suggestions for an inexpensive first muzzleloader

[tommyinTexas]

Hello,

I am going to try and purchase a muzzleloader. I wanted to see if any of you could advise me of a really inexpensive muzzleloader I could buy online. I would like for it to be a .50 cal. that shoots round balls. If I am going to be able to get one it will have to be very inexpensive. A no name brand is fine.

Tommy

 

[DMURPHY317]

About the least expensive ML on the market is the CVA Bobcat. Most WalMarts have them for around $55. It is a very basic side lock that usually shoots quite well after it's broke in. It has a 1 in 48 twist which will work with PRB and conicals. Just make sure you follow the recomended loading in the manual.

 

[Stumpkiller]

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=00139R36108101

The Traditions Deerhunter .50 cal is going for $147.50 at Midsouth Shooters Supply. It has a 1:48" twist that will do roundballs. They show a flintlock on the catalog page, but don't state whether it is the flint or percussion.

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=00215PR463

They also have the CVA Hawken for $175.45 in percussion.

You could try running a free classified on our want-ads to see if you can drum up a used rifle in your price range.

 

[cayugad]

CVA Bobcat $64.95 at Midway USA is a very inexpensive rifle. They actually are a good shooting rifle. I have one although mine is called a Mountian Stalker and is .54 caliber. It is a good shooter. I do not know if you could get any lower in cost that that. Although I would check your local Wal-Mart, Gander Mountain, or other big sporting goods stores that carry them. Sometimes they have then even cheaper then that....

 

[dneff371]

I have a T/C Omega .50 for sale for $225 shipped and it is new.

 

[roundball]

"...really inexpensive..." ??

With the old adage that "you get what you pay for":
Do you mean $300 compared to $2000 ?
Or do you literally mean $50 compared to $300 ?
etc, etc

Good condition used TC Hawkens are normally outstanding buys of excellent quality for the money, lifetime warranty, hold their resale value, etc.

 

[kentucky bucky]

Hello,
Don't buy a cheap flintlock.....potential source of endless frustration. :m2c:

 

[tommyinTexas]

I mean 50$ and up!

Thanks

 

[jtmattison]

Tommy,
You have to remember that you get what you pay for.
Low price will most likely mean low quality.
I had a CVA Bobcat that I purchased at Wal-Mart for $54.
It shot o.k. but not very impressive. If it were the first muzzleloader I ever owned I would have been very discouraged with it's moderate accuracy and quality.
Luckily I have three Lyman muzzleloaders that are extremely accurate showing me what a few more dollars can get you.
Personally for a first time shooter I would recommend spending a little more and you will be much happier with your rifle.
If you don't like it, you will be much more likely to get your money back out of it if you sell it.
:m2c:

Huntin

 

I was looking at this thread at around 3am and began cruising some sites attempting to find the "cheapest" ML on the market.

The Bobcat pretty much has the trophy in this league.

What actually got my attention was that many of the On-line suppliers and national chains no longer reature a sidelock ML in their cataloge choices.

They have gone completely IN-LINE.

(Perish the thought) Is the day arriving when a new ML shooter is FORCED to begin his journey with a $100 in-line?

I live in the land of hand built flintlocks. I would not install a flintlock action on the side on one of my projects that did not cost more than a BobCat! The last piece of wood I took a rasp to cost 3X more than a BobCat! I have paid the cost of a Bobcat for a buttplate!

20 years ago I could not say that. It was all I could do to keep food on the table and gas in the car. My first ML was a CVA Squirrel Gun Kit some poor soul had butchered beyond hope. I paid $25+- for it and slept with a quilty conscious that night.

TOMMY, BUY THE BOBCAT

Some here have said you will get what you pay for. I disagree. This is a CVA product and will have a CVA warrenty. You will get lock, stock and barrel for $65, and for less than $100 you will have powder,patch and ball added and be in the field shooting a traditional sidelock rifle. You can start your journey for less than the cost of the last Siler lock I bought and around 20% of the cost of the guns they are steering you toward.

The expensive stuff can come latter. Buy your Bobcat, learn to make it shoot well. Play with load development, loading procedures, cleaning techniques, powders and substitutes, brands of caps. Kill a couple of deer with it and do not hesitate to use it on small game!

That Bobcat, as cheap as it is, will probably shoot better than you can. It may also last longer than you do.

The barrel from my old CVA is on a poorboy smoothrifle right now, the trigger guard is on a trade rifle and the lock went into the side of a pistol I cobbled out of parts. That old CVA will probably live forever.

Buy the Bobcat.

 

[cayugad]

like Ghost said, the Bobcat will at least get you started in the sport. The more expensive rifles can come at a different time of you life when your ready for them.

If you doubt the quality of the Bobcat, read the reviews of the rifle at the Midsouth site... Most of them can not believe that the rifle for the price shoots as good as it does.

When I bought my Mountian Stalker (which is the Bass Pro Bobcat), I got it for $39.95. The store was dumping the inventory and I could not resist. I cleaned it up and shot it the first day and it was all right to shoot but not as accurate as I wanted. I then (heaven forbid) took some valve grinding compound and lapped the barrel lightly. We are talking 50 strokes. I then cleaned it again and shot it and noticed right away the accuracy was much better. I then started playing with lubes, and wonderwads, and powders. I ended up shooting 80 grains of Triple Se7en, a wonder wad, and a patched .530 roundball. The accuracy was excellent. At 50 yard it was shooting fantastic groups.

