Hi, I'm Ethan, I love muzzle loading today we're talking about my recommendations and how you can get into muzzle loading in 2024.

The most common muzzle loading types at least here in the United States are broken up into three categories based on ignition type. The first type ,because of its importance to American history, is going to be the flint lock muzzleloader. This is really pre Civil War, pre 1820, you have a flint and steel striking to ignite your main charge. Think “Last of the Mohicans”, think “The Patriot”. Then, you've got your percussion ignition muzzleloaders. Think “Jeremiah Johnson” , this is primarily 1820s through the American Civil War and really the last muzzleloading ignition type before cartridge and smokeless arms were invented. Percussion can also include revolvers depending on how you think about muzzle loing arms. Then last, but certainly not least based on its Market size and popularity, the inline muzzle loader is our third type of muzzle loader.

Like with anything else when you're considering purchasing a new piece of gear or kit for whatever hobby that you're interested in use is going to dictate need. If you're just looking for a couple extra weeks of hunting season or you're looking to try something new without going full bore into the history side of things, in line muzzleloaders are going to be the easiest thing for you to get involved with.

For many folks out there flint lock and percussion muzzle loaders are considered passion muzzle loaders they're seen as a little more complex they take a little bit more work to get familiar with their a little different than modern arms unlike the inlines which are kind of a hybrid but they are I think across the board the most fun kinds of muzzle loaders to get into whereas your inline muzzle loers are really limited to your hunting season and some competitions around the country you can do just about anything you want with your traditional flint lock or percussion muzzle loader that's out there you can hunt, you can Trek, you can go to living history events, you can go to Rendevous, you can shoot for fun, you can join your local club and compete in competitions. The possibilities really with a traditional Muzz loader are endless. '

My recommendation for getting into Muzz loading and a first-time muzzle loader in the past has been a percussion muzzle loader because of its ease of use compared to the flint lock muzzle loader. The percussion cap offers a lot of advantages over the flint lock especially for a newcomer, and it can be less frustrating but I'm moving away from that here in 2024 because cap distribution has been so funky in the last 3 years.

My recommendation for a newcomer into muzzle loading in 2024 is going to be the flint lock style muzzle loader.

You're going to see a lot of writing on forums and Facebook groups and comment sections about Flint locks being finicky, you're going to see it on popular media hunting shows about them being trouble being difficult to get working, but I'm telling you if you can stick with it and learn just a little bit about it the flint lock muzzleloader, is going to be the most accessible muzzle loader for you in 2024.

I'm recommending the flint lock muzzle loader because you don't need anything to shoot it but lead patching and real black powder whereas a percussion revolver or a percussion Hawken style rifle is kind of a paper weight really if you don't have percussion caps or if we don't have good distribution of percussion caps across the country.

The flint lock muzzle loader can ignite its main charge with the same powder of the main charge so if you can only afford one or two lbs of real black powder for your flint lock muzzle loader you can use your main charge powder and your priming powder to keep shooting limiting the amount of supplies that you need and keeping you shooting longer.

Flint locks do need real black powder to work the best people can use and people have used black powder substitutes over the years but I'm telling you if you can get your hands on some real black powder it's going to be a lot more of an enjoyable experience for you getting real black powder can be difficult that's going to be one of the first hurdles for you into getting into muzzle loading in 2024 you're not going to be able to go down your local Sporting Goods store typically and pick up the real black powder that you need there are Distributors for a variety of kinds of powder across the country the main three brands here in the United States are going to be Schuetzen, Swiss and GOEX. Schuetzen and Swiss are imported from Europe and GOEX is made in Louisiana as of 2023. If a black powder distributor or retailer is not in your area, don't fret, you can ship real black powder to your house for a small “hazardous materials fee”or Hazmat fee.

If you've ordered primers or black powder substitutes to your home in the past you might be familiar with this fee, it varies from about 12 to 20 or so dollars per order on top of your payment for your product and your taxes and your shipping some retailers will include this in the price of the powder or you can catch them on free Hazmat shipping deal weekends sometimes so you want to keep an eye out on the major retailers that are out there for some of those deals.

I understand that the extra added fee of that Hazmat fee on top of your order can be a hindrance and it it can be a bit of a bummer but if you order multiple pounds of powder in your initial order you're going to be set really for several years depending on how much you shoot your muzzleloader. I go through a few pounds a year but I shoot quite a bit there are folks that go through less than a pound every year and there are people that go through 5 to 10 pounds a year if they're hardcore competitive Shooters and Hunters if you get started off with 2 to 5 lbs of powder to cut down on that Hazmat fee you're going to have enough powder for a few years and you're going to be able to go through quite a bit of shots and figure out your muzzle loader without having to worry about your supplies aside from purchasing at a local retailer or ordering online I encourage you to look out for in your local area a local black powder shooting club black powder muzzle loading clubs have been around since the early 1900s here in the United States and many of them offer powder to their members or will do group buys of powder to distribute that Hazmat fee that $20 Hazmat fee across 10 to 20 or more members so you're really not adding a whole lot on top of your order if you're able to order through your local club plus you get access to Decades of knowledge at most clubs over a hundred years of combined knowledge of muzzle loading.

You can tap into to learn a lot faster and get going sooner. NMLRA.org will have a full list of the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association Charter Clubs across the country to get you started.

