Woodman Arms “Patriot” featured in American Hunter Magazine

Woodman Arms fans welcomed a nice review from writer Bryce M Towsley in the October 2022 edition of American Hunter. Woodman Arms is a lesser known muzzleloading brand here in the United States, but has attracted an active fanbase touting the function and accuracy of these modern muzzleloaders.

For many years the muzzleloader rifle market was driven by innovation. Each new year brought technology and design changes that boosted performance and advanced the sport. Of course, it was inevitable that this would plateau at some point. For some time now, we have witnessed, with a few exceptions, a race to the bottom as guns were sold in clamshells at lower and lower price points. I have been writing about muzzleloaders for a very long time, before in-lines, substitute propellants, and sabot bullets. I love exploring the technical side of these guns and any meaningful advances in the sport. But, honestly, I had lost interest. What passed for "innovation" were mostly gimmicks, and it's been a while since I reviewed a muzzleloader rifle. I try to stay current on hunting trends, and among the big-woods hunters in the Northeast I was seeing the Woodman Arms Patriot muzzleloader mentioned a lot. Trends come and go and are often driven by personalities. If you can get one of the big-name trackers to use your gun, it creates sales in the target market. But then I noticed some hunters I know and respect--guys who use what works, not what's trendy-were using this gun. So, I thought maybe it was time to take a look. The needs and wants of the big-woods hunter are much the same for any muzzleloader hunter. A lightweight rifle that is dependable and accurate works most any place.

For those unfamiliar with the brand, Woodman Arms is based in New Hampshire and was started by Mark Woodman. The first “Patriot” muzzleloader from Woodman Arms was released in 2010. The model is still going strong 12 years later after receiving incremental improvements over the years. The Patriot is a break action modern muzzleloader, a design made popular by Thompson Center, CVA and Traditions, but the design of the Patriot takes one step further and offers some nice changes. For one the Patriot is a hammerless inline muzzleloader and features a short, 24” barrel. Stocks are available in laminate and walnut configurations. The rifles are available in .45 and .50 caliber and are priced just below the $1,000 price point.

The price may seem steep to those of us that remember the $200 muzzleloader days, but in today’s market this is priced at the upper end of the middle of the market.

Bryce goes on to share his experience getting started with the Woodman Patriot as well as some time chatting with the designer of the rifle, something we don’t see much out of the ‘Big 3’. Bryce is able to get some solid groups out of this muzzleloader. I encourage you to read the story in the American Hunter magazine when you can, or catch the article online when it is inevitably published on AmericanHunter.org

Learn more about the Patriot from Woodman Arms here: https://woodmanarms.com/index.php