What was your first Muzzleloader?

[Shotgunblast]

Bought a Safari Arms (Investarms)carbine in .50 cal.
Traded a 100 rnd.22 unmentionable for it in 89. 28 years later started flint knapping and fell for a Traditions 50 Pennsylvania Flintlock.

 

[Boston Bill]

!978 in Denver I bought a s/s ( I think ) ROA and sold it after a few years. I know, major oops. Had a lot of fun buying and then shooting it. This brings back a lot of memories. Next was an Italian 1863 Sharps carbine with double set triggers. I think I miss that more than the ROA!
IIRC one of my best friends at the time was huge into m/l and BP and I think that is why I got into it. Got into the BP revolvers just a few years ago. Loving it!

 

[Ninering62]

Me, just like a gazillion other guys, started out with a TC Hawken .50. Then got a steal on a TC Pa. rifle in .50. Into the inlines after that. Now, the only 2 - .50's I own, are both getting rebarreled.

 

[Newtire]

I'm curious to know what was your first BlackPowder firearm? Was it a rifle or a smoothbore?

What made you want to buy it?

How experienced/knowledgeable with this sport/hobby were you, when you bought your first BlackPowder gun?

Mine was a percussion smooth bore of about.50 cal. No mainspring but rest of stuff was there I believe. Was just a kid of 10 or so. Paid $5.00 for it. No markings that we could see. My dad gave it to a friend of his while I was in the service. Later, bought a T/C kit after seeing Jeremiah Johnson in the early 80’s. I wonder if Robert Redford got paid by T/C because I’ll bet he sold quite a few of those.

 

[Reno]

 

[Kappa]

A traditions 54 cal, shot it didn’t like it some really light weight model, shouldered a 54 Renegade and it is my main muzzleloader, though I own 6 long guns and 3 pistols

 

[Tanker]

Mine was a TC PA carbine hunter. I was about 18 wanted to get in to muzzleloader shooting/hunting. Walked in to the BP shop with a handful of money and said I know nothing. 2 hours later I walked out with a ton of knowledge told to me and everything I needed to start. To bad by the time I got home the only thing I remembered was loading and unloading.

 

[Ninering62]

Mine was a TC PA carbine hunter. I was about 18 wanted to get in to muzzleloader shooting/hunting. Walked in to the BP shop with a handful of money and said I know nothing. 2 hours later I walked out with a ton of knowledge told to me and everything I needed to start. To bad by the time I got home the only thing I remembered was loading and unloading.

Great story

 

[JohnnieT]

I started with Grandad’s percussion Mountain Rifle. Put together from a Kit back when such guns still had made in USA barrels. Still have the gun, it’s a been retired except for occasional family events, but between grandad, my mom, her sister, and myself it accounted for probably close to 100 deer in it’s service (no exaggeration, that’s 40 years of hunting through a great many hands).

 

[GomezMunoz1951]

Hmm not sure if I answered this or not...heck I have trouble remembering what I had for breakfast. But will reply again. Back in 1973 when I first joined the Air Force, at my first duty station, I was wandering the gun shops and saw a used Uberti 1858 Remington .44 Revolver. It had bone grips, the front sight had been brazed higher and it had a very light trigger. And it was antiqued. I had always loved the style of the guns and bought it immediately. I also bought everything the guy behind the counter told me I needed. I had a blast shooting it (Literally and Figuratively). I shot the manure out of it until the hammer wore down and it wouldn't go to full cock. I kept it around and finally bought a new hammer and trigger and it is now back in shooting condition. i also just recently bought a .45 LC Conversion Cylinder for it. That gun is the most accurate gun I have ever shot and I will never get rid of it. Not long after, I won a CVA .44 Percussion Kentucky Rifle kit in a raffle and put it together, and bought a Percussion Pistol kit to go with it. Later I bought a Navy Arms .58 Buffalo Hunter (Sporterized Zouave) and shot that a lot. My second son bought a CVA Kentucky .44 Percussion rifle like the one I built and had problems so I traded him and built the second one and kept it. Love shooting them. I have a ton of muzzle loaders now and love to shoot every one of them...

 

[toot]

Think date may be wrong and If this is same guy what a career !!! Sir Isaac Coffin, 1st Baronet - Wikipedia

thank you sir, you are right, I beleave the date was 1815, and it was in 1949 , 72yrs ago, so my memory isn't so good now. thank you for the his history of him.

 

[toot]

I beleave that the history of him that you posted says that he was dismissed from service.

 

[vintovka]

I believe that the history of him that you posted says that he was dismissed from service.

He was in out of UK service but had one heck of a life. Sounds like he was a hell raiser with a career spanning from Nantucket to Australia and back, having schools and historical sites either founded or named after him. With that sort provenance where ever that musket is it could be worth tens (if not hundreds) of thousands!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Tannehill]

My first was a .45 Investarms Hawken, the one with the fancy brass patch box. Was in 1983 or 4 , we were living in Iowa and deer hunting was by shotgun slug only, unless you had a ml they had a separate season for them. We had traveled out to Glacier and on our way home we stopped in Nebraska and visited with some friends from our Navy days. Well he and I got to talking about hunting and I mentioned I was wanting to get a ml, he said he had one he didn’t use anymore that someone had given him. He pulled out this crappy little gun ( looked rough) and told me he didn’t need it and I could have it and a pound of 2f Goec. Tried to pay him but he wouldn’t take anything. So I offered him a job back in Iowa working for me.

got that thing home and bought some books by Sam Fadala?sp) and started reading. Took that rifle completely apartcleaned all the brass, refinished the stock, stripped the barrel down,took to a gun smith and had the bore checked. It was fine. Reblued the barrel b put her back together and learned how to load and shoot reading Sam’ s books. Got my first ml deer that December and was hooked. That little rifle is still in use today, in fact I pulled her out ofthe safe this year and got my deer with it, it also helped me get my biggest buck, an 11 point that weighed field dressed 150+.
Sorry for the long winded post.

 

[MAPMFF]

Pedersoli brown bess, primarily for reenacting, sold it back to the reenacting unit after I left the hobby for a bit. Got back into it a few years later and had another Pedersoli Bess which I also shot live, sold that one too. Now after watching Mike Beliveau's latest video series with the Bess, I want another.

 

[Magungo1066]

I'm curious to know what was your first BlackPowder firearm? Was it a rifle or a smoothbore?

What made you want to buy it?

How experienced/knowledgeable with this sport/hobby were you, when you bought your first BlackPowder gun?

My first blackpowder firearm was an uberti 1861 navy! My first flintlock was a .50 caliber long rifle heavy as a tree trunk, that I love anyway.

 

[Dale Lilly]

My first was a awful smoothbore imported from who knows where. I had to work it over to shoot at all. This was late 50s before I went to Germany; returned from there in 1964 with three originals. It just gets more addicting and I now have 13 rifles, 6 revolvers and 9 pistols. I am currently building another long rifle... NO! I am not addicted

 

[user 49399]

Actually, my first flintlock was one I made when I was about 7 or 8 years old. Yep, it was crudely fashioned from a crooked, dead tree limb. It only needed a little bark removed cause a hump on the limb made the perfect lock and a Barlow knife carved out a trigger below it. I shot a lot of bears with that old gun. Just like Dan’l Boone!

 

[Heelerau]

Pat 1853 Enfield Rifled Musket, came from a store room on the sheep and cattle station my late Father managed, started shooting it at the age of 12yrs and still use it .

 

[OhioHawkeye]

A CVA kit I put together with a pocket knife, a horse shoeing rasp, and a broken coke bottle.
Finish was just stained with hardware store wood stain in walnut and spar varnish. ..just like taking care of our fire axes...
I used boiled linseed oil on the barrel... weird, I now, but it worked.