Yup, to me a muzzleloader is about Tradition. If made into a modern rifle to gain a special season over other hunters (I call that cheating) such guns have sales appeal to those that are just trying to find a way to cheat and get a special season. If I go out with an 1874 sharps black powder breach loading single shot rifle or even a 44 mag handgun with iron sights and a 4" barrel I must hunting regular rifle season.
So I for one am 100% into old style muzzleloaders and have earned most of my living (about 80%) making them.
Now I am working towards retirement, so I am not taking new customers but I have made them for over 50 years.
Don't know that I would call it "cheating" necessarily but the whole "modern inline" thing has definitely put me off about the whole special regulations hunting season idea. Around here anyway, the special season for muzzle loaders in October was conceived as a means for traditionalists to engage in sport without having to compete with the army of "regular" hunters - for guys with flintlocks and percussion guns to ghost through the Indian Summer woods. Then the idea took hold amongst the hoi polloi that ML rifles can be made that shoot as "hard" as centerfire rifles and use thereof was an easy way to rack up one's score and fill more freezers. Not much consideration toward keeping old traditions alive, rather a golden opportunity to kill more. (And that's based on empirical observation - every single one of my buddies and acquaintances who turned to ML hunting in the special early season, and there were a lot, did so as a chance to shoot a couple extra deer, period.) Net result: the early Fall woods are about as crowded as they are in "gun season", with guys in stands armed with scoped inlines capable of long distance kills and looking down their noses at the odd guys with flintlocks still hunting across the ridges and ravines.) Then the F&G people threw a sop to us and gave us another short season to ourselves - after Christmas/New Years when the weather usually turns cold and crappy, thank you very much not!
Yez had to get me started, din't yez?!!
