Hey folks, Can anybody give me feed back on Traditions brand muzzleloaders. Mainly lightning lightweight .50 cal I'm and old cap and ball guy but what an inline. ?????
Thanks MIKE

I think they are a good rifle for the money. My daughter has a cheap Buckhunter youth model that shoots great.

I have a Traditions Buckhunter Pro .50 that I picked up on late season clearance at Walmart for $150. It has the black composite stock and bead-blasted nickle finish and is a very accurate rifle...IF I feed it the bullets it likes. It won't shoot any sabot in any weight I've tried AT ALL (as in, shot holes all over a shipping pallet at 75 yards), and more by sheer luck than anything else I tried Hornady Great Plains 460 grain conicals and they'd shoot 1.5" groups consistantly at 75 yards.

I still have it, but this year I found a great deal on a Knight DISC w/thumbhole stock for $330, and since shooting it I find I have little interest in taking the Traditions out anymore. There is no comparison between the two in quality and workmanship, the Knight beats the Traditions hands down. The machining of the reciever in the Traditions is pretty rough on the inside, but I would expect no less from a $150 rifle. But it does shoot straight, and that's what really counts.

What I'd tell you is that if you want a great shooting rifle that looks and feels really nice, and you want a quality gun that you'll really enjoy, I'd save and spend your money on a Knight DISC or a Thompson/Center Omega or Encore. If you just want something that'll kill a deer once a year (which I'm sure you already have), and/or you're on a budget, the Traditions is a good buy.

I like my Knight so much that when I go to the range it is always the first gun in the truck while the Traditions stays home.

Mike


Gun control means putting the second bullet through the same hole as the first- Ted Nugent
NRA Member
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -Ben Franklin

Tradition Muzzleloaders are generally a well made rifle for the money. I have a Tradition's Hawkins Woodsman .50 caliber with a 1-66 twist. All I can say is with 65-70 grains of Pyrodex RS a .015 patch and a round ball, this is a very accurate rifle. I enjoy shooting the rifle and as for hunting, this is a whitetail stopper. It seems real dependable, and I was not all that expensive.

I've got a LD Lightning .45 that is a dream to load, shoot, and clean. What more can you ask? It's accuracy is quite acceptable out to 100 yards (haven't tested it much beyond that) and although I haven't taken a deer with it yet, I'm convinced and confident that when I'm presented the right shot it will do it's job if I do mine.

I have a Traditions Lightning in a 50 cal. I really like it and it shoots great, I got mine out yesterday and shot it to see if it was still on, It was shooting about 4" to the left so I moved my scope and the last 2 bullets holes where touching at about 85 yards.

THE NRA, WHERE WOULD YOU AS A GUN-OWNER BE WITHOUT THEM.
GUN-OWNERS, UNITED WE STAND DIVIDED WE FALL.

I had a Traditions Buckskinner carbine. It shot great with round balls. Im just not much on sidelocks, the breech plug wouldnt come out and it was a pain to clean

Thanks for all of your feedback! Gotta lightning lightweight .50cal got it at a good price.
Can't wait to smell the powder!!!!!!