Your best deal acquiring a muzzleloader, either trade or purchase

[4570Tom]

Was wondering what your best deal was acquiring a muzzleloader, be it trade or purchase.

In 1989 I purchased basic modern pistol from a small LGS. I tried liking it, but it just didn't do it for me. At this point I didn't have a muzzleloader and had never shot one. In 1992 I was invited to go shooting with a couple of guys. One guy was a Civil War buff and had what I think was an 1861 Springfield replica. The other guy had a CVA Hawken in .50. I shot them both and was hooked. Funds were tight and I was trying to figure out how I was going to get a muzzleloader, plus whatever supplies I would need. Later that year I end up back at the same small LGS and sitting in the rack is a used .54 GPR. I forget the price, but it was more than what I could scrape up at the time. I asked him if he would take a trade and he said maybe. I went home, got the little used modern pistol, and took it back. His eyes lit up and he said sure. Then he pulled out the box of accessories that came with the GPR that he had also taken in trade. Balls, conicals, patches, jags, nipples, other ramrod attachments. We did a straight trade and we were both happy. I've acquired other muzzleloaders since then, but the GPR is still around. Need to take it out more than I do.

 

[Britsmoothy]

No exciting story but I was looking for a .50 smoothrifle but came across a .45 that had done nothing, so the dealer said.
The dealer only wanted £200 sent and I took the gamble.
Its probably the only successful gamble I ever made after the Mrs ofcourse!
That gun just keeps on giving everytime I take it out.

B.

 

[Grimord]

The best, and only deal, I ever had was about 8 years ago I was at an auto junk yard to look for a part for my wife's car. I happened to see the make and model car I was looking for and next to it was an old Grand Marquis with the trunk open. In the trunk were two T/C Renegades in somewhat poor condition. I got my part, and took the two guns to the desk clerk and asked about them. He told me to take them cause he didn't want any trouble with the law. I was not going to argue with him. Took both guns home and was able to clean them up quite well. (wish I had taken pictures) Both were .50 calibers, but one had a pretty bad bore so i sent it to Bobby Hoyt to rebore to 54. Sold both of them at my club for fair prices and was able to put a sizable down payment on a North Carolina flint long rifle in .32.

 

[rich pierce]

I bought an original fullstock percussion rifle with no lock and a bad bore for $42. I made a lock to fit the mortise and freshed the rifling. It was a fun restoration project with no fear involved as the gun was nothing special. Still it’s very fun to shoot it. It started out as a .34 and it’s a .38 now. That’s how bad the bore was!

 

[retrieverman]

The best deal I‘ve got was when a friend (now deceased) who was a Knight rep at the time gave me my first muzzleloader (an original DISC rifle), but the best deal I got on a purchase was a couple weeks ago on a TC Hawken Cougar. I found it for sale on a local gun classified site for what seemed like a good price, but after seeking advice from others more “in the know”, it turned out to be less than half what it’s probably “worth”. Given the age, it’s in really decent shape and shoots pretty dang good. It’s definitely a keeper for me.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

In 2005 I bought a new-in-the-box Japanese Bess kit from a guy whom I know, who was once a sutler. He had forgotten he had stored several of them when he stopped sutlering in the 1980's. I don't think that counts as I had to be a friend to get the deal....

2018..., or maybe it was early 2019..., (This COVID manure in 2020 has messed up my "time sense" very bad) I saw a Bess for sale, used, on GunBroker. It looked really rusty, but from what I could see of the lock, it was a Pedersoli. I was pretty sure I could read "Grice". Well I had a scrounged Pedersoli Bess lock and a scrounged but new Pedersoli Bess barrel (NO idea how I was able to luck-out on that barrel...but it's new alright because the barrel tennons have no holes... a story for another time). So I went ahead and bid. With the shipping costs, my bid was about what it would cost for an India Origin Bess.

When I bid on stuff like that, I bid then ignore. Either I win or somebody else is "the lucky customer". See I'm looking to "save" used muskets for living history people and battle reenactors. I may have to dump $100 into the gun after I get it to return it to The King's Standards, and then vend it to The Newbie in the unit. I can't be dropping a lot of coin on the gun, then a lot of work both in finish and replacing worn parts, to then sell it for less than I have in the gun. So I have bid on say a dozen muskets in the past five years, but only won two. The guy looking for a musket for personal use normally has a higher budget than I do for a musket I'm going to flip after fixing.

