How did you get into the BP Sport and why choose Flintlocks

Deer were scarce in Indiana in the 1960's and when I returned home after my discharge from the Army, we hunted small game, rabbits, squirrels, quail and pheasants. Around 1970 I got interested in deer hunting and the only legal firearms to use were shotguns and muzzleloaders. Rifled barrels and chokes, for shotguns, had not yet been invented, and the only slugs available were pumpkin balls. Not conducive to long range or accuracy. I built my .50 caliber hawken replica at the end of the 69' season and I was off and running, so to speak. I had increased my maximum effective range to 100-125 yards. I bought my .54 caliber GPR flint for the additional challenge. I might be addicted........robin :wink:

My mother used to put a Pat 53 3rd mod contract musket into bed with me when I was little, and got sick which was quite often. This musket turned out to be the first muzzle loader I ever shot, ( still have it), then Fess Parker, on Disneyland as Crockett, later as Danial Boone in the 1960's series. Dad also had a great love of history which has passed onto me. Flintlocks have come quite late in life, and that is all seem to use these days for hunting and the like. The passion does not diminish with age !!

cheers

Heeler

...As for why choose a flintlock?

It is sort of like choosing a car/truck with manual transmission. The more involvement you have in making the thing go, the more satisfaction you get out of the experience.

As I learn about people of ages past I am always impressed at how they could thrive on so much less than what we have today. In the back of my mind there is a question, "could you do that?"

When I was in my twenties, I built a . CVA 45 Kentucky kit and several pistol kits, shot them with a buddy, had a lot of fun but sold them all.
I retired 5 years ago( at 61) thought about the times I enjoyed shooting black powder,did a Google search for muzzleloaders,found a used .45 CVA Hawken at Kittering Trading Post, bought it and never looked back. I now own 20 muzzleloading handguns and 18BP long guns in various calibers and ignitions.
I get the biggest kick out of my flintlocks but the percussions are a great lot of fun too.
I have and shoot a good number of center fires but the most relaxing and enjoyable shooting, for me, is the muzzleloaders.
I even enjoy the cleaning process because, being a tinkerer and cobbler and restorer of old cars, I can appreciate the cool designs of the mechanics of these guns.

Just goes to prove that once smitten by the BP bug it never leaves ones system for good. I fired my first charge back around 1972 and have owned at least one ever since '74. For some unknown reason I just can't seem to live w/o it.

Artificer said:

You may not realize the Marine Corps was still a part of the Navy in WWII and not a Separate Armed Service until 1952. So Marines also used that pistol (with U.S. Navy markings) for initial training in pistol familiarization and practice before switching to the Colt .45 Auto in WWII. Thus it also has special interest to collectors of Marine Corps Militaria, as well.

However, I VERY much agree with Randy Johnson about not trading away that pistol towards a longrifle, because of your personal history behind it. I really believe you would sorely regret it later, if you did. Just my opinion.

Gus

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Yes, but it is still under the Dept. of the Navy, of course. You're right about regretting it later....

This is a five year old thread, but I read every response and have enjoyed it a lot.

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My BP rifle experience began in 85 when my wife bought me a TC hawkin kit for Christmas. Didn't put it together for two years but when I did I discovered I liked it. Shot it for a short while then set it aside. I'd shoot it every couple of years, then a little over two years ago I got bit. Don't know why. I had two bp rifles then but now I have eight of them, two being flinters. Funny how life changes as we go along. This has been a fantastic thread.

A friend of mine's wife bought him a black powder rifle because she thought he needed a hobby. He didn't like it and asked me if I was interested because he knew I was a trap shooter and had lots of other firearms. It was a Lyman trade rifle /Investarms 120 A in very good condition. At first it was just another opportunity to get out and put lead downrange but it grew on me.

I was 9 years old in 1955 when Disney's Davy Crockett enthralled the baby-boomer kids...that hooked me for life! I believe many others of my age demographic will say the same!

My grandmother's second husband built BP rifles and bench guns. She talked him into making one for me when I graduated high school. I was the one who spent hours at his house marveling at all his antique guns and bamboo fly rods. No one else in my family visited him, but many of them wanted to buy a gun from him and he declined them. I was the only one to get a gun and it was given to me. I still have it but have bought and sold many others. My ultimate goal is to build a .54 Hawken flinter.

When a kid about 9-10, read my dads Old West magazines. They often had articles on old rifle matches. Long range, schuetzen and chunk guns and all sorts of stuff about old time firearms and matches. My dad a was a collector so had old rifles and pistols all over the place. Used to shoot indians on the old Zenith with a German percussion target rifle in the sixties. When I grew up a bit and had some money to spend it went for more old rifles. Only got my first flintlock this year.

