I got into this debate a long time ago and we Gnawed upon the
solution until we found something we agreed upon!
We used the History Time-line and overall distribution to find the only
common ground!
(What was in the most common usage and When)
First firearms were "primitive" this was to include only things such as the
Matchlock and hand cannons as they were the only really primitive
firearms!
"Traditional" (Golden age) era included The flintlock, Snap-Haunce(sp) type weapons and the early percussion type weapons. I refer to this as the Golden age because this was the period of time when men were really striving to make advances in firearms but industry/technology had not caught up!
Therefore they were still basically hand made Ideas that were sometimes
truely a work of art created by a true artisan! There were Multiple other types of locks,(Wheel lock for instance) but they were not nearly as widely distributed as these others.
Most people will agree that the totally self contained Cartridge firing
weapons would be considered "Modern". This also follows the Timeline
as when industry truely evolved and things could begin to be mass produced. Therefore, the "TRADITIONAL WAY" of making firearms
ended here. Therefore anything after this period of time should
be considered a modern development right?. Well, Maybe.
Most people consider the In-line as modern! Nope, the concept
pre-dates the percussion cap so that arguement cannot be the case!
We tried using the way the weapon was loaded as a method to separate
the Moderns from the Primitives , Well, Powder first then Projectile
goes in the muzzle end. Pellet or loose powder, Cloth or plastic patch/sabot around the projectile, Then ram it down!
The principle is the same!
The only ways we came up with to seperate "Modern" and "Traditional"
was in the Things you add on and use with it, Not the actual muzzle loading weapons themselves. I had come to the realization that my
friends "Modern In-line" really annoyed me for one simple reason!
"IT HAD A SCOPE" It really wasn't the rifle at all. My sidelock fired
just as positively, Didn't weigh a whole lot more, was the same caliber
and SMOKED JUST AS MUCH when I Squeezed the trigger! But that
SCOPE, That &%^* SCOPE just didn't seem right! We decided that the
only way that we could agree was to think of something that made one really stand out from the other! The only thing we came up with was the sights. He still likes his In-line with scope, I like my Side-lock with-out!
So we really just wasted good shooting time in the debate!
My Hawken is prettier though!
We will argue that one later!
