Muzzle Loading Guns, 1970's and 1980's

[Capnball]

correct, I was a Scout and used to enjoy shooting in the Summer jamborees.

The reason I say "used to" is the new softer, gentler, way things are going for everything, I thought maybe they had done away with it.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

I always thought the difference was putting food on the table or just killing to get a tag.
I never shot anything I wasn't fully ready to clean and eat.

I hunted in Upstate Pa, where my grandparents lived, Bradford, PA, McKean Cnty. Only 7 mi from NY line , so it is about as far north and west as you can get! Cold, rugged, tough country. Did I say cold? it was known as "the Ice Box of Pa" !Anyway, I hunted for years with a group of 5 or 6 and we would share the meat from our deer with each other because not everyone always got a deer. Since there was usually plenty to go around, I would donate my Deer each year to either the SR Citizen Ctr or the Local Orphanage. They were always more than happy to get the free meat! Nothing was ever wasted.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

The reason I say "used to" is the new softer, gentler, way things are going for everything, I thought maybe they had done away with it.

I do not really know if they have it anymore, given that Scouting in general has fallen on hard times.

 

[Capnball]

I taught my boys how to shoot first, then thought them how to hunt. The number one rule about hunting was "If you kill it, you gotta eat it!" You could tell this was my little guys first day at the range, (finger on the trigger) they're both adults now, big guys about to have twins. They both target shoot but I don't think with has hunted since they were teenagers.

 

[Capnball]

I hunted in Upstate Pa, where my grandparents lived, Bradford, PA, McKean Cnty. Only 7 mi from NY line , so it is about as far north and west as you can get! Cold, rugged, tough country. Did I say cold? it was known as "the Ice Box of Pa" !Anyway, I hunted for years with a group of 5 or 6 and we would share the meat from our deer with each other because not everyone always got a deer. Since there was usually plenty to go around, I would donate my Deer each year to either the SR Citizen Ctr or the Local Orphanage. They were always more than happy to get the free meat! Nothing was ever wasted.

That's the way it should always be done. Conservation rules are in place so our kids can have those experiences. Common sense is the least we can do.

 

[Capnball]

This is the little guy all grown up with my original 1862 Bridesberg

 

[Snake Pleskin]

View attachment 154757
This is the little guy all grown up with my original 1862 Bridesberg

Nice looking range. Where is it located?

 

[sheriff john]

As Sheriff, we had "destruction orders" to dispose of all sorts of stuff, guns included. I was a Hunter Safety Instructor and Missouri Conservation provided a small assortment of firearms to demonstrate during the classes - action types, loading/unloading, etc. Besides donating (with the court's approval) quite a few to Hunter Education, I also intentionally destroyed some by various methods. 20 gauge shell in 12 gauge barrel, Stuck bullet in bore of .30-06, mud in muzzles, etc. to create real examples of what happens for their classes. That was fun. Hunter safety people really liked the examples. Real stuff is better than photos.

As to a good use for guns when we're no longer around? Donation to a Hunter Safety program is a good one. Last class I taught (18 years ago) there was one modern percussion sidelock in the kit. Might even consider a small brass plate engraved with you name and "donated by .....for hunter education". Anyway ..

 

[Capnball]

Nice looking range. Where is it located?

Elk Neck State Park in Maryland.
It had just undergone a big renovation. They did a great job on it.

 

[sportster73hp]

I hunted in Upstate Pa, where my grandparents lived, Bradford, PA, McKean Cnty. Only 7 mi from NY line , so it is about as far north and west as you can get! Cold, rugged, tough country. Did I say cold? it was known as "the Ice Box of Pa" !Anyway, I hunted for years with a group of 5 or 6 and we would share the meat from our deer with each other because not everyone always got a deer. Since there was usually plenty to go around, I would donate my Deer each year to either the SR Citizen Ctr or the Local Orphanage. They were always more than happy to get the free meat! Nothing was ever wasted.

Ice box of PA i can agree, furthest NW not so much. Hunted west springfield ,Erie County many times between route 5 and Lake Erie

 

[Capnball]

Wow, you said it all!

 

[Snake Pleskin]

Ice box of PA i can agree, furthest NW not so much. Hunted west springfield ,Erie County many times between route 5 and Lake Erie

Yes, Bradford used to get hammered from the "lake Effect" from Erie!

 

[Snake Pleskin]

Elk Neck State Park in Maryland.
It had just undergone a big renovation. They did a great job on it. View attachment 154758View attachment 154759

Yes, I know where it is. Looks very nice. My brother lives in Oxford,PA which is just over the MD line into PA. He worked at the Peach Bottom Nuke plant for PE. I am very familiar with the area.

