Greetings all,
I am returning to black powder shooting after something like a 10-year hiatus. I old all my BP rifles a decade ago--just too busy at the time. My past experience is that I had a couple of in-line guns that I had used to harvest elk and deer in the state where I live. I also had a custom underhammer purchased from a fellow that had hunted the gun extensively throughout Africa and the western US. That one went to a good home in Wisconsin and was a real cherry. Had a Lehman Hawken that I used to hunt Washington and Oregon blacktail, and a Caywood Game Gun that sat in the safe unused, because busy.
The family just flew back to Oregon (home) yesterday from a trip to Washington D.C. and Virginia. Visited the NRA museum in Fairfax, Va with my 16 year old son who is a gun looney. He had a blast. Spent a week bouncing around civil war sites, Thomas Jefferson's Montecello, G. Washington's Mount Vernon and several days in Colonial Williamsburg. There, my son shot two flintlock rifles and of course got the bug. On the flight home last night I got to thinking maybe it was a mistake (you know) selling those BP rifles a decade ago. You know the old saw about the only guns (and real estate) you ever regret are the ones you sell. All the builders are backed up until the next decade fulfilling existing orders. Okay, maybe the usual delay is 1-2 years depending on who I've talked to.
So I came about seeing this site yesterday in searching for a traditional long rifle to start Mike (son) off in the right direction.I've semi-settled on about 42" in either Kentucky or Virginia styles. For the next purchase I prefer the earlier square butt design with broad cross section. No skinny hooked butt. 50 or 54 cal. to be honest, it's just fun plunking big holes in paper. I wouldn't object to a .62 but the lead is relatively expensive and heavy charges are needed to flatten trajectory. A 45 cal would be more thrifty, but then again there is that thing about seeing big holes in paper. Mike was shooting a 75 cal and a 62 cal at Colonial Williamsburg over 70 grains of Ffg and had no issues. He's already an avid shotgunner with both 20 and 12 gauges and I have a couple of gun safes with metallic cartridges that he picks through from time to time. It helps that I'm an older dad with plenty of decades under my belt to have accumulated some stuff.
Anyway, that's my introduction. Howdy! I'm an NRA Life member. Am usually pretty quiet on boards; more an avid reader, not a writer. I live in the country on acreage and have deer, elk, bear, cougar and a gun range on the property. Before any envy sets in I was poor (and compounded this by marrying an equally poor but lovely girl) when I was young like most everyone else, but did I mention I'm not young anymore? Close to retirement now.
I have a request. Maybe someone can help me out. I'm so new on this board that I can't post or PM yet, apparently. There is an avid fellow member named EC121 that has a long rifle listed for sale that I'm interested in. Looking for rifles is how I landed on this board. Maybe someone could private message him for me and suggest that he connect with me to talk about his rifle? Who knows how long it will be before I can reach out to EC121 and I don't want one of you to snag his rifle while I'm twiddling my thumbs waiting to become a contributor. But if you did buy it first, my retirement account would happily thank you. Don't let me hold you back.
So hello to all.
John
I am returning to black powder shooting after something like a 10-year hiatus. I old all my BP rifles a decade ago--just too busy at the time. My past experience is that I had a couple of in-line guns that I had used to harvest elk and deer in the state where I live. I also had a custom underhammer purchased from a fellow that had hunted the gun extensively throughout Africa and the western US. That one went to a good home in Wisconsin and was a real cherry. Had a Lehman Hawken that I used to hunt Washington and Oregon blacktail, and a Caywood Game Gun that sat in the safe unused, because busy.
The family just flew back to Oregon (home) yesterday from a trip to Washington D.C. and Virginia. Visited the NRA museum in Fairfax, Va with my 16 year old son who is a gun looney. He had a blast. Spent a week bouncing around civil war sites, Thomas Jefferson's Montecello, G. Washington's Mount Vernon and several days in Colonial Williamsburg. There, my son shot two flintlock rifles and of course got the bug. On the flight home last night I got to thinking maybe it was a mistake (you know) selling those BP rifles a decade ago. You know the old saw about the only guns (and real estate) you ever regret are the ones you sell. All the builders are backed up until the next decade fulfilling existing orders. Okay, maybe the usual delay is 1-2 years depending on who I've talked to.
So I came about seeing this site yesterday in searching for a traditional long rifle to start Mike (son) off in the right direction.I've semi-settled on about 42" in either Kentucky or Virginia styles. For the next purchase I prefer the earlier square butt design with broad cross section. No skinny hooked butt. 50 or 54 cal. to be honest, it's just fun plunking big holes in paper. I wouldn't object to a .62 but the lead is relatively expensive and heavy charges are needed to flatten trajectory. A 45 cal would be more thrifty, but then again there is that thing about seeing big holes in paper. Mike was shooting a 75 cal and a 62 cal at Colonial Williamsburg over 70 grains of Ffg and had no issues. He's already an avid shotgunner with both 20 and 12 gauges and I have a couple of gun safes with metallic cartridges that he picks through from time to time. It helps that I'm an older dad with plenty of decades under my belt to have accumulated some stuff.
Anyway, that's my introduction. Howdy! I'm an NRA Life member. Am usually pretty quiet on boards; more an avid reader, not a writer. I live in the country on acreage and have deer, elk, bear, cougar and a gun range on the property. Before any envy sets in I was poor (and compounded this by marrying an equally poor but lovely girl) when I was young like most everyone else, but did I mention I'm not young anymore? Close to retirement now.
I have a request. Maybe someone can help me out. I'm so new on this board that I can't post or PM yet, apparently. There is an avid fellow member named EC121 that has a long rifle listed for sale that I'm interested in. Looking for rifles is how I landed on this board. Maybe someone could private message him for me and suggest that he connect with me to talk about his rifle? Who knows how long it will be before I can reach out to EC121 and I don't want one of you to snag his rifle while I'm twiddling my thumbs waiting to become a contributor. But if you did buy it first, my retirement account would happily thank you. Don't let me hold you back.
So hello to all.
John
