If you could change one thing about muzzleloading...

[coloradoclyde]

If you could change one thing about muzzleloading, what would it be?......

Note: Please observe the forum rules when responding....


I'll start, by saying that I'd like to see Blackpowder reclassified as a "propellant".
as long as storage quantities are kept low, I don't see that it poses any more real risk than Pyrodex. I think that would help the sport immensely....

 

[gwalker]

Clyde,

I've been involved in muzzleloading shooting for over 40 years and about 10 years ago I just got tired of just punching holes in paper targets at various shooting matches across Wyoming. Now I spend my time along the Tongue River among the cottonwoods just shooting clay targets and rabbit hunting among the sage brush/juniper bluffs.

I would like to see clubs put on more traditional shooting matches such as occurred 200 years ago on Sundays after a church meeting (rifle frolics) or meat shoots (shooting at boards with a 'X' carved into a burned plank). One shot per contestant per match and only one contestant shoots at a time when they are ready, and with nobody in a hurry to run through a paper target with five shots, such as occurs today. Most of the time spent at those frolics 200 years ago were spent cleaning the rifle between matches and visiting among the contestants.

If alcohol comes out after all the shooting is finished, so be it; all we would ask is that you not fall into the warming fire.

George

 

[coloradoclyde]

I like that idea.. :thumbsup:

 

[smo]

I'd just like to go back to when George was talking about. :thumbsup:

 

[hawkeye2]

I like that idea.. :thumbsup:

Me too! :thumbsup:

 

[coloradoclyde]

H.G. Wells didn't invent the time machine until 1895.... :haha: :wink:

 

[Ames]

I'd like to see more states with a true flintlock only deer season. 2 or 3 weeks, flint only, would get a lot of didn't shoot one yet hunters looking into what we do.

 

[TFoley]

Not that it matters a hoot to the vast majority of posters here, but I'd like to see single-shot muzzleloading longarms taken 'off ticket' here in UK, as they are in most of the rest of Europe, so that those of us with an interest in older guns can shoot them without the nausea of having to get a Firearms Certificate to shoot a two-hundred year-old five-foot long flintlock or percussion rifle or shot gun. Right now, you can OWN any antique firearm, but not shoot it unless it is 'on-ticket', and EVERY kind of replica is treated as though it was a modern centrefire rifle.

I guess that the way things are here in UK, you'd need to be a FAC holder already of more modern types of firearms in order to qualify, but even that would be a step in the right direction for us stuck over here in Draconian Law land.

tac

 

[Billnpatti]

Clyde, this may seem off topic at first glance but here is what I would like to see. I would like to see Hollywood produce some excellent movies about the early America times. I would like to see the TV program producers do likewise. My reasoning is this: When the interest in muzzleloading took off back in the late 50s and early 60s it was due to the movies and TV shows that depicted that era. When those movies and TV programs came out, there was a sudden surge of interest in muzzleloading and a concomitant growth in membership in NMLRA. This re-growth in the interest in muzzleloading is mandatory if NMLRA and the local muzzleloading clubs are to survive. Also, as abhorrent as it is to many of us, we are going to have to start including the inline shooters in our clubs with the hope that they will come over to the traditional side. Personally, I do not care for inline rifles and will never own one. The inline shooters would not, of course, fit into the rendezvous side but, what would it hurt to have separate inline matches in our clubs? Our rigid stance against inline rifles is not helping muzzleloading at all. We are loosing people every day and not gaining enough to keep the memberships from declining. The average age of a NMLRA member is now approaching 70 years of age. We must make changes or we will cease to exist.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I'd like to change...,

a) I'd like the ten day muzzleloader season to be declared "primitive" season and flinters and wooden bows without sights would be used.

b) I'd like to see the return of The Governor's Invitational Firelock Match to Fort Frederick State Park.

c) I'd like that event to be big enough or to spawn one large enough that the match could be televised (taped) and thus perhaps spark interest in the traditional sidelock rifles.

d) I'd like to see a TV show on The Outdoor Channel where they show not only the reproduction of traditional sidelock rifles, but also the woodcraft skills, hunting with the traditional guns, the artisans, and some of the historic sites..., again to foster interest.

OK pick only one ..., d, I'd go with d.

LD

 

[coloradoclyde]

Great answers guys....

I agree with everyone that wants a Flintlock only or traditional arms hunting season....It should also proceed any regular firearms season...