So as I wrote, I won it. Now I had seen that the sideplate appeared in the photos that it might be rounded. That might be a bonus, but I'd not really know until it arrived. When it arrived and I unboxed it, it was a rusty mess of a Pedersoli Bess. IF I was lucky it would only be surface rust, and that was likely why I had won, because the rust made other buyers shy. So all of the steel parts went into the parts bath or the barrel tank, and fresh Evaporust was added. They were left for 24 hours.

When I removed the barrel, I thought that I could hear angels singing. When I put the scope down the bore and took a look, YEP it was angels singing. It had all been surface rust, and... the brass sideplate and comb had been changed out for parts that looked LLP type, PLUS the lock had the engraved date changed to the F&I period. So what I had at a pretty low price for what I got, was a Pedersoli Bess changed to look a lot like a shortened LLP, and in very good condition, plus with the bayonet...., so it probably should've gone for about $350 more than I paid for it.

I was going to flip it, but...., it's my personal Pedersoli SLP now....,

LD

 

[MIOutdoorsman]

I never seem to be lucky enough to find bargains like I sometimes read here or elsewhere. I don't tend to visit local gun stores unless I have a purpose for going there, and we don't have Pawn Shops around me either. When I lived in TX I would occasionally stop at a Pawn Shop to look around but none ever had anything worthwhile--not in the gun section or elsewhere in the shop.

 

[Josephg]

Acquired a ML for 2K. A week later was offered 6.8K.
Purchased a ML on a buy it now for 1.2K Appraised at 8K.

 

[deermanok]

My best deal was on the CVA mountain pistol I found in a pawnshop last year. The guy wanted 120 dollars for it. I pointed out that the hammer wouldn't stay at full cock and the ramrod wouldn't stay in place.
I ended up getting it for 80 bucks.
I took the lock off and found that the sear or tumbler screw was way too far in. I backed off on the screw a few turns and that solved the problem. I got a ramrod retaining spring for about 3 dollars. The gun was never fired.
I'm not much of a pistol shooter but for some reason, I can shoot that gun very well.

 

[hanshi]

I guess the best deal I ever got, not counting a free one, was my first ever muzzleloader. This was in the mid 1960s and I ordered it through the mail. It was a Numrich Arms H&A .45 Heritage model underhammer with a gain twist barrel. It came with a leather, soft gun case, powder flask, 2 cans of fouling solvent, ball mold and a tang peep with several inserts for the globe front sight. Cost, IIRC, was not over $80. Still have that rifle. The price was what anyone else would have paid, so it's only a "deal" due to the value of the dollar 55 years ago.

 

[user 48679]

I obtained my pristine .45 & .36 T/C Seneca rifles from a gun shop that didn't set much store on sidelock muzzleloaders (preferring to deal in modern muzzleloaders, due to the demand).

I paid $100 OTD for the .45, and $150 for the .36

 

[EC121]

One of my best deals was the John Bivins rifle I bought for $1500 and sold for $4000.

 

[Griz44Mag]

I traded 300 cast .575 round balls (that I cast from roofing scrap) and 500 pre-lubed ox-yoke patches for a well used 50 cal Lyman Plains pistol. (Which I never shot)
A year later I traded the Lyman 50 cal pistol for a "like new" Ruger 10/22 with a laminated gray\black stock. (Which I never shot)
The next week I traded the Ruger 10/22 for a pair of TC riles - a 50 cal Hawkins and a 50 cal Renegade that came with a tackle box FULL of balls, jags, short starters, cleaning patches, powder, caps and a - Bersa Thunder 380 (That I don't think he knew was in there.) I did try to contact the man to tell him but the phone number he gave me had been disconnected. All I had was his first name.
Both of the rifles were later sold off but I still have the pistol.


.

 

[longcruise]

It's a toss up for me.

My first muzzle loader in 1973 was a TC Hawken (what else? ) that the wife bought me for Christmas. She left the Target store with the rifle and a "starter kit" for $120. Probably the going price but the value was that it got me started in muzzle loading and it has taken deer and elk regularly and went hunting again this past season. It is on it's third stock and recently became a 54 thanks to Robert Hoyt.

The other is a GPR that was a 54 kit that had been returned to a local sporting goods store. The returner had brought it back with a bottle of plum brown in the box and it had made a huge leaky mess. My wife came across it in about 1980 and bought it for $100. It gave me the first building experience and still shoots great and has also been there when meat was made. It just had it's third facelift.

I bought an original fullstock percussion rifle with no lock and a bad bore for $42. I made a lock to fit the mortise and freshed the rifling. It was a fun restoration project with no fear involved as the gun was nothing special. Still it’s very fun to shoot it. It started out as a .34 and it’s a .38 now. That’s how bad the bore was!

Do you have any pictures of that gun?

 

[rich pierce]

Do you have any pictures of that gun?

yep. It’s beyond plain and right into homely.

 

[springfield art]

Was wondering what your best deal was acquiring a muzzleloader, be it trade or purchase.

In 1989 I purchased basic modern pistol from a small LGS. I tried liking it, but it just didn't do it for me. At this point I didn't have a muzzleloader and had never shot one. In 1992 I was invited to go shooting with a couple of guys. One guy was a Civil War buff and had what I think was an 1861 Springfield replica. The other guy had a CVA Hawken in .50. I shot them both and was hooked. Funds were tight and I was trying to figure out how I was going to get a muzzleloader, plus whatever supplies I would need. Later that year I end up back at the same small LGS and sitting in the rack is a used .54 GPR. I forget the price, but it was more than what I could scrape up at the time. I asked him if he would take a trade and he said maybe. I went home, got the little used modern pistol, and took it back. His eyes lit up and he said sure. Then he pulled out the box of accessories that came with the GPR that he had also taken in trade. Balls, conicals, patches, jags, nipples, other ramrod attachments. We did a straight trade and we were both happy. I've acquired other muzzleloaders since then, but the GPR is still around. Need to take it out more than I do.

A few years back, Dixie had a sale on Pedersoli Bess kits. $650. I finished and assembled it, turned out nice! A great Bess for 650 plus shppg. at the time. I'm sure others have more interesting tales! I have a Lyman left-hand .54 GPR perc.I did over with refinishing and woodwork. Have a great New Year!

 

[longcruise]

@rich pierce

I like it. Its an honest working rifle. I'm especially impressed that you built a lock for it.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I guess the best deal I ever got, not counting a free one, was my first ever muzzleloader. This was in the mid 1960s and I ordered it through the mail. It was a Numrich Arms H&A .45 Heritage model underhammer with a gain twist barrel. It came with a leather, soft gun case, powder flask, 2 cans of fouling solvent, ball mold and a tang peep with several inserts for the globe front sight. Cost, IIRC, was not over $80. Still have that rifle. The price was what anyone else would have paid, so it's only a "deal" due to the value of the dollar 55 years ago.

EGAD man that one deal got you doomed to an addiction that has lasted more than 50 years, has you locked into an ancient technology, and WORSE, you are consorting with nut-jobs the likes of me on a weekly if not daily basis online.

p.s. glad you're "one of us"....one of us, one of us, one of us......

LD

 

[Muddly]

Rebuilt a .50 percussion TC Hawken, which i sold for $400. (Got it for $200).
Bought a minty Browning montain rifle, iron mounted .50, for $210. Sold it for $600.
Bought a fancy .50 flint long rifle for $900. Just wasn't me though. Spotted a sweet little schimmel long rifle, 50 flint, and traded the fancy one for it. Actually made $100 on the deal.
Am quitting while I'm ahead! <(;

 

[muzzlecap]

One of my best deals was a Thompson Center New Englander I bought about 7 years ago. It was $200.00. The gun doesn't have a mark on it and it came with the rifle barrel and the shotgun barrel. Also came with a bunch of shot and a few accessories. My CVA Mountain Rifle also wasn't a bad deal about 3 years ago--$150.00.
Another deal that ended up being good was one I made about 5 years ago but only in reverse. I had a Parker Hale Muskatoon unfired, in the box. Can't remember what I had paid for it but ended up trading it straight across for a like new Pedersol La Bohémienne' 12 gauge double barrel that had about one box of shells through it. It was/is worth far more than the Muskatoon.