Question for you guys??

[Fly]

Just what is it that draws us to shooting black powder.I guess for me it is the history
behind it.I love the civil war, & before that.The ole west.I can not get enough westerns
Like Tomestone, Open Range,& my favorite of all times Lonesome Dove.


Your thoughts my friends?
Fly:coffee:

[Kevinakaq]

My father got me into shooting muzzle loaders around 1988 (i was 16) and I never looked back. He put together several T/C kits and I followed suit and did one of my own. As the years past he carved a few stocks and built some custom rifles as well that I still occassionally shoot. Though he is still around he doesnt hunt much anymore due to his health. Each time the smoke surrounds me I remember the days of yesterday with my father and how I admired him as only a son can.

[bubba.50]

I grew up in the 1950's-the golden age of the tv western. you could watch one or more every night. Palidin, Rowdy Yates, Marshall Matt & Chester, the Cartwrights, Johnny Yuma, the Bounty Hunter, Wyatt, Roy Gene & who knows how many more. the first movie I can remember goin' to was Davy Crocket at the Alamo. and I loved readin' about Davy, Dan'l, Jim Bridger, Kit Carson, Hugh Glass & numerous others & loved the guns they used. then, when T/C came out with their kits in the '70's & I bought my first Renegade kit I was hooked. and after 3 or 4 decades of foolin' with those my interest all of a sudden has switched to repros of the open-top colt's. took one on a trade couple months ago, now have 3 & lookin' at a couple more. kinda like drugs but ya don't really need a 12-step program or a cure. have a good'en, bubba.

[Fly]

That is COOL!I lost my dad at age 12, but before that he introduced me to hunting.
But I,m getting old now.I guess it was the Davy Crocket, The Alamo & those flicks
that drew me into this great hobby.
Fly

[Kevinakaq]

I was always partial to Fess Parker playing Daniel Boone. Didnt hurt that ALL my family, with the exception of me, was born in 'the dark and bloody ground' of Cantuckee. Never did get my coon skin cap (and boy did i want one) even though I trapped quite a few in the Florida swamps using steel and some homemade box traps...

[mannyCA]

I love the "push" of blackpowder vs the "snap" of smokeless. Know what I mean?

[OverMax]

In the mid 80s I gave up hunting modern rifle deer season altogether as it was too easy to harvest a deer with that 270 I have. So I decided to get me-self a Browning Mirage #70 lb bow. _4" overdraw 2213s carbon inserts, feathers, and a NAP 100-gr. chest cutter. Mongoose 2-pin site set to hit a paper plate all the way out to 60 yards . Wooo!! what a fast bow._Hunted with that for a few seasons came to the same conclusion as I did with the 270._ "Just to easy to kill with it."_ So I hung the bow on the wall under the 270. Only one thing left to try. At the behest of a co-worker & friend I bought (5)-T/C traditional rifles in one fell swoop from Fox Ridge Outfitter's. 50 Hawken flint, 45cal percussion Hawken, 54cal P-Hawken, 54 P-White Mtn Carbine and a 58 cal percussion Big Bore Renegade. Enjoyed hunting those B/P only years. Only once did I get skunked. Well that situation won't happen again. Following that skunked year (2012) the 270 came out of its retirement in 2013. Using the 270 for a couple years now besides one or the other Hawken's also. Honestly I like B/p deer season much more than any other State deer season I could hunt or be offered. Snow, cold, quiet & peaceful. Deer are up and moving around again. And of coarse those poor baby noisy rookie's are all tied out from hunting warm weathered modern rifle 2-weekends before B/P season opening.__"Hallelujah!!"__ Not me. I got better things to pro sue. You'll find me on the scout in those woods of mine again look'en for that big boss buck or one his sweethearts while cradling that 45-cal Hawken of mine. Yup!! You-bet-cha.

[johnson1942]

shooting a very very accurate powerful gun that i dont have to load brass for. also the fact that i built the gun i shoot. also very very few other hunters in my area out their when i hunt. independence.

