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Trends in Muzzleloading, a shift?

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Col. Batguano

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I've noticed over the last few years here that the interest (gauging by the total number of posts) is trending more and more toward flint than percussion. About 2-3 years ago, Percussion to Flintlock posts ran about 2:1, and now they're 176K : 159K. Similarly the General ML'er section ran about 3:2 relative to the Builder's Bench section. Now they're about even.

Does that connote a general trend in ML'ing toward flint guns? Or, that more people are building (or posting here), and most of the builders are building flint guns rather than cap guns?

Another reason could be that people tend to graduate "to" flint guns after they do the cartridge gun and then the cap gun thing. It could be that the ML'ing community is getting older / more mature, and we aren't attracting more (new) people in to it?

Just throwing it out there for general discussion.
 
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I have both flint and cap guns. I am knapping impaired so it is cheaper for me to shoot the cap guns. I like the flints but buying new flints because I am knapping impaired is cosly since Rich Pierce stopped selling flints.
 
I find flint more reliable to be honest. Certainly easier to fix an issue compared.

YES. With a flint, everything’s right there and as for a flash channel there’s only the thickness of the barrel wall to worry about. The drums and snails and long flash channels and tiny nipple orifices can make cap guns “clog” easier than a flint and can be a genuine pain to troubleshoot in the field. A flint might have a bit of a learning curve but they can be every bit if not MORE reliable than a caplock once you find your footing.
 
My gun rack is close to 50/50 percussion to flint, I enjoy shooting both but there sure is something special about the flintlocks. I agree that they can be more reliable.
 
I like both, flintlocks and percussion. With the pandemic situation, my shooting has been minimal for a year now, but prior to that, I would generally bring a flintlock to the range for relaxed shooting. I have actually acquired four cap guns over the past couple of years that I've not even gotten around to shooting!

There does seem to be a lot of interest in flintlocks now. I don't know why that is. Provided you have a good lock, in my experience they can be just as fast and at least as reliable as percussion. The problem is with the flint locks that are not so good, and there are a lot of them.

I recall reading that the First Nations people of Canada were shooting flintlock trade guns well into the cartridge era, and the only reason they "converted" to percussion was that the Hudson's Bay Company was unable to find gunmakers to produce flint locks that would function properly. It was a lost technology, and I think lock makers have only recently re-discovered some of the dark mysteries that make flintlocks work. Anyway, getting back to those indigenous people, I have a hypothesis with regard to their preference for flintlock muzzleloaders. First, any muzzleloader is cheaper to shoot than a breechloader of comparable power. Second, they lived in an environment with severe winter cold. I have no personal experience with that kind of weather (I'm a Florida Cracker), but I would think manipulating a priming flask would be easier than trying to cap a tiny nipple in freezing cold, and if the touch-hole on a flintlock is enlarged, as many were, the gun will self-prime during loading, which would eliminate the need to prime altogether.

Admittedly, this has nothing to to with the current surge in flintlock popularity, but I hope it reinforces the point that a flintlock firearm, with a good quality lock and appropriate attention to details like keeping the flint sharp and secure, can be functional and reliable. I don't know if the current crop of good quality, well designed flint locks (meaning Chambers, Caywood, Kibler, and Laubach) may be driving the surge, or vice versa, but I would agree that flinters are making an increasingly strong showing these days.

Notchy Bob
 
I have no idea about the change in trend. I can only speak of my own interests. I have both types and shoot both types. But all my squirrel hunting this year was with a flintlock. On December 26 it was 24 degrees that morning when I shot 3 squirrels. My hands were cold and I spilled a little powder loading and priming the gun. I can’t imagine trying to use #11 caps in that weather even with a capper. As much as I like percussion guns, there’s just something special about flintlocks that other guns don’t have.
 
There isn't much to discuss about percussion rifles. Mostly how a Pedersoli cpmpares to a Lyman. To me a poplock with its little nipple huggers is too much like a modern gun. I like the challenge of the flintlocks for hunting and target shooting. By the time percussion guns came along, the guns had lost their soul and started to look more plain working tools. Flints can be a touch expensive, but I buy 50 at a time to get the better price. They are still cheaper than buying golf balls, tennis balls, or $8 fishing lures that can be lost.
 
It’s a traditional forum, and lots of folks play cowboys and Indians. Percussion has a more limited time frame. Cr 1820 to 1870.
Flint much longer. Cr 1650-1850.
Even if you don’t want to dress in funny clothes you have such a broad choice of toys.
 
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