Friends stopping over would look at it. They laughed like the devil when they saw the rifle and I told them what I paid for it. After they saw it shoot, they were no longer laughing. They were impressed. After deer season when three deer fell to the $39.95 .54 caliber Mountain Stalker, All snickers ended.

Some of them tried to get one like it but learned that Bass Pro was sold out of them. Two of my friend bought Bobcats "for their kids." Well their kids are still shooting deer with the rifles...

I will warn you, these are a light weight rifle (5 pounds is all) and when you get the charge high, the recoil will be bad. You can weight the stock or pad it to calm the kick. The rifle is my stalk through the cedar marsh in water rifle... If I should break it, drop it, or loose it, it would be a bad thing but no like my Hawkins....

 

yep i will go along with these two on that IMO the bobcat is a good little rifle for the money .
it will teach you the ins and outs and with a little imagination can be spruced up with a nose cap brase barrel pen and but plate. add a patch box if you like as well.
well worth the money IMO

 

The Bobcat from Midsouth has a synthetic stock. You arn't going to "spruce" that up much!

I did that to a Traditions Deer-something-or-other.

Recontoured the stock, went to an oil finish, installed a wooden rib and nice pipes, buttplate and patchbox. I was really bored that day! All that extra brass stuff was rattling around in the junk box.

Hope my stepson isn't too mad when he sees what I did to his gun!

That little .32 is a shooter!!

 

[pepperbelly]

If you just want something for right now get the Bobcat.
If you think you may want to keep it for a while buy the best quality you can possibly afford.
I have a T/C Hawken. Thompson Center makes a rifle that is very similar called the Renegade. It's a basic Hawken- no brass, etc.
The $50.00 rifle will go bang and usually hit somewhere close. If you want a decent rifle you will need to spend around $300.00 minimum.
T/C and Lyman lead the market in off the shelf affordable muzzleloaders in this price range.
I would recommend the T/C Hawken or Renegade or the Lyman Great Plains Rifle- GPR. Any of these will last longer, be of much better quality and will be much more accurate than the Bobcat.
HTH,
Jim

 

[vradin]

I'm not as experienced as Ghost or cayugad or most anyone else here, but I have used the bobcat and clones and can tell you that accuracy isn't a problem- they're easy enough to sight in, just a drift and brass hammer to move the front or rear sight, and a file to "adjust" the vertical.

We use them at Scout camp- sometimes 75 to 150 shots a day, wiped when I remember, but at least every tenth shot or so. Once in a while they get put up dirty for a day or two and then cleaned, sometimes they get a promise cleaning and wait til the weekend when I clean everything. They get dropped, rained on, cussed at, beaten and abused... and they keep shooting and are more accurate than most of the people using them. As an aside- they're easy to work on, so when or if something breaks the fix is as close as your shop and a call to CVA (they're help line is surprisingly good BTW).

You can get those $3000 engraved, inlayed, carved, tiger maple stocked beauties BUT getting the basics down with an inexpensive gun means more time at the range, and more money saved for later when the addiction REALLY hits hard .

The bobcat is a good little rifle to learn on. It's forgiving of most beginner mistakes, and you can retrofit a new stock, lock, and barrel as you improve your skills.

vic

 

[pepperbelly]

All thses suggestions work for a new rifle. If you have some time look around for a used rifle.
I picked up my T/C Hawken, shot less than 20 times, for $100.00. It has a small scratch under the comb but is other wise in new condition.
Jim

 

[tommyinTexas]

Thanks for all of the input! I will get the bobcat. What other supplies will I need to start shooting?

 

[musketman]

Thanks for all of the input! I will get the bobcat. What other supplies will I need to start shooting?

Roundballs of proper size for it's caliber, patches, lube, percussion caps/flint, nipple wrench, ball starter (make sure it fits the caliber you are shooting), a cleaning jag, black powder, powder horn/flask (don't pour from the can) and a powder measure...

This will get you started...

 

[GrayBear]

Get the Bobcat. I was surprised at mine. I shoot with some guys with $400 to $1000 guns and shoot my $70 gun right in there with them. Tinker with the load, it may vary from gun to gun, I guess.

Mine likes a .490 ball, a thin ten thousands or at most twelve thousands patch, spit lube for the patch, a fairly light load of 75 grains of 2f or even less as 50 grains works good on the range and a #11 cap of any make. Cleans up quick with hot water.

It's never failed to fire, loads easily, no pounding the ball down, maybe a wipe every ten or twelve shots. That 75 grain load will produce a pass-through on our little California deer.

The Bobcat is sort of the indestructable VW bug of BP rifles.

When and if I buy something fancier I'm keeping the Bobcat as a backup or a loaner or whatever reason my wife will buy.

Good luck. It's a fun hobby. Funny thing, it's an easy-going hobby that seems to attract anal-retentive people.

GrayBear