As far as the pros go for Flint locks they're cheap to shoot in comparison and the supplies are readily available you don't have to rely on outside Distributors if you don't want to all of what you use to shoot and enjoy your flint lock can be made at home if you follow basic safety practice Flint locks are also I think the coolest kind of muzzle loader here in the United States they're just something mystical and and really awesome about a flint and steel igniting your main charge and sending it down range you've got the smoke of your lock right by your face you got the spark and the fire it's just really neat it's tied to so much American history wherever you are here in the United States.

I think Flint locks are awesome we've talked about the pros and getting started with your flint lock I want to talk about a couple of the cons though for my recommendation here for 2024 the primary con for getting into musl and getting starting with a flint lock is the barrier to entry and the difference in quality from your more budget friendly locks up to a really nice fantastically functioning lock cheaper locks as found on some sub $800- $900 muzzle loaders that are out there just aren't as nice as some of the locks out there on american made kits and custom builds. Those fine tuned American locks can cost over $200 which when we look at the comparison to an affordable sub $500 flint lock kit that's out there, that's half the money but that money is put into fine engineering and tuning craftsmanship ship to make that lock work quite a bit better.

That's not at all to say that those cheaper locks aren't worth it it's a means to get started and it's a means to get understanding and get working with your first muzzle loader You by no means have to go out there and pick up an expensive muzzle loader as your first muzzle loader if you're wanting to try this out say you want to pick up and get started with the Pennsylvania flint lock season or another States Heritage focused muzzle loading season you can be successful and enjoy your time with an entry level affordable flint lock muzzle loader and that's why I'm recommending it for 2024.

This is by no means all of the pros and cons I think they're the first really primary pros and cons that people are going to run into and what you're going to run into if you get started with a flint lock here in 2024. There's a ton of other learning to do out there there's a ton of other videos about this on YouTube to get you started I really encourage you to do some research figure out what you want to do and don't rush into the first muzzle loader that you see regardless of the type that you're interested in make sure you slow down and do your research and pick out the one that you want first I'm a big fan of buy once cry once so even if I have to save for an extra year or two I'm going to do that to try to get into something that I can enjoy for Generations Muzz loading here in the United States has been around since its beginning and it's going to continue to be because of that generational passion so if you can pick up your first muzzleloader and fall in love with it hopefully your great grandchildren will too.

So all of that aside what if you're not ready to buy a muzzle say you're just waiting you're waiting for a deal you're saving money you're working long hours I understand that that's where I'm coming from here there's a lot you can do though to get involved with Muzz loading and do a lot of learning before you even pick up your first Muzz loader and your first pound of powder.

As I mentioned, YouTube is a great resource. There's decades and decades and Decades of knowledge out there there's some big channels that are doing some fantastic work in educating and the historical side of Muzz loing that I encourage you to check out there's also the muzzle loading Forum as well as the American law long rifles Forum the muzzle loading forum is more focused on shooting and being out there being out in the field with your muzzle loader a lot of range testing is happening there a lot of discussion around Muzz loading different eras is happening there there's also the American long rifles Forum which is more focused on um muzzle loading adjacent or traditional crafts that go along with muzzle loaders think muzzle loader building bag making horn making kind of the Contemporary Art side of that.

There's also a variety of muzzleloading Facebook groups out there if you're on Facebook. The I love muzzleloading Facebook group is just about to 10,000 members as of recording which is pretty exciting we've got a good group there sharing knowledge and information uh based on or or really Bridging the Gap between beginner and expert we'll say in musz loading um so check that out if you're on Facebook don't discount though old media I've been going through my library here recently learning a ton about the historical side of muz loers in the 17th century which is awesome there's a ton of fantastic books out there about any aspect of muslin that you could be interested in U many of these books are small publication runs so you're supporting small Independent Media but because of that small Independent Media you can access a variety of Niche topics within muzzle loading to satisfy whatever you are interested in along with books there are a few great magazines out there muzzle blasts is the official publication of the national muzzle loading rifle association and then you also have muzzle loader magazine which is a traditional muzzle loader focused magazine out there so you have a couple options there for periodical publications to keep your interest up in muzzle loading but in a more traditional onp paper format which we all know and love and then to get you out of your house get your nose out of that book kid get out into the real world check out your local events clubs and seek out some classes there's a ton of opportunities out there to learn from experienced muzzle loading enthusiasts your local Club as I mentioned before is going to be a wealth of generational knowledge local classes if you can find them in your area many times you can get scholarships through the Contemporary long rifle association or the national muzzle loading rifle association to pay your way through some of these classes so I encourage you to check that out to get a serious jump start into whatever you're interested in muzzleloading.

So if you've gotten this far you might be wondering why should you listen to me, there's a ton of great voices out there and this is just one man's opinion I will say though as far as my credentials go on on why this recommendation or or why you should take this recommendation seriously I'm a fourth generation muzzleloading Enthusiast, one of my grandfathers got started in the 1930s and the other got started when he came back from World War II I'm really just a guy that loves Muzz loing uh it's been in my family now for a few generations and it's something that I just feel in my core I love getting people started in muzzleloading and and trying to help people get this going and that's that's why I'm making this video this video isn't sponsored I'm not making anything off of this I just want to help as much as I can get more people into this so that we can see it through for future Generations that's all I've got for you folks get out there get your flint lock get practice with it and enjoy the heck out of it I know you will if you'd like to learn more or find some more resources I'll have some links in the video description as well as at iuz ling.com where you can find just a plethora of resources added weekly to guide you and help you along your muzzle Journey much of the stuff that I've mentioned in this video as far as the associations and some of the classroom opportunities as well as muzzle loting clubs across the country will be there with the blog post accompanying this video. Once again I'm Ethan I love muzzle loading thank you so much for watching we'll catch you next time!