Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders The smokeless rabbit hole

When were smokeless and inlines NOT allowed in Missouri during the "ML" season? Considering the alternative season is well after the normal rifle season and has been as long as i can remember.....who gives a rats azz what you can or cant use? It not like you get another tag for the alternative season and you can certainly use any ML 40cal or larger during firearms season. Missouri "muzzleloader season" was a damn joke from day one.

Never said smokeless and inlines weren't allowed in the early years when we had a muzzleloader only season.

Was within 2 weeks or sooner after firearms season from when I remember it in early 90s or before up through early 2000s if not later.

Maybe even started up 10 days or less after Thanksgiving when you could buy a muzzleloader tag but were stuck to using a muzzleloader only during regular firearms season if you bought one.

Never said I gave a rat's ass about what you could use either I was stating some of the weapons that can be used.

Get yourself set up with smokeless. I have two hawkens (54 and 50), a bunch of cap and ball Italian revolvers and several original 1860's cap and ball revolvers.

I like the cap and ball stuff, enough to own some original guns, but the smokeless is more reliable in wet weather.

When I care about the hunt more than the implement I'm using, I grab the smokeless rifle (Savage ML-10, works fine)

If you really want to make it hard on yourself, hunt traditional archery.

AFIK, based on reading, the purpose of special seasons was originally to create hours of recreational time without impacting the resource too heavily. I used a TC Hawken in Southern Maryland before there was a ML season, and considered it an upgrade over most of the shotguns with only bead front sights. That was before rifled slug guns too. My uncle, then my brother and I were the first in our crowd to scope our shotguns too. Being able to make better hits is a good thing. Certainly with whitetails in the East now, the “resource” needs some good old fashioned decimating, not protecting. And even here in my bedroom community, a little woodsy solitude is only a few extra steps off trail on the small WMA I hunt, as the majority seem to cruise the mown paths. I’ve never felt I needed special dispensation in the form of restictive seasons to enjoy my toys, but I’ll take the extra time every time.

That's where I'm at with it. Our firearm deer season is 7 days... yes... 7, and they aren't even 7 consecutive days. Muzzleloaders aren't really my thing, but I have no problem hitting the easy button with an inline to get a few more days to hunt during the ML only season.

Ours is short too, but we have a true primitive season in January, four days. No more inlines here; I do my cheating with a crossbow, but I’m getting tired of dragging that pos through the bushes too and will probably sell it before next season. Like the inlines I’ve owned, I never shoot it for fun, just enough to make sure I can kill stuff with it.

My inline isn't a pleasure shooter, either. Probably averaging about 5-10 shots a year with it after the initial load workup and sight in.

Only fair?

Only fair would be two seasons, Closed and Open.

Ha, that crossbow doesn't pack through the brush so easily huh??

Those who have never been around em tout how convenient they are. Hunt with one for a bit and they can be awkward at times and also maybe cause you to not get a shot behind your tree as well.

Not as simple as some think.

Oh, killin’ with ‘em is pretty simple. Totin’ ‘em around is a bitch.

Then there was this time when somebody didn’t check to be certain the crank was well seated and the whole shebang flew into the scope eyepiece under 260lbs of force….

Nobody I know, of course🙄

Try that killing when one is behind your tree. Easier w a vertical bow, no limbs to hit the tree, BTDT.

Had one just like that a couple of weeks ago, but she was too small, even for me.

I did whack a limb against a tree shooting I was braced against in my yard. The Excalibur shook that off, no problemo. Probably woulda been hard on one with wheels and cables.😱

Going down the smokeless rabbit hole currently, I have a 700ml at McGowan right now getting rebarreled to 45 and another 700ml setting in the safe that might get the same treatment since the barrel is shot. With the price of Blackhorn 209 going thru the roof it makes smokeless more appealing to me anyways.

How does the barrel get shot in a 700ML?

Kunas. I converted a Savage 10ML over to 45 with a Pac nor barrel. It's easy to maintain MOA out to 300 yards. I would like to go with a 40 cal and eliminate the sabots but from what I gather I would most likely have to move up to a 225G bullet and the added recoil wouldn’t really be worth it to me. I have made several 225 yard shots with the 45 and at least a dozen head shots on does that were standing close as in under 40 yards.

1 way, poor cleaning /maintenance.

Several other ways too.

I suspected that answer.

My first muzzleloader kill was a week or so with a borrowed early Arrowhead when he was using the Savage action. Leupold VX-6 4-24X scope and his 300 gr bullet at 2800 fps. Dialed the scope for the 310 yard shot, pulled the trigger and have never heard as load a whack in my life.

So glad I went smokeless, my SML is the most accurate, hardest hitting ML I’ve ever owned. Not having to clean it after shooting a deer is a huge bonus. Arrowhead makes a great product.

Nice 👍