# Muzzle loader?



## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

45,50, or 54cal?
Side lock or inline?
In side lock, flint or percussion.

PRB, conical or sabots& bullets?

American or imported?

 Al


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## Ed Norman (Jun 8, 2002)

It's up to you. I don't know what you are hunting or shooting.

I have many, from homemade 58 cal 209 inlines with modern actions to primitives. When I go hunting with one, my very favorite is a Lyman Great Plains 54 flintlock. It has a good hard frizzen and is very dependable, is accurate, and shoots a round ball to go through the animal. 

I always wanted a 32 rifle for ground squirrels, never got around to it. I think I would take a flintlock action for it, too, so I could shoot all day without running out of caps. A handful of buckshot and patch, and a flask of FFFg for priming and loading would be a cheap date.


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## beowoulf90 (Jan 13, 2004)

That is all a matter of personal preferences..

I'm a tradionalist when it comes to muzzleloaders.
I prefer mine to be made with a wood stock and either a flintlock or percussion with the tradional furniture on it. 
I'm not a fan of the in-lines and the synthetic stocks, but that isn't because they are bad, it is only because of personal preference.
As to ammo I still use patched round balls, but again it isn't because the others are bad... 

So the answer is;
What ever "trips your trigger" is the best!


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

what do you want to do with it , go to re-enactments , or extend your hunting season by a week

i would say 50 just because the most stuff is available for them and it is easier to find.


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## beowoulf90 (Jan 13, 2004)

GREENCOUNTYPETE said:


> what do you want to do with it , go to re-enactments , or extend your hunting season by a week
> 
> i would say 50 just because the most stuff is available for them and it is easier to find.


I've found around here it is easier to find the .45's and the 54's.. But that might be because that is what I'm always looking for since I have 2-.45's and 1-54..

Now with re-enactment, traditional is the only way to go... For them, I have a 1860 Henry and of course my 1861 Springfield in 58 cal.
But I don't get to use them much anymore since I'm the captain of the company and am to busy yelling commands..


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## hunter63 (Jan 4, 2005)

I prefer traditional, hunt with a .50 T/C Hawken that shoots better than I do.
Had a .45 T/C and a .54 Lymans Plains, gave them to my DD and SIL.

I do have a .50 barrel for my H&R single shot, shoots sabots pretty well.
That barrel is an in-line w/209 shotgun primers.

Some states require traditional and others allow in-lines and even 45/70's as well as other "Old time cartridges"
Still looking for a T/C .50 Hawken flinter.
Some day I find a good deal.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Just for deer hunting and messing around with friends, shooting.

1976 Christmas presant T/C kit Hawkins 50 cal. 75gr. powder & PRB. 










Eyes got old so I couldn't shoot it very well with the open sights. I put a peep sight on it about 4 years ago so I can have fun again.










When I couldn't shot the Hawkins very good with my eyes I bought a T/C Plains rifle in 1992.
I mounted a T/C quick release scope mount on it with a old Weaver K4 I bought for 5.00 at a yard sale.
It shoots PRB OK with 80gr of powder but does better with a green MMP sabot and a Speer 300gr. gold dot bullet.



















I love Remington 700 rifles and have about 8. When they came out with the ML I had to have one. 1999 I bought a 700 54 cal as that is all they had at the time.
I put a Bushnell Trophy scope on it. It shoots just about any thing you stuff down the bore very well. But for hunting I use 100gr.T7 a MMP purple 54 cal sabot and a Speer 50cal 300gr. hollow point gold dot. Switched it over to the Canadian 209 kit.
It is all I have hunted with the last 4 years.
Problem I had was it is a 54cal and the same stuff is hard to find here year after year. Seemed like every deer season I had to get a different kind of sabot and work up a load. That has been fixed since I bulk order the sabots from MMP.










I was tired of not being able to get 54cal componets the same year after year so when a used 50cal Remington hit the shelf at our local gun shop I bought it.
It had a Bushnell dush to dawn scope 2 x 7 on it which drove me crazy with it's view. I bought a Bushnell 3x9 Trophy for it the second year I owned it. Still set upfor #11 caps.

It also shoots about any thing very well you stuff down the bore but I like the MMP green sabots Speer 300gr. gold dots or 250gr hornaday HP XTP's










The triggers adjust on the 700's just like the center fires too.










 Al


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## hunter63 (Jan 4, 2005)

Nice, seems ya got it pretty well covered.......
Now if could find a .50 T/C Hawken flinter.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Thanks for the nice comment.
I guess i didn't ask the questions right as it seems every one felt I was looking to buy a ML.

 Al


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## WildBillTN (Feb 1, 2006)

I've got the same rifle that I made from a kit in 1979. It is a sweet-shooting rifle and has killed a lot of deer over the years. Like you, my eyes are going bad and I have trouble with the open sights.

