Just an observation

[Woody Morgan]

In my opinion (you know what that's worth) any hobby done "right" isn't cheap. Fishing, offroading, flying toy airplanes, collecting Mickey Mouse watches (don't ask) or shooting in general. Of all the things I like to do, muzzleloading in particular has been the best bang for the buck (pun intended) I've become involved in. Black powder acts very unlike sm***le** and for some reason is so much more satisfying to touch off regardless of rifle, pistol, smoothy or cannon. You can spend a grunch on originals if you want but repros work just fine for me and I'm not out a whole lot of toy money respectively. Besides. I slept through History.

The smell too. Do any of you also have a "thing" for good fireworks?

wm (almost swerving OT)

 

[Mooney 78865]

I'm new to the whole black powder rifle thing, and did a Traditions 3 band Enfield kit and have just started the process of sighting it in. I have been shooting a BP revolver for some time now, and the bang for the buck far out weighs any of my "modern" pistols.
You are correct, any hobby done correctly takes time, patience and of course money. But there just isn't substitute for the satisfaction.

 

[sheriff john]

Plus, M/L shooters don't get in a hurry (Well, unless you count cowboy action events.) Have a problem at a range or match, someone will always help get you goin' again. When other shooters can't find ammo at Wally World, we just pour own and head out for the range or woods. Just nice people moving at a slower pace, enjoying life.

 

[Britsmoothy]

For me shooting small game with modern guns is almost boring.
But with a muzzloader! That's different. Much more is involved. The hunting has to be better and smarter. The gun prep has to be more meticulous and hence the rewards or grins are greater.

 

[Sidney Smith]

I like being the only guy at the range. Can't get that shooting modern stuff. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy all firearms, but the solitude I get from shooting muzzleloaders, while at the range or hunting, you can't beat that for a buck.

 

[Daveboone]

I enjoy the whole process...working up a load, range shooting, hunting...
I recently got involved with a local black powder club. I was delighted at how low key it was, every one there just for the fun of the sport. No pressure. After shooting, a pleasant group of like minded guys sitting around b.s.ing, having a beer. Since I got married and moved, resigning from my local fire department, I hadnt had such cameraderie. I have a great group of friends, but our opportunities to get together are all too few. At the club we are shooting weekly...sometimes more. It certainly has helped rekindle and foster my old love of the sport.

 

[Omahkapi'si]

Agree. Slower pace, deeper connection to the past, and a sort of peace of mind that comes with it. Hard to explain but definitely real for me.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I like mastering the old tech, and I got interested and started learning about this stuff as it helped me master some of it. It gave me more insight into what folks dealt with back when important stuff was going on around them in the Flintlock Era. The insight is just a glimpse, but it's better than just reading books that gloss over events (imho).

There's a different satisfaction when you're someplace and some dude is talking about his taking a deer with some modern contraption, at a distance that you really couldn't see a deer without another modern contraption attached to the first contraption, and you ask him, "Hey, have you ever taken a deer at say 40 yards, from a ground blind, while shooting an open-sight flintlock in the drizzling rain?" and he has no answer.

LD

 

[Daveboone]

A few years back I went to my local gun club to shoot my Lyman GPR. A few fellers were having fits spraying and praying with their unmentionable, and couldnt hit...squat. I slowly went through my loading , and promptly put two shots into one hole at the x. (happily admit a particularly lucky outing). At range check, I pulled my target, happy with my results. Walking back I was asked "done already? Hit anything?" I handed them my target and just said " its all about the first shot...not the last. Quality beats quantity each time". okay, I was a bit smug. I let them keep the target. Black powder...its about making the first shot count.

 

[dave951]

From my early years I knew about the Civil War. Had quite a few ancestors who fought for the Confederacy. Modern day relations were poobahs in the UDC. My interest lay heavily in the arms of the period and IIRC, they are all black powder. Some were breech loading many were muzzleloading so that's where I got my start.

 

[mmb617]

My thoughts on bang for the buck. I reload for my centerfires and enjoy shooting them but my calculations say that the cost per shot is roughly the same between those rounds and muzzle loader rounds. I'm retired and in no hurry at the range. I actually prefer to spend a couple hours when I go to the club outdoor range especially on nice weather days. It's pretty hard not to go through a couple hundred rounds in a relatively short time with modern semi-auto guns, and I couldn't afford to do that a couple times a week. But I often make 20 or 30 rounds through the muzzle loaders last for hours.

 

[deerstalkert]

when i shoot my charcoal burners, I walk out to the target to check each hit. with the unmentionables i always fired many rounds looking for a "group". I have a condition that limits my capability to walk so shooting my MZ's gets me my quota for the day. between shots i can rest, navel gaze, or dream about being young again. ripping off 200.00 worth of ammo has zero appeal to me anymore.
sometimes i just sit holding my muzzleloader and gaze out across the valley.

 

[MSW]

way back in the long ago, i was sighting in a CF rifle at a public range (which i vow to never do again as long as i live) there was an old guy at the end or the line, being polite at the far table so his smoke would drift away from the other shooters.

a bunch of AR, AK black rifle twenty somethings sat down next to him and were giving him a hard time about his ML rifle ... can't hit this can't hit that, unreliable, old guy old gun bla bla bla ...

he was cool for a little bit but finally turned on the ringleader and said, tell you what- lets shoot for guns...

Huh?

yup- we'll put a soda can at the twenty five meter mark, and shoot at it. the first one to hit the can gets the other guy's rifle. Open sight, single shot, no scope, no sling. You up for that, or are you all hat and no cattle?

well, the glove down, Mr Cool Guy had no choice but to accept and bet his doo-dad infested AR15 ... Old guy was sporting- let Mr Cool Guy shoot first.

