Keeping Muzzleloading Alive

[Coinneach]

Grandmother had a farm in the VA hills. We had a small house on the great bay in NJ. When I was at either place I was out the door dawn til dark thirty. Either in the woods or on the water. Got my first, a .22 Mossberg, for Christmas when I was 6. Cried like a baby when it disappeared in a burglary in the 70's. Down home in VA or on the water in NJ, most of our protein came off the land or the bay.

I didnt know about Supermarket meat packs until I joined the Army in the early 70's, my family harvested their own Meat, from Cattle to Goats and Chickens; although Frozen Fish was bought occasionally when we were in town.

 

[Gordoncourtney]

I did not read all the posts, but I found an opportunity at a scout camp that they have someone introduce kids to black powder they have a 22 shooting program it seems also .

I got to load and let the boy scouts shoot last fall here in Missouri and I really enjoyed it , But the scout leaders were great , they knew the problem kids and had someone to help them .

I am really interested in this , so much so I am going to turn out some youth sized flintlocks so it is a better experience for the kids .

It’s what keeps kid interested 1978-81 I was working in Lagos Nigeria. And old white bushman was the only scout guy, but he took kids out into the bush tracking snakes and animals and taught them how to make traps out of twigs etc to catch rats ( bush meat, big things , locals called em rabbits, tasty I gather ) kids were 4&6 then. However back in Uk , on joining the local scouts, but found it so boring, poor scout master just could not interest them , they left the scouts out of boredom, very upsetting for the scout master . Trying so hard !!!!

Ha ha that’s life love from uk.

Cool and overcast west of London. I just fed the crows, pet pigeon will be down in a bit, and a fat rat has taking a liking to the crows food, I’ll trap It, Crows have been here since 1952 in uncles time , we took over house in 1986 They demand breakfast , but never became tame ,

Just rambling along on patio over morning coffee, I did have a rocking chair but my son took a liking to it and stole it, he’s 51 now ,his woman 29 just gave us a grandson. Still working on my 8 bore new walnut stock

Ps I really liked this colourful group of people previously on the forum, it would make a lovely painting on the wall Ha ha

Sorry to ramble on about an 80 old in London ha ha. God bless you all .

 

[user 31232]

You keep on with your ramblings!

 

[SPQR70AD]

I grew up with an old Winchester bolt action .22 shooting ground squirrels, coons, foxes, Ferrell cats, and everything else in northern Washington, I never had more than 1 shot so I learned make it count. When I was 14 our church put on a mountain man rendezvous for us youngsters and all it took was one shot with an old .58 and I never went back, fully auto is just not as fun. I think out of 60 youth maybe 2 or 3 took to muzzleloading but I owe my obsession to a few very patient mountain men who taught a bunch of kids who most of whom didn't care. I hope I can be that patient.

you had it easy. granpappy gave me a rusty 22 with a bent barrel and one 22 short and I had to come back with 12 rabbits or I got a whipping behind the barn

 

[Gordoncourtney]

you had it easy. granpappy gave me a rusty 22 with a bent barrel and one 22 short and I had to come back with 12 rabbits or I got a whipping behind the barn

Don’t call me gran pappy I am 46 born in 1943 in the spring. Eldest son just bought me a big bottle of whisky from the Scottish isles for Father’s Day, Drinking it now , they all went out for lunch but I did not feel sociable , well I wanted to work on my 8g , gave the wife my credit card bound to be £120’ for 4

Wife is 77 Monday and could not hear the telly so Stephen bought a 55” smart TV for her 77 th Birthday , utter night mare as it’s all computers , no sat dish now, works over internet . Stephen took 5 hours to set it up , nightmare …,( Stephen 51 is concept director for Dyson , he designs everything, But hates me killing birds and animals, hates guns almost a vegitarian , drives a Tesla , See him as On google. ( I said to son Stephen , , you are so rich and we live on £15,000 a year “ oh daddy you poor things we spend that much on biscuits“


So getting my 8 g together , it’s getting there , made a brass trigger as original broke ( the Philips screws are temporary , I’ll make proper ones later )

Other than that have a nice day Love from way across the pond

 

[dave951]

I did not read all the posts, but I found an opportunity at a scout camp that they have someone introduce kids to black powder they have a 22 shooting program it seems also .