Started over 40 years ago , i will try to make it short, i was at a gun shoot and this older fellow was saying that you couldn’t hit the door of a barn when close and you inside with a BP rifle , that being said it hit a nerve and i got a TC .54 no one new anything about them and my only info was from the TC booklet. With little knowledge a could shoot some incredible targets at 50 yards bench rest. Then i feel in love with them and that’s not the worst, at a BP shoot a meet this guy that was shooting a .50 flintlock longrifle that he had made and the worst thing of the worst he made me shoot it, oh my god that was the worst thing that i ever did. What a bad decision on my part i I’m now on my 5th built. Personal advice if some one offers you to shoot one, run as fast as you can L.O.L

Some really interesting stories thus far!

For me, it was just that I was 18 and went to a gunstore to buy a Lee Enfield Rifle. These were just $50.00 retail in 1994. A friend (and mentor in all things guns and hunting) had gone along and he spotted a CVA Bobcat caplock for sale too.

He said, "go on and get it also....you get an extra week to hunt." I bought it.

At first, it was awful! I couldn't hit anything with it. That all changed when I had TC adjustable sights installed...I shot that thing quite a bit more than most muzzleloader hunters did. In 1999, I hunted rifle season with it also.

I always like challenge though.....and I think flintlocks just look more attractive. I finally bought one in 2012 or 2013...now I have 4 flintlocks, calibers .45 to .58, but haven't shot any of them! SMH.

I hope to remedy that and plan to try out my .45 soon.

I’ve always been a history buff since I was a kid. Then when It came to hunting, I simply just wanted something different than my friends. I liked the challenge of shooting a flintlock, as well as building one from a kit. I still am impressed how my GPR came out, being that I built it in my mother’s shed at 17 years old.

I've owned guns since I started getting them for my birthday and Christmas at about 7 years old. The older the better. I stopped at flintlocks because past that it's too hard to hit a moose from outside the range of his rack.

I got an invitation to go on a black powder doe population control hunt. Land owner was a BP enthusiast.
I bought a percussion used TC and was hooked.
Now I have handgonnes, matchlock, pistols, revolvers, smoothies, rifles and percussions.
There is only one real reason I would pick any one type over another, because at the time I buy one, it makes me happy.

I saw Daniel Day Lewis shoot that Elk at the opening of "Last of the Mohicans" and decided I had to have a legendary long rifle of my own lol.

Cool thread. I got into BP through an interest in military history. I was an avid milsurp collector back when you could buy surplus rifles and ammo by the case, so it was a natural extension of that interest that took me into the 19th and 18th Century. I had always had a keen interest in the Brown Bess in particular and toyed with the idea of getting one “just for laughs”. I eventually found a 1779 EIC musket in good working order (see pic) and the hook was set at that point. I became fascinated with the lock mechanism and how simple yet clever it is, like a mousetrap. Once I’d fired it and experienced that .75 caliber BP kaboom everything else seemed boring!

While shopping for antiques, I spotted a half stock percussion rifle for sale. The house where we lived had a fireplace and I thought that rifle would look good hanging above the mantle. Yes the rifle fit the style of the house and it got the hamster to turn the wheel a little faster. I thought about how much fun it would be if I could shoot the old rifle. But I had concerns about it's age and condition. My work place sent me to the Atlantic shore where I met a local fellow who had an FFL. He had a new T/C Hawken kit for sale.

I knew of no one that shot M/Lers at the time, so I read the booklet that accompanied the kit and gathered all the necessary items to make smoke. I found a little shop that sold most everything needed. I became acquainted with the owner and met another fellow who knew where a shooting range was located. Finally had a safe place to fire the caplock.

This lead to building up a bunch of parts into a rough resemblance of a Lancaster long rifle in flint. That was over 40 years ago. Still enjoy building and shooting the front stuffers to this day.

The China virus scare is keeping me from the range, what with all of the mandated virus precautions imposed by the tyrant governor and implemented by the shooting range. I need a BP smoke infusion!!

rdlowe said:

Cool thread. I got into BP through an interest in military history. I was an avid milsurp collector back when you could buy surplus rifles and ammo by the case, so it was a natural extension of that interest that took me into the 19th and 18th Century. I had always had a keen interest in the Brown Bess in particular and toyed with the idea of getting one “just for laughs”. I eventually found a 1779 EIC musket in good working order (see pic) and the hook was set at that point. I became fascinated with the lock mechanism and how simple yet clever it is, like a mousetrap. Once I’d fired it and experienced that .75 caliber BP kaboom everything else seemed boring!View attachment 41860

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I used repro Bess and Charle muskets for 10 years of Rev War re-enacting during the Bi-Cen. After some tuning, both were reliable sparkers. There's also nothing like launching a heavy lead .69 or .75 cal. ball behind a generous powder charge!