Disagree all you want, it doesn't make him wrong. Think 24,000 is a lot of shooters? How many of them have money in hand and are clamoring for an American built sidelock that they'll have a hard time finding caps for?
The membership of Long Range Hunting, Accurate Shooter, and 24hr campfire together are almost 300,000. The members of LRH (122,000) and Accurate Shooter (74,000) are mostly going to be the big scopes, sabots, and fancy pelts crowd. I'm sure some own traditional equipment, but largely it's a novelty to them and not a way of life like it is for some here. The muzzleloader is just a ticket to them that admits them to another week of hunting, they want it to be as easy as possible with as little handicap as possible.
Lyman quit muzzleloaders. CVA makes only inlines. Midway currently has 49 different models of inlines in stock, while guns using No.11 or musket caps is 18. They don't even list a flintlock anymore and I wouldn't be surprised if a large number of the "out of stock, no backorder" sidelocks get dropped in the future. They're going to stock what they know will sell.
Will T/C build traditional? No idea; probably not but some will hope. I think if they do, they're going to be a stones throw away from a thousand bucks (the GPR was ~$700 when it disappeared). I don't see them getting much traction if they go in that direction, especially if the word is out among traditional enthusiasts that Jim has eventual plans for a plains style rifle.
