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Brett K

32 Cal.
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I am new to muzzleloaders. I have never shot one but I am interested in extending my hunting season. I dove head first into archery a few years back and love it. Adding a muzzleloader will give me a bit more variety and allow me to choose and area and weapon depending on conditions. I plan on picking up an inline and a flintlock this year as soon as I'm done selling off a few things.

WHat can you tell me about the Lyman Deerstalker as an entry level hunting flintlock? My local gunsmith is offering me a new one at $340. He highly recommends it and I don't think he would steer me wrong.

With that said, where is a good point to start learning. There is lots of terminology floating around here that I'm not familiar with. Is there a good website or book I can pick up? In addition to learning more about flintlocks and shooting them, I need to determine what accessories I will need for hunting. What works vs. what is a gimmick, etc.

Thanks for the help. I am really enjoying this forum.
 
Welcome to the forum Brett K. :)

A useful guide to the terms we often use concerning muzzleloaders can be found in our Glossary of Muzzleloading Terms. This link will get you to it. http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/230025/

I think it's fair to say that all of the Lyman imports are good starting places when it comes to muzzleloading.
My Dixie catalog doesn't show a Deerstalker in Flint but that doesn't necessarly mean a flint version is not available.
The Dixie catalog does show the Lyman Great Plains rifle and the Lyman Trade rifle in both Percussion and Flintlock versions.

These Lyman imports are made by Interarms in Italy and they have proven to be well made.

The 1:48 twist found in the Lyman Trade rifle and Deerstalker will shoot both patched roundballs and lead slugs quite well and both projectiles are fully capable of taking deer.
The Lyman Great Plains Rifle's deep rifling and slow 1:60 twist is great for patched roundballs but heavy lead slugs work rather poorly in it.

As for an Inline, we cannot and will not discuss those guns on this forum. As you may have noticed when you signed up, this is one of the forum rules.
I'll just part on this issue by saying that in my opinion you would be better off putting your extra money in buying a quality sidelock gun or in buying some real black powder.

Speaking of black powder, you need to know that a Flintlock will work very poorly or not at all if it is loaded with ANY of the modern synthetic black powder substitutes. Their ignition point is too high for them to ignite reliably, even with a flash in the pan coming from a prime of real black powder. When one of the synthetic black powder substitutes is used to prime a flintlock, if it does ignite it burns much too slowly to create the flame front that passes thru the vent hole and ignites the main powder charge.

I don't know how much you have read about Flintlocks but if the lock is a quality lock and the gun is loaded and primed with real black powder the gun is easily capable of firing within .02 seconds after the trigger is pulled. That sounds like CLICK-BANG with the "click" being the flint hitting the frizzen (the vertical blade that makes the sparks).
The old often seen in the movies CLICK-WHOOOOOOOOOOOSH-BANG only happens when the gun is primed incorrectly. (The vent hole is buried under the priming powder).

If real black powder is not available in your area (you have to ask the gunshop for it because they cannot sit it out on the shelves) and one of the many synthetic black powder substitutes is the only thing you can buy you might want to consider the same guns mentioned above in Percussion. Percussion guns will fire those powders fairly reliably.

Also be aware that you can order real black powder delivered to your house but it has a "Hazardous" fee that must be paid to get the powder delivered. This amounts to about $20 per shipment but the size of the shipment may consist of more than one container. Many of our members order 5 or more pounds so the effective Hazardous fee amounts to about $4/pound.

Ask as many questions about Flintlocks and Percussion guns as you want to ask. Hopefully you will understand our position about discussing those "other" kinds of rifles. :)
 
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Yup ya need the real holy black powder.
That pretend stuff just dont cut it in a flinter.

You can buy a cheaper production gun for starters, you may or may not get a good one. Its luck of the draw.

You will have a learning curve.

The first lesson will be to forget everything you know about modern firearms.

Petroleum oils are your enemy.

Study up and read everything you can
 
Welcome Britt. Everything Zonie said is true. I have never shot a Lyman but have heard good things about them. I will say this: If you get a quality flintlock and learn to load it properly it will rival any caplock in speed of ignition.I have seven flintlocks that I custom built for myself and I never hear the flint strike.

