Love the old traditional muzzleloaders. i seem to be a dying breed. who else likes the old school ways?

If you mean side locks, open sights, real black powder and patched balls, put me on the list.

Absolutely what Blackheart said... +1

Ron T.

+2! (But I've learned to hold my tongue whenever debates arise over inline v. sidelock! )

just getting in to the traditionals myself.didnt get to hunt with one this season but ive got an older cva that needs some tlc before next season.

nope not trying to start the tired old inline vs sidelock debate. just don't have many people i know that share my same interest in types of mz.

count me in as well

I take a caplock over an inline every time.

Only way to go

sweet lookin flint.

Sweet!

I kinda quit checking out this forum for a while as it seemed to be all about round barrled Stainless Steel and fiberglass in line wonderguns which don't interest me nor qualify,IMO, as proper blackpowder or special season firearms. Here is mine, a .54 caliber 1 in 32 twist Lyman GPH with Lyman Globe and reciever peep sights and upgraded nipple to accept Musket size caps.









Even my 51 year old eyes can see and shoot OK with these sights, and those musket caps combined with the hot shot nipple will ignite wet charcoal

All of mine are side locks and I just can't warm up to the inline stuff. I'm not knocking them or anyone who shoots 'em, they're just not my speed I guess.

A nice side lock on the other hand is just the ticket for hunting or some cheap stress relief at the range. I've managed to acquire them in .36,.45,.50 and .58 and I enjoy the heck out of all of them.

Squirrels hate the little .36 too.

I am glad to see you home to show us your Lyman Great plains rifle...

Doc

Brent, great lookin sparker....

i like my sidehammers....hunt with inlines too, but i try to make it a point to give my conventional guns their due time in the woods, for birds, small game, and big game. love chasing squirrels with the .32's and .36's, bunnies with 12-bore, & deer with assorted 50's/54's/58's.

Nice pics ! I really need to get myself a small bore squirrel rifle !

Not real good pictures but here are 3 of my dozen or so MLs, nothing but sidelocks in the herd.

45 cal custom rifle set up for both flint and cap ignition


54 cal custom Leman/Plains rifle


Made in USA 45 cal CVA Mountain Rifle


I have pondered getting one of those "unmentionables" just to see what the allure to them is, but I just can't pull the trigger, so to speak. Nothing against them (as others have also said) I just can't convince myself they offer any realistic advantage for how and where I hunt.

Yeahhhhhh... both of my sons hunt whitetails with their stainless steel, scope-sighted in-lines and swear by their 295 grain, jacketed "bullets" inside that plastic "sleeve" called a "sabot" in front of a triple set of 50 grain powder pellets (ain't "science" wonderful?!?) which gives their bullets over a chronographed muzzle velocity of 2,000 fps... and they're are on my fanny to get one as well.

But then, I fondle my .50 caliber Shenandoah flinter with it's graceful long barrel... or heft my 28-inch barreled older CVA Hawken cap-lock "target" rifle or the older, but handy little CVA Hawken Carbine cap-lock with it's 24-inch barrel and 6� pounds of lightness that shoots it's .50 caliber RPBs into a fuzzy one-hole group off the bench at 50 yards using only 65 grains of Swiss FFFg (my hunting load for deer) and think, "Why would I need an in-line?"

And the truth is... I DON'T !~!~!


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

man some nice rigs. i've been wanting to get a .36 or a bp shotgun. never tried 65 gr as someone posted. i've been doing 90 grains topped with a .50 cal ball. i like the hornady great plains in .385 gr for hunting. it will blow a hole through a deer.

I love these Traditional muzzleloader picture Threads.

here is my Newest smokepole:




It's a .45 T/C I bought off the fire this summer.

Traditional guns, and living the mountain man era is muzzleloading to me.

I tried the inline thing. It rubbed me the wrong way, and couldn't do it. Might as well just shoot a CF gun. So, I do, and save the ML for reenacting.

I use both as they are just a tool to me.The hunt is more important to me than what I shoot.
The 50 cal hawkin weighs in about 9 +pounds and the TC in line about 6.5 so it is a tad easier to lug around.