I got to load and let the boy scouts shoot last fall here in Missouri and I really enjoyed it , But the scout leaders were great , they knew the problem kids and had someone to help them .

I am really interested in this , so much so I am going to turn out some youth sized flintlocks so it is a better experience for the kids .

We're getting ready for summer camp sessions with the Scouts. Our little group will be working in 2 NC camps this summer- Camps Raven Knob and Bud Schiele. The way we have this set up is we come to the camp for the day and run the black powder/muzzleloading range for the day. We start out with a safety brief, then a history lesson (no boring lectures here! the kids actually handle the guns we're talking about) and then a demo of flintlocks and percussion. We then teach patch round ball loading and shooting and then move on to Civil War muskets with minies. Yes, they are accurate and yes, the kids do learn offhand shooting and many get quite good at it. Here's a link to short video we shot at Camp Bud Schiele-

 

[Flinter1776]

I did not read all the posts, but I found an opportunity at a scout camp that they have someone introduce kids to black powder they have a 22 shooting program it seems also .

I got to load and let the boy scouts shoot last fall here in Missouri and I really enjoyed it , But the scout leaders were great , they knew the problem kids and had someone to help them .

I am really interested in this , so much so I am going to turn out some youth sized flintlocks so it is a better experience for the kids .

Unfortunately, BSA does not allow the use of flintlocks. Also not allowed are matchlocks, wheellocks, or "homemade"/custom firearms. I'm currently looking into the rational and hopefully advocating for exceptions to policy. Since the range fatality in Hawaii and resulting lawsuit, BSA is cracking down on informal shooting events and requiring both an NRA certified instructor and an RSO to be present for any shooting event.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Unfortunately, BSA does not allow the use of flintlocks. Also not allowed are matchlocks, wheellocks, or "homemade"/custom firearms. I'm currently looking into the rational and hopefully advocating for exceptions to policy. Since the range fatality in Hawaii and resulting lawsuit, BSA is cracking down on informal shooting events and requiring both an NRA certified instructor and an RSO to be present for any shooting event.

I doubt that will work, but good for you for trying.

The death of the young man in Hawaii was due to multiple seriously stupid errors on the part of the gun owners. Unfortunately, they also had permission to gather as a Boy Scout Troop on BSA property when the death happened. Even though muzzleloading had nothing to do with this event, they will continue to limit what type of firearms are on their property and used by "scouts". The boy would've likely died had he been hit by a rimfire round approved for use on the range, but that's not a consideration either in the case. It won't even be adjudicated for a full year or more from now. According to sources this is the first time a scout had died from a GSW inflicted on BSA property.

LD

 

[Flinter1776]

I doubt that will work, but good for you for trying.

The death of the young man in Hawaii was due to multiple seriously stupid errors on the part of the gun owners. Unfortunately, they also had permission to gather as a Boy Scout Troop on BSA property when the death happened. Even though muzzleloading had nothing to do with this event, they will continue to limit what type of firearms are on their property and used by "scouts". The boy would've likely died had he been hit by a rimfire round approved for use on the range, but that's not a consideration either in the case. It won't even be adjudicated for a full year or more from now. According to sources this is the first time a scout had died from a GSW inflicted on BSA property.

LD

I completely agree. As a professional RSO and firearms instructor, I could see multiple red flags from the very beginning in that case. There were several firearms present that violated BSA policy, one of which was involved in the fatality.

Ive spoken with some of the leadership in New Mexico, including Philmont. I'm approaching it from the Living History and NMLRA competition side as I'm the state rep. I at least want to have discussion with national leadership to understand their rationale. I suspect that it may be rooted in many of the myths surrounding BP firearms. I think in the future, if we want to continue to work with BSA, we need to be careful about staying in compliance with their regulations. Otherwise, we might have the door to the opportunity for introducing young shooters slammed in our collective faces.

 

[Rob M.]

