When and Why did you get started?

[ravenousfishing]

A recent thread got me thinking but I wanted to wait until it ran its course to post this. How long ago and at what age did you get into shooting Traditional Black Powder firearms and why?

 

[Homesteader]

I read The Frontiersmen by Eckert when I was 13 or 14, and just had to get me one of them smokepoles. (A cheap cap-lock was all I could afford, but it was a start.) It also started me on a lot of reading, woods running, trapping, and a life-long love affair with charcoal burners.

 

[David W.]

I started in 1976 when the special muzzleloading devoloped my intrest. I purchsed a T/C Hawken kit, put it together and found I had the whole woods to myself.

 

[shootemup]

I came by way of hunting - same as with archery. I didn't know anybody who shot muzzleloaders, but when I found out I could get an extra week to hunt deer I was all over it.

Inlines were out at that time, but not too many people were using them yet. I bought a T/C Renegade in .50 percussion and immediately fell in love with the whole patched roundball ritual.

It just sort of drew me in from there...

:hatsoff:
Spot

 

[ohio ramrod]

I started in the late 50's with a cheap 28 gauge spanish shsotgun. Cost to shoot then was 2 &1/2 cents a shot. Cost to shoot dad's 12 gauge was 10 cents a shot. I could get 4 rabbits for the same price and money was scarce then.

 

[ravenousfishing]

Keep the replies up guys, but also include an approximate year if you don't mind dating yourselves :grin: Part of my curiosity lies in whether we are a stagnent group of oldtimers or if there is an infusion of new blood to be encouraged.
I first got introduced to guns and shooting in the Boy Scouts in the mid 70's. Fired my first muzzleloader, a TC Hawken, at Trail Camp in probably 1980. When I was in college, I worked in a sporting goods store, got into hunting and started buying my own guns, including a CVA Frontier rifle and a Zuouve. Then I sold all my guns :shake: in the early 90' when I started sportfishing and spending my winters in warmer climes.
Three years ago I moved back to Maryland full time and figured I would get back into hunting since all my friends were into it. Didn't realize how much I missed it. Bought a Lyman GPR because I had never lost my facination with history and I had always wanted one. I've got modern guns as well :redface: , but 90% of the time when I head to the range or into the woods, it is with one of the 7 caplocks I now own. I guess you could consider me new, old blood???

 

[Swamp Buck]

The first time I shot a muzzleloader (Lyman GPR) was one owned by a friend of mine around the year 1990. It was fun but didn't pursue it then.

In the late 1990's my Dad put together a Hawken type kit and enjoys shooting it, but I still didn't have a interest in it.

Then in 2005 for some unknown reason, the muzzleloading bug bit me. I assembled a Lyman GPR rifle and pistol. From there I put together a flintlock rifle and am now working on a putting together a flintlock shotgun. Three deer have found out how good the muzzleloaders work as well .

I've also built a tomahawk and two powder horns.

There is something deeply satisfying about the traditional muzzleloading black powder shooting sports.

 

[hanshi]

I started in the mid sixties about the time I started at UGA. From birth I loved anything that went BANG and guns went BANG so sweetly. I grew up hunting with cartridge guns but was so old fashion I fantasized about muzzies. I found out there were still a couple of places you could get them from and ordered an H&A underhammer and a flintlock soon after. By then the demon had me and my soul.

 

[killer]

I got started in 1987, when my girlfriend now wifes, father got me interested. That christmas my wife bought me a lyman trade rifle for christmas and its been in the blood every since.

 

[Flinter987]

Oh, lets see. I've been interested in history like forever. Wanted a flintlock for a long time. I finally bought one in Spring 07. My dad had a percussion rifle for a few years before that. Shortly after he bought his gun I picked up a C&B revolver. I shot that while I decided what Flintlock I wanted. I guess my first muzzleloader exposure that I really remember was in 2004 when my brother got a Huntsman inline, and I guess it snowballed from there!

 

[necchi]

I started in the early 80's. Just came home from 4yrs in Wyoming, in an area that shooting Deer and Antelope with centerfire was like shooting cattle in a field! Sure the harvest was great, but it wasn't sporting.
I wanted a challange, I wanted too put the sport back in the hunt. So I picked up a bow,,THEN,,
I was in the housing construction industry and doing well, a Gent offered me a Renegade as partial payment for a remodel job, the gun came with lessons. And he had that thing dialed in!
I WAS HOOKED! (line and sinker!)
Didn't know about rendezvous, I was a kind of a "closet buckskinner" at the time, making my own stuff, an going out on my own, my own brother thought I was nut's, till I brought home that first deer.
To say it "snowballed" is an understatment.

 

[mykeal]

1973 at the age of 27. I think.

We took a weekend trip to an arts & crafts fair at War Eagle, AK and had a great time talking to all the crafters. We traveled through the Ozarks on back roads, spent a day in Eureka Springs and then went to Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO (this was well before the explosion in C&W music halls).

