Five reasons to love your muzzleloader

[GBullet]

1) It's fun!

2) You learn from the loading process.

3) It forces you to be a better marksman.

4) When you use one skillfully, you feel "worthy" of your ancestors who depended on them.

5) Did I mention fun? :)

[Clint Boyer]

I enjoyed the time I spent with mine. I had a .36 cal Navy cap and ball and a Pennsylvania style .45 cal. flint lock.
It really gives you a good idea of what our ancestors were able to accomplish with the "high tech" gear of their time.

[andy]

:-)

[Clint Boyer]

I'd think you'd have more respect for the development of tactical arms.
Can you imagine what the attacking Comanches thought when they ran across the first revolver?

[andy]

it? Not much. :-) Guys can't hit squat with MODERN pistols, today, with MORE training than bozos had back then, so why expect them to have amounted to a hoot, hmm? Look at the 15-20 rds fired, all the time, for each serious hit achieved, with smokeless powder, good sights, weaver stance, etc, when it's for blood.

[Clint Boyer]

It amounted to one helluva hoot to them! Six shots without reloading as compared to one? That was cutting edge stuff that gave them a huge advantage, as did the repeating rifle. Metalic cartridges were also a major player in giving their users an advantage. History and the development of modern arms is part of where we are today. Anyone who thinks it was trivial is sadly mistaken.

[andy]

Commanche. What did in the Plains Indians was the slaughter of the bison herds,and cap and ball revolvers had about ZERO effect on the bison herds. CAp and ball had LOTS of misfires and squibs, the powder and caps were inconsistent in performance, and they had ZERO petroleum based solvents, lubes and greases with which to help out. If you fired the pos, you HAD to empty the gun, scrub it out with soap and boiling water, and reload it. That meant you HAD to have ANOTHER gun to cover your butt while you did so. The sights disappear when you pull the trigger on cap and ball, and that tiny notch and front bead sucked as sights anyway. yOu had to fling the gun over your shoulder as you cocked the hammer, cause half of the time, if you didn't, the cap from the last shot would fall down into the crevice in front of the hammer, preveinting your firing. Like I said, sonny, I forgot more about guns and ammo and shooting than you are ever going to learn.

[GBullet]

The first substantial numbers of folks from Europe landed in America over 400 years ago. They survived in no small part because they could use their muzzleloaders with skill. One of my grandfathers told me that a few of the oldtimers when he was a boy still regularly used muzzleloaders. This was around 1920-1930. He said that the oldtimers continued to use them because that was what they were used to carrying.

My own state's wildlife statistics showed that in the 2002-2003 season, 1 out of 8 deer were taken with muzzleloaders. So much for ineffective.

[41mag]

I just aquired my first BP rifle this spring.I can't wait to take it out.To me blackpowder = history.& I like history.Frankly it's just a bonus if I can accurately hit with it.
As far as all that nonsense about timed shots & accurate hitting?Who cares?Who really cares if it takes a few minutes longer to clean a BP arm?Hmmmmmm?It's all part of the process.

[andy]

to FIGHT for the 2nd amendment care, but that obviously excludes 99+% of gunowners.

[RIKA]

Gunkid wants to rain on everybody's parade. He has no sense of history or romance in his soul. How terrible, fondling the pot metal pieces of junk that he calls guns every day in anticipation of shtf day. Thats the day when he expects to become a hero but will quickly become a corpse.

Snide, arrogant, disgusting ... and quickly dead. Thats our boy.

RIKA

[Magnum88C]

BP arms are a lot of fun. Not to mention you get another season to hunt. :D

Until you've actually used one, you won't appreciate how much can be done with one. Then you can really have fun gathering the accoutrements that go along with it. Then you'll be building your own frontstuffers and making your own accoutrements. Lots of fun and a great hobby.

[RIKA]

You know I actually built a blackpowder kit gun - a Thompson Center 45 cal percussion. Browned the metal myself and it is really pretty - accurate too. Only problem is that I screwed up the spring that holds the ramrod in. Have to get another spring. I want to take it deer hunting next season. Could be an experience to remember.

RIKA :)