How many years Muzzleloading experience?

[fire bear]

I started with a 100+ year old family .32 caplock in 1965. I've enjoyed it ever since.

 

[Relic shooter]

70+ years collecting, shooting, building & meeting many great m/l folks

 

[Griz 54]

50 years

30years

 

[okawbow]

Built my first rifle; a “Hawken “ of course, in 1973. Hunting and shooting traditional muzzle loaders ever since. Have built around 40 so far. My latest-

 

[1971fx]

I 1976 I was a member of the Bayville blackpowder club we had a Bicentennial target shoot right in Bayville NY village with Long Island sound as the backstop. this year makes 50 for me.I don't think that it would be allowed Today

 

[Yanqui]

47 or so. Enough to wish I hadn’t sold a few now.

 

[Yanqui]

Built my first rifle; a “Hawken “ of course, in 1973. Hunting and shooting traditional muzzle loaders ever since. Have built around 40 so far. My latest-

View attachment 367887

That is one long piece of pipe! Excellent!

 

[Yanqui]

I go way back to around 1966 when I hit my first muzzleloader. 58 years so far.

I remember back in the 60’s, when I was a kid a couple original flinters at a flea market for $100. Lots of good stuff back then no one fully appreciated at the time.

 

[Flint1]

Got my first, a Navy Arms Pietta New Model Remington Army in December 1980, so currently 44 years.

 

[22ceejay]

I started in 1968, kept it up till around 1974. After a long break, started again in 1996, have been hard core since. So, all total 34 years. I hope to keep going, love to smell the powder and all the folks I've run across.

 

[gunpa]

36 years now. Great fun

 

[Doug Fay]

Well, in reality, about 1 year with real black powder. However, 65 years ago when I was 10, I had a toy Hubley cap pistol that looked like a flintlock. It finally broke. So I took the upper barrel, made a crude wooden stock for it, punched a touch hole in it using a nail, attached one of the hammers near the touch hole, and I had a muzzleloader! For powder, I scraped off the powder from 50 to 200 toy caps and put them down the barrel. It made a nice "poof" when I fired it using a single cap in the "pan" next to the touch hole. Then my grandfather told me about "wadding". Once I knew about that, it made an incredible "kaboom!", especially using the powder from 200 caps. I think I'm lucky to still be alive, as the barrel was definitely not made of top-grade gun steel

 

[rickpa]

62 years. My father bought me an original .32 percussion in 1962 that had been freshened to .36 by W.G. Suter who lived about 7 miles from us. Shot it for years then like a d.a. sold it to buy a TC "Hawken". Sold that to buy parts from Harry Schoeller at Antique Gun Parts to build my own. That was 1975. Built 9 more since then, last one in 2021. Flintlocks only.........Below....English sporting rifle. Colerain barrel, Chambers English lock, plank from Dunlap, barrel inlet by Dave Keck. I love building but hate barrel inlets.

 

[Artificer]

Bought my first ML while home on boot camp leave ca. Jan 1972, so getting close to 52 years.

Gus

 

[[email protected]]

Off and on for at least 50 years, but it has never been my main focus, more so now than previously.

 

[mtfishn]

Started hunting w/MLs in '74. Built one in '76. Been competing and hunting ever since.

50yrs.

 

[canon6]

1969

 

[BillRob]

In 1980 a pal let me shoot his .50 cal Hawken. He shot round balls and used poly patches.. A few months later some people at the range offered to let me shoot one of their black powder guns, but they were using pieces of cloth for patches instead of those plastic things that my pal used, so I passed - thinking it must not be safe. He explained afterwards that the patches were actually better - little did I know. It's been 44 years now. Still learning...

 

[moose23]

I am curious how many years of combined experience we have in this group. To make things easier on me to keep a tally, when telling me your time reply like this...



12 years



...and only have the years in the comment with nothing else. Any other discussions are welcome, but anything other than this format will not be counted. I will occasionally post a running total.



I am also doing the same in the Re-enactment section.

27 years

 

[Tom A Hawk]

53 years. I received a Zoli Zouave as a HS graduation gift in 1971.