News broke in Tennessee’s 2022-2023 Hunter’s Guide this week: Tennessee is the next state to allow the Federal Fire Stick in their regular muzzleloader season.

Definition of muzzleloader updated. Muzzleloading firearms are defined as those firearms
in which a projectile (rifle) or projectiles (shotgun) must be loaded from the muzzle (front)
end of the barrel and the firearm being of design and manufacture that prevents the
projectile(s) from being loaded from the breech (rear) end.

Following over 20 other states, Tennessee has updated it’s definition of a “Muzzleloader” to seperate the requirement of both the “Propellant AND Projectile” loading from the muzzle to just the projectile needing to be loaded from the muzzle. Check out the updated “Legal hunting devices” below:

Tennessee is becoming a bit of a hot bed for the hunting industry, it’s fairly open regulations and large sections of public land makes it a travel destination for many hunters around the country. With this amount of hunters, Tennessee has become a target for the hunting industry. For muzzleloading specifically, the big modern muzzleloader manufacturers are always trying to gain a foothold in the market. CVA, Traditions, and Knight Rifles work hard to promote their muzzleloaders in the state, but this rule changes is a big win for Traditions, who is currently the only manufacturer with a rifle for the Federal FireStick. CVA is reportedly developing a FireStick compatible muzzleloader, but no release has been announced.

The change could also prove a win for the Hodgdon Powder Company. The Federal Firestick uses “Hodgdon Triple 8”, a Blackhorn 209 like powder for it’s propellant charge.

As always with a rule change like this, there are several sides to the story. Game commissions see the Firestick as an easy way to increase hunter participation in rifle and muzzleloader seasons. Traditional enthusiasts desire to keep muzzleloader seasons inline free, and new hunters might try their first muzzleloader now that the Nitrofire and Fire Stick are allowed.

We’re not here to tell you how to feel about it, our only goal is to keep you informed about the changes in the muzzleloading community. Let me know what you think via email or the comment section below.