Washington has several seasons where a muzzleloader is advantageous for drawing a tag or access. Thinking about dipping my toe into the muzzleloader game for those reasons. I'm starting from scratch, I know next to nothing about muzzleloaders and looking for opinions on what suits my needs from you experienced folks.
First, a few applicable laws in Washington:
- must be 45 cal or larger for elk hunting
- Ignition is to be wheel lock, matchlock, flintlock, or percussion. Primers designed to be used in modern cartridges are legal
- Sights must be open, peep, or of other open sight design. Fiber optic sights are legal. Telescopic sights or sights containing glass are prohibited.
Several other laws at play but those are the big ones. Now what I'm looking for:
- simple to use and clean
- reliable and rugged
Not sure where I want to land on price yet. Mostly looking for the best value. What has worked well for you folks?
You asked for simple and reliable. Well first I see nothing in the regulations you mention that would preclude you from using a modern inline muzzleloader that uses a 209 percussion cap. You just have to use the open sights rather than scoping it. But that weapon is going to be faaaaaaaaaaaaaaar more simple and reliable than some of the suggestions offered in this thread.
Given your request of simple and reliable and your admission that you are not very experienced with muzzleloading I find it baffling that you have people recommending flintlock rifles to you. And I say that as someone who owns traditional style flintlock rifles and loves shooting them. But flintlocks are much more complex and potentially problematic than a modern inline muzzleloader. For starters you typically need two different grades of powder, 4f for the priming pan, and 3f or 2f for the main charge. Many mass produced flintlocks lack a properly hardened frizzen which can lead to ignition problems down the road. The mass produced ones are not going to be hand tuned either. A custom built flintlock is going to be more likely to give you consistent ignition but they won't be cheap.
Also you need to ask yourself what type of projectile do I want to use. Because many of the traditional style muzzleloaders that have been recommended here have barrels with a slow twist rate like 1 in 60. That's good for stabilizing patched round balls but not good at all for a heavier conical or sabot. Just getting started and not sure how I would like it I'd go with something basic like this.
https://www.budsgunshop.com/product...pr2117snw+wolf+v2+nw+ss+blk+.50+cal.+fosNot very expensive but good for the money. It has a 1in28 twist rate that will stabilize sabots or conicals whichever your state allows. It uses 209 primers for very reliable ignition. If you find you enjoy muzzleloading you can get something more expensive down the line. But hell, even where scopes are allowed muzzleloading is typically a 150 yards or closer affair. Restricted to open sights as you are it will probably be closer than that. Even a inexpensive CVA Wolf like the one in the link will shoot more accurately than you could ever need at those distances.
I wouldn't use more than a hundred grains of powder. Black powder is not terribly efficient and you reach a point where you are just blowing unburnt powder out the end of the barrel for little actual increase in velocity. A hundred grains of black powder or black powder substitute behind a 250 grain or heavier bullet will kill anything in North America and most things on the planet.
Good luck and have fun.
