Show N Tell your first MLer rifle

Tell but no show. Think it was a TC kit that someone put together, fired, didn't clean, just put in the corner for a couple of years.
Pulled the .45 cal, barrel, did the electrolysis thang in a tank while I was working. Hooked a battery charger to it and watched it bubble for a couple of days. Turned out that the barrel, was JUNK (looked like a lava tube) so I picked up a Green Mountain drop in replacement in .32 (that they don't sell anymore) refinished the stock and made a shooter out of it. The first of many.
Tried to sell it but no takers. Only fired 3 or 4 times than bagged, oiled and put aside for another project. So you could say it's AS NEW.
Still got the lava tube barrel and have plans to hone it out and make a smooth bore out of it. Outside of the barrel (with sights) is in pretty good shape. A little steel wool and re blue job will make pretty nice barrel.
More into building than shooting so I've always got my fingers into something.

My first ml investarms. .45, friend gave it to me. It was in pretty sad shape. Spent summer completely stripping it down and refurbishing it. Killed my first ml deer with it that fall. It also has taken my biggest deer, 11 pointer.

Like many here, my first was a T/C .50 cal. kit in the mid seventies. I lived in an apartment with no tools or place to work, but somehow got the thing sanded, finish inlet, and the barrel draw filed and polished. I had a gunsmith hot blue the barrel, back when smiths did such work. I thought it was so beautiful that I had to clutter up its lines with T/C's vernier ladder rear sight and globe front sights. So much fun to shoot. Gave it to my Dad to use in Arkansas's new ML season. Dad scraped off the fragile tang sight and front globe, and replaced with awful red fluorescent sights that he used to bag deer every season until the siren song of in-lines turned him to the dark side. I lost Dad five years ago and welcomed back the battered T/C. Dad had used it as intended, as a working tool without much TLC for the bore. I freshed up the old girl with an aftermarket barrel, but kept the old one as a memento relic. I found the vernier tang sight in Dad's fishing gear, minus a few parts. I'm slowly getting it back to its original presentation condition to my Dad. So much nostalgia in an inanimate chunk of wood, steel and brass.

Clint Meier said:

A friend that I worked with was a ML shooter and got me interested. My first ML was a Lyman GP .50 cal. perc. kit that I bought at a gun show at the National Guard Armory in Boulder, CO back in the 1970's. IIRC I paid $165.00 for it, and I could tell that it had beautiful wood.
It is more accurate than I am! I added a different rear sight and some accent lines to the stock contours. I still have it and plan to shoot it more often now. View attachment 357233
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Beautiful job on that rifle and the stock color and finish is superb.

Larry (Omaha) said:

I always wanted a flinter and at that time loved the Roman nose style. Ha, until I shot it . Anyway in 1971 I got rained out on the heavy highway construction job I was working on. I asked my wife of one year if she would go to Dixie Gun works with me. She said yes, and we drove from Omaha to Union City Tenn to purchased my first muzzleloading rifle. This is a Italian made 45 cal and sparks very well. Still have it today.
Larry
PS. If I remember correctly it was right at $265.00 pick it up price. It did not come with set triggers nor a fly in the lock. I added the set triggers and fly after I found out why I needed a fly.


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I had one of those as my third gun, and first flinter.
My first was a Mowrey.50 with wood for stock. And second was a Zouave from navy arms

My first was a TC Hawken kit back around 1980 or so. Still have it, but she’s a safe queen now. Have too many others to play with. She was a shooter, though!

been to some shoots with my dad. Even before he had a muzzleloader rifel. We would go watch some of the shoots. The Cannon shoots were always fun to see.

Well he finaly got around to building himself a percussion Kentucky Rifle. He went the rout of a scratch build.

It took him a while to build it up. Working on it whenever he had spair time. when it was finished. I did try to shoot it. At the timei was about 12 years old. My Dad was a tall lanky guy 6ft 4in,with like a 37 inch sleeve lenght. So his Rifle wasn't a good fit for me.

So at when I was 14. It was time to make me a Rifle. I decided on a Hawken style of Rifle. So Dad did some more gun building research. And orderd a Dougla .50 cal barrel. A friend of his was well connected on getting things. He was also the local powder supplier.

We got the barrel and a stock pattern. Landing out on the same walnut plank as hus rife was cut from. And the process was started.

I had taken a close look at a Green River Rifle Works Hawken Rifle.

And wanted mine to as beefy as the GRW Rifle. I was give some suggestions for the lock and other hardware.

The stock was cut out and barrel channel was taking shape. I I putdad through extra sweat and engineering. By wanting a Hook Breach. Like the Hawken or plane's Rifles had. Making the breach plug from a bolt. and shapping it with a hacksaw and files. I think the tang was started from a piece of angle iron.

Our family was planning on a trip to Ohio. A club member who owned a black powder gun shop. Suggested that we go to a shop that he orderd supplies from in Ohio. So I saved my money and got to go shopping ot At The Log Cabin Shop. It was a long trip from Utah to Ohio. I couldn't wait. But finally I picked out that Cherry Corners Lock. Looked through the assortment of trigger guards, butt plates , ramrod thimbles and barrel lug. I now had all the major parts that I needed.

A few weeks later I had all those sand cast Brass pices all smoothed out and cleaned up shiny. We still needed to make the sights and trigger assembly. It finacame together my own Hawkins style of Rifle. Custom fit to me propper trigger pull lenght. Every thing working smoothly and it was shooting great. It still shoots great.

And now a year ago I decided to try a flintlock Rifle. I picked up a used Pedersoli Kentucky. That thing has so many things wrong with it. Bad lock geometry, weak lock springs, the touch hole was diameter was to big. 3FFG would get pushed out while pushing the ball down the barrel. Took me a few rounds to figure that one out.

So I thought well I will re barrel it. And I was learning more about lock geometry. I orderd anew Colerain barrel. And before th barely arrived. I thought. Why not just get one that will actually work. And order a Kibler SMR. I'm now finishing up my 5th Kibler. A cherry stocked .54.
That first Rifle was mostly built by my dad. The kits that I've put together. Had made me realize just how much he did to build the Rifle and the smaller aspects that I did. There were acouple of things that I did make for it. He shore was a handy man, and was able to do a lot of projects. I wish that guy was still around.
The Pedersoli project gun still is waiting, unshootable stock is stripped. Barrel chanel enlarged for the new barrel Some day I'll do something with it.

My first was not a rifle. It was a 58 caliber Belgian flintlock trade musket made in 1862. I bought it at a yard sale in the early 70s for $25. Hunted everything from deer to squirrel with it until I traded it for a Navy Arms 45 caliber flintlock rifle. Don't know why I thought I needed a rifle for Ohio hunting.

My first was a TC Hawkin kit I got for Christmas at age 14. Dad and I built it. Still have it. Next was a Kentucky pistol same year. Paid $20 for it. Only worked half the time. At age 30 i decided to build one. A gentleman down the street from my parents helped me get started and find what to buy. I still have that rifle and it shoots great but is so ugly. Front sight was put on backwards and the side plate is mounted to far forward and has one screw. And it’s randomly put through to the lock. I had no plans and no pictures. If those two things were fixed I’d be fine with it. It’s pretty embarrassing however.

.54 cal. GPR, flint. Built from a kit my kids got me for a Christmas present many years ago. It was built with much consulting with Eric Krewson. Thanks Eric.

First I ever owned, a TC Renegade flintlock .50 that I bought in the summer of 1991 for $270. Killed a doe the first day I ever hunted with it. First I every shot was a TC Hawkin kit gun my uncle built, probably around 1980. I hit the target on the first try and I was hooked. I had to have one. Only took me a dozen more years to get one of my own. I have anywhere from six to eight hanging on the wall on any given day and impulse now

Back in the day I worked at Fort William Henry for years as the head of the interpretive program. One of the kids who worked for me bought a Cabela’s Blue Ridge flintlock in .45. He didn’t have any powder so he nicked a couple of our musket rounds. Near as I can figure, he fired his first and only round with an unpatched .445 on top of about 130gr of Goex 3F. Scared him so badly, he popped her in the closet without cleaning her, and his mom was so mad that he’d never given her the money for ordering the gun on her credit card before he graduated and moved away that she she sold her to me for $400.
I carried her hunting for a few years but I was an even worse hunter back then and never got anything bigger than a woodchuck with her. She got messed up when we lost the house in Hurricane Isabel, and I sent her to my brother the shadetree gunsmith for rehab. Seventeen years later I got her back just in time for my son’s 18th birthday and gave her to him. Still shoots pretty well.
Jay

My first muzzleloader was an unmentionable so, I won't! So, my first "traditional" muzzleloader was an 1862 Bridesberg.58 civil war rifle I restored from a barn find.
I posted the build on this forum but if you didn't see it and would like to read it....
Thread '1861 Bridesberg Resurrection' https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/1861-bridesberg-resurrection.117366/

Let me know what you think!

My first BP ML, was (and is) a Zoli /Navy Arms .58 caliber “Buffalo Hunter”) I purchased in 1969/70-time-frame, in Alaska. It fires a punkin-size ball, or a thumb-size Mine Ball. It's a joy to shoot, I load it with 60-70 gr 2Fg, slap a musket cap on, take aim and fire. The front end issues a cloud of smoke and the projectile, the rear end delivers a heavy push. Not a slap like my .54. Then I sit down, have a snack, read a small paperback, sip a cup of coffee and finally look down range to see if it has hit yet. It is (relatively) slow, with a trajectory akin to a slowpitch softball, but Lord a’mighty when it hits. I have other guns, BP and smokeless, that fire projectiles faster (some much faster), the difference is between hitting a brick wall with a Ferrari (fast shooters) and a D8 tractor (.58)! Another thing, my wife enjoys shooting it – the only other firearm I have that she enjoys shooting is my Win Mod 43 .218 Bee.

My first was....... hold your breath now and no guessing!

A TC Hawken 50 cal that my wife got me for Christmas in 74. It has been my main hunting rifle for these many years and has been there for most of my big game kills. Shown here with a 45 caliber barrel that I picked up at a gun show. It was a "modern" gun show and the fellow who had it had taken it as partial payment on something. By the time I came along his regret was sufficient that although he was asking 85 for it he succumbed to my offer of $1 per caliber. So, acquired for $45. It's a sweet shooter and has won a few first places.

The 50 barrel is now a 54 courtesy of Robert Hoyt. Converted because Colorado re imagined regulations such to require a minimum 210 grain projectile for elk and I didn't want to go to conicals.

I'm thinking through who will get my guns when I'm gone and the decision on this one is difficult.

My first muzzleloader (but not the first I shot) is a CVA .45 caliber percussion pistol that my wife bought for me about 35 years ago. She found it in a pawn shop for $25. I’ve shot it a bunch and still shoot it occasionally. Needless to say, she supports my muzzleloader addiction.

Jonathan Browning Mountain Rifle .50 cal purchased new in 1980 (upper rifle in photo).
For nearly twenty years it was the only rifle I owned. Hunting, rendezvous, club shoots, plinking in the woods, used it for everything. I've shot more rounds through it than all of my other firearms combined. Eventually had to have Mr. Hoyt bore it out to .54 cal. She is a dear faithful old friend, and still my favorite firearm of all the ones I own.

First shot was a generic Hawken at Scout camp in the 80s. Could have been any of the brass patch box offerings available back then.
First owned was a kit single shot “horse pistol”.
First percussion revolver was/is a competitive shooter reworked Old Army. First year (1972) with the brass Super Blackhawk Dragoon grip frame. Deepened chambers and a front sight insert.
Inherited my pair of percussion rifle last year. A .50 TC Hawken and a .54 GPR. The TC has been “tacked out” per my late friend’s plans. The GPR is getting the stock stripped and refinished. Really decent piece of wood under the factory brown.
First BP guns were original cartridge rifles. 1873 Trapdoor with the flip up long range sight, .45/70 with the longest barrel/forestock offered. 1876 Winchester in .45/60, longest barrel offered. Both were shot using era correct ammunition, Spanish-American War surplus for the Springfield. Turn of the century for the Winchester. Great grandfather’s rifles, from that long defunct surplus seller in NY.

SeaBee133 said:

First shot was a generic Hawken at Scout camp in the 80s. Could have been any of the brass patch box offerings available back then.
First owned was a kit single shot “horse pistol”.
First percussion revolver was/is a competitive shooter reworked Old Army. First year (1972) with the brass Super Blackhawk Dragoon grip frame. Deepened chambers and a front sight insert.
Inherited my pair of percussion rifle last year. A .50 TC Hawken and a .54 GPR. The TC has been “tacked out” per my late friend’s plans. The GPR is getting the stock stripped and refinished. Really decent piece of wood under the factory brown.
First BP guns were original cartridge rifles. 1873 Trapdoor with the flip up long range sight, .45/70 with the longest barrel/forestock offered. 1876 Winchester in .45/60, longest barrel offered. Both were shot using era correct ammunition, Spanish-American War surplus for the Springfield. Turn of the century for the Winchester. Great grandfather’s rifles, from that long defunct surplus seller in NY.

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Good selection. I have a couple of the 1873 .45-70 trapdoor. That my Dad pick up back in the '60s.

Renegade in .50 cal was my first.
Fairly early 5 digit serial number purchased used around 1986-7.