He misses, and Old Guy drills the soda can. Mr Cool Guy is yelling that he cheated and so on, but Old Guy just said, "leave it on the ready rack and i'll pick it up on the way home."

By this time the range officer was there and Mr Cool Guy want Old Guy kicked off the range and so on ... Safety Office said he's not doing anything wrong, so no can do ...

Old Guy said nothing and went back to shooting his old, unreliable, inaccurate rifle as if noting at all had happened.

Sometimes, the good guy wins - big time...

 

[Josephg]

No limitations for me. I shoot all sorts of rifles. Enjoy them all. Started out with a BB gun, then 22s, then HP hunting and target rifles, then single shots of all sorts. Cap and ball rifles, flintlocks. My latest love is a new custom Hawken style rifle. Still have the rifle I shot my first buck with when I was fourteen. A Krag I paid ten dollars for. Do not have a new AR style rifle, they just don't interest me much. I like the blend of wood and metal and old stuff.

 

[dave951]

way back in the long ago, i was sighting in a CF rifle at a public range (which i vow to never do again as long as i live) there was an old guy at the end or the line, being polite at the far table so his smoke would drift away from the other shooters.

a bunch of AR, AK black rifle twenty somethings sat down next to him and were giving him a hard time about his ML rifle ... can't hit this can't hit that, unreliable, old guy old gun bla bla bla ...

he was cool for a little bit but finally turned on the ringleader and said, tell you what- lets shoot for guns...

Huh?

yup- we'll put a soda can at the twenty five meter mark, and shoot at it. the first one to hit the can gets the other guy's rifle. Open sight, single shot, no scope, no sling. You up for that, or are you all hat and no cattle?

well, the glove down, Mr Cool Guy had no choice but to accept and bet his doo-dad infested AR15 ... Old guy was sporting- let Mr Cool Guy shoot first.

He misses, and Old Guy drills the soda can. Mr Cool Guy is yelling that he cheated and so on, but Old Guy just said, "leave it on the ready rack and i'll pick it up on the way home."

By this time the range officer was there and Mr Cool Guy want Old Guy kicked off the range and so on ... Safety Office said he's not doing anything wrong, so no can do ...

Old Guy said nothing and went back to shooting his old, unreliable, inaccurate rifle as if noting at all had happened.

Sometimes, the good guy wins - big time...

Got one like that. We were out shooting muskets at a rock quarry and there were some AR types whacking an ammo can at about 50 on the berm. Guy was watchingand calling hits through a spotting scope. We were getting the "look" and being sneered at. My brother shoved a minie down his 1863 Springfield, drew down on their can and fired. Deep boom from the '63, smoke, ammo can went flying up and behind the berm with a seriously big hole of 58cal in it. Best part, guy on the scope didn't see what we were doing and screams- "Jxx CHRxxx, what the HxLL was that!?!?" Brother turns and looks at the AR guys and says Assault Rifle, Model 1863 any questions. No more snide looks......

 

[mmb617]

yup- we'll put a soda can at the twenty five meter mark, and shoot at it. the first one to hit the can gets the other guy's rifle. Open sight, single shot, no scope, no sling. You up for that, or are you all hat and no cattle?

At that range and under those conditions, shooting offhand with open sights I'd prefer my flintlock over my AR. Largely because that's the way I normally shoot the flinter but I always shoot the AR at longer ranges, from a rest and with a scope. Due to lack of practice I don't shoot the AR worth a crap offhand.

There's a couple old guys at my club who could embarrass most "modern gun" guys with their black powder guns shooting offhand at sub 100 yd ranges.

 

[theDuck]

As my brother once said. 'There is something honest about black powder'.

 

[Stykbow]

All good replies gents. Me, I’m just hoping deer hunting with a ML becomes fun and a challenge again. Recently ditched the inline and bought a new traditional rifle. It’s still to be seen if I can hit anything smaller than a barn door with it.

 

[Woody Morgan]

Nice thing is all you have to hit is a deer-sized target. Expectations, ya know?

wm

 

[ML48]

way back in the long ago, i was sighting in a CF rifle at a public range (which i vow to never do again as long as i live) there was an old guy at the end or the line, being polite at the far table so his smoke would drift away from the other shooters.

a bunch of AR, AK black rifle twenty somethings sat down next to him and were giving him a hard time about his ML rifle ... can't hit this can't hit that, unreliable, old guy old gun bla bla bla ...

he was cool for a little bit but finally turned on the ringleader and said, tell you what- lets shoot for guns...

Huh?

yup- we'll put a soda can at the twenty five meter mark, and shoot at it. the first one to hit the can gets the other guy's rifle. Open sight, single shot, no scope, no sling. You up for that, or are you all hat and no cattle?

well, the glove down, Mr Cool Guy had no choice but to accept and bet his doo-dad infested AR15 ... Old guy was sporting- let Mr Cool Guy shoot first.

He misses, and Old Guy drills the soda can. Mr Cool Guy is yelling that he cheated and so on, but Old Guy just said, "leave it on the ready rack and i'll pick it up on the way home."

By this time the range officer was there and Mr Cool Guy want Old Guy kicked off the range and so on ... Safety Office said he's not doing anything wrong, so no can do ...

Old Guy said nothing and went back to shooting his old, unreliable, inaccurate rifle as if noting at all had happened.

Sometimes, the good guy wins - big time...

If mr. cool guy missed a pop can at 25M with an AR 15. That boy needs some major training. I've popped clays at 100+ yds. with an SKS open sights. I love muzzleloaders, flinters, cap locks, and others....but they ain't never gonna win a war today.