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 .

I have a Lyman .54 flintlock GPR but if I had it to do over again I'd get their Trade Rifle. First the older I get the less my shoulder abides a deeply hooked buttplate. The Trade Rifle's buttplate is flatter. If looking old-timey is of no concern to you consider their Deerstalker. Good hunting!

I use a TC Hawken with blackened furniture to hunt PA deer. The rifle has given me thirty + years of service. The Tc factory service is top notch. The cons are that the rifles are fairly heavy, some folks don't like the set trigger and the newer rifles have a counter bored muzzle which makes round ball loading difficult. I also use a RMC flinter which is manufactured in PA. They are light, about 6.5 pounds, have excellent sights, Green mountain barrels with removable breech plug and top quality L&R lock. Mine has a fast twist 1/28" barrel and is very accurate with 300 grain bullet/sabot combo. The downside of the RMC is the laminated stock, which looks a bit strange on a flinter.