What do people still find appealing about Black powder rifles?

Question

im not putting down black powder rifels. but modern day rifles are much more effcent.

Answer 1

Ive notice that the older I get the more respect I have for our history. Shooting a black powder rifle or handgun is just plain fun. Why do people like old cars, collect old pop or beer cans and bottles? When twenty years passes, and you find something you wrote from 20+ years ago, do you find it interesting to read, and think about what you were doing then.

We live in a time when we can buy all of our food at the store so when do we still hunt?

Its all a love of History. A way to remember our past.

I cant wait till I can afford the flint lock rifle Ive been wanting and share that experience with me 10 year old daughter.

Answer 2

It isn't the power of the blackpowder firearms that make them weak, it's the relaibility, function and costs that make them undesireable. First things first, black powder is very corrosive on a rifle barrel compared to smokeless powder. All muzzle loading blackpowder firearms are slow to load and prone to misfires every now and then. Both of those factors have left many men dead when thier firearms could not make a follow up shot fast enough to save thier lives. In the mid to late 1800's the firearms industry enterred into a transitionary period where metallic cartridges were introduced but were still using black powder as a propellant. At the time these were considered to be cutting edge technology but they still suffered from two remaining problems, Blackpowder is not an efficient propellant and it still produced giant clouds of white smoke every time the rifles were fired. As soon as good quality smokeless powder was invented blackpowder became obsolete almost overnight around the 1890's with the introduction of bottlenecked cartridges that could take advantage of the efficient burn rates of smokeless powder, after that blackpowder firearms became a nitch market for collecters and the few remaining blackpowder enthusiasts. There are only a few of the original metallic black powder cartridges left on the market. The 30/30 Win, 45/70 Gov, 25-35 and the .32 Special to name a few. However these are very rarely loaded with blackpowder now days and all of these can be loaded to much higher velocities when using smokeless powder. Even the modern day 10 GA rounds pack a lot more punch than the origianl 10 guage blackpowder shotguns. Honestly, I would love to get my hands on an old 1886 lever action rifle chambered in 50/90 or 45/110. But there in lies the expense issue, good luck finding one of these and the brass for a reasonable price that an everyday Joe can afford. Bacially blackpowder technology is a dead technology, modern day ammunitons and rifles will shoot circles around these at much higher velocities and flatter trajectories. Yes, the 45/70 is still used in 1,000 yard competitions to this day but compared to a .300 Win magnum it's just a big slow bullet that shoots as flat as a thrown football. Think about it this way, would you still drive a 1974 Dodge just because it was a very good car the day it was manufactured? Probably not considering that newer vehicals perform better on less fuel. Once a technology becomes obsolete 99% of the population will upgrade out of it.

Answer 3

I am in Maryland and the laws are totally different for black powder versus modern guns and that makes it far more enjoyable to use black powder. For deer:our modern gun season is only 2 weeks in November. The black powder season runs a few months. Also, many hunters I know realize that due to the terrain, thinkness of vegetation etc if you miss with your first shot whether in modern or powder you probably won't get a second shot. Plus, many times you don't have opportunities where you want to try to take a shot that is very long so the black powder makes more sense for hunting. Although all the powder guys I knew also owned modern rifles for fun at the range.

Answer 4

I own 1 black powder 50cal, 1 compound bow and well over 100 modern rifles. The only reason for the black powder or compound bow is I can hunt deer from October until the end of February in Arkansas.

Answer 5

In my opinion, it is all about traditional hunting methods. Believe me, I am not putting down black powder rifles either. I have a modern day in-line .50 cal and I haven't shot it in over 4 years. I give credit to those people who go out and hunt with those old hawken rifles, it is very tough.

Answer 6

You get an extra hunting season in most places. So you have extra time to bag that record book buck. Not to mention the modern black powder rifles are very, very effictive weapons, The TC Omega is good out to 200yds with a .50 round. I'd say that's pretty good. That and its really cool to have to fan the smoke away to see if your game is down. :)

Answer 7

Some states have a special hunting season that you can only use Black powder rifles,for example I live in Pa and for two weeks after Christmas you could hunt deer with a flint lock.

Answer 8

For giggles, once; I loaded up a bunch of black powder .45LC rounds for my Vaquero. I wanted to find out if there was any real difference between my modern cowboy load of about 800 fps. Not having much experience with black powder I managed to exceed my modern load by about 100 fps. Recoil with the modern load was always a gentle push, with the black powder it was a pronounced shove. Report with the modern load was a sharp crack, with black powder it was a louder KABOOM. No smoke from the modern load, but after three rounds of black powder, I could not see my target.

Shooting black powder is just plain fun. I just finished loading up a few shot gun rounds, I going to the range with my Coach Gun just to screw with my skeet shooting buddies.

As far as "efficient" goes, it depends on just what you mean. Yes, it takes less modern powder to shoot higher velocity than black powder. Longer ranges are more possible as well. but black powder does not take a back seat to accuracy. Go to a "Quigley Match" some time and watch some of shooters, with a single shot Sharps Rifle (many using black powder), hit targets out to a 1,000 yards.

Answer 9

It's not about efficiency.It's about heritage and challenge and skill. Anyone can shoot game with a modern rifle, it takes a much higher level of hunting skill to hunt with a black powder rifle than a modern rifle, and be successful. Our country and ancestors survived using these weapons . They provided food for their families and defended their rights. They did it using these primitive weapons without the benefit of modern weapons and accessories.

Answer 10

That depends on how you define (and spell!) efficiency. You don't have to worry about the bullet from the old smokepole blowing up and causing a surface wound because its velocity is too high. There's considerable nostalgia involved, sure, but a BPCR will hold its own in almost any situation against its modern equivalent if the hunter does his part. Of course, a lot of youngsters prefer murdering animals at long range to actually hunting them, but that transition will usually come with maturity.