I did throw the tupper ware stock away and replace it with a nice walnut one I made though and took of the FO sights and put on a blade and peep.Hate those plastic stocks.

Probably not another around like it now.

Two views of the Ohio-style .45 rifle I built. (Cherry stock, Getz barrel, Siler lock, Davis triggers.) All of the deer I killed with it were in the pre-digital camera era (pre-2006 for me). Guess I gotta fix that, ha ha.

here are a few of mine

Custom built .50cal with 28" barrel, 1:48 twist. Loves 90gr pyrodex RS, wad, 250gr REAL conical.

captchee that's some nice rifles. did you make your own possibles bag and horn. i've made some of my own bags. i've never made a powder horn though.

captchee...........Very nice guns.

Flint .45, most of the rest is irrelevant. 42" barrel and 7#4oz. A wand by any definition.

in that photo , the SXS and the turkey call are the only items i made
Through the years ive made a lot of bags and horns . But those in the photo with my SXS are not ones I made . The bag was made By Allen Roberts . I have 2 of his bags the one in the photo and this one
.

The buffalo horn , powder horn was made by Jess Eblin and was a gift .






thank you for the kind words

Cap,every dang time I see pics of your artillery battery, I am forced to conclude that you Turbosuck Have ya stuck the barrel of that Hudson Valley Fowler up a ducks ass yet??

cap real nice .makes me want to get back into reenacting. did it some back in my high school years. course i'd have to get all new outfit . kinda outgrown my old stuff after 30 years.

LOL sorry about that .
as to the Hudson valley . . i haven�t had much time but for an early grouse hunt . it did well .
Im just to far behind to be able to get out much . But Turkey season isn�t that far away . Im hopping to get out then



saddlesore
this Erichson rifle weighs very close to your Inline. As I recall it came in just under 7 lbs . it�s a 54 cal with a 39 inch barrel .


here is a shot of the ballance check during the build

I have built long rifles that weighed even less then your inline even though they carried 42 inch barrels .
My Hudson Valley comes in at 8lbs and its got a 52 inch barrel in 28 gage.

even heavy rifles when built properly so as to ballance correctly , are a real joy to carry

I love traditional muzzle loaders. For me, it's the only way to go.

cool stuff prairie. love the shootin block. i made one for my hawken too.

I'm with all you guys too, 45 and 50 cal hawkens

back several years ago, we went out with a pair of TC cherokees in .32's...good haul that day.


rabbit gun... New Englander 12ga:

I started out muzzleloading with a cheap Hawken .50 cal, sold it after a few years and went to an in-line. I like it fine, but it's just not the same as a traditional ML.

I've been hunting with BP cartridges in my 1860's era Hopkins and Allen hammer shotgun, but since Birdwatcher posted about his flinter shotgun at the dove hunt last September, I've been thinking about getting one of those...

So many guns, so little time...

.54 J�ger...

man that's a beautiful stock.
gun porn!

Gun porn indeed!

We get a lot of that here... welcome to the 'Fire!

A little 20ga action...


A called in yote with my Lyman GPR .54...

mad cause i shot this deer way early in the year
but then again the area was only opened up 5-6 times that year also

[img:left][/img]

see ren i told you this site was cool. did you go back and check out these awesome rifles on here. i'm in my element now. I thought i was the last sidelock guy around.

That is cool...next thing I plan on doing is letting the wind out of a yote with the MLer

naw their are a couple of us still hanging around!!!!
some of these guys have some nice rigs for sure


wish i never sold my lyman pistol like a dumba$$

[img:left][/img]

some dang nice rigs on here for sure.

Nice rifle, who built it?

Very decent buck! field hand says that was a Ft. Campbell buck? What range didja shoot him at?

Ren, that looks like a nice set!

Were they a matched pair? If so, why sell just the pistol?

they got these at midsouth shooters supply in town here in clarksville
seen only one the woods
and that was on apeice of corps of engineer property last year
when a guy had one as i was going in he was coming out

he was interested in my renegade 50 and i was interested in his lyman gph

Yeah. I had a pretty little Hawken .54, IIRC a Dixie Gun Works kit gun a buddy half-built and I finished... sweet rifle, but I sold it to gear up with C&B pistolas for cowboy action shooting. I am gonna have to get a nice sidelock again, preferably a flinter...

area 41


aint been able to get in their since i retired
aint got the early call in time no more


i have seen deer in their that would make you cry
sometimes outta range
sometimes not enough time to get the sights on them

but that is why it is called hunting and not killing


hahahahahaaa!!!!

