New to black powder

[asnider123]

Hi, new member here, name's Alan and I live in Indian Territory (Oklahoma). I have a few friends who shoot black powder and it has fascinated me, but went to the gun show over the weekend and there seems to be a couple of trains of thought on the subject. Some like the percussion-type rifles with hammers, others prefer the 'modern' black powder units. Guess there's plusses and minusses to each.

I am thinking of trying out the sport, don't want to invest too much in the beginning. Any suggestions on a starter rifle for the beginner? Sportsman's Guide has rifles from $109 up to the sky's the limit.

Also, they were telling me that some people use loose powder, others use something in pellet form. Pretty cool, lots of options.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Alan

 

[Pancho]

Alan, Welcome to the forum.
You are right, there are two ways to get into muzzleloading sidelock and inline. The first thing I'd do is read the stickie at the beginning of this forum. There is a lot of good info there.
My personal preference would be to start with a sidelock and when and if the bug bites you try a inline. Some people that start with an inline won't give the sidelocks a chance and miss the beauty of shooting like our forbearers.

 

[DixieTexian]

Try getting a cap-n-ball revolver, too. Those are easily the coolest!

 

[Wildfire]

Loose powder.

Hey there:
Have fun with what ever you decide on. I can say this loose powder is the best choice for accuracy. You can adjust your load to what that gun likes.
Pellets are just pellets . They can be hard to ignite in some guns and your loading charges are limited to the pellet size.

 

[arcticap]

If you don't want to spend too much $, the sidelocks allow for shooting cheaper and easier loading patched round balls, and #11 percussion caps.
You don't need to shoot with heavy powder charges (more $) and buy more expensive bullets and sabots for general shooting fun, so you can have more range time for less money and loading hassles.
The exception is if you live in a place where you need to shoot at longer open ranges to hunt deer, like beyond 70 yards or so. Then the inlines are more effective long range deer killers. But you won't be target plinking as much without incurring additional costs. The inlines have a somewhat more reliable ignition for hunting too, but they do require much more cleaning between shots just to be able to load them.

This outfit has some of the most affordable prices for sidelocks and economy inlines:

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/

The Traditions Deerhunter Synthetic stock percussion is about $162, and with a hardwood stock it's $199.
Then there's the cost of shooting accessories and powder, I'm guessing at least another $50, maybe a little more.
You can also shoot saboted bullets with the Deerhunter, but 100 yards is pretty much the absolute maximum even with practice and some luck! Plus it's drilled & tapped for scope mounting.

The Traditions Yukon is reportedly a good economical starter rifle for an inline.

 

[scrat]

your in trouble mmmmmm.


they warned me. so now i am warning you.

its very very addicting. read the stickes on the top. very imformative. Black powder 101 is very good.

i started off cheap too. was not to sure on it or if i was really going to like it. Well in less than 40 days i went from purchasing a CVA Buckhorn 50 cal rifle from cabelas. to having 3 black powder revolvers and a cva buckhorn. they are really fun and draw a lot of attention. Start off small like i did. check out cabelas they seem to have the best prices and a very reasonable shipping. i bought my rifle for i think 109 plus i got the starter kit and with shipping it was like 140.00. I have put a lot of rounds through that rifle. i even cast my own bullets for it. on the handguns i went to cabelas too. i started off with a pietta 1851 confederate i think it runs for 139. i got the starter kit too on that. well one week later im buying and 1860 army. Then last week i picked up a Uberti Walker. it gets really addicting. Its really fun.

 

[Pancho]

We've watched Scrat tumble into the abyss of the muzzleloading bliss and have smiled remembering our own fall with no regrets. At first you will smell the smoke and wonder who farted but later you will miss the fragrance of eggs if you touch off triple seven.

 

[scrat]

yep and now im still contemplating either another rifle or another handgun. choices choices. Any how they all warned me and they were all right. in less than i dont know 40 days i have purchased 3 handguns and 1 rifle.