Gentlemen,
I have been reading this thread for a while now and have been wrestling with the best way to put my thoughts into words.
I don't think that traditional muzzle loading is dying out, but rather that it
has become buried under a mass of in-lines. You have to just dig a bit more to find it.
In-lines could be a subject for a study in a marketing class. You had the muzzle loading seasons set up in a lot of the states, you had the insurance company's wanting to thin out or eliminate the deer herds and you had a lot of hunters that wanted to extend thier hunting seasons. Everything was set in place. Along comes the in-line rifle with the manufacturers promise's, sounding a lot like a new politician campaigning for office.
" It's easier to clean. " It has a stainless steel barrel so it will not rust." " This rifle has the power of a 7mm Reminton Magnun." " It will always go off with this hotter priming system. " ......and it go's on and on. It worked, they sold them by the million.
I think the problem is that we see so many guy's going into muzzle loading but yet we forget that they are hunters only. They do not have an interest in the history or in what was traditional, they just want it made ( or perceived ) as being as simple as possible and want a muzzle loading rifle to extend thier hunting season.
They also want a muzzle loader made as much the same as the modern rifle that they are more familiar with. That appeals to them. If it is a bolt action and has a side safety instead of a half cock notch they understand it.
I also think that most of these fellows are not going to be showing up on a message board like this one. Most want it all done for them, rather than doing it for themselves.
Again most of these guys don't shoot thier in-lines a lot either. Pelletized powders and saboted bullets are expensive to buy and the rifles are so light that it makes the recoil severe. The in-lines are more expensive to shoot and not as much fun to shoot.
Now if you have read all of this you might think I am knocking the in-lines or the hunters, but I am really not. When a guy shows up at my local range with his in-line and if he shows any interest in the side hammer rifle that I am shooting, I will take the time to explain it to him, load it for him, and give him a few shots. I have managed to get a few to convert over to the dark side by doing this , but it is tough. Most of the local gun shops don't even carry side hammer rifles or the supplies needed to shoot them anymore, so it is not just a simple transition in going from one to the other. You first have to get past all of the manufacturers hype, not an easy thing to do.
I think the traditional muzzle loader may have faded just a little bit but it will not be going away any time soon so long as those of us that shoot the side hammers take the time to educate those that don't.
Just my thoughts ...... Pete