have my search for a flintlock narrowed down to either the traditions deerhunter, traditions hawken, traditions pa pellet, or the traditions buckskinner (i obviously like traditions)...any thoughts or input?

Yes! Not to denigrate the Traditions guns, but....LYMAN GREAT PLAINS RIFLE!!

Of the ones you mentioned, I like the Tradition's PA Pellet flintlock. I like the idea of the removable breech plug. All the years I have shot sidelocks and I know they were cleaned properly mind you, there is just something about being able to look through that barrel and see for myself... Also I have read other posts from people claiming their PA Pellet was a real good shooting rifle with "loose powder."

Unfortunately, I would have to agree with eldeguello and get a Lyman. They have so many different selections in the kind of rifle barrels they offer, and their quality is excellent.

I have been looking at a .54 caliber Great Plains Hunter with the 1:32 twist in flintlock. I just have not talked myself into getting a flintlock rifle yet. I think this would be a conical shooting devil. Not to mention a beautiful addition to my collection. If I pass on that I am getting a White Super 91 .504 caliber.

my friend has the deer hunter and likes it i guess.....he doesnt know much about flinters and doesnt shot it much except a few times before the season....but i guess it goes boom for him...kinda hard to believe being the flint and frizzen are tiny compared to my tc hawken.....i love my hawken....and know its going boom anytime i want it to....i agree with cayugad...a removable breechplug would be kinda nice....i clean my rifle probably more then is needed....i just cant put it back together thinking there could be powder residue down in the compustion area......but when im done i also know its all out....i just spend alot of time cleaning it and make sure i get down there.....works for me....but a removable breechplug just might make things easier on me......but i love my TC hawken......good luck

hey, i'm nothing if not flexible. i'll look at lyman and TC. what justifies the price differential between them and traditions?

play with all 3.....you should feel and see the diffrence.....my friends deer hunter feels kinda....akward....unbalanced and like its a toy gun or something....and when shooting a flinter you want the best lock that you can get to ensure reliable ignition.....i didnt fire the deer hunter but the first thing i noticed was a poor trigger and a tiny frizzen and lock....not sure how it fires....the one time he fired it when i was there he had a hangfire for a few second.....blamed it on the dampness....when i pulled my trigger and mine went off perfectly...but he doesnt know much about flinting and just hunts with it for another season to hunt......doesnt know about keeping everything oil free, sharp flint, ect.....so it could just be him not the gun.....i never seen a lyman upclose....but i hear they are very good flinters.......i do have a lyman frizzen on my tc...i had to fit it to my lock....everyone said they are better stronger frizzens....and so far i must say i agree.....good luck.....like i said...play with them all if you can....and see what you like best.......when it comes to muzzleloading buying cheap stuff usually isnt the best way to go if you want good performance......

Haven't looked at a TC flinter in years, but I was not impressed with the only one I ever had. Lyman's GPR in flint is as cheap as you should go with a flint rifle. Most of the flintlock's current poor reputation comes from cheap production rifles that have poor frizzens, poorly designed locks, and just generally crappy workmanship. When they fire, there is a HUGE lag between flint contact and ignition. If you scrimp on a flinter, and get a rifle with a cheap, low quality lock, you will find yourself wishing you hadn't bought a flinter.
You don't have to spend big bucks for a shootable flintlock, but the Lyman is about the most rifle for the least money on the market.

I have the PA Pellet and have been happy with it. It doesnt shoot pellets very well but the removable breech plug is nice. Because of my poor eye sight and where I hunt 50 yards is about the max I shoot it. It will shoot a RB very accurately to that range. Use loose powder only, and real BP if you can get it.

Traditions guns are a good inexpensive place to start if you are new to muzzleloading,you can always trade up. If you are already into blackpowder shooting and hunting I'd say go with a brand of higher quality.Lyman and T/C are good choices. If you are really into it check out places like TrackOf the Wolf or Dickson's and build your own.

This is an excellent and fair question. IMO, the locks of the Lyman and TC's have always been more reliable sparkers than the Traditions have over the years. The reason was that the Traditions' frizzens weren't hard enough. Now, this may no longer be the case, since they have certainly had time enough and feedback enough to have corrected this problem.