I don't own/hunt with a muzzleloader, no experience, jsut what I've read/picked up, wondering why since you just load the barrel with gun powder and a bullet, that setup won't create the velocityes that a bullet will?

Is it because in a sense its a straight walled cartridge? diff powders?

Smokeless powder is progressive burning, black powder and it's equivalent is not. That means that the longer smokeless burns, the faster it burns. The whole charge will burn up in a short barrel. Black, et.al. burns at a steady rate. A larger powder charge will spew unburned powder out the barrel because it won't all burn in the time it takes to travel the length of the barrel.

Another reason is bigger bullets. As he said above, but also wegenerally shoot bigger bullets. The smallest bullet that I haveused formy blackpowder is 350 grains. The guys who shoot sabots get much better velocity than I do, but they, in general, the bullets are still bigger than all but magnum rifles.

If you compare a black powder rifle to some of the old 45/70 cartridges (not some of the new ones out there) you can get pretty close to those speeds, and in some cases even better. Those rifles killed thousands of buffalo and other game in our growing country.

We do not shoot a caliber normally smaller then .40 caliber. Most shooters are shooting .44 & .45 caliber projectiles. That is much different then the .30 calibers and smaller. Also as stated, the black powder burns a lot different then modern smokeless powder. It produces a total different barrel pressure burn.

All we can do is understand our differences and adjust our shooting situations to match the bullet we use and our skills. Much like a bow hunter. We normally get one shot. We know what the weapon will do. And we adjust for that kind of a shot.

What I find more remarkable then the fact most muzzleloaders can not match speeds, etc of the bigger modern center fire rifles is, even those that use a roundball, can still be very effective and deadly in their hunting experiences. We go out with (in many cases) limited range abilities, limited knock down abilities, and a one shot deal, yet are able to harvest most anything on the planet.

I think it also comes down to the fact that real black powder just doesn't have the power that smokeless does, so higher velocities simply can't be reached...

High powered rifle s with progressive burning powder develope 55to 60 thousand pounds per square inch black and subs normally top out at 19 to 20 thousand pounds per square inch as BP and subs are cosistant burning thats why loading up with progressive burning powder can blow a muzzleloader up like a hand granade as they are only designed for 20 thousand pounds per square inch. Lee

So how come a muzzleloader has to use blackpowder? Why not just use smokeless in a muzzleloader?

Generally, blackpowder barrels are not built to withstand the breech pressures that come with smokeless powder. They'll blow up in your face!

Savage makes a muzzleloader that can use some type of smokeless, but I'm even less interested in that than I am in in-lines and scopes, so I can't tell you anything about it. I'll let someone else fill you in on that thing.

am I missing something? aren't in-lines muzzleloaders? Maybe it's me, but similar to my bowhunting experience.....the only real reason I began bowhunting was to hunt the rut....and to hunt more often. I now love bowhunting, but had I been able to shotgun hunt the rut and had a 4 month season would I have taken up bowhunting? Maybe eventually for other states, elk etc.....? Is this kinda the reason most guys take up muzzleloading? different seasons? better draw odds? chances to harvest? Or is it getting back to history....tradition? I'm curious why? Maybe I'll post a couple new muzzleloader questions/forums.

Yes. You are correct. The parallels betweenmodern muzzleloading and bowhunting are strikingly similar.Both sports have been swamped by people who are interested only in extending theirhunting opportunities, use highly developed weapons that technically meet the legalities of the season,and whohave varying degrees of interest - from very much to practically none - in the actual weapons the seasons were originally formed for.

And both sports have their hardcore base of traditionalists who carry on despite the technological advances.