Dave, I think maybe you could resurrect your governor's shoot, Do it your self....change the venue but keep the name... :hmm:

 

[Billnpatti]

I also agree with those who want a primative weapon only season with only flintlocks and long bows without sights. :thumbsup: I don't know but maybe you could include atlatls and spears. But that may be going too far. :idunno:

 

[coloradoclyde]

Clyde, this may seem off topic at first glance but here is what I would like to see. I would like to see Hollywood produce some excellent movies about the early America times. I would like to see the TV program producers do likewise. My reasoning is this: When the interest in muzzleloading took off back in the late 50s and early 60s it was due to the movies and TV shows that depicted that era. When those movies and TV programs came out, there was a sudden surge of interest in muzzleloading and a concomitant growth in membership in NMLRA. This re-growth in the interest in muzzleloading is mandatory if NMLRA and the local muzzleloading clubs are to survive. Also, as abhorrent as it is to many of us, we are going to have to start including the inline shooters in our clubs with the hope that they will come over to the traditional side. Personally, I do not care for inline rifles and will never own one. The inline shooters would not, of course, fit into the rendezvous side but, what would it hurt to have separate inline matches in our clubs? Our rigid stance against inline rifles is not helping muzzleloading at all. We are loosing people every day and not gaining enough to keep the memberships from declining. The average age of a NMLRA member is now approaching 70 years of age. We must make changes or we will cease to exist.

Bill,
You've touched on something that everyone seems to ignore.....
The awesome marketing and public perception power of television...
Marketing is an area where I think the NMLRA has failed.. They only focus on themselves, and that makes them an adversary to muzzleloading, not an ally.
I'm a firm believer that allowing in-lines will only further damage muzzleloading...
Embracing them into your club will end badly...Never compromise your founding principal for the sake of money.
I'd love to discuss it further, but that would totally derail this topic....

 

[BillinOregon]

Agree on truly primitive seasons for flinters -- and on the need for more quality films that depict our favorite periods accurately.
In recent years, two films stand out: "Last of the Mohicans" for flintlocks, and "Quigley Down Under" for single-shot black powder cartridge rifles.
Is John Milius still making films?

 

[coloradoclyde]

and "Quigley Down Under" for single-shot black powder cartridge rifles.

Cowboy action shooting is kind of a parallel to muzzleloading in terms of obscure popularity.... :hmm: :hmm:

 

[azmntman]

Clyde, this may seem off topic at first glance but here is what I would like to see. I would like to see Hollywood produce some excellent movies about the early America times. I would like to see the TV program producers do likewise. My reasoning is this: When the interest in muzzleloading took off back in the late 50s and early 60s it was due to the movies and TV shows that depicted that era. When those movies and TV programs came out, there was a sudden surge of interest in muzzleloading and a concomitant growth in membership in NMLRA. This re-growth in the interest in muzzleloading is mandatory if NMLRA and the local muzzleloading clubs are to survive. Also, as abhorrent as it is to many of us, we are going to have to start including the inline shooters in our clubs with the hope that they will come over to the traditional side. Personally, I do not care for inline rifles and will never own one. The inline shooters would not, of course, fit into the rendezvous side but, what would it hurt to have separate inline matches in our clubs? Our rigid stance against inline rifles is not helping muzzleloading at all. We are loosing people every day and not gaining enough to keep the memberships from declining. The average age of a NMLRA member is now approaching 70 years of age. We must make changes or we will cease to exist.

Fess Parker got me started! :thumbsup:

As far as change? Maybe if all the armies in the world suddenly had to go back to arms of the Rev War? Then our only real threat would be the 300 million man army. But they couldn't get here :grin:

Thats the first thought other than the flint only season, we have a deer season for BP but they allow inlines :td:

 

[Dwight Rutherford]

The movie "The Revenant" came out in 2015. I'm curious,was there a measurable uptick in sales of traditional firearms?

 

[coloradoclyde]

d) I'd like to see a TV show on The Outdoor Channel where they show not only the reproduction of traditional sidelock rifles, but also the woodcraft skills, hunting with the traditional guns, the artisans, and some of the historic sites..., again to foster interest.

OK pick only one ..., d, I'd go with d.

Great Idea, but The choice of channel caters only to a narrow group of individuals already interested in such....It does little to increase interest. You cant recruit from within and expect to grow.....I'd choose a channel with a more broad viewing audience.. I'd also choose one that is more accessible.

 

[coloradoclyde]

The movie "The Revenant" came out in 2015. I'm curious,was there a measurable uptick in sales of traditional firearms?

I doubt it....at least not an increase that could be directly attributed to the movie...

The "Revenant" was not the type of movie that would "inspire" people IMO.

 

[hanshi]

I like the idea of reclassifying BP as a propellant rather than an explosive. I'd also like to see more land/ranges/etc, opened for BP shooters to have a good place to shoot.