New Traditions Youth Inline with Round Ball Barrel

[arcticap]

Traditions has finally made an inline with a round ball barrel.
It appears that it's a model that's specially made for 4-H and YHEC youth competition.
I personally haven't seen a new regular production youth model PRB muzzle loader offered in about 20 years,
and that was also a Traditions that I taught my oldest son how to muzzle load with.

The fact that an adult stock is offered for it means that now there's a new rifle that can get passed down within a family
for the next generation of ML shooters.
I sent my youth model to a father in Texas for his little girl to learn to shoot with and enjoy.
She was so excited about getting her own rifle that she sent me a snack in the mail as a gift along with a card.
That memory still puts a big smile on my face.
Traditions really deserves some applause for a job well done to help keep muzzle loading alive!

 

[Eyrie G. Dogg]

Inlines, geez.

 

[WestKentucky]

Inlines, geez.

At least it resembles a traditional break open single shot. If they had just put wood on it...

After further thinking, it’s probably better that they went plastic. Nothing to screw up by getting it wet whencleaning.

 

[Eyrie G. Dogg]

Yes, that's true and wood can be a real improvement but it's still the "ei" word.

 

[arcticap]

It has a 1 in 48" twist, and it also teaches kids how to use either peep or open sights.
The action and 209 ignition is not as important as learning how to shoot with PRB's and loading their own powder.
And the kids can even hunt deer with it.
The ignition is obviously stronger and less finicky about which powders can be used than with a sidelock.
And it's not like revolvers aren't a form of an inline ignition.
Having a removable breech plug can also provide some advantages.

 

[HB]

It has been many years since my YHEC days but inlines are basically the only option unless your dad was a black powder fanatic.

They are significantly cheaper, easier to maintain, and have better sights than most any tradtional rifle.

For most, this is the first muzzle loader in the house.

If you have bias against these, its a disservice to the sport.

I shot a CVA optima with 50gr powder and lead oistol bullet in a sabot. I came from a non gun family. If i were required to shoot an $800 caplock, Id likely never have touched a muzzleloader.

If these guns have a proper twist rate they will provide a great base to learn the basics in a cheap and easy to clean process. Ill never forget cleaning my CVA in a hotel shower at age 10 at the state matches.

 

[Eyrie G. Dogg]

.
If you have bias against these, its a disservice to the sport.

.

Disrespectful, too.

 

[Malachi Leviticus Blue]

Inlines, geez.

It's a shooting sports rifle designed for youth shooting sports. They typically shoot inlines.

Approved for National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association and State Muzzleoader Association Competitions.

 

[troy fairweather]

say what u will about traditions or a in lines never had any problems with ether they did a good thing here making a gun for kids

 

[Loyalist Dave]

and have better sights than most any tradtional rifle.

I suppose that depends on what you mean by "better"? OR you haven't seen most of the traditional rifles these days...let alone when more options were in production than today. Perhaps you find fiber optic style sights "better", or perhaps they are better for your eyes, but....,

I have found that the while the modern sights provided on many of the inlines gather light a bit better than iron sights, they are coarser than many iron sights found on factory traditional rifles, resulting in one gaining less accuracy from the inline barrel than the barrel and the shooter are actually capable, and until recently one had to have optics on the inline to get its full potential.

Further, the use of a thin, silver, front sight post damatically improves factory iron sights on traditional rifles such as the CVA plains rifles, the TC traditional rifles, and the Lyman, as well as a host of others, not to mention the traiditional rifles that are not factory made have much more precise sights than you find on factory rifles that don't sport adjustable peep sights. And that silver front sight post is much more precise that what you find on most of the rifles in the inline family, and gathers light in the early morning or twilight, costing much less than optics or upgraded, after market iron sights on an inline. Recently the sights on inlines have improved, but from my viewpoint not where the above opinion is valid..., unless we're talking about a person whose vision in low light is challenged.

LD

 

[HB]

It depends on the model. Some inlines have horribly large fiber optics just as some sidelocks have fixed buckhorns.

