i was just perusing toby bridges' website[url] www.hpmuzzleloading.com[/url], and he has some statistics for muzzleloading hunters in 2005. now, i'm not sure where he got these statistics, so i wont vouch for their veracity.
he picked ten states: michigan, oklahoma, virginia, kentucky, ohio, new york, mississippi, west virginia, tennessee, and pennsylvania. of the approx 1.6 million blackpowder hunters in those states, he found that "more than 85-percent of them are hunting with a very modern in-line ignition muzzle-loaded rifle, loaded with an equally modern charge of black powder substitute and either a saboted bullet or a modern bullet with a plastic gas check/seal." he also found that "[t]oday, the traditionally minded muzzleloading hunter makes up only about 5- to 6-percent of all muzzleloading hunters in the U.S."
at the same time, it appears that muzzleloader sales have peaked out, and technology has done about all it can do for muzzleloaders without going to smokeless powder. and to top it all off: "Today, only about 5-percent of all muzzleloading shooters and hunters in the country still rely on real black powder."
thoughts? comments? cries of outrage, or agreement?
i guess one thing that has come to my mind recently is, well, i wonder if the days of the 209 primered, blackpowder sub-shooting muzzleloader are numbered already? i mean, if we go on to smokeless, who's gonna want the blackpowder-sub rifles anymore? and after we go on to smokeless . . . well who the heck wants to have to load it from the muzzle? i guess the line has to be drawn somewhere, and im just curious as to where it will be drawn.
my greatest lament is that people still have an infantile view of traditional muzzleloading. just the other day, someone was extolling to me the joys of his new inline muzzleloader, and how he now didnt have to worry about his gun "blowing up" when he shot it. my sidelocks have always worked great. dont get me wrong, i'm a believer in the free market system, and people buy what they want. i just feel like a lot of folks are in the dark about traditional muzzleloading. they should give it a try. :grin:
also, it's not my intention for this post to be a tirade against inlines. i own one, and it's a fine rifle, albeit discontinued and technically obsolete these days (how ironic). but i'd hate to see fine mass-produced american-made inline rifles be the death of any chance to have a fine mass-produced american-made traditional muzzleloader. oops, already too late?
he picked ten states: michigan, oklahoma, virginia, kentucky, ohio, new york, mississippi, west virginia, tennessee, and pennsylvania. of the approx 1.6 million blackpowder hunters in those states, he found that "more than 85-percent of them are hunting with a very modern in-line ignition muzzle-loaded rifle, loaded with an equally modern charge of black powder substitute and either a saboted bullet or a modern bullet with a plastic gas check/seal." he also found that "[t]oday, the traditionally minded muzzleloading hunter makes up only about 5- to 6-percent of all muzzleloading hunters in the U.S."
at the same time, it appears that muzzleloader sales have peaked out, and technology has done about all it can do for muzzleloaders without going to smokeless powder. and to top it all off: "Today, only about 5-percent of all muzzleloading shooters and hunters in the country still rely on real black powder."
thoughts? comments? cries of outrage, or agreement?
i guess one thing that has come to my mind recently is, well, i wonder if the days of the 209 primered, blackpowder sub-shooting muzzleloader are numbered already? i mean, if we go on to smokeless, who's gonna want the blackpowder-sub rifles anymore? and after we go on to smokeless . . . well who the heck wants to have to load it from the muzzle? i guess the line has to be drawn somewhere, and im just curious as to where it will be drawn.
my greatest lament is that people still have an infantile view of traditional muzzleloading. just the other day, someone was extolling to me the joys of his new inline muzzleloader, and how he now didnt have to worry about his gun "blowing up" when he shot it. my sidelocks have always worked great. dont get me wrong, i'm a believer in the free market system, and people buy what they want. i just feel like a lot of folks are in the dark about traditional muzzleloading. they should give it a try. :grin:
also, it's not my intention for this post to be a tirade against inlines. i own one, and it's a fine rifle, albeit discontinued and technically obsolete these days (how ironic). but i'd hate to see fine mass-produced american-made inline rifles be the death of any chance to have a fine mass-produced american-made traditional muzzleloader. oops, already too late?
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