traditions opions, shenandoah vs pa

[cmdrted]

Hi Guys, I've been teetering on a flinter now that I found my way back to black. I have a Lyman GPR, and a restored TC cap gun and was wondering about a 50 flinter to round off the 1st wave of my collection. I was looking at both the above traditions 50 cal flinters. The twist rate is good for prb, the only real discernable diff is the barrel length. I read the prelim review on the Kentucky version but was wondering what ya'll thought of these.

 

[cmdrted]

I know about the opinions of the Lyman and tc in flint but I was looking for something in a differant style. Thats why I didn't stay in that family.

 

[tg]

i just looked at Cabelas and their production guns have reached a point price wise that they have exceeded their worth, what are you looking for in a new gun, just a flinter to have, the import flintlocks are often trouble some, and when you are looking at $500 for a gun you are not far from ERA or some of the other lower cost domestic guns, if you just want a flintlock I think you would be bests off to get a flintlock barrel for the lyman or TC you have, that is a much better family so to speak than the one you are looking into.

 

[ohio ramrod]

Just my personal opinion but If you have TC and Lymans you will find the Traditions flint locks to be not as good.

 

[Swede50]

You may not always get the answer you are wanting, but a lot of the members have tried many of the different brands available. If they say to steer a different direction they may be worth listing to.

I bought a TC 50 flint lock on recommendation of several of the members and have found it to be a very reliable rifle when I do my part correctly.

I did look into the traditions rifles and was not impressed with what I found out.

Good luck

 

[Trench]

I started in to muzzleloading with a Traditions Rifle. There are members of this forum that have these rifles, love them, and have been served well by them. I think they're great starter rifles if you can get away with only spending $300-$400 for one. I will never go back to Traditions myself as I'm now looking for something more from my rifles.

 

[Kentuckywindage]

i own the traditions kentucky and its a shootin sum-gun. No problems here with it at all.

 

[rafterob]

I believe both of these rifles are full-one piece stocks unlike the Kentucky 2 piece stocks. I forget which one has the longer barrel, I would go for that. They are both nice looking rifles for production guns but a little clunky compared to custom made rifles. If you want a new gun, with out a wait and ready to shoot, go for it. As was mentioned, for the money,you could come close to a semi-custom gun or even a used hand built rifle of better quality.

 

[FJTBONE]

I have 2 Traditions Pennsylvanias ,percussion and flint. and a Shenandoah in flint. The Shenandoah is the shorter of the 2 They all shoot better than I do. The Shenandoah has a small but plate that may make it a little uncomfortable to shoot but I am 6'4" & over 300 lbs.That said I am looking to trade up when I can. Hope you find what you want. TBONE

 

[337]

I just picked up a traditions .50cal.Kentucky flintlock rifle and it works fine,not the best quality fit/finish but it works and is accurate.

 

[packer75]

My son has a traditions tennessee and it's a nice shooting rifle. only problem he had is it has a poor lock. replaced it with a L&R replacement lock and now it sparks every time.killed my first flintlock deer with it this fall. now i'm hooked,i have to get a flinter for myself now :thumbsup:

 

[blacksmithman64]

I agree with Ghettogun. Bought my ex a nice little .50 Traditions deerhunter and it was a shooter! Only gave $179 for it new. But I looked at the price on the Pa and shenandoah last weekend and theres no way I'd pay that for a factory gun. I'd check the classifieds for a good used semi custom or even a custom!

 

[Eric/WV]

I started with a Shenandoah, and it was a complete piece of manure. It was accurate, but it wouldn't fire half the time. The locks are small, cheap, and they aren't engineered correctly. I learned that flintlocks are a pleasure to shoot after I finally purchased a custom flinter. You can find a used custom flinter for under $700...it's worth the extra $.

 

[Toomuch_36]

Both of these are execelent rifles and will serve you well, and the Pennsylvania rifle has been endorsed by the "American Reveloution Brigade" as being estetic enough to be used in reinactment. When I first started shooting black powder in '83 it was with a CVA Frontier half-stock, when the Traditions Pennsylvania came out in '85 I just had to have one. Since then I have competed with (and against) most "off the rack" rifles available (and many customs) and these rate very near the top of the pile.
This being said paying this much for ANY "off the rack" rifle is a bit much for my blood when for the diference you can go with a good semi-custom.
As for preformance and flint life, when the lock is properly tuned and cared for these rifles will rival or excede anything out there (including T/C, new or old configurations).

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

 

[Twisted_1in66]

Both of these are execelent rifles and will serve you well, and the Pennsylvania rifle has been endorsed by the "American Reveloution Brigade" as being estetic enough to be used in reinactment.***SNIP***
.............
Shoot Flint

The PA, shoots fine. I've had one for years...but the claim about historically correct for the revolutionary war is BUNK, BUNK, BUNK!!!

AND...there is no American Revolutionary Brigade!! There is such a thing as the BAR (Brigade of the American Revolution) but they never endorsed this rifle. The Traditions PA is reminiscent of a Golden Age Longrifle that is entirely out of place in Rev War era events. The butt of the stock is way too narrow, the wrist is taller than it is wide, there is way too much decoration on it, it has a straight octagon barrel instead of a swamped barrel, and the Roman Nose it sports is not similar to anything else that was ever made. And of course it comes with adjustable ramp sights which weren't around for another 100 years or so.

Speaking of that Roman Nose stock, if you don't place your head well back on the stock (unusually far back) you will get a bruised cheek from firing the stupid thing. Ask me how I know.

As far as shooting goes, it's a good shooter and yes I'd recommend it as long as you learn to mount the thing with your head well back on the stock. It's nose heavy, but that's to be expected with any straight barrel. Once you learn how to set up your flint right and presuming you remember to clean the underneath of the flint, she'll be a reliable shooter.

But historically correct for the Revolutionary War SHE IS NOT!!

I'm more than a little upset about that fraudulent claim because I fell for that trap and the first day I showed up with my new rifle I found out just how out of place it really was. I never got told I couldn't field it, but I knew better for 4 years before I managed to save up enough to get a really good early Lancaster rifle.

So buy it as a shooter if you want, but don't kid yourself it resembles anything to do with the Rev War.

Twisted_1in66 :thumbsup: