First Set Of Dumb Question's

[LouisianaHunter]

Ok here's my first dumb question, How do you know which gun to get as your first one? Smoothbore ? Flintlock ? Percussion ?

Next one, do you go cheep incase true muzzleloading isn't for you? or do you just jump in with both feet and get a really high end gun?

I just got my first Muzzleloader last year, a TC 209x50, but a buddy of mine has talked me into maybe trying a TRUE Muzzleloader. (Wess this is all your fault, KyFlintlock)

 

[Jack Walker]

My first question to you is : "what are you going to use it for?". Target shooting, hunting, trekking. For instance, I mainly use a smoothbore because it is a more versatile hunting, shorter and lighter to trek with and still pulls good groups for target shooting. This should be your first consideration.

As far as exspense, thier are makers out there that provide a good of-the-rack gun to get started with such as, TC,Pedersoli, TVM etc.

Hope this helps you answer your question. :thumbsup:

 

Due to the increased learning curve of the Flintlock & smoothbores, the caplock rifle should be a "first" gun. IMHO.
: The gun you bought, well, shouldn't be in this thread.

 

[Keith]

"Ok here's my first dumb question, How do you know which gun to get as your first one? Smoothbore ? Flintlock ? Percussion ?"
WoW, that is like asking what vehicle to buy A Honda CRV, a GM Pickup or a Ford Taurus?
You are covering a lot of ground.

What do want to use it for? What kind of help do you have working up loads and learning to use it? What do you like the looks and feel of? These are things to ask yourself.

I suppose most people start with a percussion rifle. You can hunt and target shoot with it. It is a little easier for a novice to learn to shoot. That doesn't make a smoothbore or a flinter a bad choice for a fisrt real muzzleloader.
You have some experience with a ml so you are a bit further ahead on the learning curve.

For what it is worth the usual recommendation here seems to be for a Lyman Great Plains Rifle. You can get these in flint if you like as well as percussion. Some don't find a GPR fits them so it isn't for everyone.

:m2c: Answer the questions above and look at as many different guns as you can. Some gun may just call your name and another might not feel right.

 

[chickenlittle]

Flint or caplock? Get the one you want most. I went straight from an in-line to flintlock. I figured there were more similarities between my in-line and a caplock than there were between flintlocks and caplocks. I didn't see any reason to first get a traditional caplock.

I did start out shooting a ball-et though, first learning the flintlock, and then later started shooting patched round ball. But I could have done both at once. I was just concerned about being ready by that hunting season. Of course, it turned out that PRB wasn't a big deal.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Lots of good input here.

First one? How many are you planning on getting eventually?

Easiest would be a percussion shotgun. Easy to clean, easy to develop a good load, ignition is straightforward. Much better for bird hunting than a flintlock trade-gun or muslket for fast-moving game. Ducks to bunnies.

Not much good for deer.

For target shooting or deer hunting, or all around four-legged small game hunting you'll want a rifle.

Unless you want a smoothbore trade gun or smooth-rifle. ::

Here's my opinion: for right now, I suggest getting the one that will get you in the woods most often to get you familiar with the loading and cleaning routine. Until you get a strong opinion of what you want in a high-end gun, you probably shouldn't start there. It would be criminal to dump a month's pay on a gun, only to find you wish you had gone for a slightly larger, or smaller, caliber, or a style from a slightly different area or period. Check out the photo gallery and do a lot of looking. Something will grab you.

 

[KyFlintlock]

LH - I started with the flintlock and am so glad I did. Never had the money to get a nice one, but was blessed by a father-in-law that was very nice. Didn't know my butt from a hole-in-the-ground (still don't ), but I wouldn't have changed a THING! There is just something about that extra explosion in your face that makes it complete.

With all of the expertise on this board, I think you will have plenty of help.

You have all of your traditional weapons...so go the other end.

Good luck! :RO:

 

By your handle I assume you hunt in Louisiana. In rifles, if you are a deer hunter you must have at least a .44 and if you hunt small game you have to have a .36 or under (no .40s allowed either season). But a smoothie would allow you to hunt both large and smallgame with one gun, if that is a consideration. For a first traditional gun, I picked a percussion myself many years ago and don't think it was a bad choice. Now I like flintlocks, but still grab my old percussion .45 when I really want to hit a target center. Unless you are into reenacting or just want to try flint, I'd stick with caplock. There are several factory guns on the market which are accurate and reliable and reasonably priced. The Lyman GPR, the TC Hawkin, the Cabela's Blue Ridge all come to mind. For a couple hundred more you can get a TVA or one of a few more makers guns. Be prepared to wait at least a year for delivery. Used Dixie Tenn rifles show up now and then and are good copies of the old southern gun. :m2c:

 

Personally, I think that flint shooting is much less complicated than percussion caps...

everyone knows that caps are a passing fancy and will never catch on.

Here's what I like about my flinter:
1. no caps to fool with, no capper to loose in the woods, no caps to get stuck on a nipple.
2. no nipple to fool with.
3. When a flinter fouls, you pick it. When a caplock fouls, you have to get your wrench out, pull the nipple, not drop it in the grass, pick it, scrub it, dig into the drum or snail, dump powder down into it, screw the nipple back in, and hope that you got everything.
4. no caps.
5. 1 rock=a whole lot of shots with a little chippin' here and there. 1 cap=1 shot, I hope.
6. Opening a cap tin with mittens on sucks...taking off mittens to open cap tins sucks even more.

