Rifle selection

Your first muzzleloader rifle should probably be a cap lock as opposed to a flintlock. A flinter would be a good second rifle. Which caplock rifle? There are several reputable manufacturers of muzzleloading rifles such as Thompson Center, Traditions, CVA, and Lyman. Custom rifles are also available but at quite a bit more money and not necessary for the beginner.

The following statements are my opinion and not gospel. CVA makes a fine shooting rifle but the wood in the stock isn't all that nice. Lyman makes a fine shooting rifle and generally has quite nice wood in both their factory built and kit rifles. Thompson Center and Traditions fall somewhere in the middle being both good shooting and good quality at a reasonable price. The rifle in the top photo is a Lyman Great Plains. I own one of these and the Trade Rifle and really like both. I built both from kits and found the kit building process to not be all that difficult and greatly rewarding.

Powder

There are two readily available powders for the muzzleloading rifle, Pyrodex and black powder. I prefer black powder, it's the traditional propellant and ignites faster. Pyrodex may be easier to obtain however and shoots just fine.

Gadgets

This sport truly allows the enthusiast to spend as much as he wants in the collection of gadgets. The list above gives a general outline of the minimum amount of equipment needed to shoot and maintain your new rifle.

Speaking of new rifle, I tell new shooters to try to purchase a new rifle, one complete with the factory shooting manual and warranty. By from a dealer or mail order outfit you trust.

Buckskinning

As a greenhorn to Buckskinning you'll want to know a little about what Rendezvous is all about. Well, the events are as varied as the folks who put them on. Some are shooting matches in traditional garb. Others go much further with activities for the whole family, games, trade shows, contests of skill and luck with camping and dress of the period from 1800 to 1840. You don't need a full set of buckskins to fit in, a calico shirt and canvas pants work just fine for the men with traditional prairie dresses for the women. Check out some of the photos in our photo album and you'll get the idea.

I've only touched on some of the aspects of muzzleloading and buckskinning, please feel free to email me to ask more questions or with suggestions for additional aspects of this sport that you would like to see included in this site.