My First Muzzle Loader.....What Do I Need to Get Started?

[triggerhappy243]

Thanks to all who have taken the time to type some knowledge here.
I'm about 'this close' to buying a spectacular looking Thompson Center Renegade .54 Cal from a fella here at work for $150, including a handful of "bit and pieces". I'll be lurking looking for wisdom and taking some notes.
Thanks fellas!

if this 54 renegade has a clean bore...................... i would jump on that like a fat kid at a pizza party.

[Bob in St. Louis]

if this 54 renegade has a clean bore...................... i would jump on that like a fat kid at a pizza party.

What a coincidence... I'm a fat kid!
I was thinking it seemed like a good deal. Thanks for confirming that.
Might have to start a thread and show some sexy photos of the beast.

[Wildturkey]

When I started blackpowder shooting I had a difficult time loading my 54 as the ball seemed too tight going down the barrel. I tried different fabric thicknesses and even pounded the starter to get the ball to start. I eventually decided to drop the size of the ball from 54 to 53 coned the muzzle and start the ball by just pushing the patched ball down the barrel with my finger just to the inside then used my main rod to drive it home. The short starter then was optional and used only if I felt like it or was pressed for time during a trail walk.

[Garyshome]

Someone new to ML like me gets tired of everyone arguing about this and that. I will just read the instructions I got with the rifle and proceed from there.

[Kentucky146]

Ok World of Black Powder, well where to start to be honest is about opinionated and controversial, well as everyone makes it. I picked up a cheap starter CVA Buckhorn Magnum in 2013 in 2025 I own 11 different black powder rifles, pistols and revolvers. Not a single flintlock. Get out shoot, find what you like and run with it, Some folks love flintlocks I am not one of those. You do not know until you try......

[greyhawk]

Someone new to ML like me gets tired of everyone arguing about this and that. I will just read the instructions I got with the rifle and proceed from there.

smart!!

[greyhawk]

smart!!

If you could get a hold of Sam Fadala's "Blackpowder Handbook" would ease the pain considerably
I did the whole trip on my own - did not know a single other muzzleloader or blackpowder shooter - I had some blackpowder from a previous escapade loading 32/20 cartridges for an old winchester - bought a CVA kentucky kit + roundball,+lube + calico patches through the mail - found some caps - mail ordered Sam's book - and followed it like a kitchen recipe book.

At the start I was a sit down high power shooter, telescope sight only. Reasonably good at that but incompetent with iron sights and near hopeless offhand - I worked my way through that book, burnt three pounds of powder in my 45 - I stood up to shoot !! - I practiced - sometimes every day - 5 shots offhand with an old single shot 22rimfire (to save powder and cleaning) . 8 months after that kentucky kit hit my mailbox I pulled a third place in an offhand event at a new fledged blackpowder club an hour from my house - the two guys ahead of me? two of the absolute best in the country at the time = I was hooked!!

I went to shoots all over the place, any chance I could, (the blackpowder crowd are just the best people) I paid attention - specially to the blokes that didnt want to give a heap of advice on how to do it - watch those guys that place consistently in competitions and dont fuss about while they doing it --most "knowledgeable" muzzleloader shooters overcomplicate the whole thing to a point where it gets offputting to new shooters (maybe like I have done here?)

[HamGunner]

Well, an old thread but a good one. Since it has been resurrected, I might as well toss in a thought or two. I am not an expert at anything and certainly not BP shooting, but I have been playing with it a bit off & on since the mid-80's.

First thought was that there are a whole lot of expensive revolvers and long guns out there, but one can sure have fun with the cheaper ones to get started. The flavor and taste of just what type of artillery that we end up with will surely change, so don't try to hurry it at first. Keep it simple.

History is fun and I like it a whole lot myself. In fact, history and geography were my favorite subjects in both high school and college, but one does not have to be historically accurate to enjoy turning BP into smoke. Actually, who cares if one is historically accurate anyway. Just because they did not know better back then does not mean we still have to do it their way. Just joking.

When I started out learning to shoot BP, I certainly did not run out first thing and grab a set of buckskins, a coonskin hat, moccasins, or even a nice leather possibles bag to wear and pack around while shooting BP and I did not buy a truck load of the so called modern necessary accessories that they try to peddle these days either. I just wore my bluejeans, my Red Ball Jets, and kept all the rest simple until I had the basics down. I packed up my "possibles" in a butt pack.

Safety while loading is what a newbe really needs to know. It is not all that easy to blow ones guns up, but it is easy enough to get hurt other wise since we usually end up messing around at the muzzle end and that is contrary to what most learn with shooting smokeless.