Interesting thread and responses . I see the rendezvous s I used to attend get smaller and smaller each year and it is bit sad but like others have said , times have changed and not only are youngsters not interested in history , shooting black powder or camping in a traditional manner , or any camping ....he// , even the country kids have their noses stuck in their phones , but few teenagers could ever be trusted with a sharp hatchet let alone a firearm . I'm seeing twenty year + year olds that are not mature enough or have sense enough to safely use firearms . Its a dumbing down of the population as far as I'm concerned but ....thats a long drawn out conversation in itself . Sad . If the living history or rendezvous hobby dies out , as it seems to be doing it'll be a d@mn shame but ....well , the beaver fur trade ran its course and died as did the frontier . There will always be some die hards , back woods types and hold out but , well ... We'll see .

 

[Flinter1776]

I think there's hope. We started a ML club about 4 months ago and we're up to 14 members. Keep in mind, our county is 1000 Sq miles bigger than the State of Connecticut but we only have about 49000 residents. Only a few of us have any experience with rendezvous, buckskinning, or living history.

The important thing is to build networks with clubs, historical societies, shooting ranges, gun stores, and youth organizations. Either join a club or if one doesn't exist, form one. Reach out to your state's NMLRA Field rep. for help. What I found is that a lot of people had good guns collecting dust in their closets because they didn't know anyone to shoot with.

 

[TDM]

Interesting thread and responses . I see the rendezvous s I used to attend get smaller and smaller each year and it is bit sad but like others have said , times have changed and not only are youngsters not interested in history , shooting black powder or camping in a traditional manner , or any camping ....he// , even the country kids have their noses stuck in their phones , but few teenagers could ever be trusted with a sharp hatchet let alone a firearm . I'm seeing twenty year + year olds that are not mature enough or have sense enough to safely use firearms . Its a dumbing down of the population as far as I'm concerned but ....thats a long drawn out conversation in itself . Sad . If the living history or rendezvous hobby dies out , as it seems to be doing it'll be a d@mn shame but ....well , the beaver fur trade ran its course and died as did the frontier . There will always be some die hards , back woods types and hold out but , well ... We'll see .

Sadly I totally agree.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

Going to the last rondy here this next weekend.
Bringing my postman, and his son.
Hookem when they are young

 

[Pierre009]

Unfortunately, BSA does not allow the use of flintlocks. Also not allowed are matchlocks, wheellocks, or "homemade"/custom firearms. I'm currently looking into the rational and hopefully advocating for exceptions to policy. Since the range fatality in Hawaii and resulting lawsuit, BSA is cracking down on informal shooting events and requiring both an NRA certified instructor and an RSO to be present for any shooting event.

I was going to bring a couple of my smoke-poles to teach my grandkids up in Mass. Gads I can't travel with anything nor bring it up there. Have to go through NY, Conn then up to Mass. They are nuts up there. Even a BB gun is considered an illegal weapon in your car. It's nuts.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

My Father used to teach Hunter Safety in the basement of our church.
Sad how we used to home make everything in scouts. I still have the snowshoes I made when I was 14.
Now they outlaw home made stuff.

 

[Pierre009]

My Father used to teach Hunter Safety in the basement of our church.
Sad how we used to home make everything in scouts. I still have the snowshoes I made when I was 14.
Now they outlaw home made stuff.

Even in the People's Republic of Nueva York we were taught how to make things. I learned more about living in the wild with the scouts than in the Corps.

 

[raylohr1965]

Just wondering why flintlocks are not allowed ?

 

[Pierre009]

Just wondering why flintlocks are not allowed ?

It never ceases to amaze me as to how and why bureaucrats make decisions. Just throw any logic out the window.

 

[raylohr1965]

I was thinking one of clay smiths youth size trade guns would be perfect for instruction and history lesson , plus the extra smoke and just the one sight to use .

 

[Rob M.]

It never ceases to amaze me as to how and why bureaucrats make decisions. Just throw any logic out the window.

Special interest groups pay them millions of dollars to do such things . Its sad but ....all part of said groups' agenda