Well the great decision(other than shotgun vs. Muzzleloader) is upon me. I have the itch to use my Flintlock and shoot a doe. So out the "Old" gun comes and off to the range we went. Thats where things went downhill. I have always known why they call Flintlocks "flinchlocks" but I proved the reasoning. A little disappointed, I picked up my Lyman Trade Rifle and gave that rifle a good shooting.
That brought up a thought in my head. Just how traditional is traditional? The Trade rifle, aside from having a coil spring instead of a leafspring, is essentially a copy of the rifles made and sold by H.E. Leman, back in the old days. The Lyman Great Plains rifle is a copy of the the "true" hawkens, but they both shoot and perform just as well as modern muzzleloaders (given range and bullet limitations). So how traditional is traditional, in theory we could look back to the days when it was a steel pipe in a wooden holder with a burning match in the other hand. The flintlock was as modern as it could get in 1770, so how traditional is Traditional.
My definition of traditional is any muzzleloading firearm DESIGNED before 1890, or a CLOSE replica there of. As long as there is hunting someone will try to change the firearm to best suit the game. I don't believe that one is hindered by using traditional muzzleloaders but instead is brought CLOSER. Closer to the game, and closer to our past.
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