 

[rdungan1918]

I have been watching auctions and it seems to me that guns (BP) are selling for more than they did last year. I haven't seen anything I would consider a bargain.
I noticed there are several Thompson Center 50 cal flintlock rifles on auction from PA Auction. https://hibid.com/lot/127110959/thompson-center--50-cal-flintlock-rifle?ref=lot-list
A word of caution you have to take buyers premium, sales tax, shipping and processing fees into consideration when bidding. I set up a spreadsheet and plug in bid amounts until I hit max I want to pay. For instance, if you bid $350 you will wind up paying $500.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

I have been watching auctions and it seems to me that guns (BP) are selling for more than they did last year. I haven't seen anything I would consider a bargain.
I noticed there are several Thompson Center 50 cal flintlock rifles on auction from PA Auction. https://hibid.com/lot/127110959/thompson-center--50-cal-flintlock-rifle?ref=lot-list
A word of caution you have to take buyers premium, sales tax, shipping and processing fees into consideration when bidding. I set up a spreadsheet and plug in bid amounts until I hit max I want to pay. For instance, if you bid $350 you will wind up paying $500.

Correct, i am the same way . it is total cost to me, whether it is the firearm, shipping, tax etc, it is all money coming out of my pocket.

 

[Capnball]

Yes, I know where it is. Looks very nice. My brother lives in Oxford,PA which is just over the MD line into PA. He worked at the Peach Bottom Nuke plant for PE. I am very familiar with the area.

It's about 45 minutes from me. You need a truck to get back there. I'm sure you could do it in a car but you could very easily bust something. Somebody decided to use baseball sized rocks on the entrance road. Really rough ride even in an F250. Other then that, great range.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I do not really know if they have it anymore, given that Scouting in general has fallen on hard times.

No, Boy Scouts is now Scouting, and from what I've seen the folks running the organization did it to themselves. Scouting is no longer anything close to what it was intended to be, and its changes have harmed Girl Scouting in the process (imho)

Back to the topic.

I will probably sell off what I own that my kids don't want. I don't have grandkids yet, so maybe one or more of them will get the BP bug. I will probably then donate the proceeds to a club that holds a new shooter clinic IF the club doesn't do enough BP to want some of my stuff.

A Netflicks series dealing with black powder flintlocks would help the situation a bit. Black Sails was good for folks interested in Pirate era stuff, but that's the very early Flintlock era. TURИ was OK as well but didn't run for very long. Jamestown was an atrocious fraud (imho) and was merely a soap opera with odd clothing... didn't help a bit. We need something that goes for at least five seasons and is popular, in the way that Vikings and The Last Kingdom have been... (at least the sales of Norse armor and swords is up, from what I've been told)... IF one looks at Renaissance Fairs... the ones that go for several weekends, one finds Pirate themed weekend(s) (yes sometimes more than one). I attribute that to Black Sails, as the Pirate Era was post Renaissance...but it makes them money.

LD

 

[Nor'Easter]

I agree as well.

I shot entry level guns most of my life; CVAs, Thompson Centers, Lymans. I didn’t buy a semi custom Muzzleloader until my early 40s…we need a source of good quality entry level traditional blackpowder firearms.

I agree and have thought about that issue some. I think the original T/C and CVA were so popular because they represented reasonable quality at an acceptable price point. Muzzleloading is not like CF arms, which get you shooting with just the purchase of the gun and some ammo. The knowledge, time, and expense involved in getting accessories to shoot your new muzzleloader is not insignificant.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

I agree and have thought about that issue some. I think the original T/C and CVA were so popular because they represented reasonable quality at an acceptable price point. Muzzleloading is not like CF arms, which get you shooting with just the purchase of the gun and some ammo. The knowledge, time, and expense involved in getting accessories to shoot your new gun is not insignificant.

1st CVA I ever saw, was a kit in box, behind a display in a sporting goods store, for $70.00…anyone even remotely curious about muzzleloading, blackpowder & rendezvous could afford to take that leap.

You are absolutely correct…the out lay of money needed to even see if a person would want to try this hobby, is ridiculously expensive. Around a $1000 gets you a modicum of cheap equipment so you can barely get a peak under the tent. To see what this is all about…most people won’t take the risk. Most people can recognize quality, and quality is waning on some of the basic firearms available as entry level guns…the ones that are quality, the gun alone will top you out at $1000.

This hobby needs some sort of mainstream media to promote what it is that we do, and how much fun we have doing it…then the tables will turn, and we will suddenly start seeing young families again flooding into the rendezvous.

We can sit around the campfires at night and complain that there are so many people at these events, there’s no room for us…

 

[Nor'Easter]

An EMP to disable everything that runs on IC chips, would be a good start.