There was a gun builder's shop at SDC and the guys spent almost the entire day watching and talking to the craftsman there. The experience at War Eagle and that shop fueled a desire to learn more about the pre-Civil War times.

When we got home to Wichita we looked up the local bp emporium, Four Seasons Trading Post (since defunct). Spent a lot of time hanging around there talking to the owners and customers. Shot other people's guns until 1977 when I bought my first bp gun, a Pietta 1851 Navy (still have it, still shoots like a dream). Started building kits after that and it's been downhill ever since.

 

[dbutch]

I hunt! -born in 1957 started at 11, shotgunned for ducks and deer till 1975 june bought my first MZ- H&R break open 45 cal. POS! Fumbled with it and lost interest...fast forward 1982--Bought a T/C Renegade kit 54 cal.. Needed a challenge ..repeating-shot slug gun too easy...been bit by the bug ever since..took up flinter's Jan. 2009..Starting my first full kit build next week--10 ga, half stock fowler walnut -steel trim.37.5 rice barrel.Have been bow hunting since 1969. Wish I would have tried flints earlier in life!

 

[RugerDog]

I just got my first muzzleloader in October of last year. I was at the rifle range with my .22, and someone was shooting a T/C Encore - and the smoke and noise intrigued me. Did a lot of reading and research, and followed gunbroker for a while before diving in. Got my first hog with it last weekend.

So, there is 'new blood' coming into the sport... or maybe that's 'new old blood' - I'm in my mid 60's.

 

[tnlonghunter]

I didn't actually start until I was about 22. My dad always told me all kinds of stories about Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone when I was a boy (he's a literature professor, so he had a way of telling a really good story). As a result, Davy was my boyhood hero and I even got a "buckskin" shirt made out of tan, fake suede one year for Christmas. But despite all that interest, we never had much opportunity to shoot until I was in college and my dad bought a farm to shoot on.

Anyway, he bought a flintlock for himself at some point, but never shot it. Later, he bought me a CVA Hawken from a friend. At this point, Davy was a distant memory, but I wanted the extra week of hunting season, so I got ready to shoot. However, the the Hawken had been neglected, was a POS, and the sear broke after the first half-dozen shots or so.

My parents were out of the country at the time, and I needed help getting the flintlock ready to shoot. Fortunately, the guy they bought that farm from is Steve Davis (if anyone's heard of him), who builds really nice custom flinters, mostly from scratch. He still lives down the road and was kind enough to help me get started. I had a powder horn I found in a road-side pawn shop in Colorado on a family vacation when I was 10, so I filled it with powder, got a bag, and went hunting.

As I did, I remembered all about my fascination with Davy and such, and fell in love with blackpowder shooting. Later, that Christmas, after I told my dad about how much I loved shooting that rifle, he gave it to me as my Christmas gift. It's the Jack Garner Tennessee rifle that I shoot now, and it's my very favorite gun.

 

[luieb45]

I started muzzleloading a little over a year ago. There isn't one thing that got me started but it was a number of things that sort of snow balled into me buying a muzzleloader. First when I was about 6 I went to Colonial Williamsburg and got a toy kentucky muzzleloader. Then I saw the movie the patriot which really looked like a cool thing to do. Then, finally I was at my uncle's house and he let me shoulder an old '70s 45 cal. kentucky rifle that he made and a cabelas hawken sporter carbine. I asked some questions about if it was dangerous and the barrel might explode. Now... after I have learned things off of this forum I had been learning from him but his conception of traditional muzzleloaders is not exactly traditional. He said that it's a great thing nowadays because you don't have to measure out your powder and you can just use pellets. Then I should get a .45 caliber because they have better ballistics than other muzzleloaders and .50 cal and up are just overkill for deer. Now that I am here I learned these things aren't the case. So I saw an ad for an auction that had a .45 cal kassnar rifle that was really old and the lock is in awful condition because it takes a TON of force to pull the trigger. Then on top of that it has a way undersized bore and weird ramrod thimbles so the only ramrod I could use is a thin piece of dowel rod. But now I got a decent starter traditions kentucky rifle and am happy with it for now and am shooting roundball and real black powder.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

First exposure to the holy black was with my father in the mid 70's, prior to graduating high school. Shot all kinds of guns back then, including black powder. Dad had a Euroarms 1858 New Model Army that worked "O-K". He used to clean it in the dishwasher and my mom used to have a fit cause the thing would clog-up with the grease and burnt powder residue. That gun was scrapped long time ago, but I still use the powder flask of his to this day!

Fast forward to about 15 years ago, and my sister gave me a '58 in brass frame when she moved into a condo with friends and they didn't want any guns in the condo.

