The in-line design has been around for years, as exemplified by Jean Samuel Pauley’s in-line system of 1812. The Germans also had an in-line flintlock design as early as 1738. So the belief that sidelock muzzleloaders are the more historically accurate traditional firearms is false. Unquestionably, the in-line style is more popular among today’s traditional hunters and shooters, says Tim Pancurak of Thompson/Center Arms. “In-lines represent the majority of our muzzleloader sales,” he said—an amazing statistic considering that T/C’s first true in-line muzzleloader was introduced in 1993. Dudley McGarity, national sales manager of Connecticut Valley Arms (CVA), says in-lines now make up about 80 percent of that company’s sales. “They have really come on strong in the past few years,” he said. “The in-line has enticed a lot of hunters to try muzzleloading. The in-line looks more familiar and is perceived to be easier to use. It is also perceived that they are more reliable and more accurate than the old traditional guns.”

Al

interesting

Interesting, the history of firearms is always so to me, inlines and underhammers were around long before precussion caps. Actually the under hammer is very efficant and easy to clean. I have been thinking about building one for sabots ever since I found musket caps work really well with the new powders like APP. Lee