Muzzleloading Future

[ebiggs1]

My guess is that as the restrictions on modern guns tighten you will see more folks turn to BP. ...

... So if we get to keep our BP guns and the governments are taking away modern guns the logical result will be more people geting into BP. ...

You are incredibly naive. If the government goes that far black powder itself is next, if not first!

 

[ebiggs1]

If you want to see this sport boom, forget the HC/PC(it makes for too many rules and grumpy teachers), just take the neighbourhood kids shooting. If they stay with shooting black powder, they will naturaly gravitate to the historical part of the sport but being stiff and grumpy won't attract anyone! (you may be able to stay HC/PC and not seem grumpy but many can not)

A man with great insight. :thumbsup:

 

[ebiggs1]

... Let me start by saying that in my eyes the modern MLR's shouls have never been allowed. If traditionak MLR's were required to take advantage of the special seasons we would see a huge jump in production. ...

Geo. T.

Two thing for sure is, with out the Thompson Center Hawken and the explosion of in-lines there would be virtually no muzzle loading. They saved or more or less prolonged the sport.

 

[necchi]

There is actually life beyond the TC Hawken, :idunno:

 

[Vaino]

Personally I think that MLing is on the decline or remains static, which is the same as declining. ....for a number of reasons. To begin with, it's in competition w/ a lot of other leisure time hobbies, interests and this modern age.

Movies depicting MLers are mentioned frequently as a motivation to increase interest in MLing, but as is evident, this is only a temporary "fix".

Many hobbies or interests have a limited following, including MLing, and why is this a bad thing? I don't need re-inforcement of "numbers" of like minded individuals to justify my involvement in MLing. Just enjoy and not constantly refer to others as not realizing what they're missing...they're really not missing anything in their minds nor are they aware that they are.

Could go on...some emphasize "recruitment" of the young and really think that pushing them into MLing is "fruitful"....this again is a temporary "fix".

I don't really care what the numbers of people involved in MLing are. I'm the only MLer hunter among all my friends and they're grateful that I've not tried to convert them...friendship before cause. If they had any interest in Mling, they would have acted on their own.....Fred

 

[Rifleman1776]

this 62 (next week) year old piece of manure body

I can only long for my body to be 62 again.
However, I am in much better shape than most others I know in the 70s and am grateful for that.
As to the topic, all interests and avocations go through phases. Will ML/buckskinning vanish? I think not. There is still plenty in America that longs for the past and the values learned along the way.
What I deplore is the lack of American history being taught in schools today. Ask many (most?) Americans today what the number 1776 means and they won't have a clue. A few south of the Mason-Dixon line might guess it to be the Civil War. You can't blame that on haz-mat fees.

 

[ohio ramrod]

My personal opinon is that traditional Ml guns are rapidly becoming a "niche" product. Those few of us into living history will always want and use them. But as we get older and fewer the demand goes down and the cost of manufactoring goes up, there will be fewer and fewer builders. I know two very good builders who have stopped building simply because they could not get out of their guns what they had in them. Back in the seventies and early eighties there was a lot of interest and costs were much less so our sport grew. Now costs are up and with so many "modern " muzzle loaders out there interest from hunters is down. As an investment I don't recommend them. As an item for your family to enjoy I still play with mine and build for the grandkids. :idunno:

 

[HellBound]

Don't you have like 40 T/C's?

Actually its about 30. Picked up a Renegade 62 smooth yesterday. I have 10 or so other brands. I have no scratch built guns.

I do find it sad that there are no sidehammers built in the US now. Henry Arms should offer a full stocked smokepole.

Two years ago I got my grandson a lefty Lyman Deerstalker. He was 20 years old and is now a very avid PRB shooter. It makes me so proud I could bust.


P.A.

 

[pa woods roamer]

Back in the old Days, I quit shooting at the Black Powder Club. The reason was that there were a few Members that made it absolutly miserable for the rest of us. They had to win, by Hook or by Crook, and would argue and put up a fuss until one of them did. Then they would argue among themselves who would be King. Years later I rejoined and what a difference.Different set of Shooters , all with a good sense of Humor and decency!! Don`t miss the old Days at all.

 

[David W.]

What is a Kardashian?

 

[Claude Mathis]

What is a Kardashian?

A nobody, actually. :haha:

 

[tiger13]

The answer is complicated. Guns are now vilified in all forms. There is hardly if any history taught in our schools now,and American history is almost forgotten, as it seems to be a terrible thing to be American in this country now. Our heritage is being forgotten, and deliberately stripped away from us and replaced with a false generic identity that is not the America of our history so the fire to learn about our colonial past is not even planted into our youngsters anymore, and even if it were, I am afraid it would be some politically corrected version of the events that would turn history into a work of fiction. The world now wants everything at the speed of light, and our sport cannot nor should not try to compete with such demands. We have our own snobs amongst us that also, that look down upon certain brands of firearms, without ever having tried one, or ridicule someone for asking a question that may sound stupid forgetting the very first question that they themselves asked oh so many years ago. The cost to buy a gun has increased , the places to shoot have decreased. Blackpowder is hard to get, unless you buy online and in bulk, that is a big expense for someone that does not know if they even like the sport yet. Pyrodex will not work in a flintlock, so your stuck. buy a pound, and pay the shipping plus hazmat...(killer) or go percussion. so you cut your options in half right there. I could see and improvement in the sport if some one would make it easier to make blackpowder widely available that would make more people try flintlocks. these are just some things that I see.

 

[Bruce Bogart]

The youngest shooter.

Couple more young shooters and a "guidance councilor"

 

[petew]

If we want more people to join us we need to be more tolerant and let off on the historicaly corect jargon.Things like you can not use pre lubed patches, you must use a moose milk concoction, you can not lube with bore butter, your iron sight is not corect, you can not use a peep, {even if you can not see a V sight}, and it goes on and on.
Lighten up folks, the more we nit pick , rule and regulate the smaller the group becomes.

