The Perfect Gun

In the few weeks I have been on this forum( and enjoyed it) I have noticed some very strong opinions on what is the best BP gun. Some can only relate to flinters, some caplock.
I liked the thread about the best ML for a survival situation, that brought out some strong opinions. Now, What is your favorite ML. One you have or wish you had. After being out of the sport for over 20 years and now diving back in, I have found I like several, but I have a favorite.
I have a custom long rifle, GM bbl. .36cal caplock. I can shoot 000 buckshot, 35gr. powder, and there is little recoil. The gun is pretty to look at too.
My "new to me" Whitworth could turn the table once I get shootin' it but....
I'd like to have a flinter nicer than my Traditions, but I looked in the woods all week and can't find the money tree, dang!
So, if for Christmas, you can have any one ML you want, what is it?

I have pretty much settled on my .58 fusil as the "BEST" gun I have had but if I were to buy/build another it would be a Carolina (typeG)smoothbore in .66-.62 bore.likely from Mike Brooks parts.

That's like asking which is your favorite child! :cursing:

We really don't need these kinds of questions on this forum, Thank you, IMHO.

Perhaps I have a bit of edge to my opinion on this matter, but I am an Identical Twin. My mother was always being asked by people ( like you), in front of my brother and me, Which of us twins she liked the best! She would answer with a silly," Paul's the handsomest, and Peter's the best looking"! The next time she was asked that stupid question, she would say, " Paul's the best looking, but Peter is the Handsomest!"

Most of us own several guns, NOT JUST ONE. Asking us what we think is the best one, is about as relevant as asking us which screwdriver in our set of screwdrivers is the best- or which chisel in a set is the best??? :youcrazy: :bull:

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and Everyone is correct!

You sound like one of those guys who likes to start a fight, and then sit back and let others do the fighting.

I, for one, was not put on this earth to be your entertainment. If you have a dog in this fight, then say so. If not, don't start something you are not prepared to finish.

Why don't we move on to something that actually informs members of something useful.?? :shocked2: :hmm: :thumbsup: I am hoping that no other members will respond to your question, here. I would like to think they all are smarter than to fall for this nonsense.

Get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning Paul??
You are correct to say that it's about impossible to answer the question, but I'd try by saying it's the one I'm shooting at the moment.

We seem to deal with these type of threads once every 4 to 6 months or so. More than not can't mention just one gun, not even the original poster.

paulvallandigham said:

That's like asking which is your favorite child! :cursing:

We really don't need these kinds of questions on this forum, Thank you, IMHO.

Click to expand...

Paul, you seem to think that you need to address every post on this forum. You don't.

You may simply not participate if you don't like the subject. Why go out of your way to beat the guy up? He obviously wasn't asking you. :wink:

FWIW, I'm taking my own advice and not addressing a lot here lately.

ozark 57,

Iguess it would be my new "old" CVA Mountain Rifle.

The old timer shoots good, and I enjoy the lighter weight whilst trampin' around a back 40. Oh by the way Paul my mom said the same thing about my older brother and I...... she loved us, :thumbsup: and she was prejudiced. :rotf: I tell people who ask that he got the looks and I got the brains then we both grin at who we are talkin' to.

Jay

Hey Paul, do you and your brother have a sis named Mary? :blah:

Skychief said:

Hey Paul, do you and your brother have a sis named Mary? :blah:

Click to expand...

:rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

That's easy......The Perfect Gun......My gun of course :blah:

I haven't handled many muzzleloaders since I'm new. But I have handled two different styles, hawkens and kentuckys. So far I like the look and the feel of the kentucky style rifle rather than the hawken. This is just my opinion. I could see why some people would like the hawken because it's shorter and easier to handle. I like the kentucky because something about handling a gun that goes to my shoulder in height. I guess I just like longer rifles.

the "perfect gun" for would be a custom built, T/C Renegade style, .75 caliber, with a 36" octagon barrel containing a 1:48 twist. :thumbsup:

I saw this post shortly after PV puked on it, had to leave for a meeting and so couldn't respond earlier.
IMHO the OP asked a civil question to which I reply:
-The next one that I buy/build.
-One or two of the ones that I sold and wished that I hadn't.
-The one that is just the right caliber. Read that as the caliber that I don't presently have,.40 comes to mind.
There PV, that's how it's done, no condecending diatribe, no pontificating.
Cheers,
R

All I have to say to you is... how dare you ask about muzzleloaders! What do you think this is, a muzzleloader forum or what???
:nono: :cursing: :shocked2:

Joking aside, you should think about what best suits your purposes. There are often trade offs in one way or another. Personally I'd like to have a hunting rifle with a sling but slings are not always appropriate or a given style or period. One I liked is Zonie's transtional rifle.
The Chamber's Christian Springs rifle caught my eye too.