Since there are so many different types of BP guns out there and they all seem to have peculiarities of their own, one really should find a good book to read before starting, such as the few great books already mentioned. One needs to get the basics down in some what of a lined out order and that is much "gooder" gotten from a book than the hit and miss one normally gets on a forum. I love forums, but they always end up off subject a bit. But that is fun in itself.

[Sandro_ventania]

If you could get a hold of Sam Fadala's "Blackpowder Handbook" would ease the pain considerably
I did the whole trip on my own - did not know a single other muzzleloader or blackpowder shooter - I had some blackpowder from a previous escapade loading 32/20 cartridges for an old winchester - bought a CVA kentucky kit + roundball,+lube + calico patches through the mail - found some caps - mail ordered Sam's book - and followed it like a kitchen recipe book.

At the start I was a sit down high power shooter, telescope sight only. Reasonably good at that but incompetent with iron sights and near hopeless offhand - I worked my way through that book, burnt three pounds of powder in my 45 - I stood up to shoot !! - I practiced - sometimes every day - 5 shots offhand with an old single shot 22rimfire (to save powder and cleaning) . 8 months after that kentucky kit hit my mailbox I pulled a third place in an offhand event at a new fledged blackpowder club an hour from my house - the two guys ahead of me? two of the absolute best in the country at the time = I was hooked!!

I went to shoots all over the place, any chance I could, (the blackpowder crowd are just the best people) I paid attention - specially to the blokes that didnt want to give a heap of advice on how to do it - watch those guys that place consistently in competitions and dont fuss about while they doing it --most "knowledgeable" muzzleloader shooters overcomplicate the whole thing to a point where it gets offputting to new shooters (maybe like I have done here?)

Have you ever participated in an MLAIC competition? It's an international-level competition. Europeans say that there aren't many Americans competing in the MLAIC because you always lose badly in that competition. Is that true?

[greyhawk]

most people thinking about their first muzzle loader need to get as informed as possible by both reading and learning from the right folks who've been down the ml road for decades, and then carefully assess both their and the guns requirements.

for commercial 'traditional' side locks, add in a .22 brush for cleaning out the patent breech that they all seem to have.

if at all possible, use REAL black powder of an appropriate granular size.

there's at least some amount of uniqueness to each muzzle loader with regards to ball and patch sizing that will require a bit of experimentation.

for a hunter or plinker or woods walker, there shouldn't ever be a *need* to hammer down a patched ball.

i'll go further to say there is NO need for a ball starter - there is no historical record of 17th, 18th or 19th century "ball starters". if the barrel and ball and patch require a ball starter, either the patch is too thick or the ball is too large, or both.

clean up is water or water laced with a bit of water soluble oil (ballistol or nappa), nothing else ever reequired.

i would never ever again buy a traditional side lock where the breech plug can't be removed - that eliminates traditions, cva and a bunch of other offshore ml's, particularly those that originate from spain.

imho, the current best value for an in-the-cheap ml is still the lyman (invest arms) trade rifle, either flint or cap.

the above is the tip of the ml iceberg .........

Disagree on the short starter - agree on the mallet - for most production percussion guns out there - if you can run a ball down without using a starter - your patch ball combo is likely too slack for best accuracy - if you need a mallet , at some point you likely to get a ball stuck halfway down.
With the caveat - if you have a more expensive gun with a coned muzzle then you likely can load an accurate combo without the short starter .

Agree on water cleaning - most fellers offering advice make a way too big deal out of overcomplicated cleaning

[greyhawk]

Disagree on the short starter - agree on the mallet - for most production percussion guns out there - if you can run a ball down without using a starter - your patch ball combo is likely too slack for best accuracy - if you need a mallet , at some point you likely to get a ball stuck halfway down.
With the caveat - if you have a more expensive gun with a coned muzzle then you likely can load an accurate combo without the short starter .

Agree on water cleaning - most fellers offering advice make a way too big deal out of overcomplicated cleaning

Absolutely disagree on pulling breech plugs - been going over 35 years - never done it - cant imagine the need for it - no intention to start doing it
Have found those spanish guns accurate, serviceable and quite reliable - and see em cheap on your gunshop adverts .....................

[greyhawk]

Have you ever participated in an MLAIC competition? It's an international-level competition. Europeans say that there aren't many Americans competing in the MLAIC because you always lose badly in that competition. Is that true?

No mate (I am an aussie) I never got to that level - would rate myself as a solid second rank shooter (along with a lot of other blokes) 85/100 offhand with a flintlock is about my mark - never shot a 90 offhand - if that ever happened there would be some dumb luck involved.

I would think there be some fellers shoot at Friendship would say that story not true ? ....................