 

[cynthialee]

If we want more people to join us we need to be more tolerant and let off on the historicaly corect jargon.Things like you can not use pre lubed patches, you must use a moose milk concoction, you can not lube with bore butter, your iron sight is not corect, you can not use a peep, {even if you can not see a V sight}, and it goes on and on.
Lighten up folks, the more we nit pick , rule and regulate the smaller the group becomes.

Quoted for truth!

One thing that sticks in my craw is there are some that get all butt hurt over PC this or HC that then get all defensive and unreasonable when they are corrected on some aspect of their pursual of the hobby. If you ain't riding a horse with mules your packing gear, wearing handmade under britches from hand loomed local sourced fabric, shooting primative gunpowder and impure lead from a local(ish) mine....you aint HC/PC either.
:grin:

 

[RevGeo]

I often wonder why many people find it necessary for the amount of people participating in a given hobby to 'grow'. Other than the fact that more demand for guns, powder, caps, flints etc. will lead to further production - and maybe a price drop - of those items, I don't see a reason to worry about bringing a large amount new blood into the sport. Maybe it's because my muzzleloader shooting is almost 100% hunting oriented, and hunting is usually an endeavor pursued alone. At least my hunting is.If I knew that I had enough supplies to last my lifetime (which is getting more and more realistic these days :wink: )I probably wouldn't care how many other folks were shooting muzzleloaders.
Be that as it may, I believe that the reasons for a decline in the amount of 'new blood' have been lined out quite well in the previous posts in this thread.
This has been pretty much a niche sport for most of our lifetimes and I imagine it will remain so. As much as I detest modern, in-line muzzleloaders, I'm hoping that their popularity will help ensure a supply of powder and caps for many years to come.

 

[BrownBear]

I often wonder why many people find it necessary for the amount of people participating in a given hobby to 'grow'.

Cuzz most of us here are geezers or near-geezers and dropping like flies. :surrender:

 

[Claude Mathis]

If we want more people to join us we need to be more tolerant and let off on the historicaly corect.

Here's something I wrote a long time ago...

The subject of "Historical Accuracy" and it's place in Muzzleloading is often debated, so I thought I'd offer a few thoughts. I'm not defining anything for anyone, I'm just offering my point of view, which changes as I grow and learn.

What we call "Muzzleloading" means different things to different people, encompasses many different activities, and that can cause confusion and conflict.

Possible levels of involvement (there are others, but this will do to illustrate my point)

1. There's Muzzleloading; Owning and shooting a muzzleloader. Period.
You don't need any special clothes or gear to enjoy shooting or hunting with the weapon. There are no rules, other than those imposed by the government. It's just another way to enjoy the sport of shooting.

2. There's also the historical aspect of muzzleloading. Some people are interested in the time-period in which the weapons were developed and the people that used them, but they don't want to "reenact" the period. They read the history to have a better understanding, but they choose not to become involved in "acting it out".

3. Then, there's the Reenactors or Living Historians. They want to explore the historical aspects of a time-period by emulating, as much as possible, the equipment and practices of the people of that period. This is a choice on their part and they pursue it to whatever degree they are comfortable with. Some are more dedicated than others, but it's the individuals choice.

Some people participate in all three of the above mentioned "styles", and they appreciate the difference when doing so.

I'm starting to think that the term "PC Nazi" was coined by non-reenactors, expressing their misconception that they had to become a reenactor to be involved in Muzzleloading. This misconception is hard to debunk.

The Forum:
We have general weapon categories for those who wish to discuss the firearms themselves, without any reference to their Historical aspect, if they so wish.

We have "Reenacting" categories for those who are interested in reenacting, but these categories are not here to force people to become involved in Reenacting. Please feel free to avoid these categories if you have no interest.

The Reenacting Forums are not here to argue whether pursuing Historical Accuracy is valid or not. If you think it is, enjoy the dialog. If you disagree, this is not the place to condemn those that enjoy the pursuit.

The Forums are not here for someone to tell us, "I never want to be a reenactor. I don't care about being PC. Can't I just shoot my gun? You're all a bunch of Nazis!". With all due respect, if that's your attitude, the reenacting categories are not for you. They are for those that have chosen to participate and wish to share their experiences, not have their motives questioned.

 

[cynthialee]

well my reasons for wanting the sport to grow are:

1. Tired of looking like and eccetric nut. If more people were hunting with BP then this issue would self resolve.

2. I would like to be able to go to my local sporting goods store for all my shooting needs. If you are a .50 caliber sabot shooter with 209 primers then they got you covered. Ask for side lock gear and they have to stop and remember where they put the last of the old stock. I have to go to Spokane for most stuff I buy and even then I can't get alot of stuff. I have an aversion to buying on the internet. I do it, because it is my only option for some things, but I'd rather the local stores had enough customers to justify stocking my stuff.

3. I want to be able to find a hunting partner easier than it is. I don't go into the forest alone. Call me chicken...I'll squak. I ain't ashamed to admit it.

 

[Billnpatti]

The membership in NMLRA has been on a continual decline for several years. Part of it is due to a loss of interest in muzzleloading but a great deal of it is due to old geezers like me becoming unable to continue shooting or simply to the death of those who were so active in the sport. Personally, I love the sport of muzzleloading and I really hope the flame continues and grows in others. It would be a shame for all us old geezers to kick the bucket and the sport simply die. The only way we can leave a legacy in this area is to interest others, especially the youth, in the sport. Like Martha Stewart might say about making the muzzleloading sport grow if she were interested in muzzleloading "This is a good thing."