Let's talk about modern inline muzzleloaders

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Every time someone uses the term "modern" it makes me want to cringe. If you like aluminum, fiberglass, plastic and gadgets it may be for you but it is hard to accept if you like something that works and lasts. Yesterday my neighbor was shooting a new compound bow and it had more contraptions on it than I could count. I still shoot an old Martin recurve. Today I looked at one of the new long range precision rifle and it was loaded with lots of aluminum, fiberglass, gadgets and contraptions. My in-line muzzleloader was made about 1995 and I like it just fine. That would make it 20 years old and it wouldn't be considered "modern."
 
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i'm still old school as I shoot percussion rifles and pistols and are burning up my extra pryodex and going to all real bp! I just love goex its the one true powder! :) and now I am looking at building a flintlock rifle kit next and getting really old school so I don't know anything about the new fangled stuff! and I personally am stayin old school :)
 
My concern is that "Modern inlines" will lead to no BP season and restrictions in shipping for ALL BP guns.

The guns are just a get around for Modern Rifle hunters that want in on the BP season.

They are not popular around this section of THR though they do get discussed.

My neighbor uses one though he used to use a side hammer "Hawken" type.

-kBob
 
What are your opinion(s) and factual observations.
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Contrary to the claims put forth by some, inline muzzleloaders ain't .338 Lapua Magnum powerful; nor will they ruin blackpowder hunting. i like my inline muzzleloaders and my conventional muzzleloaders.
 
My mother always told me "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all" I still have trouble with this advice....but on this topic, I"ll keep my mouth shut.
 
OK, I may be the heretic here, but I never did much with BP.

I saw a CVA Wolf at the local Wally World for 75% off. At $70...well...I got it. Powder, measures, and supplies were 50% off so I got enough to keep me occupied for awhile.

Makes for a nice, slow day of shooting. It definitely got me more interested in BP in general, and got me looking for a more authentic piece of history.

Oh, and to set hunter's minds at rest, "primitive hunting" to me involves arrows. And no sights. With a bow almost like the one I had back in '83 when I started hunting.
 
What's the maximum effective range of inlines? Can they hit a man sized target at 500 yards? Almost all Civil War minie guns could.
 
I bought a modern inline muzzleloader for all-purpose hunting.

Though I aim to get it geared-up for a musket cap ignition which I'm told is better suited to Black Powder and 777, this rifle would not be useful even with a musket cap ignition for our Oregon muzzleloader hunting regulations due to being set-up on a platform designed for scope (open sights not an option). Which is fine by me.

I'm not familiar with all the various muzzleloader regulations from state to state.

In Oregons' muzzleloader tag-only hunts, off of the top of my head you cannot use a scope, cannot use a sealed ignition, cannot use a 209 primer, cannot use smokeless powder, cannot use pelletized powder, (used to be) cannot use any non-lead bullet, cannot use a boolit that exceeds 2X the caliber inlength (they just changed it this year to include the "non-toxic" crap), and cannot use a sabot.

The inlines are not loop-holing their way thru anything at all in my state......they have zero advantage over a sidelock here when it comes to muzzleloader-only season.

For MY overall hunting, I love the idea of using a modern muzzleloader with a scope, shooting a cast lead boolit in a sabot out to 150+yards. Glad we have the LIBERTY (earned with Flintlocks) to shoot what we enjoy here in the good ol' US of A.

If someone disagrees with what weapons are allowed for muzzleloader-only seasons in their state, I think they should work to get their game departments' regulations changed, rather than attempt doing-away with inlines all-together (which would be gun-grabbing plain and simple).
 
Every October since 1969 I have hunted deer for 9 days with a muzzleloading rifle. First it was a TC Hawken and since 1995 a White Super 91 inline. I have great respect for the rifles and they are great for what they do. I use only black powder and my effective range at a deer is about 120 yards, although the largest buck I have killed was at 165 yards. Remember that a buck is about 16 inches in height from the top of his back to the bottom of his chest. A large 370 grain maxi ball or 430 grain superslug drops really fast after 120 yards and if you mis-judge the distance by 10 yards you can completely miss the animal. If the slug is aimed for the center of the chest it only has to drop 8 inches to miss the animal. The civil war rifles may have hit at 400 yards but they broke a lot of arms and legs. Same goes for shooting deer with a muzzleloader at long range. In a 400 yard shot the slug may have bounced before it got to the target.
 
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Using a decent ballistic calculator, it is pretty easy to tell what the effective range is of any type of gun.

