Semisane

I saw this thread over on The Muzzleloading Forum, and thought it was pretty entertaining. Got to wondering about "the first time" for the HNI gang.

Here's mine.

In 1959, as a 15 year old kid, I bought a rusty 20 GA. Belgian caplock double at a gun show (times, they were a-different).

Didn't know a thing about muzzleloaders, and the nipples were about shot in that old gun. I didn't even know whatthe nipples were. I brought it to a local gunsmith who drilled and tapped in new nipples at no charge and schooled me on the basics. He sold me a can of Dupont powder, a tin of #11 caps, and bag of #8 shot. His advice was to use the cap from the powder can to put in one cap full of powder and one cap full of shot, separated by a ping pong ball sizedpiece of wadded up newspaper packed down tightly on the powder.

What a RUSH. I killed a wheelbarrow full of blackbirds with that old gun over the next month, and have been hooked ever since.

Wimuzzleman

my first one was my 13th birthday. My parents bought me a traditions deer hunter flintlock and a can of pyrodex 2f I used that in the barrel and the pan. needless to say it didnt work that great.

FG

.45cal CVA Blazer. Took my first deer with it. Kind of makes me want to go find one and relive some memories *but only good ones this time*

BigDaddy12t

I am what you would call a late bloomer.[8D]My first shot out of a ML, was about 2 weeks ago at the range. It only took me 41 years to join the ML family.[8D]CVA Wolf, 80 grains of 777 powder, and a 295 Aerotip. Season starts in 2 weeks, and I still need to get out and practice with it some more.

ENCOREMAN

I bought my 1st ML a .45 cal Kentucky Long rifle kit and put together when I was 18 yrs. old. I had planned on shooting my 1st deer with this rifle, but I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with it back then. It's now 36 years later and I still haven't taken a deer with that ML. One of these days, I'll take it down off the wall and maybe shoot my 100th deer with it. That would be fitting! LOL

cayugad

But my first real hunting with one was when I was in my early twenties. I met this old fellow, and we shared a lot of common interests like fishing.He also had some private stockedfishing ponds, and he had his own range. He was telling me how he hunted and shot an original Civil WarSpringfield .58 caliber rifle and a CVA .58 caliber Mountain Rifle. So one day he invited me to shoot his rifles.. I shot the snot out of them things. And went home and ordered a T/C Renegade kit in .54 caliber. I still have that rifle.

kodiakhuntmaster

My first was bought by my step dad when I was about 13. It was a CVA Bobcat sidlelock rifle, the one with the wooden stock. When I wanted to get into muzzleloading, he went out and bought a new CVA Hunterbolt inline and asked me which one I wanted, his old Bobcat, or the new inline. I picked the Bobcat. He never was much for muzzleloading and I don't think he ever learned how to work up a load. I had seen my grandpa do it a thousand times so I was ahead of the curve I guess. I shot it with roundballs and 75 grains of Pyrodex just to plink around and worked up a hotter load for hunting. A 380 grain Buffalo Bore bullet pushed by 100 grains of Pyro. I killed my first muzzleloader deer with that load and open sites at 80 yards. A big doe.

I remember the first time I shot it... I loaded in about 90 grains of powder and shoved a conical down the barrel. I aimed at an ant hill about 20 yards away and shot. When the smoke cleared there was no more ant hill. After that, I was hooked.

Later on, after the rifle didn't hardly have any rifling left in it, I traded it for a recurve bow. And later I traded the recurve for a St.Louis Hawken, and about a week after that I traded the St.Louis Hawken for a Traditions Hawken Woodsman that I have now.

bronko22000

I guess I was about 19 or 20. My cousin got a 45 cal. T/C Hawken Flinter for his birthday and he took it outthe followingSunday afternoon. I watched him load and shoot it at somewhere around 25 yds. He was all over the target. And he was getting pi*sed at me cause I was laughing at him. He loaded it back up and handed it to me and I drew a bead on the 1" white bull and fired hitting it dead center. Hooked.

TNHagies

I was about 9 or 10 I think. My dad acquired an old Spanish made 45 Kentucky rifle with fixed sights. I shot it one evening when he got home from hunting and immediately got hooked. That summer I went though a couple pounds of powder and who knows how many round balls. I recall making a lot of smoke but not really hitting anything

gregrn43

I bought my first one in 1982 a TC hawken, that was the first year we had an Arkansas muzzleloading season if I remember correctly. That was the year that i graduated high school. I worked at a grocery store and saved up my money all summer to buy one. Killed my first deer with a ml that fall and nice fat doe. Lots has changed in muzzleloading since that time.