What got you interested in flintlocks?

[Le Carcajou]

I've gotten into flintlocks as a result of a burgeoning interest in the early fur trade era in the far west and a background in hunting and shooting.

 

[Salty Cracker]

For me it was the women. Chicks dig flintlocks.

 

[Nor Cal Mikie]

Not so much Flintlocks as Muzzleloaders in general. Enjoy building.
Picked up my first Muzzleloader that was a kit, put together, left unfinished, fired and put in the corner and NOT cleaned. Barrel was junk. Did the "electrolysis" thang but in the end, the barrel was trash.
Ordered up a new Green Mountain drop in.
Picked ou another that needed help. Was told I couldn't change calibers?? Not buying that so I picked up a .32 caliber barrel and fitted it to the stock. Turned out to be a real shooter.
Got a "kit" Flintlock Fowler from one of the guys here. Worked on it till I burned myself out.
Some of the parts went missing for over a year, finally found them and decided I would never finish it so I shipped it off to a "builder", He did a BEAUTIFUL JOB !! Figured I would never shoot it so sold it to someone that would.

 

[williamscroggins@comcast.]

What got you interested in flintlocks? How many people have you introduced to the hobby? Seems we all recruit friends family and they get hooked!!!!

The Davey Crockett craze of the late 1950s/early 1960s got me interested. Finally bought my first muzzleloader in late 1972; a Remington Zouave repro from A. Zoli. Finally bought my first flintlock in 1974 from Dixie Gun Works. From there on I was hooked. Have owned lots of repros and originals since then. I now own a Colonial fowler custom built by Bobby Christian of Ohio and a North Carolina rifle built by Andy Knight of Moultrie, Georgia. I am waiting on a Kibler Southern Mountain rifle kit now. Ordered it in .40 caliber with fancy Maple stock. Took lots of family and friends shooting muzzle loaders, but no one really got into it except me. Don't really know anyone that shoots black powder, even now.

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

I was an avid digger of old bottles so naturally it progressed....

 

[Sun City]

HISTORY!

 

[FlinterNick]

What got you interested in flintlocks? How many people have you introduced to the hobby? Seems we all recruit friends family and they get hooked!!!!

Meeting Clay Smith in Williamsburg at a demonstration.

 

[BullRunBear]

The area where I grew up was established shortly after the Pilgrims got to Plymouth so I grew up with all that history on display, including the firearms. That was the bait. In my twenties my best friend introduced me to shooting. That set the hook. Combining that with interest in early American history led to my first flintlock. a very early Traditions 50 caliber. (It still works great, BTW.) I enjoy all BP guns but flintlocks, with their historical importance and the extra attention they require, are my favorites. A good score with a flintlock demonstrates learned skills and they spark (pun intended) my imagination.

Our niece and her husband, both former US Army, know modern military weapons but nothing 'old' stuff. A trip to the range with various BP guns was a hit. They loved the history behind them and the shot by shot details of their operation, so different from modern suppository guns. And knocking over steel silhouettes at 100 yards really got their attention. They liked them all but the flash/bang of the flintlocks was special. Talking to her brother led to a BP range session with our nephew. I'm delighted their interest continues.

Jeff

 

[8Ball]

As a 8 years old child in the '60s with my parents who were on vacation we visited Williamsburg, Virginia. The thing I remember like it was yesterday was the flintlock use demonstrations and especially the visit to the armory. Since then I was hooked...

 

[XVIIc Wheelock]

Born and raised in south Texas, Corpus Christi to be exact. Father was a friend of some King Ranch folks and got me a summer job in '56 as a 13 year old working as an unpaid apprentice at the K/R vet clinic outside Kingsville. Hunting season was a month or so away and I was invited to go target shooting with some of the veterinarians. One of the fellas (Marco Uribe) was a life long flint lock black powder shooter, the rest had 30-30 lever guns. Having watched the original Walt Disney Davy Crocket series...flint locks fascinated me. Long story short, I got to shoot Marcos flintlock and went hunting with him one weekend later in the fall season; he became an early mentor. He had 3 flintlocks and 1 very old wheelock. I could not hit the broadside of a barn with the flintlock, but I was a pretty good shot with the old wheelock, which he wanted to give me, but my dad said no, as it was a family heirloom. It was very old and heavy, but it worked and accurate...it created a life long love of shooting wheelock muzzle loaders...to this day. I wish I could re-live those memories, I just did! Marco passed away in the 80's.

 

[CaptainVane]

My buddy did. He wanted a percussion TC Hawken, knew a guy who had an FFL and needed to sell X firearms a year to keep license. Said guy was selling at cost just to keep license. So I got a .50 TC Hawken flintlock. I think I paid about $75 in 1972.
Still have it, well over a thousand round balls thru it by now.

 

[bldtrailer]

Mr Chuck Dixon I was a cap gun guy (inline before that)

 

[Mgbruch]

Fess Parker as Daniel Boone. I was absolutely enamored with "Tick Liker". I bought a TC Hawken when I was seventeen. Sold it to my brother a couple of years later. He's taken a few deer with it. So then I bought a CVA Mountain Rifle kit; and did a nice job of finishing it. It was .50 caliber, and a good shooter. I miss it. I had become interested in the western fur trade; and had learned enough to know that the guns used, with few exceptions, were flintlocks. So I sold the CVA and used the money to by parts for my first flintlock. I worked from a pre-carve. My inletting was good, but the architecture wasn't. So a bit later I got another pre-carve, and did it right. The lock was an L&R Late English, and the .54 caliber barrel was from Green River Rifle Works. The barrel was 36" long and 1" across the straight flats. It was a shooter! That was about 1979 or 1980; and all of my muzzle-loaders since then have been flintlocks. To date, I have built eleven flintlock rifles from a blank.

 

[Dobegrant]

I had only a percussion .50 cal rifle and a 1860 army when an old guy I worked with gave a TC Hawken .45 cal flintlock, about 35 years ago.

 

[Mzzlldrinpa]

I was fortunate to grow up around them. My father had them and I just naturally loved them. Hunted with them since I was 12. Luckily for me, I just don't know any better. I have helped a few friends along the way. They had the interest, just helped them when they needed it. Now they go to shoots and rendezvous with me.

 

[Psycho Mike]

I worked my way up from archery to black powder. Cap and ball was great and all....but at the rendez-vous out here a good number were outfitted in full out fur trade kit. That's not surprising as out here we had Hudson's Bay and Northwest Company trading houses rather than military forts. But if I was going to go a bit more gung ho, I decided to do an American Revolution / Revolutionary War era British uniform. After wrapping my mitts around a Brown Bess (especially with how fast that big flint sparked off), I was hooked.