Hey u
View attachment 237124
My two Traditiions guns. A Crockett rifle and pistol! Love them! Some aren’t fans but I think they’re a good BANG for the buck. Love them!!
Anyone else like Traditions?
They look good, Smoke. Congrats.
I like my Crockett Rifle fairly well overall. So far this year mine has killed 33 squirrels during early season. Fall season is 30 days away here and I look forward to getting back at it. My Crockett Rifle has provided much enjoyment so far. In all honesty, hunting gray squirrels in the Ky mountains with a .32 muzzle loader is about as fun as it gets.
On a functional aspect, I have never had a misfire with my Crockett Rifle. It is light and considering its longer length with a curved crescent stock, I find it easy to maneuver in the thick woods. I find that it is about as accurate as one can shoot out to typical squirrel hunting distances, which for no scope is about 30 yards or so on a squirrel for this old boy. I do have an issue shooting it accurately and consistently from a bench but do quite well with it while standing and getting a rest from the side of trees. The bluing is nice and so far it appears to be durable. I can be pretty rough on my critter getting tools while hunting in the mountains and/or thick stuff. So far, my Crockett Rifle has held up about as well as any other rifle I have ever owned.
With that said, me and Mr. Crockett did have our share of disagreements. The factory ramrod is horrible. Way undersize for the thimbles, to the degree that with every step in the woods it would clang. I finally rectified that situation by building up a hickory ramrod. So not only does the hickory ramrod no longer clang while walking, it has also provided a near silent reloading in the woods, which is important while squirrel hunting.
The barrel rib was cut too short to where there is a gap between it and the nose cap. No big deal on a functional aspect, only cosmetic.
And now for the biggest thorn in my side so far, the nipple is leaking. The threads in the flash hole appear to be in good condition but there is slop in there. I ordered and installed a better nipple from TOTW but it has not stopped the leakage. It has, however, made it to where a cap no longer falls off easily such as they did with the factory undersized nipple. If I really torque down the nipple it might slow down the leakage but I am hesitant to do so. For now, I apply a little bit of thread tape on the nipple threads. TOTW sells an oversize tap and nipple for Traditions rifles, which leads me to believe that the situation I am experiencing may be more wide spread. I think I need to get one on the way just in case.
For actual hunting, the factory sight and me did not play well together. After trying several things, I finally ordered a Tom A. Hawks peep for mine. I also installed a taller and different style front sight. Between those two, my success rate on squirrels improved from about 50% to about 95% +.
My load of choice is 20 grains of 3F, .310 RB and .015" ticking lubed with TOTW Mink Oil.
Crockett Rifles are definitely not the higher quality of some other muzzleloaders, such as the old TC and Lyman GPR, but all in all, and considering there is very little other options available, I would like to have another Crockett Rifle. Yes, they really are that much fun.
lol, I'm a very funny guy ain't I.