[doc1876]

When I was young, I was also infatuated with the west. It did not help that I was living in Wyoming at the time. As time progressed, at about 14, I discovered Civil War reenacting. Black powder in the morning was a fragrance I just have never been able to live without. my feet get to tapping at the sounds of the fife and drums, it is just impossible to explain. I think if I ever grow up, I still want to be a cowboy.

[Freeloader]

Well besides shooting BP pistols and rifles with my late father, I feel it runs along with cooking with cast iron or sharpening a good knife on a stone. I just has that feel. The less technology is involved, the more the person is.
I also like to be able to adjust my charge and change ammo whenever I like. Try that with centerfire ammo at the range.

[mac266]

I love the civil war, & before that.The ole west.
Fly:coffee:

Hey pard, you know the old west came AFTER the Civil War, right???

[idahoron]

When I was a kid my dad bought me a colonial pistol kit. Then I got a CVA Hawken and I shot them both for years. I slacked off for a long time and then got a inline. Then Idaho made the inline illegal and I sit out again. Then I decided if I can't beat them join them. I got the idea to make a "far speaker" after reading a story about the Whitworth rifle. I made my first Hot Rod Renegade to hunt special limited tag hunts. So my short story long is I hunt with black powder for the chance at trophy animals. I shoot them because they are more fun than a centerfire. Ron

[Fly]

Hey pard, you know the old west came AFTER the Civil War, right???
Mac I told you I was old(wink)
Fly

[Freeloader]

Hey pard, you know the old west came AFTER the Civil War, right???
It did? Even the "49ers" were headed to the old west in 1849.

[Col4570]

Yesterday Sunday 17th August,at the Range shooting my Pedersoli Sharps 45.70 silhouette Rifle at 300 Yards.Absolute enjoyment,there is something about those big old Rifles that continues to command my attention.65 grains of 3f and a Postel bullet at that range are just right for my rifle.Some shots in the black and some fliers.Opened my aperture sight hole a bit to get a better view since last time at 500 yards with the targets in the shade of Trees the aperture was too small to get a good sighting. the opening is an improvement.These little tweaks add to the enjoyment of Black Powder shooting.

[JWT]

Black powder reminds me of shooting with my Dad when I was a kid. He was also into steam engines. To this day I love the smell of black powder and coal smoke.

[waksupi]

It did? Even the "49ers" were headed to the old west in 1849.

I've got to agree. Post Civil War was the tail end of the old west.

[pietro]

.

I first got into blackpowder/muzzleloader shooting as a way to extend my deer hunting season, when my state added a month-long muzzloader season to the existing 6mos archery & 7 day shotgun (only) seasons.

When I started, in the late 60's, I used the available sidehammer frontstuffers - but soon changed to a new gun often, as soon as newer/better technology was available (Pyrodex, inlines, powder pellets, sabots, removeable breechplugs, etc).

Since I retired 10 years ago, though, I've come to appreciate the old ways, and have sold all my modern muzzleloaders in favor of sidehammer guns (both cap & rock locks, and underhammers) - and have also ditched the BP substitutes in favor of Holy Black (usually FFFg) for all my BP guns.


.

[mooman76]

I can't say it was passed down to me but remember my uncle and cousin showing us their new MLs they got for a new hunting season years ago. I picked up a BP pistol when I was in the military. Too young to buy a modern one. Sot it for awhile and got rid of it due to funds. Many years later I P/U a rifle for and extra hunting season. Then I found out about a ML club in town and started going. I really enjoyed the comradery. You can't really talk that much while shooting modern weapons. I also liked shooting the creative targets they come up with. For me it's mostly the simplicity and getting together with friends. The historical point is just a bonus.

[Omnivore]

I hunt muzzleloader season because it allows the harvesting of just about any deer (three point minimum or antlerless) and because there are fewer people out during that season. It does NOT "extend" the season here - you get one regular deer tag per year, and you choose which season to hunt. If you choose modern season and you fail to fill your tag, too bad for you. Your one tag states the season on it.

