Rocks are addictive

[C.J.]

I joined here a couple of weeks ago and have been lurking in the back and reading alot of the posts. For many years I have shot a TC Hawken model with a custom maple stock I put on it.
A couple of weeks ago I received a .45 flintlock custom built rifle. This past week I had the opportunity to pickup a .50 cal custom flintlock built by a local rifle maker Mike Markey. While I am new to the flintlock I can already see this becoming an addiction. Being an avid bird hunter that raises setters I can see a double barrel flintlock happening somewhere down the road :hmm: :hmm:
I have a feeling this addiction only gets worse with time, am I correct?
I'll post pictures of them once I figure out how to.

 

[MSW]

insert mad scientist laugh here:

BWA HA HA HA HA!!!!

another one turned to the dark side!!

in answer to your question, yes, (to paraphrase the little green fellow with the light saber) once rocks banged have you, forever will they dominate your range time.

although it takes a good bit of 'tinkering' to figure out how to get optimum performance out of a flinter, most flint shooters think it well worth the effort ... (OK - i'll concede that this is sort of like saying most Olympic level butterfly medalists like to swim ...)

enjoy!

 

[Spikebuck]

I have a feeling this addiction only gets worse with time, am I correct?

First, welcome to the forum! After 13 years shooting percussion, about two years ago I started to get into flinters. Addiction is an understatement!

 

[Alden]

Welcome. They're all great but some are just so stupid-fun it is hard to explain. Oh, and graceful as well as historical...

 

[Toomuch51]

In as much as you can see the addiction coming after but a few weeks, I believe you have just answered your own question, yes. Once you have become proficient with a flinter you will become increasingly reluctant to reach for anything else.

Toomuch
..........
Shoot Flint

 

[lhw123]

Good to see another fellow Georgian on here as well! Yes I fell under this same flintlock spell a few years ago myself.

 

[BullRunBear]

First: Welcome to the Forum.

Second: You have really stepped in it now. Yes, the addiction grows with time. I enjoy all shooting, especially BP, but there is an extra satisfaction with flintlocks.

You'll love using a ML shotgun or fowler for upland birds.

Jeff

 

[Zonie]

Welcome to the Forum C.J.

Yup. You've been bitten and the flintlock bug's venom is usually overpowering. :grin:

As for flintlock doubles, your pretty much out of luck unless you can afford a custom built gun or decide to buy one made in India.

Middlesex Village Trading Co offers an Indian built SxS in 20 guage but I don't know about its quality.
http://www.middlesexvillagetrading.com/MDBF.shtml

This isn't the area to start a discussion about these Indian made 20 guages so, back to carrying on with a discussion about getting hooked on flintlock rifles. :rotf:

 

[kopfjaeger]

I've been a addict for 39 years. :thumbsup:

 

[Many Klatch]

Yep, I started shooting flinters back in the 80's. I have other types of guns but I have the most fun shooting my flinters. I have noticed that if you can shoot a flint gun at all well then you can shoot anything else very well. Flint guns will force you to pay close attention to basics. Once those habits have become ingrained and you have built up those off hand shooting muscles, you can pick up anything and shoot it well.

 

[tenngun]

I bought my first flinter at a store that had a sign that said "abandon hope ye who enter here". The sales man was in a red suit, had a van dyke, but seemed very nice. I have not regretted it over these last 40 years. Though I do shoot some modern guns (nipple huggers) every now and then. but I do wash my hands afterwards.

 

[larryp]

Since I got my flintlock back in April I've found myself shooting only it except for one time when the son in law came over and wanted to try out my AK. Couldn't interest him in trying the trade gun. :idunno:

 

[Wes/Tex]

I have a feeling this addiction only gets worse with time, am I correct?
I'll post pictures of them once I figure out how to.

nah...nothing addictive or peculiar about flinlocks or the shooters.

This is Alden, the week we had the famous "Spam-o-rama" and "Kiss My Grits" festivals!
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4029/4663188838_4f8691b0ba.jpg

 

[cynthialee]

LOL

Seems to me so long as a BP shooter never buys that second gun they are ok. But once they cross that multiple gun threshold it sets in like a fever.
Soon enough you will be building your own, fixing others mistakes on cheep acquired guns and filling the safe.
No cure, just burn more powder.

 

[Treestalker]

A sad picture indeed! Withdrawal from grits causes an immediate retrograde to neandertal trogloditic psycosomatic neurosis. :shocked2: Fresh STONEGROUND cornpone has been known to alleviate distress in advanced cases, along with multiple aquisitions of flint shard dependant firearms, Ha! Tree. :thumbsup:

 

[Treestalker]

Agreed, once one crosses the Rubicon, long is the way, and hard, that out of bliss leads up to monogamous sanity. Especially with something as emotionally disturbing as firearm deprivation, :haha: Tree. :rotf:

 

[Turtle Creek]

I had lost my shooting bug until I got this flint...totally rejuvenated now.
The process is just absorbing....so is the historical connection.

 

[kopfjaeger]

I had lost my shooting bug until I got this flint...totally rejuvenated now.
The process is just absorbing....so is the historical connection.

I agree 100% :thumbsup:

 

[Col. Batguano]

Once you start building you will be shooting less. Any "gun time" gets taken up in that pursuit. When you start building you will buy fewer guns too. Even if you have the money, nothing but the very best executed specimens will satisfy your eye, and you won't want to part with the money they are worth on the open market because you can build them for much less.

It's not a cure, but it is an evolution of sorts.

 

[kopfjaeger]

Once you start building you will be shooting less. Any "gun time" gets taken up in that pursuit. When you start building you will buy fewer guns too. Even if you have the money, nothing but the very best executed specimens will satisfy your eye, and you won't want to part with the money they are worth on the open market because you can build them for much less.

It's not a cure, but it is an evolution of sorts.

I need to start building. I've been shooting flintlocks since 1975. It's properly time to attempt to build a nice southern squirrel rifle.