TC sidelocks

[Walks with fire]

I stopped in to pick up some muzzleloader stuff at our local gunstore and the owner told me that Thompson Center will not be making anymore sidelock rifles after this year. Anyone know if this is correct?

 

[boar]

That is what Log Caben told me in Aug. Dilly

 

[Many Klatch]

Yeah, we heard that earlier this year. It was to be expected after TC got bought out. I got a Cabela's catalog this week. The only muzzle loaders for sale are inlines and cap and ball revolvers.

Many Klatch

 

[Halftail]

Yeah, we heard that earlier this year. It was to be expected after TC got bought out. I got a Cabela's catalog this week. The only muzzle loaders for sale are inlines and cap and ball revolvers.

Many Klatch

I had the same Catalog here too,I filed it into the "G" File. :shake:

 

[tx50cal]

Sounds like finding used T/C rifles is what will have to be done. Lyman, Investarms or custom may be the future.
Rob

 

[Walks with fire]

The thing that bothers me is our ranks are getting a little thin. There is a move to allow inline rifles in the primitive flintlock only season here in Pennsylvania and I don't like to see it comeing. There are not enough of us to put a stop to it. It's a sad thing to say but the money and technology is going to ruin my favorite season.

In the past most people would not get into traditional shooting because it was too much bother for them to clean a rb gun, deal with the ignition problems and the sight and range limitations. The deer had enough time to calm down after the regular rifle season and it was a nice quiet season. High tech. is going to ruin it.

 

[SunSetter]

No respect for the past. I got into hunting with a ML because my childhood heroes wore leather and fur. They carried long rifles and wore coonskin hats. No capes and leotards here. I wanted the challenge of doing it the way they did it. There is a special feeling you get carring a primitive weapon into the woods. I know if it loads dowm the muzzle it's called a ML, but that's not the point. I like the primitive long rifles and think they should have their own season. Here in NY we pay premium for the ML season license and we get a short week long season after the deer have been chased and hunted for two months. You are lucky if you see a deer alone get a shot at one. If it sounds like I'm whining, well I am. This is living history in the woods right now. You don't hardly see any long rifles in the catalogs any more, only modern inlines. My hunting buds have new modern inlines with scopes. When ever we are gathered together, say in the parking lot for lunch, guess who's gun they all are checking out. They all love that long rifle but they were sucked into the hipe of the 250 yard kill of the modern inline ml. They forgot want the hunt was all about. I'm sorry for getting long winded here, but I think what was once good is being pushed aside and being forgotten. IMO

 

[roundball]

I agree the technology invasion will never be turned around...and there are several reasons for it.

1) The generations of 'Instant Gratification' are now dominating society...no one is interested in taking the time to travel the journey of learning and growing into a hobby like this...they want to buy a blister-packed "ML" at Walmart that is already zeroed (Knight) and drive straight to the woods and "go hunting".

2) Mostly these generations did not grow up in the country, certainly not on farms, and lack the years of shooting/hunting indoctrination from a very young age...basically do not know "how" to hunt...and really, don't even know much about cleaning a CF rifle much less a ML, so they rely on the simplicity of technology to bridge the gap.

3) Those from the era of WWII, Korean War, and Viet Nam have pretty much faded as a percentage of our population, and there has been no military draft in our country for decades, so it's no longer commonplace for people to have learned shooting skills in the military because they haven't been in...as a result scopes are the technology crutch to enable them to hit anything, instantly, without having to learn to shoot.

Seems a sad thing...I know personally I'm very thankful to have had the opportunity to get into and experience traditional style muzzleloading before I check out. All the discovery & learning about it on my own has been accelerated from folks on web sites like this so I got up the curve in a matter of years instead of a lifetime...and the added element of knowing I'm shooting/hunting very much like the way the settlers did all the time...real black powder and patched balls...most rewarding hobby I've ever had, and it's a shame so many of the 'technologists' will probably never experience it.

 

[bucktales]

Well said.
For many of us here, T/C 's products were responsible for getting us into this game. I'll still use and enjoy my T/C rifles long after this. This may drive the prices up on used T/Cs too similar to the price spike on Winchesters when they folded up in New Haven.

