Difference in public reaction to Musket vs Rifle

I have found an interesting difference in public reaction which depends on what I say I shoot. Where I work, no else hunts or shoots. NO ONE. Most of my colleagues are in fact vegan or vegetarians, with the vegans looking down on the vegetarians as near savages. When one of my co-workers found out I got a new gun a couple years back you would have thought from his reaction that I just personally went out and slaughtered every cute animal in the state, just to watch them die. :shake:

I have a picture of myself and my daughter at the range on my desk, (my daughter is a zoologist, by the way, and thinks hunting is absolutely necessary for healthy wildlife populations)and sometimes students (I see a 100 to 200 students every semester) who come to my office ask about it. I tell them I’m shooting a flintlock rifle. I get the usual sort of “gun nut” looks.

But a couple months ago someone asked “Is that a musket you’re shooting?” Not wishing to get into a discussion, I just said yes. (It is actually a Traditions Woodsman Hawken, not a musket). The reaction was “Cool! That must be neat to shoot an old gun like that.” Since then I’ve said “I’m shooting a flintlock musket” if someone asks about the picture, and the reaction is always along those same “cool” lines, vastly different from the reaction to “flintlock rifle”.

I can’t really say I understand that difference, except maybe people hear “rifle” and don’t know what the “flintlock” part means, but everyone knows a musket is an old gun. Maybe that makes it less threatening? :hmm:

Anyone else ever notice any sort of difference depending on how you describe what you shoot?

I sure do. When I use terms like "flint or percussion lock" or "smoothbore or rifle bore" I get the same "gun nut" reaction that you did. When I say "musket" or "primitive Arm" the reaction is the same "cool".

I guess there are some terms that the ignorant automatically relate to assault rifle or evil Machine Guns.

If it sounds like a firearm term to these people then they assume is means your a terrorist or something.

Jerem0621

:v I had an good incident this fall, while getting eady to trudge the hills for grouse with my .62 Fowler.
A school bus full of kids, teachers, and parents pulled into the parking lot. They were there to do some stream survey work. I thought uh oh! The immediate reaction was, wow that is a long gun. What is it,and what are you doing? "Well it's a flintlock and I m hunting grouse". The questions just flew, how does it work? Do you hit anything? Do they work in the rain?
Overall the reaction was positive and an opportunity to spread a little more knowledge and generate some good will. But, had it been a modern gun I'm sure the reaction could/would have been much different. :v

Squirrel Tail said:

Anyone else ever notice any sort of difference depending on how you describe what you shoot?

Click to expand...

Sure do. Nobody has a clue when I talk about flintlocks but if I say musket a sudden look of understanding comes to their face. I get a lot more positive reaction when using musket instead of rifle or flintlock.

Isn't it funny and also sad how clueless people are?

HD

I think also that the uneducated feel that "muskets" are close to harmless. Perhaps they "feel" this way because muskets are old and antiquated technology. They don't know that firearms have operated on the same principles for nearly 600 years.
Even my own mother thought my .36 squirrel rifle (flintlock) wouldn't be dangerous to people. As much as I hate to do it, I think I'll start referring to my "rifles" as muskets as well.

I have a lever action musket!!! :grin:

ca it shoot faster than a 42 inch 50 cal semi auto EARLY LANCASTER???

It can't outshoot that button pokin' finger a yers!! :rotf: :rotf:

people need to realise that there are no "good" and "bad" guns but only good and bad people, it's all good dude from flintlocks to AR-15's.

Cooner54 said:

I have a lever action musket!!! :grin:

Click to expand...

I have a semi auto assault musket! :rotf:

Hmmmm......"What kind of gun is that sir?"

"That's an AR-Musket with a 30 ball capacity."

Squirrel Tail said:

Anyone else ever notice any sort of difference depending on how you describe what you shoot?

Click to expand...

I usually tell people that I shoot a Hawkens replica. People around here (Montana) typically respond, "Wow. Like the old mountain men guns?"

I take it down yet another notch: When people ask about the N-SSA, I just open with "We shoot Civil War guns."

The few that show interest get the short version; the 1 in 10 or so that really get interested get the revolver-carbine-musket-smoothbore-repeater-mortar-cannon rap, and the 1 in 1,000 spellbound listener gets the musket, rifled musket, rifle musket thesis.

Don't do many of the latter... :yakyak: :snore:

Its kind of funny. I am coming from exactly the other side of the fence. I am a LEO and all my co workers are modern gun freaks. These guys understand modern guns but no nothing about traditional.

It is really funny to see the look on their face when I say I shoot a .54 cal "rifle". The reaction is that it must be like shooting a canon! And obviously .54 is not even all that big :rotf:

The other part to that is the joke at work goes "If it's a wheel gun it ain't a real gun" The first time they saw my colt walker everyone said "Now that is a real gun!"

Almost all my coworkers think muzzle loaders are cool!

One must always remember when dealing with the burkenstock wearing, pot smoking, tree humpen hippie its alllll emotional. If it FEELS good then it must be so. :barf:
Thats why the statement "LIberalism IS a mental disorder!"
It is why I HARVEST game and fish and from now on I will plagerize and do it with a musket.

I used to be part of an 1836 Militia Muster at a museum for the 4th of July. The Museum had to stop it because people got incensed that the museum was sponsoring a militia. Now they just call it a parade.

Many Klatch

I find that if I say I shoot a muzzleloader, that gets the same reaction as if I say musket. Most folks don't know caplock from flintlock from wheellock from pollock. Muzzleloader sounds nice and old timey so that the granola eaters only raise one eyebrow...

Trench,I think the uneducated must be listening to Jim Sucly (sp :blah: ) When I tell the guys at work i'm into muzzleloaders they ask if I shoot a Knight or Remington or what,when I tell them it's a traditional style rifle they say Oh!

Many Klatch said:

I used to be part of an 1836 Militia Muster at a museum for the 4th of July. The Museum had to stop it because people got incensed that the museum was sponsoring a militia. Now they just call it a parade.

Many Klatch

Click to expand...

This is what Squirrel Tail is talking about. Words evoke emotions. You say "Militia" and it evokes images of Timothy Mcvay. Never mind that the militia was the backbone of our defense for our first 130 years. It would take an interest in history to understand that...and we all know history is "boring". Blah.
Many, did this objection to historical accuracy happen in Indiana?

Cooner54 said:

I have a lever action musket!!! :grin:

Click to expand...

Not so fast - I wish I had this one :thumbsup:

Winchester Model 1873 Musket -Unfired-

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is one of the nicest Antique Pre-1898 Model 1873 Muskets we've seen in twenty years. You will see Modern post 1898 73 muskets that were never issued in the 569-571,000 from around 1903 that were discovered unused during the 1950's in Nicaraugua. However, what you rarely find are nice 73 muskets in antique serial ranges. This one is almost as nice as what you'll find in the 1903 range only it was manufacatured 1895 in another group of muskets that fall into the 481,000 range. Interestingly enough, I purchased my first 1873 musket in 1986 that was also in this same serial range but nowhere close to the condition of this one. Most of the pre-1898's got used pretty hard in far-off lands which is why its so difficult to find nice antique ones. This one is a standard musket configuration in 44 WCF with 30" round barrel, sling swivels, military sights, and semi-crescent buttplate.