I think that's what got me into it (increasing my chances of tagging meat for the freezer), but it expanded I think out of the desire to to something "different" and challenging and get good at it. As kids we somehow ended up with a tendency to eschew high-tech and see what we could do without. We'd go on days-long pack backing trips in winter with no flashlights for example. Crazy kids, but some of that stuck I guess.

Also there is satisfaction in learning how things were done "back then". It's not real serious, but I keep a vegetable garden, do home canning, make beer, keep some prune trees and berry bushes, make ice cream, cast my own bullets, my wife grinds her own flour from locally-grown grain, we make our own cider and whatnot. Add a little acreage and a some livestock, and a family could live well that way.

Freeloader's comment; "The less technology is involved, the more the person is" rings true. I do like technology (this computer here for example) but it is also important to understand where, ultimately, your meals are coming from to some extent. "Feet in the ground, head in the sky".

My interest in 19th century firearms is connected to all that and to America's more exuberant days (both the good and the bad), plus I'm a designer in a modern firearms related business, and it helps me to understand how we got from then to now, and what "matters" and what doesn't.

[Hanshi]

I love 'em, too.

[ogre]

Well, for me I am drawn to the sport because it is just, plain, fun to do. I find that the historical aspect and the fellowship of like minded shooters and hunters to be icing on the cake.

[Hatiwolf]

For me its the love of shooting. I grew up in the city with strong roots back to my dads hometown to stay at my grandparents house and work on our property. I think with my inquisitive attitude and my grandpa being a tinkerer he was always happy with my presence much more than the other grandchildren. The man was in his 70s and still had his own welding shop and had a special love for old 1 hp engines. I spent a lot of time in his shop while visiting sharing his interests ... the wonders of how the simple things of old worked so well and seemed to last forever. When i started getting my first "cool" new guns, he never insulted them but was sure to get a smile when my new stuff would quickly develop problems and give an offer to use his things with no insult. Its probably not hard to understand why i find my '51 336 and '53 39a to be some of my favorite rifles to shoot but my heart is owned by all revolvers ... and that cloud of smoke just adds to the joy I get when I pull the trigger of my replicas. Why ask me why I find the old bp cool ... people at the range think my odd newer revolvers are "wow" but they want to shoot the black powder pistols again! Funny thing they always think at first they are originals and comment about how things were made just so much better back then. I wont fill them in on the bad points of the bp models but I do have to let them know they are only cheap replicas. Hey though ... a shy pretty girl makes me happy too and I dont question it.

[doc1876]

I kind of liked this question, so I thought that if I bumped it, maybe there would be some other inputs (???)

[rking22]

Well. I love the way a nice long rifle handles and the smell of black powder smoke. The simplicity and tradition appeal probably beyond anything else. I've always enjoyed doing things the hard way, and practicing traditional skills. My flint gun fits in just fine with the long bow and if I'm hunting centerfire it's with an old rifle my Grand Dad could have had. My knives are carbon steel or damascus with natural handles and leather sheath. All the time ,not just for a weekend experience. I spend my work days in the hi teck modern world. The smell of woodsmoke and black powder on a crisp morning in the squirrel woods makes those long workdays more distant. Building a rifle or forging a blade is a real connection to a simlper world and then to use those items to collect supper is iceing on the cake. I was shooting them before we had a special season, and had an inline once way back. The inline completely missed the point for me and I sold it within the year. I really don't need the "historically correct" but I want the spirit of the old times. Also enjoy learning how things really worked for the ansestors.
I guess simpliciy and efficient fuctionality in a pleasing form sums it up for me. A Virginia rifle is infinantly more ergonomic than any modern sporting rifle :)

[johnson1942]

we had french fur traders and trappers around here before they even thought of the civil war. rking22, i really enjoyed reading your post. very well written and meaningful.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

For me, it's just been the Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns. Loved those things when I was a kid. Buddy of mine would go every saturday to the movies when a new one came out. It was a shame when they started with the dirty harry and other movies for us. We preferred the Westerns.