Yes Sah !

She’s quick too !

Great lock, and great looking longrifle!....Love the wood figure in that stock.

I always thought the Durs Egg was the classiest lock.

Yup! Can't go wrong here.

Caliber will depend on what you want to do with it... .32 and .36 are good for small game and are cheap to shoot. But if you want to shoot any appreciable distance they lose energy pretty quick. Several states (mine included) will allow .40 cal to hunt deer, but I think .45 is the minimum I would feel comfortable using. .50 is pretty much the standard with the most available tools and ammo. .54 is a close second to the .50 in popularity... You can go up from there to bigger calibers with your powder budget and recoil sensitivity being your limit. But basically .45, .50, and .54 are the most popular and the easiest to find stuff for.

Ignition: flint or percussion. Your choice. Flint is actually very reliable if you're willing to put in a little more effort.

Type: This is purely up to you... Jaeger, Longrifle, Plains/Mountain, military musket, etc... Jaegers and Plains/Mountain guns tend to be larger in caliber than the longrifle (Kentucky) but they can overlap... Lots of .54 Kentucky rifles out there.

Off the shelf, Kit, or custom built: It's your money and "you get what you pay for" applies. A custom build is expensive but it will be built to your specs... Caliber, accessories, length of pull, etc... Plus a well built custom, with proper care, will be an heirloom.

Figure out what you like and what you want and start exploring your options.

Feel free to PM if you have anymore questions.

Mike

Sorry I haven't responded to all this but thank y'all for all the replies !

What I'm getting this summer

I'd take a look at the traditions line and if its something you like you can Upgrade 50 cal. #11 or musket caps most are fast twist nowdays so patched roundball will only shoot with less then 50 grain loads but you'll be able to shoot sabots

That is far from a traditional muzzleloader. Those are fast becoming like the Bow and crossbow debate. I don't have one or want one. I can see they would be easy to load. But kinda rough to call them a 100% muzzle loader. But in Michigan the deer seasons are all blurred now with weapon options.They look interesting though. Disclaimer, I do shoot a crossbow, and have and prefer a #11 ignited cap lock. But a flinter is on my want list.

My 1:48, .50 shoots patched round balls pretty darn good with 80 to 90 grains.

I used to tell customers buying muzzleloaders that every gun has its own personality, and you will need to find the powder load, balls, and patch thickness to match the personality of your rifle (or for Nessie, "gun"). My TC .50 shoots best with balls with 80 grains of FF, or 90 grains with a conical. I found that through many practice sessions.
I only shoot conical now so I honestly don't remember the thickness of the patches I used with round ball. Once you find the recipe that your gun likes it will be a very consistently accurate firearm. Properly clean it and you will have it the rest of your life.

I also found that some guns shoot better with FF, some with FFF. I have never been, nor will be a fan of Pyrodex and only shoot true black powdah (for Nessie again). I have seen a lot of guys assume they can shoot heavy powder loads. I have never shot more than a 90 grain load our of my gun.

Moosetrot

I shoot 70 grains of FFF out of my .50. That gives me a muzzle velocity of about 1,700 FPS. The balls passed through every deer but the second last one which was a high shoulder shot. This one went through both shoulder blades and stopped just under the skin on the offside.

It started at 175 g and ended at 162 g, so 92.57 weight retention. I’ve recovered two 30-06 Core-Lokts (both 150 g pointed soft points) out of deer and neither had near that weight retention. Probably because of the higher velocities.

a bunch of money , they aren't even legal here yet, may never be, they may never catch on in enough places to keep around , It would not surprise me if in 10 years it is non existent at all

I don't ever see 209 ignition as going away , may or may not be legal everywhere but it is legal in a lot of places

musket caps and #11 have been around since 1840 and a person could easily buy a lifetime supply of them , the #11 are popular enough I think they will be around a good while longer.

I only wish I had bought 5K caps when they were 30-35 dollars for 1K now at 55-65 dollars a K I still need to get a few more.

If anyone has a source for RWS #11's or RWS musket caps I would like to know about it.

Moosetrot

As good as you are with your hands - you should build you a Flintlock Southern Mountain Rifle Jim Kibler sells kits and if I can put one together - anyone can. He has videos online showing each step on the building of the SMR (Southern Mountain Rifle). Since you are down there in Mississippi, not sure what your laws are for calibers. You might check that out first. I chose a .45 caliber for my area and I have the equipment for that caliber already. If I build another one of Jim Kibler's kits, it will be a .40 caliber.

It's all about more hunting time to me.The gun is just the tool to shoot the deer with.Should be very easy for a beginner to load.......lol just looked back at original post.I had only looked at the headline ..Muzzleloader for a beginner.I did not see in parentheses in the post itself (traditional). My apologies.

Nice work Don!

Mike

Midway had them last week.

Tastes Like Chicken from this sight had/made the coolest.
He told me my TC-K Hawkin was junk.
I miss him and his brutal honesty.

One thing I learned, my .50 likes 3f much better than 2f
Well two things lol. When I got a load stuck in there,
I removed nipple, screwed in a zerc,
and pumped it out with grease gun.

.54's were fun but .50 gives you the best choice for supplies

Wright, I double loaded mine at the beginning of this season. (I'm old and had a brain fart).

I took it out to the shop, took took the vent screw out, stuck a blow gun with the rubber nozzle and shot it out with about 90 psi. I didn't need that much. One of the balls put a 1/2" dent in the side of my workbench.

It's a lot less messy than the grease method.