In my opinion there is a HUGE difference between HC/PC and traditional. I honestly feel that a TC Hawken/Renegade is traditional. It is NOT HC/PC in any way. I honestly feel a Peep is a Traditional sight but I don't feel that a Lyman 57 is HC/PC. I know for a fact that paper patching bullets is traditional in a sense that paper patching has been around since the middle of the 1860's. But Paper patching a pistol bullet is not HC/PC.
I think a lot of people get their underwear in a bunch because something is not traditional and they really are pushing a HC/PC agenda.
I disagree with you when you say "One easy way to see if you're really traditional is to go to a fairly strict black powder shoot and see if your gun and ammo would be allowed to shoot."
The guys that are at what you call " a fairly strict black powder shoot" are not traditional at all and would be offended if you call them that. They are in fact HC/PC bunch that are more impressed with the HC/PC lifestyle. Most of them care little about shooting. They do shoot some but most of them are about living the life. Those guys would look at a Lyman rifle and laugh you out of camp.
There are also guys in the HC/PC group that look at a button on a man's pants and says it is not correct and want him ejected from the camp.
Their shoots offer points on your head gear. They offer points on the type of shirt you wear, and the type of cloth used.
I don't want to be involved in groups, guys, or web sites with guys like that.
You know they talk about being about "traditional" on a web page using a computer or an Iphone. So really how "traditional" are they?
I know a guy that joined the American Mountain Men (AMM). they have a fairly strict set of rules. You have to do a survivor kind of set of initiation objectives to be able to join. They sound rather difficult but the guy I know cheated on every one and became a member. That guy has a lot of money so he buys his HC/PC gear from guys that cater to "dudes". Then He brags about his accomplishments as a Mountain Man while he takes his deer to the butcher to be cut and wrapped.