About 2004 I joined a local gun club and wandered over to the range where the black powder league was having a match. I didn't bring anything to shoot, so I just tried to watch. The league chairman, now a good friend, wouldn't hear of it! He loaned me a '58 Remmy, and everything needed to make it belch smoke! I did fairly well, coming in third or fourth place. Seeing I had "potential", and since the rifle match was next that day, he then loaned my his .58 Springfield with 555 grain Minnies, powder, lube, and everything else needed to make it work. Needless to say I was hooked! I tried to reimburse him for the materials and he wouldn't take anything for the match, telling me instead, "Bring your pistol and I'll loan you a rifle until you can get your own" and to "come on back next month and have some more fun!" So from then on, whenever I loan someone materials to get them started, I won't take anything for it either! I believe in "Paying it forward", so that's what I do.

Fast forward to present and I've accumulated 2 .50 cal Lyman Trade Rifles, a .50 cal Navy Arms Hawken, A T/C .50 Hawken and a 10 gauge SxS all in percussion. This is in addition to the revolver collection: Walker, 3rd Model Dragoon, 1858 New Model Army, 1860 Army, 1858 New Model Army Stainless Buffalo, and just recently a 1860 Army in Charcoal Blue with fluted cylinder. I should note the approx. 1/3 of the guns are gifts to my Eagle Scout son, who is an NRA Life Member since age 5. I taught (along with my son's help) the entire Boy Scout Troop how to shoot shotgun and my .50 cal cap lock.

Presently I am a very active shooter in many disciplines, (sort of a Shootist, if you will) including black powder, bowling pins, USPSA Action, IDPA, Police Silhouette (PPC) League Chairman. I'm an active bird hunter, and just recently this year took the 10 gauge out into the field and hunted with a black powder long gun and a possibles bag for the first time in my life!

Also currently working on my continuing Winchester/NRA Muzzleloading Qualification Program: I Presently hold Expert in Pistol and Distinguished Expert in Rifle. My son is now a college junior and holds an Expert in Rifle and a Sharpshooter in Pistol. We shoot together whenever he's home, and he's comfortable with black powder as much as anything else. In fact the black powder league has treated him as if he was an adult for the entire time he's been shooting, since he always exhibits safety and knowledgeable gun handling. We can usually cut a playing card in half and have a great time trying to out-do each other in a fun sort of way. I love this sport!

Dave

 

[bkovire]

always wanted one, when i was about 11, my step dad and his dad took me out on their trail rides, down past draper ut, on horse back they would carry colt walkers, and i would be backing, what looked like to me as i recall this massive hand cannon, it was a colt walker as well, well to make a long story short, one got sold, the other two got put into the coffin with the owner of them, so years later, in the week i joined this forum, i got my own cap and ball smokers, if i new how much fun they are to shoot i would have had them long ago. :thumbsup:

 

[henbrook]

Been hunting for over 30years but my 1st real exposure to MLs was from a work buddy back in 2001.He had/has quite a collection of MLs,BP pistols and revolvers etc. and offered to lend me one to try it out,a .45 TC Hawken.I went to his home for a quick lesson in loading,cleaning etc. one evening and left with the rifle and all the goodies to make it work.I told him I'd bring it back in a week or two and he insisted that I keep it for a few months."That's not enough time"he said,"just be sure I have it back before next deer season."(this was Jan-Feb?,LOL)Sooooo....I did as he insisted and kept it 'til spring at least,using it while coyote calling over the winter and actually whacked one yote with it.The thing is,I didn't have a decent legal coyote gun at the time,only a .22lr,a couple of 12ga pumps and SxS 12.My 30-06 pump was a no-go for yotes,we can't use cf rifles larger than .23 after deer season closes in November,but MLs of any caliber are legal year round for varmints,so that was intriguing.(I've since then bought a .223BLR)

Anyhow,that winter was fun,ML went on the wishlist but never got around to getting one of my own 'til a couple months ago due to life and other priorities.Got married,2 young'ens,bought house,spent probly waaaay too much on flyrods,bows and arrows in the meantime.Plus,we have no special ML season here so not alot of incentive in that sense,3 weeks bow then 4 weeks general deer season for shotgun,cf rifle,ML,bow....wutever you like to use?Having taken dozens of deer with rifles and shotguns,I've pretty much bowhunted exclusively for deer last few years,but there's lotsa bigwoods scenarios here where I like to carry a rifle instead at times.I still love stalking/stillhunting the bigwoods and a ML I figger gives me an edge of about 3x my effective range over the bow with a certain element of extra challenge added over hunting with my scoped '06.Other than a handful of 100-300+ yard shots that I've ever taken/made on deer with the '06,I'd guess 95% of the deer I've shot have been well within ML range anyhow?(100yds or less)

I guess you could say the ML is to be my transition weapon...somewhere between a bow and cf rifle?

 

[D Sanders]

In the early 70's. I used to watch the Daniel Boone series on TV. I always had an interest in early American history and Daniel Boone was my great American hero. I thought his Kentucky rifle was cool. I actually started out with a .36 cal brass frame revolver and it snow balled from there. My interest for traditional muzzle loaders just keeps growing all the time.

HH 60