 

[BrownBear]

There's another factor involved, too. Local shops are no longer stocking the traditional gear because everyone buys it online. It also takes store clerks who know what they are doing to sell the traditional stuff. The inline companies on the other hand have made it really easy for local stores to sell their gear, both in the packaging and the accessories.

As one local shop put it, "I can't pay enough to get the really experienced older guys to work for me, so I've got mostly kids and beginners behind the counter. It's easy for them to sell inlines because they don't need to know much. Traditional guns and accessories take a lot more knowledge, plus they generally cost the customers more. So the customers go online for expertice and cheaper prices than I can sell traditional for."

Seems to me that by not supporting local stores and maybe paying a little extra over online prices, we're only adding to the problem.

 

[MikeChapin]

Roundball, I think you hit a lot of the reasons right on the head. I have seen the steady decline from the heydays of the late 70s and early eighties.

I those days it seemed every little town (thats all we have here) had a club. I pretty much left the sport in the early nineties because I was moving around quite a bit and only hooked up with clubs in a few place. When I returned there were only five going clubs in the state and, with the exception of one, those are mostly old farts like myself.

It's too bad that T/C had dropped out of the sidelock business. I never had one because the stocks never fit me well but they were a quality product and, as far as I know, the last production rifle made in the USA. Many shooters got their start with those rifles.

 

[RetiredMedic]

I have agree, it's not looking good for the Traditional Shooters..
But it's up to us to bring more people in to this sport..

SunSetter,
Where did you get your information on Ml seasons in NY.

We have two weeks in the Northern zone:
Oct 13 to the 19 and Dec 3 to the 9th.- Thats 14 days in the north zone
In the Southern zone it's Dec 10 to 18th. 9 days in the south zone..

Thats a total of 23 days for $16.00

Thats not a bad season for the cost..

And there is a Special hunt on Long Island in Jan. if your lucky enought to draw a permit , which is free.

Also you can hunt ML in the regular gun seasons.

 

[bob1961]

looks like smith and wesson is taken over :shake: :v .............bob

walkswithfire....that bill was shot down fer the foreseeable future....

 

[roundball]

Well, before we all take what a dealer said to the bank, let's see what TC has to say.

I'm going to call someone at Fox Ridge tomorrow who I've dealt with for years now and ask for the straight skinny.

Some others of you calling TC and asking wouldn't hurt either...we can report & compare what we were told tomorrow night.

Who's in?

 

[SunSetter]

I got my imformation from New York Hunting& Trapping 2007-08 Offical Regulations Guide. I live in the Southern Zone. Our season runs from Dec. 10 till Dec.18. 9 days for me. I guess my bigger complaint is the dates. IMO I think they should give us another 2 weeks during the Muzzle Loader Season, or how about the last week of the Southern Bow Season. I just thought this was alittle more fare, compared to what you get with the other seasons (bow or regular gun)dollar for dollar. Don't get me wrong, I'm not harpen on these other seasons as I hunt them all. I just thought we should get a better deal for our money in the southern zone Muzzle Loader Season.

 

[gmww]

Looks like someone got a little confused. :youcrazy:

 

[bart_anastasi]

Some how I just knew this would happen.

I originally got into BP early and got me a TC gun barrel number 6662. I know this since I just went up got the barrel and read the number.

I was going to get a long rifle and then I saw that Rober Redford movie Jerimiah Johnston.

At the time I paid cash money $125 for my Renegade.

I could have bought what at the time I thought as a barrel gun for from $15 to$25 or a CVA for $55 if I remember correctly.

A barrel gun to me was a made in I Do not know where that were stuck in a wood barrel marked take your pick.

My logic was simple. Buy the best rifle I would afford for the money i had which meant I got the Renegade and not the Hawken since I did not have the extra $20 bucks.

For those of us who still think that way there are guns available in the $600 to $800 range which means that I will buy American but only half as many guns. or $1500 and buy a third as many guns.

 

[huntertrapper]

yes i got the cabelas catalog and no primitive rifles