I recommend a flintlock. You sound like you're ready to take the next step, and once you do that there will be no escape for you. You are going to get flint envy, and eventually move into smoothbores because everyone knows that barrels weren't meant to have gouges in them.. :crackup:

Anyway, get a flinter, you'll love it. Once you go flint, you'll probably never want to go back to caps.

Next you'll be out canvas shopping...
:results:
Stumblin'

 

Cap locks are far easier IMO to learn on then a flintlock.
Why?
Well about the only thing a flintlock and cap lock has in common is they load from the muzzle.

The learning curve is on ignition if a flinter doesn

 

[Stumpkiller]

Personally, I think that flint shooting is much less complicated than percussion caps...

I'll agree with you, but with one proviso: The flinter has to be made right. No creature . . . um . . . no male creature in the world is a ornery as a poorly built flintlock. You get one with a snappy throw, a properly hardened frizzen, a suitable angle on the jaws and a light, crisp trigger and you'll wonder why percussion ever caught on. Get yourself a cheap or poorly built lock and you'll speak words that make angels cry.

It takes a little more effort to wipe the frizzen and flint and keep track of the striking edge (these steps are not required every shot), but it takes no more time overall than pawing around for dinky little caps and pinching them so they stay put.

A gun that fires with FFg in the pan and main charge is a joy. No messing with primer horns or chargers.

 

[LouisianaHunter]

Many thank's to everyone for your answer's. My Buddy KyFlintlock is the one that has started this Ol Son a thinkin about getting a REAL Muzzleloader. I thought about getting one to Deer hunt with but now he's telling me I may need one to Turkey hunt with........ Lord the thing's this Ol boy has filled my head with....lol

Thank's again everyone for taking the time to help this Rookie out.

KyFlintlock if I can stay awake long enough this evening I'm going to give you a Call.

LH :redthumb:

 

[musketman]

I would suggest the first Muzzleloader be a flintlock smoothbore, a smoothbore can be used for any game animal...

Sure, they don't shoot as far as those modern inlines, but that's OK...

Flink ignition because you can almost always find a sparking stone, once a cap is spent, it's gone...

 

LH, read Stumblinbufler's post again. If you still aren't sure what to get, Read it again. If you keep re-reading SB's post (notice that's the OPPOSITE of BS)I'm sure you'll make the right choice. Also heed the warning from Stumpkiller regarding a cheap flintlock. If you are serious about this sport, spend the cash for quality, If you do change your mind later it will still be worth what you paid. Ideally, you should try to find a quality used flinter from someone you know that is local and that is proven reliable (rifle and seller). If new, even a quality flint can sometimes require a little tweeking to get it to perform to it's potential. I would HIGHLY recommend that, if at all possible, you try to find something with a lock assembled in Jim Chambers shop. Silers, (as an example) all start out equal (in kit form)but don't always end up so. There are other good locks out there, but if it's a Chambers, you're sure to get a reliable lock.The lock is the engine of the rifle, the prettiest truck in the world isn't much fun to own if it's hard to start, a pig on gas and burns oil.

 

I only wish that someone would make one of these little yellow critters in the form of a chef stirring a pot, just for me.... :crackup: :bull: :crackup:...I was wondering what sort of response I would get! :blah:

Ok, yes, you have to get a flinter that acts right. I have a Military Heritage Sea Service Bess that i still can't even get to spark! However, my fowler sparks true and beautiful, even in crappy weather, unless I do something dumb.

On the other hand, I had a flint rifle that just plain sucked like a shop-vac...and it weren't cheap, neither...

I have also had a couple of percussion guns that nearly got themselves wrapped around trees or chucked in the crick for all the lack of going-off.

I guess all in all, it just comes down to preference. I ENJOY shooting a flintlock more than a percussion, just like I ENJOY shooting a smoothbore more than a rifle.

My recommendation? Go to a rondy and ask to play with some guns, lots of different ones, before you make an expensive decision.

Have fun !!!!!!

 

[Stumpkiller]

I thought that was my job?

 

[LouisianaHunter]

I have ordered the Catalog from web page so I can see all the picture's I need to hopefully make a good decision on buying a gun.

I also have sent a Local Outdoor Writer (Glynn Harris) an E-Mail trying to find someone locally to try out their Muzzleloader. eace:

 

Where do you live LAhunter? There is a rondezvous this Fri-Sat-Sun (12-13-14 Nov)at Pandemona Plantation north of Rayville, LA (NE of Monroe)where numerous MLs will be, including an over log shoot and an offhand shoot for prizes. Any one of a number of folks would be happy to help you out. If you live in south LA, there is a ML club in the Alexandria area that shoots regularly at the range in the national forest near there (can't remember the name--I'll be 60 in two weeks and the old brain has fuzzy areas).

 

[gordy]

I've only been shooting MLs for 6 or so years,been "shooting" for about 50 years before that.My first MLs were all percussion.I've enjoyed the cap locks,but always had a desire to try a flinter. A couple of months ago a chance to make a swap for a flinter came up.Now I know many on this Forum tend to look down their noses at the low end off the shelf guns,but I got an older CVA Flinter in .50cal.1:66 round ball twist.I did a little work on the lock and double set triggers,I knapped the flint that was in the lock when the gun arrived (had never knapped before) and this gun has performed extremely[url] well.In[/url] fact I havn,t changd the flint as yet,about 65 shots so far.I have four guns that are cap lock and would exchange them all for Flinters if I could.I think it's just as easy to start on a Flinter as a cap lock. :thumbsup: As a PS If it were not for the information gleaned from this Forum it would have been harder to accomplish. eace: :hmm:One thing both the cap lock and Flinter have in common is they don't go off well if powder isn't put under the ball :redface: :crackup: