Your Flintlock History

[Mike in FL]

Probably not the best time to start this up (Christmas Eve,) because responses might be lengthy. However, what occurred over the years that brought you to where you are now in your flint lock long gun place you are today?
Allow me to start. I am 76. In the mid 70s my home state of VA, opened a primitive rifle season. I rushed out and bought a new what we know today as an inline. For less than $100 I got a cap lock gun that was as cheaply made as you might imagine, but I was ready for that new season. But then I learned the primitive must be a side lock. So missed that first season. Subsequently I started acquiring T/C cap lock guns: a ..36 Seneca, a .45 Cherokee, and a .50 flint Hawken. I knew nothing of flint locks but made myself learn. I never fired that gun and got fast ignition. My learning process was with wooden flints, then pan primed firing without loading, and from that learned to keep my sights aligned on a target while the **** fell. In the early 80s, before custom builders were many, I contracted a local builder to make me a .45 longrifle. 42" barrel, silver mounted, siler lock. I was forever hooked. Bought two new Jack Garner flintlocks. Then a Chambers early Lancaster kit I had assembled by that local builder. Three Lyman GPRs and another T/C. Fast forward to the 90s when my vision went south. Sold out. Stayed out until after I moved to FL (A whole other story.) Then I discovered 1.25X reading glasses which made the sights clear again. Got back into black powder 3 years ago and now have 2 new flinters, my latest a Colonial. Oh how I wish I had all those sold guns back.
What is your muzzle loader story?

 

[Trot]

I started in the mid 70's as well. Pennsylvania has a flintlock only season, but I really was interested in the history of the guns as well. I started with a Palmetto Arms Dixie Gun Works Lancaster rifle that seldom worked, moved on to a couple of CVA flintlocks that were only marginally better. I then made a discovery, flintlocks that worked! I built a long rifle from parts from Dixie, ugly as all get out but worked. I got a Lyman Trade Rifle, hunted with that a lot. Then I got interested in smoothbores. I built a Fusil de chasse kit and a Northwest trade gun kit. Next I got a few from folks who actually knew what they were doing! A Leonard Day Dutch trade gun, Clay Smith barn rifle and a Mike Brooks Carolina gun. I really like the ones I have and might be done acquiring!

 

[olskool]

i am 66 years old. i was born in SC and will be here till i go under. my daddy was a hunter and knowledgeable gun man. it was in my blood from the start. i started handloading ammunition at age 10 in 1967 and still do today. at around 15 i bought an 1851 Italian colt copy from my best friend's older brother. then in 1987 my wife bought me a CVA Hawkin. i went through a few cap locks then in the mid 90s i bought my first flint lock. after i killed a doe with it i never looked back,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Banjoman]

Grew up hunting in the hills and hollers of East Tennessee and Southeast Kentucky. Always wanted to be Daniel Boone. Watched Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett on TV as a kid.

Read every book our school libraries had on East Tennessee and U.S. history, Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, muzzleloaders, hunting, camping, fishing, trapping, mountain men, etc.

Started with percussion guns, then discovered the ’real thing’ which is flintlocks and real black powder. Nothing better in my book than a flintlock smooth bore and real black powder.

 

[Omahkapi'si]

Born in 1757, use my flintlock to hunt and keep the Blackfoot away. Tyler says they’re Crow but I can smell ‘em a mile away.

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
Back in 1976, a friend had a TC Hawken and invited my Dad and I out to shoot it. We had a lot of fun but Dad and I thought we could make a better gun. So I got a Dixie Gun Works catalog, bought a blank of wood, a barrel, a Siler flintlock kit, trigger guard, butt plate, and Bill McCrory's little book on making a flintlock. Away we went. I also bought a copy of Kaufman's "Pennsylvania-Kentucky Rifle" and read it cover to cover. I worked on the gun during summers home from university and finished it in early 1978. We made all of the parts except those few I bought.

dave

 

[Rancocas]

I'm 75. I began hunting with my dad and uncles in 1958 when I was 10 years old. I had tagged along with them for a couple of years before that, but I wasn't allowed to carry a gun until that season of 1958. At 14 I was allowed to go out hunting on my own without adult supervision. (That was state law at that time.) So, there I was, a teenager, walking through a suburban neighborhood with a shotgun over my shoulder. Later, when I got my driver's permit, I had a little motorcycle. I would tie a length of clothesline to my shotgun and strap it over my back. I took off on my motorcycle, often right through the center of town with that gun on my back. I was never stopped. Never questioned about it. (And, that was in New Jersey!) Wow. Have the times ever changed!!!

I've taken deer, caribou, pronghorn, feral hogs, and black bear with modern rifles, but was beginning to get somewhat discontent with it when in 1987 a new boss introduced me to muzzleloading. He was a Civil War reenactor. Ah Ha. Here was a new challenge. I had tried bow and arrows, but that didn't suit me. I have always had an interest in history and doing things the old ways. My heroes have always been men like Daniel Boone and Jim Bridger. Traditional muzzleloading just felt right to me. For several years I switched back and forth between my modern centerfires and muzzleloaders. Then, finally, sometime in the mid 1990's, I put away my centerfires, and began using my percussion and flintlock guns full time.

 

[Dusty_Traveler]

I would say, for me, it started in the mid 90's with the Boy Scouts' Mountain Man program. It was the quite literally the spark on the charcloth.

Not long after that, dad and I, while driving, came across a random rendezvous in southwest Arkansas. I think it was in the McCaskill-Blevins area. We spent a couple of hours checking it out, and my 10 year old self left there daydreaming of a muzzleloader, tomahawk, coal forge, and a canvas tent in my life.

A few months later we found a really nice Lyman trade rifle at a gun show. Dad got it for me, and I shot it A LOT. It was a very accurate and reliable piece. The next year I saved up for and bought a Traditions Shenandoah flintlock .50. Being young, impatient, and neither of us really knowing what we were doing, I never could get it to shoot right. I look back now and realize I was using pyrodex. Womp Womp.

A few more years went by, acquired other passions: hit and miss engines, antique outboards, antique motorcycles, whiskey and women....

Had a single vehicle crash of my own making October '21. Truck rolled multiple times, I was ejected and thoroughly busted up. It was time for a focus shift.

At some point during the next year of recovering from surgeries, I ran across an old Dixie Gun works catalog. One could say it was an intervention by the Holy Black. I jumped back into the scene.

Took me a few purchases and trades to figure out what's good, what's not, and what trips my trigger. I have been enjoying the renewed passion and my second chance. I sure do value this forum and its members for all the knowledge and insight I've been able to soak up.

Merry Christmas to all.

 

[Eric Krewson]

I started out on a TC percussion when they opened either *** M/L season on Alabama management areas in the early 70s, everything but archery was bucks only to that point.

I went the in-line route for a number of years but always felt something was missing. When I came to my senses, I bought a TC flintlock and a cantankerous thing it was, it was the hang fire queen, the touch hole was in the back corner of the pan. I bought another on line, it had the same pan location and was equally unreliable, I found out when I removed the lock that it was held in place with hot melt glue, new from the factory no less.

About 15 years ago a good friend who was diagnosed with terminal cancer invited me over to his house, he took his custom long rifle off the wall, put it in my lap and said "this is yours now, you are the only one I know who will use and enjoy it". Then he gave me everything he had related to B/P, molds, two tackle boxes full of accessories, a Gustomsky trade gun and two percussion pistols.

The rifle had a Bill Large barrel and a Roller lock, I shot it one time and put all of my TC stuff up for sale, I had never shot q flintlock that went off so fast.

I killed a number of deer with his rifle, my friend held on for more years than they thought possible, the cancer finally got him.

Before he died, he got to see me build my first rifle, it was something that his wonderful gift inspired me to do.

 

[reddogge]

In the late 70s I was into percussion rifles and competition at my M/L club. A bunch of us was moving towards forming a primitive camping group so I needed a flintlock. I dove right in and built myself a scratch built Tennessee Mountain Rifle. It isn't a thing of beauty but it's won so much stuff it isn't funny.

 

[Jamie Hurley]

My earliest childhood obsession was The Last of The Mohicans. I had no idea what the plot was, but I was very consumed by the imagery.

In the late 90s, over Christmas break, I "helped" my grandpa put together a kit. I think it was a Chambers Isaac Haines, but it's been a long time. Grandpa was a gunsmith, but specialized in National Match accurizing M1s, and M1As, as well as collecting rare M1903s. The flintlock was something new to both of us.

From there, life went by. It was this last summer my wife and I finally went on a vacation to see her childhood friends and family in upstate New York. On that trip we went to Fort William Henry which stirred up old memories of The Last of the Mohicans.

I came home obsessed with the 18th Century. Did a little research, and have since built four Kiblers, am working on trying to correct a Chambers, have restored an old fowler, and am plotting a scratch build. By trade I've framed houses and worked on cars...aggressive, fast paced, angry environments with heavy power tools, constantly racing the clock. It's really not in my nature to work slowly, methodically, and artistically. But I'll figure it out. I'm loving every minute of it.

Merry Christmas all!

 

[Dutch7]

I grew up running in the woods as a kid playing all sorts or characters.
The Daniel Boone weekly show and Disney movies Davey Crocket really stuck with me.
In 1976 I built a CVA rifle and managed to take deer with it but never really “learned” about “Muzzleloading” until I joined a club in the Shenandoah Valley in 1986. It’s been strictly all flintlock shooting and hunting since. Loved every step along the way and have made some great friends too.

 

[Cruzatte]

My interest in muzzleloading came from reading the Foxfire series of books, specifically Foxfire V. In it were interviews with folks like Hershel House, Bud Siler, and many others. My jaw dropped. I had no idea these old guns were still around outside of museums, let alone being built in garage workshops and shot in matches as well as used in hunting.

I found the Dixie Gun Works address in the back of the book, and after graduation from college ordered a Tennessee Mountain Rifle. Oh it was a thing of beauty! And it was a gen-u-wine flintlock. Fortunately for me, there was no one around to tell me I couldn't start out on a flintlock. I wouldn't have listened anyway, reasoning that if Daniel Boone & Simon Kenton started out on flintlock, why not me?

One of the benefits of school is that I learned how to use a library. While awaiting the arrival of my new rifle, I went to the library and checked out every book on muzzleloading I could find; Henry Kaufman, Joe Kindig, George Shumway, Carl Russel, and others. And I eventually bought a subscription to Muzzleloader. Just about this time, I discovered a black powder shop a short bus ride away and bought a copy of Sam Fadala's book Black Powder Handbook, as well as a pound of 2fg powder, a measure, balls, flints, & patching. I learned all about safety, loading, & cleaning from that volume. I still have it on my bookshelf.

In the late 1980s, I thought I'd take a crack at building a rifle. And made a perfect sow's ear out of it. A shooting buddy, and one of my longest friends took pity on me, and salvaged the project. It was another flintlock rifle with an L&R lock. I shot that rifle for a good ten years.

About 1996 or '97 I had some good paydays, and decided to find a builder to fashion The Ultimate Dream Rifle; a .54 caliber, with a Getz swamped barrel, and double set triggers, Lancaster patterned stock, and a patch box copied from J. Henry's Lancaster pattern trade rifle. Rod Gates of Cross Timbers, MO did a masterful job. I still have this rifle and shoot it often.

Next came an interest in trade guns. Another year of good paydays, and I bought a Caywood R. Wilson model, 20 ga. I had great success assembling that gun. And the trade gun/smoothbore bug infected me with its venom.

In 2017-18 I began gathering parts to build Track of the Wolf's fusil de chasse. I finished it in 2019. It turned out pretty well, in my estimation...at least for a second build (the failed rifle project doesn't count.)

The Track French gun has got me interested in French trade guns. I've spent the intervening years reading all I could about them. I lucked on to Kevin Gladysz's The French Trade Gun in North America, 1662-1759 before it went out of print. I've read that book so much, the pages have all become detached from the binding.

What's next? I'd like to try my hand at a St. Etienne trade gun. I've seen some attractive parts in the Rifle Shoppe's catalog. I've also found some possible stocks from Dave Keck of Knob Mountain Muzzleloading. And I am inspired by the many makers on this forum.

 

[olskool]

I'm 75. I began hunting with my dad and uncles in 1958 when I was 10 years old. I had tagged along with them for a couple of years before that, but I wasn't allowed to carry a gun until that season of 1958. At 14 I was allowed to go out hunting on my own without adult supervision. (That was state law at that time.) So, there I was, a teenager, walking through a suburban neighborhood with a shotgun over my shoulder. Later, when I got my driver's permit, I had a little motorcycle. I would tie a length of clothesline to my shotgun and strap it over my back. I took off on my motorcycle, often right through the center of town with that gun on my back. I was never stopped. Never questioned about it. (And, that was in New Jersey!) Wow. Have the times ever changed!!!

I've taken deer, caribou, pronghorn, feral hogs, and black bear with modern rifles, but was beginning to get somewhat discontent with it when in 1987 a new boss introduced me to muzzleloading. He was a Civil War reenactor. Ah Ha. Here was a new challenge. I had tried bow and arrows, but that didn't suit me. I have always had an interest in history and doing things the old ways. My heroes have always been men like Daniel Boone and Jim Bridger. Traditional muzzleloading just felt right to me. For several years I switched back and forth between my modern centerfires and muzzleloaders. Then, finally, sometime in the mid 1990's, I put away my centerfires, and began using my percussion and flintlock guns full time.

back when people had common sense and the country wasn't ran by men in dresses and women trying to be men,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Flintandsteel]

My son was 10 yrs old, (he’s now 42), shooting a little 22 semi auto. I could not get him to slow down and aim. All he wanted to do was rapid fire, and hardly hit anything.
So,….. I bought a little 36cal muzzleloader at a local gun show, and I was hooked.
Got into the history, and knew I needed a flintlock. Couldn’t afiord to buy one at the time, so thought I’d build one.
Got a Golden Age Arms kit, and the rest is history.
Ive built well over 100 since then, some kits, mostly from planks.

 

[flconch53]

Bought my 1st muzzleloader in about 1982. Bought because you could only muzzleloader hunt in an area close to were I lived. Joined the Florida Frontiersmen shortly after. Been shooting muzzleloaders ever since. Now my primary gun is a 28 gauge flintlock.

 

[waksupi]

Back in '73, I bought my first flintlock. It was an original, all parts handmade. The lock didn't spark well, and I knew nothing of hardening frizzens back then to fix it. It was very accurate when it did go off, and accounted for some squirrels and rabbits.
Since then, I owned a few cap locks, but for the past 20 years or so, I have shot flintlocks only.

 

[Magungo1066]

I have shot/hunted since I was little. Had the run of my grandma’s farm in South Carolina for many holidays/summers. A great way to grow up. Shot all manner of guns through highschool, including BP replica Colts. Senior year of highschool (2015) I saw last of the mohicans and the rest is history. Got my first flintlock late that summer right before I headed to Virginia for college. A little gap during college. Around the very beginning of covid I spent the summer at a previous girlfriend’s farm (also in Virginia). Spent every day walking the pastures with that rifle. That is when I became rabid for all this and began seeking my first smoothbore. I am from Connecticut and one of our very talented friends on here built me an incredible New England styled fowler. I now break many, many, many more flints than I do primers. I doubt that will ever change going forward.

 

[Mike in FL]

Wow. I had no idea I'd hear so many responses. I so very much appreciate it. I've never attended organized shoots (my fault) but knowing so many have a background like mine, I'm now encouraged to get out and meet folks like me. Thanks all.

 

[user 61710]

I'm 75. I began hunting with my dad and uncles in 1958 when I was 10 years old. I had tagged along with them for a couple of years before that, but I wasn't allowed to carry a gun until that season of 1958. At 14 I was allowed to go out hunting on my own without adult supervision. (That was state law at that time.) So, there I was, a teenager, walking through a suburban neighborhood with a shotgun over my shoulder. Later, when I got my driver's permit, I had a little motorcycle. I would tie a length of clothesline to my shotgun and strap it over my back. I took off on my motorcycle, often right through the center of town with that gun on my back. I was never stopped. Never questioned about it. (And, that was in New Jersey!) Wow. Have the times ever changed!!!

I've taken deer, caribou, pronghorn, feral hogs, and black bear with modern rifles, but was beginning to get somewhat discontent with it when in 1987 a new boss introduced me to muzzleloading. He was a Civil War reenactor. Ah Ha. Here was a new challenge. I had tried bow and arrows, but that didn't suit me. I have always had an interest in history and doing things the old ways. My heroes have always been men like Daniel Boone and Jim Bridger. Traditional muzzleloading just felt right to me. For several years I switched back and forth between my modern centerfires and muzzleloaders. Then, finally, sometime in the mid 1990's, I put away my centerfires, and began using my percussion and flintlock guns full time.

I'm 76 and raised in Detroit. On any 1950's Monday morning I would head to the bank to deposit whatever I happened to have. I would often meet up with my local grocery owner who would be carrying the weekend deposits in his left hand and a Smith and Wesson detective special in the other. Detroit had open carry back then and my mom would tell me how after Friday supper, Dad would grab his gear and 12 gage and take the needed three buses to get to Rochester Michigan to hunt pheasants with family members that lived in the country. My dad never owned a gun case, just stood at the bus stops with his pump shotgun.