Now I feel like an idiot for never hunting the back 40.

I worked out of Saber Field by gate 10 and lived right off of Lafayette by the Ranger Station....

no the rifle is my tc renegade 50
the pistol was lyman plains pistol i got at midsouth here in town

just sold it

got tired of its weight in my daypack


i could a canalope size target at around 17-20 yards with it
bought is as a dispatch gun


made it froma kit

probably will get another some day down the line

I hope you do! They look real good together.

i wish i had discivered this spot before i left in 98 when you could rifle hunt on post still
i came back in 01 and they wouldnt let rifle hunts go on anymore


i have had some big interactions with the hunting and fishing unit on post over the years

most not good
pointing out their stupid policies
like them not being to explain the difference between a inline shooting out to 200-250 yards and a modern centerfire
they get paid by the hour and dont care what happens
i could post forever about ftcky hunting

have helped alot of guys with advice and locations
till it got used by lurkers
then we took it to pm and not in the open

you work down at rucker

got a buddy headed down that way this summer
cw3 pudil
kiowa pilot
retiring ,,,gonna be a contractor on some kiowa program

Yeah, I lived there from 2000 until my retirement in 2007. Never did hunt on post. Always went out to the LBL area. I just figured the back 40 would be too crowded. I know better now.

Problem is, I moved to Huntsville. Time to get used to another base.

Nope, I'm in Huntsville.
There is good work for 58 warrents down at Mothuh Ruckuh.

Get the Lyman GPH if you can. I have had two now and I consider them one of the finest production muzzleloader out there, now or ever. Been muzzleloading incl building rifles since about 1979.

I prefer a caplock rifle, black powder, and PRBs. I don't even own an in-line. If another guy wants to use one, I'm okay with that, but for me, Traditional is where my interests lie. I'm seriously considering going to a flintlock.

same here. i've started shooting more flintlock but primarily hunt with my caplocks. i just love the old ways of doing things.

While in college in the 70s I built a few traditional ML, some for myself and some for extra money. Here are a couple I still have. .32 Bedford County, and .50 flint.

I also built scrimshaw horns and sold them in Friendship IN for extra school money. Here is one from 1975.

And for those who like originals here is a Benjamin Mills backaction lock half stock, .38 cal. If you have not heard of Benjamin Mills Google him. He has a well documented history.

that is beautiful grain on that wood. very nice rifles.

7#4oz. .45 cal, 42" GM barrel by Turpin:





Shoots offhand at 50 like so:



6-8 patches cleans it, can't imagine a need for much of anything else for the field.

cool!!!!!

All traditional, all the time. Mostly flinters but there are still a few caplocks in the toy box.

36 cal. Southern Mountain & me



My Jaeger





'nother flinter



couple handguns with a 1st gen. Colt SAA thrown in.



custom Hawken



and lastly but certainly not all, 20 bore fowler

[img]http://i432.photobucket.com/albums/qq41/sharps4070/P1010086-1.jpg[/img]

Yes....I'm kinda traditional.

Wow! Didn't know this many traditional guys were still alive. I almost never look at this forum anymore may have to change that. I am wondering what the average age of this group is bet it isn't young?

i don't know about the rest but i'm 45. started shooting black powder when i got my first in 1980.

I have 2 flinters. A 62 fowler


And a 50 cal Lancaster

ET, I still love that red plaid and that fowler is uber-cool. I really like that polled 'hawk too.

Age? Well....I'll be 59 next month and I bought my first muzzleloader in 1975.

Yeah, that funny looking pearl handled thingy at the bottom will never catch on!




That is a mighty fine looking collection there!

Johnny $

63 going on 17.

im 48

My body thinks I'm 70
- my brain thinks I'm 18
- but, alas, my BC says I'm 60

My youngest is 14, my eldest son 27, and I am 56.