You'd have to consider weight, recoil, stock design and dimensions caliber etc. Personally I'd like to have something at least .54 caliber for hunting deer and .58 is not out of the question.
The English rifles like your Whitworth more often than not have straighter buttends with little drop which is not best to handling recoil. If you were to shooting a long range rifle in competition you would be firing on the ground so that would not be a factor. Also bench rifle is not well suited for hunting obviously.

I have seen mention of smaller caliber custom longrifles with ALOT of drop meant to be shot offhand for shooters wearing glasses. Good luck in finding your new rifle. It is always a good thing to ask others too by the way. Otherwise you could come to a decision you have to live with later on and may regret having made. I am not one to give advise but I thought I'd add my 2 cents.

:hatsoff:

Paul, I started this thread for entertanment,but not for the reasons you state. We have on this forum some of the most active experts( I believe) on traditional ml's there are. I have learned a lot here and hope to continue to. I have nothing but respect for the members here, and yes it is fun and entertaining to know what they like and why. In my opinion, nothing but good should come of this.
On the other hand,if you see a subject or post by me, feel free to look past it. I offer no other apology.

I don't believe I have a favorite although my 40 cal flinter seems to end up in my hands more often than not. Maybe my next build will have all the right stuff. Probably not and then I'll have to build another and another and another. :surrender:

No, R.M. I told you truthfully why this poster got to me. I am a Twin, and we had to put up with the insults, and the wise-cracks all our youth. When we finally got to college and could live separately, my brother and I finally learned to be friends. Until then, it was a war to establish different friends, different interests, etc., as happens with most identical twins. You just get tired of always being a "TWIN" to everyone, and finding no one interested in knowing you well enough to learn which brother you are. We had other twins in school, and in our neighborhood, and we had no trouble telling the twins apart, and neither did they.

Asking what is the Perfect Gun is the backside of these Anti-gun folks who can't understand why someone would want more than one gun! They are thinking like, and trying to treat all gun owners, as if we are all Armed Robbers, whose only interest in guns is to use them as a weapon of intimidation. That IS NOT US. And, frankly, I am no more tolerant( you think??) of this kind of thinking among gun owners, than I am of the anti-gun creeps.

Other than that, I don't have any strong opinions on the subject. :blah: :rotf: :rotf: :surrender: :thumbsup:

Thanks for the comment. Paul

WOW, Paul! I can't figure out what a problem between twins has to do with a question about a favorite rifle. I'm happy you're finally friends with your brother and wish both of you the best. :thumbsup:

Personally, I like these kind of threads. I flat out, old fashion, country love to talk about guns, see them and have others tell me about theirs. I also like to talk about mine. I never tire of it and I always come away with something, learned or confirmed. No offense, my friend, but I agree that if one doesn't want to respond to a post, then, well, don't respond. Oh, and by the way, if you really want to hear about family pain and abuse, get in touch with me off forum.

Okay, now that I've upset you (unintentionally, I assure you) and probably lost a forum friend, I'll get down to having fun. My favorite among rifles I own would have to be qualified by use; so that being the case I'll just describe my "dream" rifle that I absolutely intend on getting asap-which means it'll be a while. Already laid out are the requirements for an Early Lancaster with brass mountings including patchbox and a couple of inlays. It has a nicely figured maple stock with a 38" swamped barrel-lock undecided-browned. It will be in .54 caliber and may have a small amount of engraving and/or carving. I like the way that sounds. Peace and prosperity, friends!

Okay

There are some I'd like to have, chief among them a Poor Boy, but I can't see naming any of them a 'favorite' until I've worked with them for a while. I recall younger days when lusting after a particular young lady often resulted in finding the object of my affection was not 'the one'.

So, that narrows my choices down to ones I have, or have had...

It's not an easy choice. I'm going to settle on a Lyman .54 GPR flint that I built, with a few small deviations from the original. The competition is fierce, however: there's a caplock GPR and a couple of T/C Hawkens that I like a lot.

Not having the experience with the custom built guns is a significant shortcoming, but someday I'll solve that problem and perhaps change my mind.

On the other side of the question, I have absolutely no difficulty choosing my LEAST favorite gun: a Pietta Single Action Starr revolver. A real disaster of a firearm.

My firearms are not like my children. They're my friends. I don't miss them when they're away for a while; I don't worry about what they'll grow up to be; I don't fret that they're getting the right things to eat or choosing the right friends or doing well in school, or in the end, that they're happy. They don't cause that deep, sinking feeling in the gut when one of them is sick or hurt or out too late. I do care that they're well taken care of and properly used, and I do like to touch them, 'feed' them and hear them speak. But it's not the same thing at all.

So, it is possible to have an opinion about which is the 'best'. And it is possible to change that opinion.

THAT'S EASY---The one that CLEANS itself :rotf: :rotf: :haha: .

It's no secret here in Jersey that my Uberti Walker is my favorite hand gun.

As to long guns, it's the one my son shoots WITH ME, so it doesn't matter as to what model, what caliber, or if it's a rifle or a smoothie :thumbsup:

Dave