Punch in a .45caliber 300grainer with a BC of about .250 (you will have to manually insert the exact BC), going about 1900fps (using BlackHorn 209 BP substitute), and one will see just about the hottest the BP Substitute shooting inline has to offer.

http://www.handloads.com/calc/index.html
 
Totally traditional, I do have a T/C Hawken in the safe. But the 50 cal percussion, full stock Hawken I built goes deer hunting, and the 62 cal flinter a friend built me is for elk. My wife has a 62 cal smoothbore fowler, and I will get her a 54 percussion for elk this fall.

I have never shot Pyrodex in any of my BP rifles or guns, and have always shot round ball. Just the way I was taught, figure if I want to use bullets I'll take a trapdoor or highwall.

Not snooty or stuck up about it, just a nit-picker and former living history kinda guy, and I simply love the old ways. Hoping for a NM elk this year, first season we've been eligible to hunt here.
 
The inlines never appealed to me. Ever. If others use them, that's their business but they lack the historical aspects that attracted me in the first place. My gripe is that the inline gear has displaced traditional guns and accessories at some of the bigger chain stores.

Jeff
 
The inlines never appealed to me. Ever. If others use them, that's their business but they lack the historical aspects that attracted me in the first place. My gripe is that the inline gear has displaced traditional guns and accessories at some of the bigger chain stores.
amen bullrunbear!! I wish they would come back!!
 
midland man said:
The inlines never appealed to me. Ever. If others use them, that's their business but they lack the historical aspects that attracted me in the first place. My gripe is that the inline gear has displaced traditional guns and accessories at some of the bigger chain stores.
amen bullrunbear!! I wish they would come back!!
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I agree Midland and Bear.

At many of the stores that sell black powder items, it usually consists of Pyrodex pellets, ballistic tip sabot bullets, 209 shotgun primers, plastic bullet tubes and all kinds of doodads I don't even know what they're for. They usually have no traditional accessories, if you're lucky they might have some #11 caps but that's the exception. I have to go to Cabelas which is 2 hours away before I can find anything resembling traditional black powder guns or accessories.

I do understand that some are inline enthusiasts for the sake of being an inline enthusiast. I don't "get it", but also understand 99% of the people these guns are sold to aren't in it for the challenge or sport of real black powder shooting. They're in it so they can get another shot at harvesting a deer and they want to do it in as close a way as with a modern sporting rifle as possible. As somebody once said- inlines are muzzleloaders for people who don't like muzzleloaders.

But, this is America, and if it's how they want to do things, that's fine I suppose.
 
Cooldill Quote: "As somebody once said- inlines are muzzleloaders for people who don't like muzleloaders."

I really like what Cooldill said. For me the inline has three advantages. It's easier to clean, it has a recoil pad, and a scope can be mounted. I think the deal about the scope is what most traditional shooters don't like. If you use black powder with a heavy bullet the inline loads and shoots just like a Hawken.
 
When I could get out to hunt during the Holy Black season I used a Thompson Center Renegade (that I still have) in .54 cal. If I could get out to hunt now I might try my Pedersoli Springfield Rifle-Musket in .58 cal.
 
The modern inlines are all about selling to the cartridge gun shooters who want the extended ML deer season. And want something as close to a cartridge gun as possible.

Not my tastes at all, but it's supposed to be a free country. The annoying part is that traditional muzzleloaders get very short shirft...which makes raising resources for outfits like the U.S. International Team very hard.
 
My concern is that "Modern inlines" will lead to no BP season and restrictions in shipping for ALL BP guns.

The guns are just a get around for Modern Rifle hunters that want in on the BP season.
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As somebody once said- inlines are muzzleloaders for people who don't like muzzleloaders.
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Bingo!

They're gross. :evil:
 
One poster suggested going to the state lawmakers to change regulations you don't like. Good Luck!
How much sway do you have as an individual agains the companies that make inline muzzleloaders, cross bows, air powered arrow guns etc etc etc?
Anything to make killing easier is the goal. Not faster or more pleasant or more affordable, just easier.
 
I used to shoot up at least a keg of black a year, with help from my wife. Traditional cap and flint rifles, shotguns and handguns. I tried several inlines over the years, including a Lyman Bowling Friendship Special over under. As I age, now in my 70s, the scope thing helps but my eye doctor has kept me able to see the irons and my inlines are all gone and I'm back to traditionals. The longest shot we can see on our property is about 125 yards and the old 50 with a maxi over 110 grains of DuPont does just fine.
In the back of my mind I guess I kind of frown on bolt action, scoped guns, some shooting even smokeless in primitive seasons but don't get radical about it.
Kind of fun to run three or four doves in a row with my Navy Arms 12.
 
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