I guess the average age here is 32.

Thank you sir. Pearl? Pearl is for pimps. That's outer bark elephant ivory.

Absolutely beautiful and impressive assortment posted above!

I don't have anything but production rifles, but a post like this sure stokes the desire to put together one of my own.

As far as the age thing, I'm just shy of 52 and love traditional rifles. I also have a soon to be 16 y/o son who has chosen the traditional path on his own. He choses to hunt with a cap lock Lyman trade rifle and a longbow. I'm amazed at how his desire for traditional stuff blossomed on its own - I don't think he even knew that his granddad was a dedicated longbow shooter until after he chose a longbow over a compound to hunt with - on his own w/o any prompting.

Must be a guy thing. A good guy thing!

Good for your son. that's great.

54Woody, that's some fine work. Excellent taste and talent on display there. Thanks for sharing.

Not exactly traditional, but I have a Lyman Deerstalker Flintlock in .54 cal I use for ML season.

Thank you Gringo. It has been years since I built one. I switched over to building log homes in the 80s. I still have some parts and a slab of good hard maple so hope to get back to building a few rifles and making a few horns when I retire.
As to the age question, I'll be 58 in March.

this probably doesnt fit here but i just had to post it for

i was sitting out in the shop and realized .CRAP!!! i forgot to get a prize for the blanket . :Doh!
a friend of mine was in the shop and he said HA why dont you make a little cannon barrel out of one of those short pieces of barrel you have laying around .
so i got to thinking ; self you never have made a cannon ?????MMMMMMMM
alittle later i had the barrel turned . but by that time i was to far into the build in my mind .
next thing i knew i was going at the carriage

soon the wife was calling Charlie , you coming to bed ?
yep ill be in just have a little more . couple hours later she was made as a wet hen . so i had to shut down . it is what it is i guess .

But on the bright side , that old piece of douglas 50 cal barrel once again will see the light of day

Nice real nice

cap, now that's a nice piece!

MonkeyJoe, my oldest son did the same thing, except that he's now 38. Right after he joined the USMC back in 1990 he sold his compound and bought a longbow. He now has quite a collection of longbows and recurves, including my old Hoyt Pro Hunter I bought when he was 5 yrs. old. About 5 years ago he called me and started asking about a muzzleloader kit. He ended up with Lyman GPR, put it together and that's all he's hunted with since. As you said, all with no prompting from Dad. Kinda neat when that happens, eh?

woody, nice rifles.....gorgeous.

captchee that's an awesome cannon. one of the guys i knew way back had a handcannon he'd built. It was on a piece of wrought iron . that thing would bust your eardrums.

Cap and Crossfire can start their own artillery battery now!! "The Campfire Cannon Cockers" at your service!!

Forgive me Lord....

http://www.buckstix.com/CoehornMortarHunt.htm

lol , that ones alot bigger then the one i made Dan

Very nice Cap! How did you do the trunnions on the barrel?

they are pressed in to just under 1/2 of the barrel wall thickness

mahone used 1/2 charged coehorn mortars also when taking back the crater in petersburg in 1864



but for feral cats??????

That is the same rig I have! Also have a 1970s Lee-Enfield musket and a semi-custom .40 caliber flintlock. I still need to learn flint knapping. Next up is a .54 cal. flinter or maybe a 20 ga. smoothbore flinter.

Check that! I have the slow twist for patched roundballs. That is all I shoot out of smokepoles.

That'll work,

OHHHH NO!!!!!!. i got enough on my plate without thoughts of something that size LOL

nice artillery piece.

mountain howitzer?????????
6pd???????????

I prefer traditional muzzleloaders.

When I shoot black powder I like my flint.I've. never shot a cap gun

Currently I'm down to only one, a T/C New Englander in .50.

I had a Kentucky style in .45, but gave it to my lil' bro and his bride as a wedding present as it was the first firearm she ever shot.

Probably won't get another .45 so I'll have a couple molds to get rid of.

I'd really like to find a lefty flintlock in .32 or .36, that is affordable, to knock squirrels out of the trees with. If I start deer hunting again, the .50 will serve just fine.

