Never fails that some of you guys always give me a chuckle.

I like being in the vast majority. It's cozy.

Be thankful for the brotherhood Hubby.

Somewhere out there in this land of the free is a lonely and brave soul who keeps a secret. Probably his wife knows. His children too. And maybe one or two of his closest friends. They don't understand his affliction, and don't discuss it in public. No need to hold him up to ridicule by those who don't love him as they do.

Still, what normal person owns an unknown number of muzzle loading rifles? The number is unknown because our brave and lonely soul is hesitant to let even his closest friends know just how many he has acquired - and certainly not his wife.

On the rare occasion when he tried to show one of his treasures to a buddy it got a quick glance with a response that went something like "nice, but let me show you the AK 47 I picked up last week. It's a lot cheaper to shoot than my 7mm Mag".

His family and friends know it's fine to have one of those old guns with the interesting hammer hung over the fireplace for decoration. And even his wife knows lots of perfectly normal people own a modern muzzle loader to take advantage of the special deer season. That's practical, even logical. But except during that special season it stays in the closet or gun rack without a second thought. Normal people have no strange compulsion to take it out and caress it as though it were something special, and certainly no desire to have more than one.

Our poor brave soul is lonely because he has yet to discover there are others out there like him. They speak openly of their affliction. They show others pictures of their treasures. They exchange information, trade items and even poke fun at each other. Oh, the joy he would experience if only he knew.

Why he has not discovered this brotherhood we do not know. Perhaps he's not computer literate. Maybe he has a computer but has yet to discover the wonders of the world wide web. All we know is he sits alone at night in his man cave, lovingly wiping down the barrel of one of his favorites and dreaming of a day when he might meet another brave and lonely soul who shares his affliction.

The wife says I have enough, I say I dont.
(BP)

Wow semi, that was deep. You must have a degree in literature or something similar.

I included cap & ball revolvers in my count because they're reproductions from the percussion time period. They don't load from the muzzle but only because they have cylinders that are capable of firing multiple shots. Colt's 1st revolver, the Paterson, was patented in 1836. That's fairly early during the percussion era. And what an invention being that the cap & ball revolver was the first "wheel gun"!

I have to many if you ask my wife, not enough if you ask me , and will complete my colletion if I can find a White Thunderbolt.

That was beautifully put Semisane. And down right poetic. I find myself reading it over and over. I was counting the number of rifles in my head and then I read arcticap's thread and realized I should add the pistols too. I began to get a distorted vision of myself as the number grew to what even I believe to be an unreasonable amount. I am thankful for the brotherhood.
Should I count the spare barrels too?

4 or 5. And enjoy them all.
My hawkens is definetly my baby though. people say I should leave it to my son. I will the day after I die.

Well, i counted up my rifles so as to answer the poll question. Doing the counting led me to realize that muzzle loaders have ruint my life.

There are more rifles here than i realized. Anymore, all i think about is such things as breech plugs, vents, flash holes, ballistics, and muzzle loader season dates. The only primers i have purchased for years are shotgun primers, and i don't reload shotgun shells. I hoard empty plastic jugs. No longer do i fix things for wife 'Linda' i think her name is. Anymore the only things that get fixed around here are target frames that get damaged because they are placed too far away. Owning muzzle loader rifles has allowed me to legally hunt for months. Most of the months not spent hunting are spent sighting them rifle in; verifying bullets, and loads.

Thankfully, answering this poll, has woken me. When a partially insane member of this forum called me a nut, i was too far gone to realize how severe me problem was/is, but now i may or may not.