Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders ****** Best Flintlock for the Money?****

I am new to muzzle loading and am looking for a flintlock that will not break the bank, but not a cheap one either. Looking to spend 300-500 on the gun only.

any suggestions / help would be appreciated.

Lyman. Check out the great plains rifle

Try Track of the Wolf.com or earlyrusticarms.com or Pecatonica River.com

depends on what your looking for ????
long rifle , halfstock rifle . 18th century , 19th century , 20th century . smoothbore, musket , single barrel , double barrel , just a shooter or a more histoical accurate piece

I'm looking for one for hunting whitetail in PA. I have been recommended the Lyman Deerstalker and the TC Firestorm. I like the look of the small Traditions Carbine, but was told to stay away from Traditions. These three I mentioned are the size and type I am looking for.

nothing wrong with traditions. they are accurate as hell. They may have a soft frizzen issue but thats not hard to fix.

i would agree with bigblock , but would add that their flasholes are NOT placed properly as well .
another relitivly easy fix . past that , for the money, the lyman is IMO a better bang for the buck . but i wouldnt shy from a traditions if the price was right .
if i had my rathers i would rank them as follows
Lyman with TC a very close second . really a toss up . then traditions/cva being very close

I have the Lyman Deerstalker in .54 flinter. I could not be happier. Get a 54 if you can---its hits a heck of a lot harder than a 50.

For extra money, hands-down best is the T/C Hawken...I got mine for a steal (almost literally...I bought it from a guy who was more interested in the football game and he let me out the door with it and all the gear for under $200.00)

That being said, I also have a Traditions Shenandoah and love it as well. The fit and finish is rougher than the T/C, but that's like comparing a Ford to a Rolls Royce. It's still a very nice rifle.

A PA doe with my Shenandoah I used to take her down.

My cousin has a synthetic-stocked Traditions carbine flintlock that works well too.

Best thing is to find a shop that has them on the shelf and check them out.

What part of PA do you hunt?

Aqualung

If possible avoid anything made in spain. I'd order a Lyman Great Plains Rifle from Midsouth Shooter Supply in .54 caliber.

i took this nice 4x4 at 40 yards with a head shot. This is the Traditions Kentucky in .50cal Out of all the rifles ive owned, i will never sell this one. Im in the process of refinishing the stock and reshaping.

Lyman great plains- 54cal that i built from a kit. Nice rifle but i prefered the 54 cva mountain rifle so i sold it.

They are cheap.....if that's what you want.

my kentucky is a fine looker and does just as it should. I dont have to spend $2-3,000 on a custom flinter to do what my $300 kentucky does.

plus the kentucky has an adjustable trigger, i like to tune it to a pound and a half for hunting. Lyman triggers can be pretty gritty unless you do some work. Nothing bad, just something to think about.

A Yugo is just as good as a BMW. They do the same thing.

hey if u want to buy me a new quality rifle or anyone else, feel free to do so.

big block , he is a shadow walker . his oppenion should be taken with a grain of salt . just sholder in and push him farther to the back .

just ignore him . IMO he is a lonly person who only does this to get attention .

i think he does this becouse his favorite company also known as IF'y went under becouse more people bought CVA traditions and jukar .
IMO no loss

Maybe hesRandy Wakemans's brother? Asks just like him.

Just pointing out what a blind man can see.

naa. RW is about a 32nd higher on the food chain .
this person as i said is just a shadow walker . he has been pushed so far back from so many camp fires that the only real time he is seen is when it apears he can stur the pot some .

best thing to do is just ignore him ,. And yes i to find that hard to do at times .
but i can tell you all he will do is come back with one liners .

aahhh like the one he just posted .


BUT ===========================


Dr_Gnarr
to answer your question . any of the rifles listed will do the job and in most cases will be reliable . As with anything , there are good and bad in every production run .
Where the custom market shines is that you can have the rifle built for you ., to fit you in pull , cast , drop , sight placement , the whole ball of wax . You cant get that in the production lines . They are built for a standard average .
As such I would agree with the others here about going out and shouldering a few .
Your probably not going to see much difference tell you compare different companies or models within that company . But it will still give you a feel for what you need .
When you bring the rifle up to your shoulder , she should slide right into place .no pulling it back , no reaching for the trigger . ., you should be looking vetualy right down the sights . No hunting , no leaning your neck over , no leaning forward . Everything should be right there .
The thing with the traditions and CVA , is that they have very little drop , 0 cast and a shorter average pull . So many times when I see bigger folks shooting them , it kinda reminds me of the old VW commercial of Magic Johnson crawling into a VW rabbit . Sure he fit . Sure he could drive it . But he had to pretzelize himself to do it .

So my recommendation to you is to find a rifle , you like in your price range that you feel comfortable with . From there . We can help you set it up correctly or make needed changes , to increase the reliability . i also would take a serious look at the custom market . myself or many others here or on other boards could make you a rifle of much closer or proper in fit , depending on the price range that you would be willing to go . yes it would mean your spending more money . but IMO its money well spent .

but what ever you chose , good luck with it .