 

[arcticap]

You have a point Loyalist Dave.
But many TC sidelocks have a type of large bead front hunting sight that is too coarse for target work and also leaves a lot to be desired even for hunting.
Fiber optic sights may have some benefits that those who don't use them aren't aware of to where it becomes a personal preference that a parent is free to change.
That can mean that installing the fiber optics have nothing to do with being low light challenged, but rather a matter of being part of a gun package with multiple purposes.
All things being equal, the fiber optic rear dots may provide better reference points for elevation when kids are aligning & focusing the rear & front sights with the target.
I would prefer to see how the young competitors rate the various sights and their scores before making any conclusions.

 

[paul harm]

I started MLing in 1970 and there were no inlines. Back then anyone getting in to MLing was doing it because they liked doing things the way they were done a hundred years before. We also built our accessories and clothing, and went to rendezvous or matches. Now it seems like most guys get a MLer just to hunt another season, the history of the gun means nothing. Inlines, which I'd never use because my hammer guns do just fine, don't bother me if someone else choses to use one. I just feel a bit sad because so many are missing out on a fine sport with the old time style of equipment. Some of say " if it wasn't for a inline they'd never get into MLing." JMHO, they never really got into MLing, just hunting with a modern frontstuffer. 95% of them won't get any deeper into MLing.

 

[arcticap]

We can't stop the march of time any more than when we progressed from the matchlock era to the flintlock era.
The important thing is that the kids can learn to love it and become proficient enough to make their own choices after they're old enough.
Starting out as PRB shooters may help to give them a distinct preference, or at least an appreciation for the traditional percussion guns.
It's not like anyone can twist their arms after they become adults.

 

[Malachi Leviticus Blue]

Our modern day view of history and what is historically correct is often clouded.
Inline actions have been around a lot longer than some realize.

Pauley invented and patented the first in-line action for a muzzleloader in 1808 in which the sidelock was replaced by a cylindrical hammer driven by a coil spring.
He and his apprentices (most notably Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse) improved upon his design from there which eventually lead to the famous inline Prussian Dreyse Needle Gun which was the main Prussian infantry rifle adopted in 1841.

 

[arcticap]

I spoke with Traditions and this model seems to only be available from http://www.muzzleloadershop.com/ in Arkansas as they had put in a special order for it.
It's the Buckstalker model #R72008540 with a youth stock.
Parts such as the adult buttstock would be available from Traditions.

 

[Eyrie G. Dogg]

During 'black powder season' in the various States do most black powder shooters use inlines or traditional long arms?

 

[ThomasT]

During 'black powder season' in the various States do most black powder shooters use inlines or traditional long arms?

I can't answer that question. But some of the states have changed the regs so that you can no longer use scopes. And some states are smooth bore flintlock only. And of course there is a "cheapie" FL rifle made some you can hunt those seasons.

I know inlines are not a brand new idea. But when early or late ML seasons were started hunters wanted to take advantage of those. But they didn't really want to learn a new skill set and learn how shoot a patched lead ball sent down range by a cap or a sparking rock. So new guns came out to make it easy.

Just drop a pellet or two or three down the bore. Slide in a saboted bullet with a plastic base and then look through the 3x9 scope mounted on top of the stainless steel barrel set off by a shotgun primer. This way those who wanted all the perks without the work got to hunt. And then they lost interest in BP guns because there was no challenge. But you still had to find the game. No one has figured out how to take the challenge out of that yet. But I suspect they are working on it.

If you are going to use a round ball shooter like the OP listed why not just get an inexpensive sidelock and do the same thing? And go the extra step or two and learn the whole skill set? Is it really that much harder? Used BP rifles can be bought for just a couple of hundred bucks off GB. I just bought an unfired Renegade for $221 including shipping. And I believe quality wise its a much better gun than that. And making it a little shorter wouldn't be that hard to do.

But on the other hand if it gets someone interested in black powder then it’s not a bad thing either.