped shooting black powder.

Thankfully, I didn't.

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Sounds like your dad was a wise man.

Enfield58 said:

Sounds like your dad was a wise man.

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He was, I miss him everyday.

Eterry said:

He proceeded to denounce the gun, my gear, and my skills to assemble a "proper muzzleloader " in the most rough terms.

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So that was probably the first time you met Black Heart ....???
Little did you know you would meet him again on the MLF!

Eterry said:

I've mentioned it here before. I built a CVA percussion Kentucky rifle in school when I was 14. It was my only gun for years. There was no internet, no television signal, we lived in the sticks. I hunted with it daily, we ate lots of game it provided.

When I was about 16 my dad took me to a gun show an hour away. There was a local group of black powder shooters that were into period dress and gear. They were dressed in skins, posing for pictures, and had set up a table of their finest equipment.

I spend several minutes drooling over their fine accoutrements on the table when I proudly said I shot black powder and had built a Kentucky rifle. The ringleader, a huge man as big as a tree, snarled back, "What school is your Kentucky?" I didn't understand him, but told him it was a CVA.

He proceeded to denounce the gun, my gear, and my skills to assemble a "proper muzzleloader " in the most rough terms. I told him of the game I had shot and he all but called me a liar.

I turned away, completely dejected and humiliated, and found my dad. After telling him about what had happened, my dad told me that some people were just a$$h@£€$, and to ignore them.

At the time I had bought a Foxfire book and was gathering hides to make myself some buckskins to be like those guys.
I gave them away. If I'd had another gun I may have stopped shooting black powder.

Thankfully, I didn't.

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I recall in the buckskin report back in the seventies that had a cartoon of a mountain man selling an Indian a CVA rifle. He was disparaging the mangy skins and praising the rifle. I had just built a CVA rifle from a kit for my friend. One of the Kentucky rifles on a two piece stock. I tested it before I gave it to him and first shots were a one nice group at fifty yards. I didn’t have a misfire. I had never shot a double set trigger at the time. The trigger pull on this gun was a simple lever, and touched off easy.
this was the middle seventies and I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with a CVA. Some years later I got a Navy Arms Kentucky and the lock was no where near as good.

hopping said:

The percussion cap will never catch on.

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They are more like training wheels.

ugly old guy said:

I'd like to get a flinter. Until I can afford one, I'll just keep shooting the less expensive percussion arms.
(converting my .54 caliber TC Hawken rifle to flint isn't a viable option.)

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Hey I only paid $300 for mine built (not museum grade work) a ball mold, 6 prenapped flints, 2 lbs of ff and 2 4oz ffff at Dixon's black powder weekend. Dixons Muzzle Loading — Muzzle Loading Shop – Kempton, PA Unfortunately there isn't one this year but they still do mail order.
I got a flinter so when Covid2020 (the zombie virus) hits I can keep shooting the stumbling bums even without fancy brass bang cups. ;-)

Eterry said:

I've mentioned it here before. I built a CVA percussion Kentucky rifle in school when I was 14. It was my only gun for years. There was no internet, no television signal, we lived in the sticks. I hunted with it daily, we ate lots of game it provided.

When I was about 16 my dad took me to a gun show an hour away. There was a local group of black powder shooters that were into period dress and gear. They were dressed in skins, posing for pictures, and had set up a table of their finest equipment.

I spend several minutes drooling over their fine accoutrements on the table when I proudly said I shot black powder and had built a Kentucky rifle. The ringleader, a huge man as big as a tree, snarled back, "What school is your Kentucky?" I didn't understand him, but told him it was a CVA.

He proceeded to denounce the gun, my gear, and my skills to assemble a "proper muzzleloader " in the most rough terms. I told him of the game I had shot and he all but called me a liar.

I turned away, completely dejected and humiliated, and found my dad. After telling him about what had happened, my dad told me that some people were just a$$h@£€$, and to ignore them.

At the time I had bought a Foxfire book and was gathering hides to make myself some buckskins to be like those guys.
I gave them away. If I'd had another gun I may have stopped shooting black powder.

Thankfully, I didn't.

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Reason #453,681 I don't hang out and rendezvous. Seems to be a high ratio of small minded jerks, most of whom bought their gear, counting threads and belittling others' gear, who wouldn't last 5 minutes in the wilderness.

Reminds me a lot of car shows, actually. (My other addiction is vintage automobiles.)

I had a CVA Kentucky flintlock that was a Bad Rifle. I gave it away last year to a young guy who is willing to work out whatever is wrong with it.

I've come back to the flintlock now in order to have something historically accurate and gain a touch of experience what the folks who settled the place I've recently moved to (Middle Tennessee) went through in the late 18th/early 19th Century. I can't think of anything more pleasant than walking through the woods with a flintlock.

When I first got into this hobby in the early ‘80s I remember TC owners looking down on CVA’s..........Fast forward to 2020 and I see some stick their noses up at Hatfield’s and Pedersoli Frontier/Blue Ridge rifles because of not being period correct and they have been even referred to being fugly!! ( I love my Hatfield’s!!) .............snobbery is alive and well today even in these times of pandemic!! Greg

The ready availability of correct parts/guns has altered a lot of our perceptions.

Pete G said:

The ready availability of correct parts/guns has altered a lot of our perceptions.

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Yep. And isn't hard to spend $600-700 to build a historically correct gun from a parts kit, instead of $300-700 on a commercial gun that isn't correct.

Pete G said:

The ready availability of correct parts/guns has altered a lot of our perceptions.

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Along with the Internet....

Many who want to shoot traditional muzzleloaders simply don't have the resources to spend $500 + initially on a firearm to get into the sport. Then there are the other items that go with it. Granted many can be made or found cheaply but for the pilgrim that may seem daunting. Often someone gets that looked down on capper or flinter and finds it shoot really well. Now a fancy period correct gun would be fun, but if the old cheapie is bringing home the bacon or winning some matches it is hard to take the jump to a new one.