How many out there?

[grey8833]

I was wondering, having added three to the total myself, does anyone have a good guess as to how many reproduction muzzle loading rifles are out there in the U.S.? That is both Kits and Finished Made, either flintlock or percussion? Not including the pistols or revolvers. Got to be more than a few...

Grey

 

[mushka]

I wouldn't be surprised there's well over a million being used and hiding in various corners and hung on walls.

 

[Doc Ivory]

There must be a passle of them!

 

[longcruise]

Do you mean in terms of being manufactured?

 

[bubba.50]

I was wondering, having added three to the total myself, does anyone have a good guess as to how many reproduction muzzle loading rifles are out there in the U.S.? That is both Kits and Finished Made, either flintlock or percussion? Not including the pistols or revolvers. Got to be more than a few...

Grey

No idea how many may be out there. But, as a small example, TC made close to a million just of their Hawken model.

 

[mooman76]

Some body has been looking at mine again and taking inventory.

 

[grey8833]

Do you mean in terms of being manufactured?

Manufactured and made. Had not thought to check public available mfg numbers.

 

[longcruise]

Manufactured and made. Had not thought to check public available mfg numbers.

Not sure that complete info would be out there.

 

[russellshaffer]

Just rifles, it's a bazillion. If you count pistols, revolvers and smoothbores it's a gazillion. Add my selfmade matchlock and the count gets even higher.

 

[Trot]

I couldn't even tell you how many I have, let alone how many are out there!

 

[TFoley]

Why do you want to know?

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

Why do you want to know?

Why not?

You know, the Government gives figures of how many million guns are "out there" in public hands, but they only count modern firearms because BP guns generally are not considered to be firearms, legally. If you add both, yah, probably in the bazillions. LOL

 

[Newtire]

However many there are, there's never enough.

 

[vezePilot]

It is known, how many. At least roughly. Some sources have finally started using more realistic numbers for total firearms in America ... and that is more than 700 million. Seems I read in one source two years ago that of the total, about 30 million are muzzleloaders of all sorts, antiques and replicas.

So, a million, a gazillion, a bazillion ... just figure "behind every blade of grass."

 

[oldwood]

Before John Bivins was cited by the government for not paying the Pittman Roberts tax on the "Bicentennial " rifles he built before the mid 1980's, the vast majority of rifles made by hobby m/l gunsmiths were done so clandestinely.. After the Congress acted , and said production under 50 guns per year was not under the P/R tax. The cloud of secrecy put over the earlier industry remained for years. How many rifles went home and were not signed out of fear of the govt.??? We will never know. .........oldwood

 

[mooman76]

Why not?

You know, the Government gives figures of how many million guns are "out there" in public hands, but they only count modern firearms because BP guns generally are not considered to be firearms, legally. If you add both, yah, probably in the bazillions. LOL

It's an educated guess at best. No way of knowing how many guns are handed down over the years or given to friends. I think there is allot more than big brother wants to admit to.

 

[TFoley]

It's an educated guess at best. No way of knowing how many guns are handed down over the years or given to friends. I think there is allot more than big brother wants to admit to.

That's good to know.

 

[Notchy Bob]

Before John Bivins was cited by the government for not paying the Pittman Roberts tax on the "Bicentennial " rifles he built before the mid 1980's, the vast majority of rifles made by hobby m/l gunsmiths were done so clandestinely.. After the Congress acted , and said production under 50 guns per year was not under the P/R tax. The cloud of secrecy put over the earlier industry remained for years. How many rifles went home and were not signed out of fear of the govt.??? We will never know. .........oldwood

It is speculated that many old mid-19th century southern rifles were unsigned because the makers did not want to be identified by the federal government as making arms for the Confederacy. Even after the war, members of the general population in the south were not allowed to have arms, so it is likely the practice of not signing handmade guns continued.

It could be argued that backwoods gunsmiths might not have had stamps for signing their guns, but if they really wanted their names on the guns, I believe they would have contrived a way to do it.

I had heard several times about some issues between John Bivins and the Federal Government, but I didn't know the nature of the dispute until now. Thank you.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

 

[mushka]

As far as I am concerned as long as there are a lot more of all kinds of guns out there that the govt doesn't know about, all is well.

 

[Jaegermeister]

One behind every blade of grass.