Flinlock opinions

[bo jaffa]

I want to buy a flintlock rifle for PRB shooting.I would appreciate any opinions as far as brand and models that you guys can come up with.I would like to spend under 1,000.oo.It seems there are alot of choices,custom or production.Big name and small name companies.Any information would be really appreciated.Thanks, Bo.

[filmokentucky]

Buy the best gun you can possibly afford. A cheap flintlock is a miserable thing to have to live with. Check Track of the Wolf's web-site for some fine high quality used custom guns. They always have some nice guns available. I'd avoid any and all production guns since they are built to a price and at your price point some fine custom guns are in reach.

[Odinbreaker]

I have a Lyman flintlock and a TC Pen Hunter I have had no problems with either one I paid under 300 for each of them.  The Lyman great plans is a good round ball gun.  I know the custom guns are much better but that also depends on the builder.

[bo jaffa]

Thanks for the replies.I was really looking at the Great Plains model.It seems very nice.I really don't know where to begin looking in the custom market.I checked out the Track of the Wolf site.Nice guns but not what I'm looking for.Maybe the TC Hawken flintlock would be a good choice.Anymore opinions would be appreciated.Thanks' Bo.

[flintlock]

Most folks give the advice to buy a factory gun and see if you enjoy the hobby...
I guess that's good advice and works for most...That being said, that's not what I did...

I'll admit that I just don't care for factory made muzzleloaders...I've always been a bit of a
history buff...I grew up within a a couple of hours of  The Lost Colony, Jamestown, Yorktown and Williamsburg and have visited all several times, going back to my childhood in the 60s...I remember looking at muzzleloaders in the 70s when in college and thinking "That's not what they looked like"...

My first muzzleloader was a custom made (Bob Watts, he is in Foxfire 5) that I bought from him in Stone Mountain in the mid-70s for less than $500...I have been offered $3,000 for the rifle...It's a .45 and I have killed quite a few deer with it as well as my first wild turkey back in 1979...

I made a .54 in the late 80s and rebarreled the .45 to .40 at that time...Now I have flintlocks for both squirrels and deer...

I guess the reason for this post is to point out that if you are willing to spend $1,000 then you can buy a pretty decent muzzleloader...One reason the custom flintlocks are higher than production is the flintlock mechanisim itself...An assembled Siler lock will run around $130, but without a reliable lock the gun is next to useless...

At any rate, here is another option for a "good" flintlock...If you have a good mechanical ability then this might be the way to go... www.flintlocks.com

These are the best of the best, Jim made rifles in Old Salem with John Bivens back in the 70s...

There are plenty of resources, DVDs and books on making your own filntlock rifle that will be an heirloom to be handed down to your grandchildren...Good Luck...



 

[simonkenton]

Did Bob Watts have that shop in old Stone Mountain?
I visited his place several times, bought a pound of black powder from him.
He passed away what, a decade ago?

I also have visited Jim Chambers place near Asheville NC.
He has some beautiful guns, just beautiful.
I was going to suggest him at the start of the thread. It is within the price range, if he wants to do a kit.
A Chambers kit is about $900.

[flintlock]

Yep, Stone Mountain...I moved to Atlanta in 1977 to work for John Deere...I walked into his place one afternoon and ended up buying that gun...One of the best purchases I have ever made...

[AtlLaw]

I think I've mentioned this before but... 
Some thing over 20 years ago Bob got talked into putting on an adult education course on building these fine rifles, which I attended.  As I remember, by that time he had stopped making rifles and was into bamboo fly rods.  A craftsman of the first order.
I think Deercreek Gun Shop, our local (Marietta) BP shop has a couple of his rifles hanging up.

[JBlk]

I have a GPR in .54 that is a good production gun.There are alot of gifted gun makers out there who make excellent rifles.The lock on the rifle is probably one of the most importent things, and most users seem to prefer the Chambers.Go to the american longrifle site and look through their museum at the different types of longrifles before you decide what you want, and then decide what way to go from there.

[coyotejoe]

Check out TVM   http://www.avsia.com/tvm/    They make a very good rifle for the bucks and usually have a few available for immediate sale but if you are very specific as to what you want you may have to wait six months or more to have it built. You also can save a few bucks by getting a custom rifle "in the white", which means all assembled and needing only final sanding and finishing of wood and metal.
 In mass produced guns the Lyman Great Plains is a good one and does bear a slight resemblence to original Hawken rifles. The Thompson/Center "Hawken" on the other had does not even vaguely resemble anything but another T/C Hawken and is in no way worth the six hundred bucks they now ask for new ones. You can pick up one of those T/C rifles for two hundered bucks at any pawn shop.

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

If you want production guns Lyman, T/C, or Pedersoli are all good.  A few years ago I would recommend Lyman as a good-for-the-money gun.  However, since the American dollar has taken such a beating against the Euro it seems like American-made can compete a little better.

Here's a link to Sitting Fox

http://www.sittingfoxmuzzleloaders.com/Northwest%20Trade%20Gun.htm

I see they offer the trade gun completely built for <$1000.

I have heard absolutely nothing about Sitting Fox so I can't recommend them other than their prices seem reasonable.  Does anyone here have experience with them?

My advice in getting into flintlocks is to get started with a squirrel gun.  There's a bit more to flintlocks than caplocks.  And if the shooter isn't mindful you can get hangfires and misfires.  If this happens in the squirrel woods it's generally not a big dissappointment, you just resolve the problem and move on.  However, if you have a misfire when the buck of a lifetime is in your sights you're more apt. to give up on flintlocks entirely.

Shooting a flintlock is about like driving a manual transmission car.  It's more fun simply because there's more skill involved.

 

[bo jaffa]

Thanks for all the info guys.I'm going to take a drive to Longhunters Mercantile in Portland P.A.He deals with flintlocks.Hopefully I can find something there.Thanks again, Bo.