opinion needed, best all around muzzleloader!

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The nextgun
It’s the magic one you haven’t bought yet. It has all the perfect features.
It’s sure fire
It has easy maintenance
It’s easy on the eyes
It does it all from tree rat to T. rex
Oh well just have to keep buying till I get me a real nextgun
In the meantime my TFC is my favorite
If I had to go in a survival situation it would be my pick
At least till I get a nextgun
well said ...
my nextgun is a Kibler colonial .62 smoothie... with a really nice stock, 'cause you only go 'round once...
 
well said ...
my nextgun is a Kibler colonial .62 smoothie... with a really nice stock, 'cause you only go 'round once...
I don't think they offer a .62? Unless he will customise things a bit more, which is very interesting.
 

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Yeah, impossible question to answer.
There are some basic criteria that only the shooter can specify.

One basic question is flintlock vs. percussion. Percussion is obviously a technological advancement over flint with many advantages but of course you have to be able to buy the caps, generally speaking.

Then you have to decide rifle vs. smoothbore. Again, rifles are obviously a technological advancement over smoothbore, unless of course you are shooting shot. But smoothbore guns are more forgiving on their ammo than a rifle. And they are faster to load than rifles.

Then there is the choice of kit vs. finished gun.

Then of course there is price.

For finished guns there really aren't a lot of choices of manufacturer for "traditional" long arms. Basically it's Pedersoli, Chiappa/Armisport, and Traditions. Traditions is typically the low end in price.

Just saw a facebook post today from Regimental Quartermaster and they are getting some Pedersoli 1861 and Lorenz muskets back in stock. $1700 and $1600 respectively. The days of $1000 for new muskets is over.
 
In your opinion what is the best muzzleloader one can buy for the money, In a flint or cap and ball? This information might help us all. Best all around, caliber, manufacturer and design
The gun that won the West wasn’t a Colt 6 gun or a ‘73 in 44/40, it happened before that and it was a 10 or 12 bore muzzleloading, percussion shotgun.
 
In your opinion what is the best muzzleloader one can buy for the money, In a flint or cap and ball? This information might help us all. Best all around, caliber, manufacturer and design
I work in a gun store and people ask a similar question when they are looking to buy their first gun or an additional gun. --- My first question for them is, "What do you want to use it for?" When I know that reason I can better direct them towards a gun that might fit their needs. --- The answer to your question would be based upon my first question and other questions I would follow with. #1 - Purpose #2 Your experience #3 Your age #4 Your strength (ability to shoulder a heavy gun and hold it for a time period #5 Eyesight ---- How you answer those questions might bring about other questions. --- There is no one answer that would work for everyone.
 
In your opinion what is the best muzzleloader one can buy for the money, In a flint or cap and ball? This information might help us all. Best all around, caliber, manufacturer and design
So after a few days of thought, I’ll give this another shot…

The best quality muzzleloader, from back in the day…Thompson Center, there’s a reason almost everyone had one in their gun collection.

On today’s market, Pedersoli is going to be your best quality commercially manufactured traditional muzzleloaders. Best quality over all…I’d give that to Kibler LongRifles. Yes, you have to build it yourself, but the quality is unbeatable…there is nothing better on the market.

Best calibre? Wow…lots of opinions, very broad, subjective thoughts. I hunt…so hunting will be my focused opinion on calibre.

Small Game: For woods walks and hitting the field, I’m going to say .40 calibre is my choice for best calibre. 20 grains of fffg, and a .375 RB with canvas patching is solid on small game out to 50 yrds, easy. Up that to 30 or 40 grains, a .390 ball and I’m taking turkeys out to 85 or 100 yrds (100 yrds in my younger days with better eyes). The .40 calibre is pretty hard to beat on small game, and in my opinion, it seems to be making a comeback in popularity. The double whammy is that in some areas, it’s legal for, deer sized, big game.

Big Game: Hands down the .54 calibre is my choice for big game. With a PRB, I can take anything from Antelope to elk. There is no other calibre that is as efficient at converting grains of powder into ft/sec velocity.

Best All Around: In my mind, if you’re looking for a best all around…something that can do it all…get a smoothbore.

Best Design: Yeah…not going to touch it. That is such a personal thing…
 
I have two old original rifle over shotguns - one's a .54/12 ga, the other a .44 rifle/.44 smoothbore. "All Around?" ..well, sorta, but neither are really good at everything. What seemed like a good idea in actual use, actually has been disappointing. One's too heavy to carry, the other doesn't have a large enough bore to reliably kill even a rabbit more than 20 yards.

Have to go with a 12 bore shotgun as my "all around" muzzle loader. Single, double, flint or percussion. Originals beat repo's for me.
Agreed. But with suppository weapons prefer 16 GA. Can not seem to find them in ML shotguns.
 
An all around muzzle loader might be a .62 flint fowler. One can use both shot and ball for a variety of usage.
 
So after a few days of thought, I’ll give this another shot…

The best quality muzzleloader, from back in the day…Thompson Center, there’s a reason almost everyone had one in their gun collection.

On today’s market, Pedersoli is going to be your best quality commercially manufactured traditional muzzleloaders. Best quality over all…I’d give that to Kibler LongRifles. Yes, you have to build it yourself, but the quality is unbeatable…there is nothing better on the market.

Best calibre? Wow…lots of opinions, very broad, subjective thoughts. I hunt…so hunting will be my focused opinion on calibre.

Small Game: For woods walks and hitting the field, I’m going to say .40 calibre is my choice for best calibre. 20 grains of fffg, and a .375 RB with canvas patching is solid on small game out to 50 yrds, easy. Up that to 30 or 40 grains, a .390 ball and I’m taking turkeys out to 85 or 100 yrds (100 yrds in my younger days with better eyes). The .40 calibre is pretty hard to beat on small game, and in my opinion, it seems to be making a comeback in popularity. The double whammy is that in some areas, it’s legal for, deer sized, big game.

Big Game: Hands down the .54 calibre is my choice for big game. With a PRB, I can take anything from Antelope to elk. There is no other calibre that is as efficient at converting grains of powder into ft/sec velocity.

Best All Around: In my mind, if you’re looking for a best all around…something that can do it all…get a smoothbore.

Best Design: Yeah…not going to touch it. That is such a personal thing…
best all around post. Nailed it.
 
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