Also,at least from my own perspective, flintlocks are just a lot more fun to shoot than other muzzleloaders.

There are several good books out there on muzzleloading and a wealth of information here on this forum.
 
Welcome Brett K

I think after you learn how to shoot a flinter, you will give up on that in-#@$*. Shooting sabots out of those modern things gets expensive.

What caliber flinter are you looking at?
 
Welcome to the forum :hatsoff: . Zonie gave you a real good run down. I have a .54 Lyman Great Plains Rifle flinter and it is very accurate and reliable. Here are a few places to check and compre Lyman rifles: http://www.impactguns.com/store/lyman_rifles.html , http://www.tjgeneralstore.com/lyman.htm and http://possibleshop.com/rifle-lyman.html . For about the same price, I think the Trade Rifle is a better buy. As Zonie mentioned, here are a couple of places you can mail order black powder: http://www.powderinc.com/ , http://www.grafs.com/ and http://www.mainepowderhouse.com/ . Good luck on your quest :thumbsup:
 
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Welcome lots of good info on this board. Start by cleaning the rifle, remove all oils. The gunk that bills up in the bore is made harder to deal with whin it reacts with oil. I use bore butter, several other products work well also. Get some quality flints. Enjoy
 
I would recommend you try to find a friend with a flintlock who will let you shoot it before you buy one. If you haven't been involved in black powder, a sidelock percussion gun may be where you need to start. There is a learning curve involved in BP, even more so if you chose a flintlock.. It is not as simple as pour X amount of powder down the bore, seat a patched ball and shoot.

I flinched to a ridiculous degree the first time I shot a flintlock. I found out why they call them "flinchlocks". It took while to get over but I no longer see the pan flash when I shoot my guns. I don't own anything but flintlocks now and absolutely love them.
 
I would say if your primary goal is to get a deer, get the in-line and find another website but if you want the time of your life get the flintlock and stay right here. There is just something about the mystic of flintlock hunting that makes it wonderful. But I would suggest, if you are set on a Lyman, you get the Lyman Great Plains Rifle in 54 cal and flint of coarse!

Oh yes welcome to the site.
 
Brett---yes flintlocks are the way. Cap Guns are not as interesting nor anywhere near as fun.

The Lyman deer stalker is okay (in flint), but I would suggest going to a Lyman Trade or a Lyman Great Plains. You can get a Lyman Trade in Flint for nearly the same price.

54 caliber is an excellent caliber. Shoot round ball and save yourself a lot of time and expense and energy playing with bullets. The round ball in 54 cal is usually more accurate than you can ever hope to be and has plenty of take down and there is just no need to complicate things. As far as accessories:

Flints
Black Powder 3F (and some 4F for the pan is best)
Ball PULLER (If you have a booboo)
Powder Measures -- for the main charge and a small one for the prime
Patches (you can use prelubed to start)
.530 Round Balls (Speer are good)


That is all you need to START actually. And as others have said --- Use Real Black Powder and do not waste your time with fake stuff.

Enjoy!
 
Thanks for all of the valuable information. The gun I am looking it is 50 cal. I have to go flintlock because PA has a flintlock only season. I am sure down the road I may want to upgrade to something more authentic. For now, this model is appealing because of the fiberoptic sights and it is set up for a sling, and it fits the budget. This could turn into a hobby in itself.

The flintlock is a must buy. I am still on the fence on an inline. I have to look into whether I can carry a flintlock during inline season though.
 
Don’t know about your state but here in Kansas, I was able to use my flintlock in all three seasons. Muzzleloader, regular firearms and left over season. Check your regs.
 
If you are in pa. I suggest you find a local ML club. You just cann't beat talking to and learning from experienced flintlock shooters. Just remember that ten differnt shooters will have at least ten different details about the best way so listen and learn.The learning curve is long but pleasant.And once you smell the black powder smoke there is no turning back :shocked2: WARNING BLACK POWDER IS ADDICTIVE ! :hmm: :hmm:
 
Welcome to the forum, Brett K. Zonie and the others are offering great advice. Read carefully what they have to say. You'll enjoy the dark side.
 

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