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For Black powder addiction the smell of black powder smoke is the only treatment. There is NO CURE! It is just like the Tim Taylor complex only you need more guns instead of more tools!
 
We may not think about how it started but I think it began watching fess parker in Daniel Boone, drums along the mohawk, that Daniel Boone racoon tailed hat at Christmas perhaps, got us when we were knee high to a toad and from there it was all down hill.
 
Dear OLE time muzzleloader shooters,
Can you please create a PSA to warn people that have not been shooting too long,about the dangers of MLDA (Muzzle Loading Drug Addiction).

I have been shooting just over a year, and this is my journey into the abyss....
A pawn shop rifle...gateway gun
A Traditions kit... I can do this
A 1858 ...I need a pistol
A nice CVA percussion hawken...I need a cap rifle
1851 pistol....Another pistol...I need the rebel side
An India gun (NW Trade Gun)... I need a reenacting piece
A 20 ga Hawken smoothbore...because its so smooth
Now a Pencontia River Trade gun kit ....ready to graduate from "snap together models to glue models".

Start now to halt this sickness..... O look a flinter Sea Service pistol. I am holding it for a friend.
I feel your pain!
 
I started in this game 45 years ago so there can be a reprieve. I went about 25-30 years with only a couple of rifles and hand guns. I thought I was cured and temptation would not get me. Then the kids were no longer at home, working life slowed down, so then there were a few more temptations and then retirement. I'm doomed. Of course I'm not in as deep as some of you as I only have about 15-20 at this juncture. I keep telling myself I'm done, age and finances and the covid slow things down. I can quit! I don't have a problem! I'm done, I'm sure.
 
When it first started, it was just a "historical" interest. One small 2-band Parker Hale Enfield. And a mold. Or two. And a lead pot and ladle. But what if a .578 shoots better than a .577? 'Nother mold. We're cavalry. Need a sidearm. 1858 Remington Cavalry carbine double barrel smoothbore. Sweet, no harm in that, they told me. That was in New Jersey. For a few years, it was manageable.

Then I relocated to North, towards Canada. Not much call for WBS, but I should hold on to them just in case.... Then there's the New England Fowler. The Early Virginia; the Early Lancaster. The Late Lancaster. The Southern Mountain rifle. The Tennessee squirrel gun. Heck, we don't even have any Tennessee squirrels within miles of here!!!

The 62 Fowler. Turkey defense. They're everywhere, and we must be prepared!! The .62 Rifle. Shoots the same ball, after all!!!! Efficient! Stories, excuses, hiding cash in undisclosed accounts. It's a progressive disease...from .32 to .36 to .45 to .50 to 54 to .58 to 62... Where does it stop????

By the time I hit the wall, it was a massive heart attack. Nearly died. Months of rehab. Diet changes. Promised the wife I would cut down some. If 11 flintlocks is too many, perhaps, with some professional help, we could wean me off a little. I sold two. She was pleased. There was hope.

Then she took a job with some travel. It's not my fault, she left me alone! One more wouldn't hurt, would it? It's still less than I had. It made me feel alive again!! Now I am plus 5. And awaiting that "final" flintlock...a French-influenced Tulle.

I know I should quit. At least I' in better shape than a lot of those poor guys. I have heard that in the depths of despair, some have even resorted to cap locks...and Pyrodex...and 209s!!!!

It's a slippery slope, my friends. But better to have flinted and lost, than never to have flinted at all.

ADK Bigfoot
 
I bear good news!
According to something I just read, admitting that there is an addiction problem is "half way towards the cure." Think about that. For all of us here admitting we have a black powder substance abuse problem, we are actually half way to curing it. So when someone says you have a problem, just tell them that you agree and your half way to a cure.
I see that as good enough. I'm good not progressing any farther. I guess I'm happy being a 50%-er.
 
Once on the hard stuff (flintlocks) there's no way out.
Amen, brother! I went straight off into the hard stuff back about 40 years ago. Bought a Dixie Tennessee Mountain Rifle equipped with a flint lock, of course. I've built two fusils, and I'm dreaming of three more. There's no hope for me. (Oh.....and I keep a secret bank account labeled "Slush Fund" for muzzle loaders. But don't tell anybody.....OK?)
 
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We may not think about how it started but I think it began watching fess parker in Daniel Boone, drums along the mohawk, that Daniel Boone racoon tailed hat at Christmas perhaps, got us when we were knee high to a toad and from there it was all down hill.

moccasins, little buckskin coat...oh ya that got a lot of mileage around the back yard when we were kids...
 
Too funny and too TRUE. I think the total count today is about 23. About half are craftsman built contemporaries and one Kibler I made. The other half are originals and all but one were made by pretty well known local makers of the early 1800's. Shooting them is a joy and the people in the "sport" are as well. It all began with wanting just one to go over the fireplace in a special historical period room. That was an original and the journey to research who made it sucked me right in. I don't know a bp shooter who is not also deeply interested in history. May there NEVER be a cure.
 
L.O.L You guy’s could write a book, but when the question arises how many do i need of these toys , i just ask this difficult question, why do you have 50 pair of shoes . Funny thing the subject of discussion changes .
i hope more of you guy’s will write on this subject. It’s my favorite read before the news some of you are true writers. Just love it thanks for the humor
 
40 years ago when I was a tool and die maker I bought a .44 cal. revolver kit just because I could. Built it and shot it a little. Meh. Cured my fever. I thought. In the mid ‘90’s I built two .54 cal. rifles. One cap and one flint. That cured me until about 2 years ago. A close friend gave me a .36 cal. rifle that was his grandpas. Since that time my addiction has caused me to acquire 9 more long guns and 7 pistols. I see no end in sight. Already looking for a winter project.
 
40 years ago when I was a tool and die maker I bought a .44 cal. revolver kit just because I could. Built it and shot it a little. Meh. Cured my fever. I thought. In the mid ‘90’s I built two .54 cal. rifles. One cap and one flint. That cured me until about 2 years ago. A close friend gave me a .36 cal. rifle that was his grandpas. Since that time my addiction has caused me to acquire 9 more long guns and 7 pistols. I see no end in sight. Already looking for a winter project.



Relapses are the worst. :(
 
GUN ADDICATION, it is still better than TOBACCO ADDICATION , NO? at least you have lungs to breath with.
 

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