Quote:
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
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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.