Colorado guy
32 Cal.
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2013
- Messages
- 5
- Reaction score
- 0
I am getting back into Black Powder firearms, but have only two smokeless cartridge arms left to me, and have decided that three different Muzzleloading long arms would fit my needs for firearms as useful tools and for recreation as well. A Squirrel rifle, a large caliber rifle and a fowling piece would do for me what Black Powder muzzleloaders need to do to meet my needs. Do I buy or build? I do have some options but need advice as to how to proceed. I am no longer a rich man; the Great Depression of the 21st Century has destroyed the career I used to have, and my disposable income is way less than it used to be.
I did have a 1861 Springfield .58 caliber Minie rifle from my days as a Civil War reenactor, and a Cabelas/Pedersoli Blue Ridge flintlock rifle in .45, but these were pawned and lost in the current protracted economic downturn, and are long gone. But I did shoot them, and know how to load, shoot, clean, and handle both percussion and flintlock rifles.
There is a squirrel rifle for sale here on Muzzleloader forum, from M 38, for $775.00 US, and it’s either buy this rifle as soon as I have the funds to send to him and have him ship it to me, or save money to buy a kit from either Sitting Fox, or Tennessee Valley Muzzleloading for a .32 or .36 caliber squirrel rifle kit. I want to start out with a small caliber because they are more economical to shoot; the cost of lead balls and powder charge being low compared to a larger caliber of rifle.
There are also numerous larger caliber percussion rifles from CVA, Lyman, or Thompson Center for sale on the boards here, as well as several flintlocks for sale locally here in the western suburbs of the Denver Metro Area. Cost for these various rifles are from ~$350.00, to around $1100.00 for a Remington .50 caliber commemorative 1816 flintlock rifle, but I don’t have the funds saved to buy any of these at the moment. I would be able to save up the ~$600 for a kit from Sitting Fox or TVM cheaper than $1000.00, but it would take a season to do that, and I would like to get shooting as soon as possible before summer is gone and fall/winter lays it’s icy grip on Colorado again. Saving the $1000.00 would of course take longer, maybe two season’s time to do, well into winter.
Another problem is that the place I live is openly hostile to any firearms at all. The owner does not allow me to keep my modern smokeless repeating rifle or pistol there, they must reside elsewhere. Hence I would also not be allowed to sand, file, chisel, smooth, brown or otherwise do any finish work on a rifle kit. I can work on the rifle kit at an associate’s place of business, but that’s it. Unfortunately I live in the People’s Republic of Denver, and this place has grown hostile to gun ownership and use, with the 15 round magazine ban law and instant background checks for any modern arm sale from one person to another.
The third problem is that I lost all the tools I used to have in a burglary at my previous residence on Christmas Day, 2012, if you can believe that. Someone broke in, cut thru two locks, and made off with over $20,000.00 of personal goods, 10 years of tax papers, records, and receipts, tools, parts, clothes, an 1875 Seth Thomas pendulum weight driven alarm clock, family photographs, etc. I was gone to a friends, and this is when the burglar or burglars chose to strike, damn them. So I have No tools left to do anything with, and would have to buy the chisels, sandpaper, drill and bits, carving tools, etc; everything I would need to finish a semi finished stock, and unbrowned and unfinished barrel. The cost of these tools and materials are added to the cost of the rifle kit(s) I would buy, and would count towards the final cost of any rifle or kit I purchased and finished, wherever and whenever I could do the work.
I welcome suggestions, advice, etc, from those more experienced in making a muzzleloader from a kit, or just saving the money to buy a squirrel rifle like from M-38, a Lyman Great Plains rifle or the Remington .50 Flintlock, and a fowling piece from TVM or kit.
I did have a 1861 Springfield .58 caliber Minie rifle from my days as a Civil War reenactor, and a Cabelas/Pedersoli Blue Ridge flintlock rifle in .45, but these were pawned and lost in the current protracted economic downturn, and are long gone. But I did shoot them, and know how to load, shoot, clean, and handle both percussion and flintlock rifles.
There is a squirrel rifle for sale here on Muzzleloader forum, from M 38, for $775.00 US, and it’s either buy this rifle as soon as I have the funds to send to him and have him ship it to me, or save money to buy a kit from either Sitting Fox, or Tennessee Valley Muzzleloading for a .32 or .36 caliber squirrel rifle kit. I want to start out with a small caliber because they are more economical to shoot; the cost of lead balls and powder charge being low compared to a larger caliber of rifle.
There are also numerous larger caliber percussion rifles from CVA, Lyman, or Thompson Center for sale on the boards here, as well as several flintlocks for sale locally here in the western suburbs of the Denver Metro Area. Cost for these various rifles are from ~$350.00, to around $1100.00 for a Remington .50 caliber commemorative 1816 flintlock rifle, but I don’t have the funds saved to buy any of these at the moment. I would be able to save up the ~$600 for a kit from Sitting Fox or TVM cheaper than $1000.00, but it would take a season to do that, and I would like to get shooting as soon as possible before summer is gone and fall/winter lays it’s icy grip on Colorado again. Saving the $1000.00 would of course take longer, maybe two season’s time to do, well into winter.
Another problem is that the place I live is openly hostile to any firearms at all. The owner does not allow me to keep my modern smokeless repeating rifle or pistol there, they must reside elsewhere. Hence I would also not be allowed to sand, file, chisel, smooth, brown or otherwise do any finish work on a rifle kit. I can work on the rifle kit at an associate’s place of business, but that’s it. Unfortunately I live in the People’s Republic of Denver, and this place has grown hostile to gun ownership and use, with the 15 round magazine ban law and instant background checks for any modern arm sale from one person to another.
The third problem is that I lost all the tools I used to have in a burglary at my previous residence on Christmas Day, 2012, if you can believe that. Someone broke in, cut thru two locks, and made off with over $20,000.00 of personal goods, 10 years of tax papers, records, and receipts, tools, parts, clothes, an 1875 Seth Thomas pendulum weight driven alarm clock, family photographs, etc. I was gone to a friends, and this is when the burglar or burglars chose to strike, damn them. So I have No tools left to do anything with, and would have to buy the chisels, sandpaper, drill and bits, carving tools, etc; everything I would need to finish a semi finished stock, and unbrowned and unfinished barrel. The cost of these tools and materials are added to the cost of the rifle kit(s) I would buy, and would count towards the final cost of any rifle or kit I purchased and finished, wherever and whenever I could do the work.
I welcome suggestions, advice, etc, from those more experienced in making a muzzleloader from a kit, or just saving the money to buy a squirrel rifle like from M-38, a Lyman Great Plains rifle or the Remington .50 Flintlock, and a fowling piece from TVM or kit.
