54ball
62 Cal.
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I hope folks understand this post as I do not want this to deteriorate into a blue collar vs. white collar, or a PC vs non PC debate.
This is my personal opinion about the status of the traditional muzzleloading industry.
Simply put, I think we are in the Second Golden Age. Here's some facts as I see them.
Just as the First Golden Age ended in the 19th Century as hand made guns could not compete with lower quality massed produced factory guns. Now it seems the reverse is happening. Factory made guns can not compete with hand made guns. The market has become more sophisticated and the buyer more educated.
Factory made offerings are less and less every year and the quality declines as the prices rise. For instance I have heard the Great Plains Rifle imported by Lyman is now more aptly described as the Mediocre Plains Rifle when compared to out of the box rifles made just a few years ago.
TC and CVA are dead unless you buy used.
Many decry the end or decline of the muzzleloading hobby but all traditional hobbies and past times in recent years are in decline from pulling wrenches on old cars to model trains to camping, hunting, shooting and fishing. In the mainstream world, if it does not have a screen and two thumbs to operate it's in decline.
The days of traditional and BP guns and accessories lining the isle at Woolco or K Mart or even the local gun shop are gone forever. That market has switched to the unmentionables. It ain't coming back folks.
Thomson Center could not compete with used Thompson Center. They made a good old fashioned promise to the customer and then got raped. Anyone who bought a used and abused TC for chicken feed and then had TC make new rifle out of ought to feel ashamed. That's not what they meant by that warranty and they honored it as long as they could until the buyout.
Black powder takes just a little more effort to get but not that much more.
The traditional market has become more educated in what they demand for a gun. They demand quality. Many want a rifle as close to the eighteenth century as they can get. Anything under the sun from 18th Century Indian trade guns to Hawken rifles are available to be commissioned and they are not as expensive as one would think when one considers what they are getting.
Some may think someone is nuts for paying $2500 or more for a muzzleloader but yet they think nothing about a $1000 bolt action with a $1700 scope that looses 2/3 value as they walk out the door.
A good custom or semi custom and even good quality factory muzzleloaders hold their value. Especially if you know where to sell and buy. The local gun/pawn shop does not know the difference between a Eric Kettenburg Lehigh and a Traditions Kentucky.
Most builders even big name guys will accept a down payment and then the balance when the gun is complete. Many are backlogged and take a couple of years to complete. This spreads the cost over time so a very good heirloom quality gun is not as inaccessible as it would seem.
In closing the traditional market has switched from factory made to hand made, from massed produced quality to true craftsmanship. Right now the custom/semi market is healthy. Many builders are booked up. Let's hope this continues. The only way though is for people to continue to buy and demand fine quality guns and rifles.
Lets hope that this is a good sign for the future of American Industry and the American consumer. Let's hope that folks are willing to spend a little more for something of quality and craftsmanship instead of little less for junk. Maybe this will break the Wal-Mart mentality.
To clarify what I mean by junk is not all factory made guns. What I mean is I hope the consumer is willing to pay a little more for quality and a product that lasts instead of junk like pressboard furniture and China stuff.
This is my personal opinion about the status of the traditional muzzleloading industry.
Simply put, I think we are in the Second Golden Age. Here's some facts as I see them.
Just as the First Golden Age ended in the 19th Century as hand made guns could not compete with lower quality massed produced factory guns. Now it seems the reverse is happening. Factory made guns can not compete with hand made guns. The market has become more sophisticated and the buyer more educated.
Factory made offerings are less and less every year and the quality declines as the prices rise. For instance I have heard the Great Plains Rifle imported by Lyman is now more aptly described as the Mediocre Plains Rifle when compared to out of the box rifles made just a few years ago.
TC and CVA are dead unless you buy used.
Many decry the end or decline of the muzzleloading hobby but all traditional hobbies and past times in recent years are in decline from pulling wrenches on old cars to model trains to camping, hunting, shooting and fishing. In the mainstream world, if it does not have a screen and two thumbs to operate it's in decline.
The days of traditional and BP guns and accessories lining the isle at Woolco or K Mart or even the local gun shop are gone forever. That market has switched to the unmentionables. It ain't coming back folks.
Thomson Center could not compete with used Thompson Center. They made a good old fashioned promise to the customer and then got raped. Anyone who bought a used and abused TC for chicken feed and then had TC make new rifle out of ought to feel ashamed. That's not what they meant by that warranty and they honored it as long as they could until the buyout.
Black powder takes just a little more effort to get but not that much more.
The traditional market has become more educated in what they demand for a gun. They demand quality. Many want a rifle as close to the eighteenth century as they can get. Anything under the sun from 18th Century Indian trade guns to Hawken rifles are available to be commissioned and they are not as expensive as one would think when one considers what they are getting.
Some may think someone is nuts for paying $2500 or more for a muzzleloader but yet they think nothing about a $1000 bolt action with a $1700 scope that looses 2/3 value as they walk out the door.
A good custom or semi custom and even good quality factory muzzleloaders hold their value. Especially if you know where to sell and buy. The local gun/pawn shop does not know the difference between a Eric Kettenburg Lehigh and a Traditions Kentucky.
Most builders even big name guys will accept a down payment and then the balance when the gun is complete. Many are backlogged and take a couple of years to complete. This spreads the cost over time so a very good heirloom quality gun is not as inaccessible as it would seem.
In closing the traditional market has switched from factory made to hand made, from massed produced quality to true craftsmanship. Right now the custom/semi market is healthy. Many builders are booked up. Let's hope this continues. The only way though is for people to continue to buy and demand fine quality guns and rifles.
Lets hope that this is a good sign for the future of American Industry and the American consumer. Let's hope that folks are willing to spend a little more for something of quality and craftsmanship instead of little less for junk. Maybe this will break the Wal-Mart mentality.
To clarify what I mean by junk is not all factory made guns. What I mean is I hope the consumer is willing to pay a little more for quality and a product that lasts instead of junk like pressboard furniture and China stuff.
