This is by no means an article to replace the states’ regulations but to give you an up-to-date directory on what is out there. One thing you can count on out west is no smokeless powder. Sweet, right? There are a lot of commonalities across the west where you can have a few different setups that allow you to hunt all states. Utah went from iron sight muzzleloaders to a virtually unlimited muzzleloader, but a few years later, they decided to open up HAMS hunts to allow traditional muzzleloader- only hunts to be a thing again. Eliminate mistakes by pre-assembling the rifle and reassembling it throughout the process of inletting the barrel, filing down the forend cap, if necessary, and installing the barrel furniture and the lock with care.In the ever-evolving hunting world, it seems weaponry is constantly changing. "Every mistake you make shows up on the target," as the old-timers say. Muzzleloaders can be quite accurate, but many are not. Final adjustments to fixed sights can be made with a brass drift and file. Shoot for accuracy on a bench with the rifle rested. Wipe the barrel with a patch between shots. Whether using a percussion gun or a flinter, experiment with different combinations to end up with a hunting charge of somewhere between 80 and 100 grains. For a flintlock, use FFFFg (a finer powder) to prime the pan. Start the ball down with a short starter rod, then finish with the ramrod. 490, seats against the powder in a small patch cut at the muzzle. 50-caliber muzzleloader for the first time, I tend toward a load of 80 grains of FFFg blackpowder (or a substitute like Triple Seven or Pyrodex) and a patched round ball. A new builder should consider them all, but there is no one "right" way to finish a barrel. Self-proclaimed experts pontificate about which techniques are historically accurate and which are not, and how to achieve the best blue or the best brown. There are a lot of opinions on the muzzleloading forums. Depending on the build and the desired effect, a person might opt for a cold blue or a plum brown. Guns were built to order, and a buyer might opt to leave a barrel "in the white" to cut costs. In the old days, barrels were protected with bluing or browning processes according to the fashion of the era and the whim of the builder. (Photo by Gary Lewis) BLUING OR BROWNING? Before you begin the build, inspect all parts and pre-assemble the rifle to get a sense of the work ahead. Remove wood from the barrel channel and at the breech. Grind the forend of the trigger guard to fit it to the channel. Do this with a notebook at hand and write down the necessary steps in order: Fit the lock to the stock with chisels. Most kits come with the wood 95 percent inlet, so the parts are not going to fit perfectly, but a pre-assembly shows the work required. When the kit arrives, the first thing to do is open the box, remove all the parts and roughly pre-assemble the rifle. With a 33 1/2-inch barrel, it weighs just 6 pounds, 9 ounces. I chose a flintlock so that it could be used in any state, and while purists might be quick to point out that it differs from true Kentucky rifles, in my mind it’s a great mountain rifle–light, short and nimble. With some basic tools and woodworking skills, you can start building a muzzleloader now and complete it in time for most Western blackpowder seasons.įor this build, I chose Traditions’ Kentucky Rifle Kit (.50-caliber flintlock), ordered from.
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