Mostly hunt squirrel and rabbit though, and it's become no trick at all to pop either with the 'scoped heavy-barrel .22LR Savage out to 125yds or so. Good meat getter but not a whole lot of challenge unless the wind is blowing.

Been thinking about just building one. Shouldn't be too hard as the locks and barrels are readily available.

Josh

Flintlocks are all I hunt with now days. I built this .58cal. for all my big game hunting



and this .62cal. (20ga.) with Colerain Turkey Barrel for my spring gobbler hunting.

Hittin' to close to home for me!

I don't always hunt with a muzzleloader, but when I do it's a side-hammer.

Just bought another, a Grey Hawk for bad weather here in AK.

That is the way we have to go in this state for a designated muzzleloader hunt. No sabots, scopes, pelleted powder, primers, or sealed ignition systems.

Very nice pictures Hoyt and a great looking rifle also!

Here's a few of mine

Hatfield .50 percussion

Jonathan Browning Mountain Rifle .50 (also have a matching .45 and a brass furniture .50)

Hatfield flintlock .50

Navy Arms .58 Buffalo Hunter

I guess I could be considered a traditional guy. I guess.

I own two front-stuffers. A CVA .50 cal. Mountain Rifle flint gun and an entirely handmade (I do think the barrel is store-bought) .50 cal. side-slapper percussion gun.

The catch is, Ive not fired either one of them yet.

Bought the CVA after the postal service destroyed the toe of the stock (and refused to pay the insurance claim) when shipping it to my sister. I just had a custom gun builder fix it and got it back a week or so ago.

The mule-ear gun is something I just happened upon. One of my old buddies was a very respected custom gun builder in these parts. I was never able to afford one of his guns when he was building them. He passed in 1997 with me never having a gun built by him. Well......the guy who repaired the CVA stock put me on to one of my late buddies' rifles and I ended up with it last week as well.

So, although not even, technically, experienced enough to be "new" to muzzleloading....... I must be a traditional guy.

Just placed an order with Larry Zornes of the Mold and Gun Shop in Ohio for a French fusil Ordinaire trade gun. 20 ga. 42" oct/round tapered barrel.

I have a Renegade Hunter in 54. and used to hunt with a CVA Mountain Rifle in .50 That was a tack driver and killed a few deer.
Inlines are no more than centerfires that load from the wrong end with plastic stocks. They remind me of why I don't watch many hunting shows. Pensylvania has it right. Flinters only for muzzleloader season. NY is too greedt to "see the light".
Guess I'm just an old curmudgeon!!

Qtip

Nice guns Captchee!!

real nice rifle hoyt. love the engraving on the stock.

He he he . . . I'll be 60 this year and bought a CVA .50 cal Mountain Rifle kit in 1977. Still have it and it still kills deer. I'll have to take some pics of my traditional black powder toys.

Funny thing, when I was just a youngster (7-8 years old) I used to read everything I could get my hands on about Daniel Boone, Davy Crocket, Jim Bridger and Kit Carson. My folks got me a toy Kentucky Long rifle that shot cork balls from a green "sticky" cap. Remember those anyone? I would take that little rifle to the woods and explore the creeks and streams, always on the lookout for Indians.

You're an active reenactment guy, right Swampy?

I use them around.

Tundragriz, what rear sight is that? Hard to tell from the pics if it is side mounted or to the tang. I just bought a T/C hunting peep sight which mounts to the tang for my Deerstalker. I need to D&T one screw hole for it to work though.

It looks like the Lyman peep sight I have on my Great Plains Rifle. They are good sights for us older guys who have to wear bi-focals.

Yeah its a lyman gph with the #57 sight, highly recommend it.

Thanks guys. That's what I thought it was. Unfortunately, Lyman doesn't make one for their Lefty Flintlocks, so I had to go with the T/C tang mounted one for my Lyman Deerstalker. I'm thinking it will improve my accuracy a good bit over the forward mounted wing sight.

TC Hunting Sight for Hawkins and Renegade

You did what I never had the guts to do...........Install a recoil pad.

been wanting to mount one of those sights on my mz.