I am a complete and total noob to Black Powder muzzle loaders. A friend and I were talking about a specific one he saw online but has never seen one available when looking to buy one. Has anyone seen one of these in the wild?

link

Are they rare or expensive or both?

A friend was showing it to me. I didn't know what it was.

I always thought BP was cool but don't know anyone who shoots it and only have one buddy who ever talks about getting into it.

So if my buddy wanted one of those in the link for collecting he is talking a lot of money assuming he can find one?

Don't screw around with antiques to get started if you are interested in shooting.

http://www.americanlongrifles.com/

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?board=1.0

Buy a finished rifle from Tip Curtis in Tennesse, or TVM in Mississippi.

http://tennesseevalleymanufacturing.com/

Curtis does not have a web site, but I think he does have a facebook page.  He lives not too far north of Nashville.  His son has a web page with Tip's contact information -

http://tippycurtisknives.com/aboutme.html

Tip Curtis Frontier Shop
4445 Jernigan Rd.
Cross Plains,Tn.37049
615-654-4445
Tip Curtis email [email protected]
[email protected]

Thank you for the links. I will start looking into them and reading.

Sorry if I agitated anyone. That wasn't my intention. I just didn't know if there were real antiques that were common enough that people shot without worrying or if it was frowned upon in general due to safety. Hence me asking the questions.

There are a few antiques that are shot, I just don't think it's a good idea to buy one without knowing anything about them, there's a lot to go wrong, and they need to be disassembled, checked out, and repaired first.  A nice contemporary gun will generally have a parts supply, and one from a reputable builder will be ready to go.

A good way to get started for less money than the guns I mentioned is the Lyman Plains rifle.  These are nicely made guns available with a flint lock or percussion lock.  They aren't a Hawken, but they are a good representation of a western rifle.

I do hit up the local stores about once a month so I will start looking for repro type ones. I know one guy behind the counter at one has talked about him shooting some his dad had so I might start with him this weekend.


So basically keep the antiques as wall hangers and collection and use the repro to shoot.

If I did want to start collecting or get an antique is there a place I can go to figure out pricing or is it kind of open to gunbroker and asking on other sites? (I am thinking about doing a display with a deer mount and a musket )