Traditions PA Pellet flintlock??
 

Has anyone purchased or at least tried this gun? It seems to be everything I'm looking for in my first smokepole: pretty wooden stock, rifling for "buffalo-style" bullets and a removable breech plug. And the price is pretty nifty, too.

Anybody have opinions on Traditions muzzleloaders in general, good or bad? And if anyone knows a company making a similar gun, let me know. Thanks in advance.

Tyler

RE: Traditions PA Pellet flintlock??
 

Sounds similar to TC Firestorm. Flint designed for 150gr pellets with a compromise twist rate for ball or sabot.

I haven't tried my Firestorm in anger yet. Put maybe 10 patched balls thru it just to check it worked. Cleanup was a breeze. Mine is SS/synth. Seems well made. Only thing I plan to fix is the trigger which is gritty mush.

Am of to the range tomorrow to work up a load for it. Will let you know how it does.

RE: Traditions PA Pellet flintlock??
 

First off let me say I know very little about flintlocks. I have shot a number of them and enjoyed it. I just never had the desire to learn to tune them. All my friends who own them tell me not to skimp on the lock. An inexpensive lock I was told by them is nothing but headaches.

Tradition's Rifles on the other hand I do own. I have two of them. Both of them will shoot excellent. I was shooting one the other day in fact and it always amazes me at how accurate a round ball is. Mine are cap locks.

The features of the PA Pellet flintlock is nice I admit. The 1-48 twist would shoot round ball as well as the conicals. They advertise that it will shoot sabots, so I am sure it would. How well is another question. They would have to be a small sabot to stabalize with that twist rate I believe. I was shooting sabots out of my Traditions Pioneer sidelcock with a 1-48 twist. They were 240 grain .44 caliber T/C Cheap Shots, and they shot real good actually. But I was only shooting 25 years and playing around.

The idea of a max load and the removable breech plug for cleaning is fantastic. It would sure make cleaning the rifle a snap. I would not get too excited about the fact it can use pellets. I would never recommend them to anyone. Granted some rifles have two pellets dropped in them and they are nail drivers. Loose powder is still the best way to custom tune your rifle. Also I think it is the cheapest way to go.

If I were shooting a flintlock I would be shooting black powder anyway. I would want the lower ignition point black powder has compared to the other propellents. And the fact it is needed for the pan.

Tradition's has a great warranty, and their customer service is excellent. I had to use them once for a minor problem and they were right there to help. If the lock is good, it would be a great gun. Other good rifles out there are the Lyman Trade Rifle, Lyman Great Plains Rifle and Hunter (the hunter being my favorite), and Thompson Center Arms. But you pay for what you get most of the time. You buy a brand name and you pay a brand name price. CVA makes flintlocks but I have not heard much about the quality of their locks. One thing to keep in mind, you can always change the lock to a better lock.

Which ever rifle you choose, good luck.

RE: Traditions PA Pellet flintlock??
 

Thanks for the input fellas.

Turtle,

My father has a T/C Firestorm and it has shown to be a terrific gun. The only thing holding me back from getting one is the fact that it's synthetic rather than wooden. It also has a regular barrel, where as the PA Pellet has the traditional octagonal barrel.

Cayugad,

I wasn't planning on shooting sabots or pyrodex pellets. I'm just shooting regular conical bullets and loose powder. I don't want to stray to far from the roots of blackpowder hunting :D.

Thanks

Tyler

RE: Traditions PA Pellet flintlock??
 

Hey PABeardBuster, I just bought a Traditions PA Pellet Flinter this past year at Grice's in Clearfield for $189. It is the blued barrel with a wooden stock. I was very impressed with the stock a very nice selection of wood with no tooling marks like you get with some guns and a very nice finish. I am shooting 100 grains of Pyrodex pellets out of mine with 295 grain hollowpoint powerbelt bullets. I have a box of 260 grain Buffalo Bullet Maxi-Ballets to try but have not had a chance. Mine shoots great with pyrodex pellets no delay at all. I always make sure to prime my touch hole once or twice then fill the pan 1/2 full of powder. I did find that the 5/8" flints that traditions recommend are a little too short so I tried the 3/4" english flints and they give me a great spark with a fit in the jaws of the lock much better than the 5/8". They also produce a better arc when striking the frizzen, what I mean is the flint strikes the frizzen high so that it maintains contact with the frizzen longer giving more spark. A few things I don't like about the gun, first I hate the plastic sights, I will be changing mine with an aftermarket set made of some sort of metal but still with fiber-optics. RMC and true-glo make some that fit on the PA Pellet for about $30. I also was not crazy about the touch hole. You remove it with a regular flathead screwdriver and if your not careful you can mess it up taking it out and putting it back in like me. So I bought an aftermarket touch hole made by RMC that uses and allen wrench to remove it and I like it much more, It only runs about $5. Overall it is a pretty good gun for the money, It fact it has performed flawlessly for my this year so far, In fact I got my first deer with a flintlock this past saturday, a nice doe at 50 yards. So I don't think you can go wrong with this gun.