brang05

I am an avid bowhunter and have hunted with a rifle since I was a kid, but wouldreally like to get into blackpowder. I know this sounds like a dumb question, but what would some of you recommend as a way to get started? Are the kits you can buy at Wal-Mart and other places worth the trouble?

eldeguello

Some of the kits I've seen are pretty much a "bolt-it-together & shoot proposition". The stock is already completely inletted for the metal parts, and all you have to do is sand the stock and apply an appropriate finish, like Tru-Oil or a comparable finish. Then install the barrel, lock, trigger, buttplate & triggerguard with the screws that are furnished. These kits can often save you some money that you can use to buy a capper, powder measure, powder & ball.

If all you are interested in is having something legal to hunt with during the ML season, I suppose an inline would be the simplest way to go.

But if you are really interested in shooting muzzleloaders for their sake, I suggest you look at gettinga good sidelock, like the Lyman Great Plains rifle or the Santa Fe Hawken. You can get these in kit form, and you might even consider trying a flintlock! I guarantee a flintlock is more fun, and more challenging as well.

Good luck and have fun......

cayugad

I'm not sure of what "kits" you're talking about at Wal Mart. If you mean the rifle with the starter kit, like a Black Diamond or one of the other rifles, this would work, but not really get you started and shooting.

Why not let us know what kind of money you want to spend. If you want a quality rifle for a low price, check out the NEF Sidekick. Get a .50 caliber and then buy the other things you need seperately. You could probably be outfitted for around $250.00 which is not all too bad.

If you want a nice sidelock, look at Lyman or Thompson Center.

roundball

IMO, you have tofirst make a fundamental decision as to why you're interested in getting into 'blackpowder'...and this question is a very direct one but it'll help you decide:

If your interest inblackpowder shooting is in the original contextmeant by blackpowder shooting...to begin learning about using rifles and components that have their roots back in the early American traditional muzzloading era, then some excellentrifles are available such as the TC Hawken, Lyman, Austin Halleck, etc...attractive, predominently traditional styling, high quality, accurate, reliable rifles that won't break the bank.

If target shooting and/or small game hunting is the primary purpose, .40/.45cals would beexcellent choices...if deer hunting will be the primary purpose then.50/.54calsareusually betterchoices.

Somecomponentsproven to work well in these rifles areOxyoke or TC .018"precut / prelubed pillow ticking patches, Hornady or Speer round balls (.395s/.440s/.490s/.530s), and Goex blackpowder.


If on the other hand the interest isto simplyget a few moredays of deer huntingby using a scoped rifle that happens to load from the front so it can be used in "muzzleloader seasons",andis really as close to a modern rifle as you've probablybeen using for years, then almost anything made to look like that will do for those few days. Manyare found at places like Walmart inblisterpacks, usuallyinexpensive, plastic stocked, utilitarian,functional, etc.

Catus Magnus

...and they'll irritate purists to no end; if they're CVA products, they'll kill the deer dead and irritate Randy Wakeman.

roundball

Uhmmmm...seem to have a little edge there...

Well, I've never seen aWalmartcarrying $500-$700 rifles like TC Omegas, Knights with laminated thumb-hole stocks, or Savages that shoot modern smokeless powder...guy says he might want to get started and specifically asked about "kits" at Walmart...my post gave him a lot of information...didn't notice any in yours

Catus Magnus

No edge, just a guess... no flame meant.

MLKeith

Haven't seen a Savage in my Walmart but smokeless is illegal for hunting here anyway. I have seen both Knight and T/C Omega rifles on the Walmart shelf. Our Walmart will order anything you want up to the $700 rifles (other than a T/C Encore delux most don't cost that much). They usually carry the T5 Omega which is a bare bones econo model that likely shoots as well as the more expensive ones. I have to agree that buying the "kits" which are probably more correctly referred to as "collections of shooting equipment" might not be the best way to approach this. I suggest getting a muzzleloading book to start with and read all you can. When you get a rifle it will come with a pretty good owners manual which you need to read over and over until you understand everything they printed. Keep asking questions here and we will try to help. You also as stated need to determine what you want the rifle for and what you expect it to do before buying one. The Spanish guns Traditions and CVA work OK but personally I stay with the American made muzzleloaders or Lyman which is Italian.

early

i just bought my first BP rifle. first i read and studied the LymanBP handbook and loading manual second edition. i read the first a few years ago. then as i aquired the necessary components and found the rifle i wanted at the right price i asked questions on this forum and a couple others. i even printed out some of the info.

so far i've only had time to fire it once, but i had no failures to fire and more fun than i've had shooting in many years.

early

Omegalover

Brang05, for clarification there are two kinds of kits available for Black Powder.

One kit is an assembled gun and most of the items you may need to shoot it. By that I mean it may or may not have a Powder measure, cleaning jags, some type of solvent, patches for cleaning, etc...

The other type of kit is pieces of a gun with a partially or totallyt carved stock (inletted to accept the gun parts) that you would have to apply a stain and varnish or topcoat of your choosing. These can greatly vary on the amount of skill required to assemble the rifle.

It would help to get assistance to know what you would like to spend and which type of kit you are interested in.