So..... why a muzzleloading?

[BackDraft]

On our honeymoon in ‘85, my wife and I camped in Pigeonforge, TN and went to a little amusement park called “Silver Dollar City”. There was an attraction that let you shoot BP rifles and pistols. Wife and I both loved it. The next year we went back and did it again. Place had a different name, though (named after some entertainer named ‘Lolly’, or like it ). Last year for that attraction at the park. Fast forward almost 40 years and needing something to do in disabilit/retirement, I finally decided to scratch the BP itch.

 

[Dale Lilly]

Grew up visiting grandparents who were born around civil war time. In attic of the Lilly home was an old Kentucky rifle. I was allowed to 'fondle' it and pretend. Then as I grew up, I began to love the history of the migration westward; gma and gpa Lilly lived in a soddy in Nebraska before moving to Kansas. I loved history before the West was won by the six shooter. Just fascination brought me directly to "How the West was REALLY won." From there? Horses, guns, knives [girls] and Indians [Native Americans]. The guns stuck [among other things]. Polecat

 

[SwampBilly]

By God, if it was good enough for my granddaddy's granddaddy I reckon it ought to be good enough for me too !

 

[Old-Duckman]

Something different and I enjoy the process…but not the cleaning!

 

[SgtMaj65]

Grew up loving history, particularly the American Civil War. Found I had three great-great-grandfathers who fought for the Confederacy, and two who fought for the Union. Took up Civil War living history re-enacting, bought a Pattern 1853 .58 cal. Enfield, and fell in love with BP. I enjoy shooting unmentionables occasionally, but I LOVE shooting muzzleloaders every chance I get.

 

[oldwood]

Here in Pa. , with a Dad that started me shooting , soon as I could hold a rifle , and in competition trap shooting at age 13 , by the time I was 24 yrs. old I had done it all. We reloaded , built our own ctg. rifles , etc.. One day at the trap range , I won the club trap shooting championship , got bored with that type shooting , and heard there was a m/l shooting club starting up. That was pretty much what did it. I fell hard into muzzleloading competition , and general muzzleloading experimentation , to rediscover all the lost truth on how it was done. Pa. opened it's famous late season flintlock only deer season , as well. It's been a dream come true. I feel fortunate to have experienced it. Met my best hunting buddy in a m/l competition . We've been hunting together for 50 + yrs.. I think we have muzzleloading figured out. Cheers to all , that enjoy the sport/hobby.

 

[IanH]

Primers were getting expensive and I got flint in my yard. I've been shooting mostly cast bullets for over 30 years and had a bunch of ball moulds I picked up here and there for a song at gunshows. I make powder, too, so all I needed was some guns.

 

[TFoley]

Here in UK you CAN use a muzzleloader - a smoothbore - as a shotgun, but that's it, as friend Britsmoothie has demonstrated this many times.

For deer shooting in Scotland, no muzzleloader can comply with the law governing the combination of velocity and muzzle energy required, even supposing you could sneak up on a wary deer on a barren hillside...

Meanwhile, down here in England and Wales, and over in Ireland [Northern, that is, there are no muzzleloaders in the Irish Republic], the lack of any realistic instant follow-up shot makes it impossible.

 

[Polecat_Tom]

I think these modern center fire things are just a passing fad. It has to be flint for me.

 

[Buffalorunner]

Why not?

 

[Rob M.]

The history was the attraction . Reading Foxfire #5 as a kid in the 70s and 80s ... I was instantly intrigued by Muzzleloaders esp. flintlocks

 

[French Colonial]

The history was the attraction . Reading Foxfire #5 as a kid in the 70s and 80s ... I was instantly intrigued by Muzzleloaders esp. flintlocks

Foxfire 5!
I built a rifle from Hershel's instructions without ever seeing an original, It is not pretty but it still shoots true.

 

[gidaddy]

Here in UK you CAN use a muzzleloader - a smoothbore - as a shotgun, but that's it, as friend Britsmoothie has demonstrated this many times.

For deer shooting in Scotland, no muzzleloader can comply with the law governing the combination of velocity and muzzle energy required, even supposing you could sneak up on a wary deer on a barren hillside...

Meanwhile, down here in England and Wales, and over in Ireland [Northern, that is, there are no muzzleloaders in the Irish Republic], the lack of any realistic instant follow-up shot makes it impossible.

That's just wrong!

 

[TFoley]

That's just wrong!

As Larry Potterfield, boss of Midway would say ' That's the way it is!'

We live with it, or do something else, like underwater cake-making, or frog-stretching....

 

[Rob M.]

Foxfire 5!
I built a rifle from Hershel's instructions without ever seeing an original, It is not pretty but it still shoots true.

Thats very cool !!

 

[Sparkitoff]

I'm mostly a shotgunner, hunting birds and shooting targets. I can't stand the plastic wads and empty shells all over the public land spots and fields of the hunting club. Sure I could pick up my own shells, but wads are tough to find. Muzzleloading eliminated the plastic left on the ground. Then I realized with the same can of powder and homemade components, including caps (if not using flintlock) I could grab any smoothbore, rifle or handgun I have of the ML type and go shoot/hunt. It cut down on overall cost and inconvenience of trips to the store more often than anticipated. I have seen no disadvantage as far as game in the bag or shots per hits. On a type of shoot where the shots are voluminous, I am shooting a much slower pace than anyone else due to loading time. I have a trio of same smoothbores. I load and rotate the 3 guns using a cart that hold them safely. When there's a little break or slow down, I reload one barrel at a time all the way. I'm usually able to keep up with the the shell shooters.

 

[Hammond79]

Started out as a bookworm and a history buff almost from birth. My dad was a big Lewis and Clark fan. I read biographies of Boone, Crockett, Bowie and Custer in elementary school. Dad took us to Yellowstone twice as kids and I found out more about John Colter, Jim Bridger and the like. Got my first Muzzleloader, a Bass Pro Springfield Hawken .50 when I was 14. I hunted with it and shot it a lot but I fell into the barrel seasoning myth and in the Arkansas humidity it didn't last long. I got a Cabelas sporterized carbine to replace it and finally connected on my first deer, a 6 point buck at 19. I bow and modern gun hunt too but Muzzleloading has always been my favorite. Slowly going more and more traditional as I get older.

 

[leadhoarder]

That's just wrong!

Our fate would likely have been the same if the king's soldiers had gotten to Lexington and Concord without them being warned.

 

[BruceHuxford]

With me, it started when a friend let me try out his then new 45 flintlock longrifle. I got hooked and stayed hooked. Everything else just kinda fell in line from there

 

[mikesto44]

I will second the fox fire five book. It's what got me building from scratch. Except for trade guns and that I give Rob credit for.... Their not perfect but they shoot very well..