I bought an inline .50 cal this year and added a scope. I still use the sidelock, but the reliable ignition of the inline is great. I have also lost some deer from misfires from moisture and/or bad caps.


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## hunter63 (Jan 4, 2005)

alleyyooper said:


> Thanks for the nice comment.
> I guess i didn't ask the questions right as it seems every one felt I was looking to buy a ML.
> 
> Al


LOL I think y'all just wanted to brag a little......
I guess I never considered the adjustable trigger on the Remington, nice feature.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Not not really wanting to brag. If that were the case Just post the pictures and add some thing like here is mine show me yours.

 Al


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## poorboy (Apr 15, 2006)

Coupla .32 gap guns, a fifty cap,a coupla 45 cappers, an inline 45, i think that covers it...


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## hunter63 (Jan 4, 2005)

AY, found this on another forum.
Is that the same trigger group on your in-line?
http://www.setexasrecord.com/news/2...gainst-gun-manufacturer-for-defective-trigger


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

I can assume it is the same trigger. *I myself wouldn't put much stock in a lawsuit like that in this day and age. *So maybe the rifle really did fire when the saftey was released. That is one rifle. I have 8 700's, and a model 7 with the same trigger and none have ever fired with out the trigger being pulled with the saftey off. I bought my first 700 in 243 used in 1973, the second a brand new one in 308, in 1975. The last centerfires new 700 mountian rifle in 7mm08 and a Model 7 in 7MM08 in 1997. the last Muzzle loader in 2005 used. I used to shot more than I do now but even today I still reload a couple thousand rounds each year for the 3 above calibers. Of course I have really cut back on the shooting since large rifle primers are so hard to get.

Should every one stop buying Fords cause a few have caught fire from cruse control switches?

 Al


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## hunter63 (Jan 4, 2005)

alleyyooper said:


> I can assume it is the same trigger. *I myself wouldn't put much stock in a lawsuit like that in this day and age. *So maybe the rifle really did fire when the saftey was released. That is one rifle. I have 8 700's, and a model 7 with the same trigger and none have ever fired with out the trigger being pulled with the saftey off. I bought my first 700 in 243 used in 1973, the second a brand new one in 308, in 1975. The last centerfires new 700 mountian rifle in 7mm08 and a Model 7 in 7MM08 in 1997. the last Muzzle loader in 2005 used. I used to shot more than I do now but even today I still reload a couple thousand rounds each year for the 3 above calibers. Of course I have really cut back on the shooting since large rifle primers are so hard to get.
> 
> Should every one stop buying Fords cause a few have caught fire from cruse control switches?
> 
> Al


It was just a FYI, I'm not getting rid of my /270 or the Weatherby (Rem 700 action) either.
No need to get all defensive and all.
Have a nice day.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Not trying to be defensive, just trying to remind that today people are sue crazy.
Also trying to point out that I have never had a problem with the ones I have, like probably thousands of others.

 Al


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## Haggis (Mar 11, 2004)

I've had and shot nigh everything from .32 percussion rifles to .62 smooth bore tradeguns; I've never owned, wanted to own, or fired a "modern" muzzleloader. I shoot patched round balls; again, I've never shot any other sort through my muzzleloaders. (I've owned and shot muzzleloaders for around forty years now, and have a closet full of them. Over the years I've had fancy bench made custom rifles, and some of the cheap-O CVA kits, but have come to believe that a working "gun" doesn't need to be "pretty" unless one intends to show it off. I don't have a curly maple handle on my hammer, it does just fine without one, and I don't have to worry about my "investment".)

If it came down to one sort of "traditional" muzzleloader, I'd go with a .62 or larger smooth bore flinter, and for the same reasons I'd opt for a "modern" shotgun if I could have only one modern gun; smooth bores are simple more versatile.

(I don't consider "modern" muzzleloaders and "traditional" muzzleloaders to be anything more than remotely related, and for the same reasons I see compound bows to be a world away from the "true archery" of long bows, recurve bows, and the so called, "self-bows.)


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## backwoodsman (Jan 21, 2010)

I love muzzleloaders. Ive shot everything from .22 to .76 muskets. Im a traditionalist and hunt with a handmade .50 penn/kentucky poor boy sidelock(percussion). I still own inlines but unless the weather is horrible I use the penn/kentucky or a flinter. My pet load for the penn/kentucky now is 70 gr.777 with a patched roundball. This rifle shoots better then I can. Im planning on building a few more too. I like the looks of the old "blanket guns" too.


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## backwoodsman (Jan 21, 2010)

Nice frontstuffer! If you ever try a flinter you may have trouble going back to percussion. I like both ignition systems but I lean toward the flinters. I can make a flinter go boom without anything from a store and I like that. Good luck in your search.


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