Muzzle Loader Safety

[Jeff Higgins]

The guys at CVA have put together a great little video covering some aspects of muzzle loader safety. They cover just three common mishaps here, but rest assured, there are many other ways to hurt or kill yourself with one of these things.

One of the more common, and the first addressed, is the use of smokeless powder. Watch the video - the results speak for themselves. Another very common source of trouble is a bore obstruction of some kind, from a second projectile that is not fully seated to a muzzle plugged with mud or other debris. Again, the results speak for themselves.

So, with deer seasons underway across the country, this appears to be a somewhat timely video. Be careful out there, kids.

[Skytrooper]

I have been very respectful of my muzzleloader. I have hunted with it for 30 odd years, and have luckily never had a misfire or any other type of issue. Take care of your weapons folks and always handle them safely !

[id10t]

I got into MLs to shoot black powder - real black, not subs, etc.

Then again.... I know a guy who has been a bit naughty in his past, so muzzle loaders are all he is allowed.

And yes, there are muzzle loaders that can use smokeless. His is a .45 that he launches either bore diameter slugs or .40 bullets in a sabot using N110, N120 and a few other powders to reach velocities pushing 2500fps.

However... smokeless ML combines all of the potentials for issues/distractions while loading PLUS all of the precision required for reloading, and all in the field or at the bench. Definitely not for the average guy, and definitely not for the person who isn't willing to spend the time and money on the right equipment to do it all safely

[flipper35]

We have some that we inherited. For now they are display pieces until I can research enough to feel comfortable firing one.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by id10t

I got into MLs to shoot black powder - real black, not subs, etc.

Then again.... I know a guy who has been a bit naughty in his past, so muzzle loaders are all he is allowed.

And yes, there are muzzle loaders that can use smokeless. His is a .45 that he launches either bore diameter slugs or .40 bullets in a sabot using N110, N120 and a few other powders to reach velocities pushing 2500fps.

However... smokeless ML combines all of the potentials for issues/distractions while loading PLUS all of the precision required for reloading, and all in the field or at the bench. Definitely not for the average guy, and definitely not for the person who isn't willing to spend the time and money on the right equipment to do it all safely

Toby Bridges was a pioneer in the smokeless compatible muzzle loader field. I remember when these began to be marketed, with him as the spokesman. I believe it was either Knight or Modern Muzzle Loading, or some such producer of "modern" muzzle loaders.

The hue and cry across the industry was tremendous, as it well should have been. These folks crossed a line, a very dangerous line. Not for their products, but for everyone else's. All of a sudden folks were getting hurt, using smokeless in muzzle loaders that were not safe to do so. "But I heard it was safe to use smokeless now..." Confusion reigned. Other manufacturers, whose rifles were never designed for smokeless, were getting sued when theirs failed with smokeless. It was a real mess.

Thank God this never really took off, and that word got out. Probably one of the more egregious examples of the "gamesmen" stretching the rules in an effort to gain every advantage. The original spirit of all of this was to promote the use of "primitive weapons" (and many states still word their regulations in this manner), not just any modern contrivance that happens to load from the front.

[John Rogers]

I have been shooting and building muzzleloaders for 10 to 12 years or so. I find that they are the larger challenge that most other forms of shooting except maybe to "2 Mile" matches. The longest distance I have shot my 45 caliber under hammer slug gun is 600 yards and with ladder type tang sights it is about 1.5 MOA with pure lead cast bullets and 110 grains of Goex FFG. It was made about 8 years ago and usually shoot it a time or two a year. My favorite is a 50 caliber heavy barreled match gun that was made in 1950 by a fellow named Web Terry who even after he died in 2011 still holds national records at Friendship IN.
John