Just plain fun

[oldarmy]

Have been to busy to shoot much this year.
Finally decided that the year is getting on towards fall up here in the north country.
So, took my favorite flintlock out, and couldn't hit anything with it...
Well, that made me mad, so I have been re-learning how she works...
Was shooting her today, and finally making some progress with getting her re-zeroed.Replaced the front sight during the winter.
Shooting at 50 yds to see where she was grouping and then just "plinking" at 100 yds for fun :grin:
Some one had to come up to me and first ask me if I was shooting a "kit-gun".
Then rather then be interested in black powder we had to have a long discussion about center fire weapons.M1A's, Garand's and the high cost of ammo :cursing:
I like center fire weapons and have a collection of them.
However, after shooting 10s of thousands of rounds though them.
I find them rather boring. You load the shells into the magazine, aim and hit the target.
Every thing is done for you. Cartridge loads are predetermined.All you have to do is aim and pull the trigger
There is nothing like the challenge of shooting a flintlock muzzle loader.
There are so many variables that you have to deal with.
Most shooters just don't know how much having a flintlock will improve their shooting skills
Plus the fact that you can't shoot hundreds of rounds at a time.
Taking time on a beautiful late summer day. to load, prime, aim, and gently squeeze the trigger.
Well I am sure you all know what I am trying to say :v

 

:thumbsup:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

every time I take my muzzle loader rifle or C&B revolvers to the range there are grins on others there when I shoot them.

 

[Many Klatch]

I may get in trouble with this answer but what the heck. I find that shooting muzzleloaders to be a lot more fun than suppository guns because the people are nicer. When I am on a range shooting with other blackpowder shooters, we talk history, hunting, joke and kid around. Why, because we have the time to do it.

When I am shooting with suppository gunners there is always somebody talking about what distance he can kill somebody with his gun. And there is usually the requisite jerk with a .300 magnum or bigger and a huge scope that can't keep his group inside of a paper plate at 25 yards.

Muzzleloading is Zen shooting. You load you shoot, you load you shoot, you load you shoot. After a whole day maybe you have sent 25 or 30 ball down range and I always feel really relaxed. Then I get to clean the gun.

AB

 

[ssettle]

I know what you mean. I've been busy getting ready for winter. Seems funny working my butt off in summer just so I can keep warm in winter.I'm getting rid of my 34 year old oil burner and putting in a coal furnace,
I'd like to do alittle shooting with my 32 some cool evening before fall gets here. I need the practice plus bow season is going to be here at the end of September ...so many things to do... so little time. :wink:

 

[oneeye]

And there is usually the requisite jerk with a .300 magnum or bigger and a huge scope that can't keep his group inside of a paper plate at 25 yards.
AB

Must be the operator, as mine is a tack driver and I can hit what I aim at with it. :hmm:

I agree on the Zen feeling of BP though.
Dan

 

[oldarmy]

I don't have a problem with center fire guns..
Although watching a guy trying to zero a .300 winmag at 300yrds was a hoot. :rotf:
Flintlocks are a "state of mind"..
I forgot how relaxing and enjoying they are. :grin:

 

[kevthebassman]

It's a lot cheaper to spend a full day at the range with a flintlock than it is with a centerfire. A dime's worth of powder, two penny's worth of lead, a nickel for patch and lube..... by the time the sun gets low you're moving pretty fast if you've put $5 worth of patch, powder, and ball downrange.

With a lot of centerfires nowadays, your five shot group is gonna cost you $5!

 

[chance]

I love to shoot those roundballs downrange. I hope oneday I can convince my friends to shoot them too. They just dont love that BP smell.

 

[roundball]

There is nothing like the challenge of shooting a flintlock muzzle loader. There are so many variables that you have to deal with.

Amen !

 

[Leonredbeard]

Oh, Chance!
I love the BP smell! I shoot smokeless so little that I forget how bad it smells. I affirm to you that Hogden's slow rifle powder smells like chicken s$$t. Some other smokeless powders smell so sickenly sweet it almost makes me gag.
Yes sir! There is nothing like the smell of real black. Hee, Hee!
volatpluvia

 

[Frank/Pa]

Bullseye smokeless powder smells like automobile exhaust fumes to me. :barf:

 

[Bob J]

Muzzleloading is Zen shooting. You load you shoot, you load you shoot, you load you shoot. After a whole day maybe you have sent 25 or 30 ball down range and I always feel really relaxed. Then I get to clean the gun.

AB

My sentiments, exactly :hatsoff:

 

[Ethan]

It's a connection -- a true partnership and the more you nurture it, the better it gets.

 

[oldarmy]

My shooting friends and I meet every Sunday to shoot.
They both have nice center fire collections..
I am the only one with a BP jones :grin:
However, we all have a ball. I make allot of smoke, show them and let them try my latest work.
Or just load the cap and ball pistols.
I always tell them.."that center fire stuff is just a passing fad" :rotf: :rotf:
Nice way to spend a Sunday morning

 

[oneeye]

It's a lot cheaper to spend a full day at the range with a flintlock than it is with a centerfire. A dime's worth of powder, two penny's worth of lead, a nickel for patch and lube..... by the time the sun gets low you're moving pretty fast if you've put $5 worth of patch, powder, and ball downrange.

With a lot of centerfires nowadays, your five shot group is gonna cost you $5!

+1 to that :thumbsup:

 

[mckutzy]

I always tell them.."that center fire stuff is just a passing fad" :rotf: :rotf:

well if the flintlock has been around since 1700 somthing, give or take and it is 2008... i do believe ur onto somthing. every time i go to the range and the place just reekes of this new fangeled smokeless powder stuff, it gives me a headache every time, i just cant wait to freshin up the air with some gunpwder that lives up to the true name of GUNPOWDER. :hatsoff:

 

[bajabuc]

:thumbsup: I used to go prarie dog hunting with a flintlock. When you're laying on your back loading it takes a while...by the time you're loaded the prarie dogs are back up. Bang...reload. With anything else it gets borrring!!

 

[MSW]

truth has an ineffable quality that is self evident, even after all the manipulation available. flintlock shooting has the same thing going for it- even after you controll all the variables you can, the magic is still there.