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MrTom

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Ma and I took a couple weeks to travel and ended up in San Antonio for a few days, the to Hot Springs, Arkansas, the Branson and finally back home here in Minnesota. Along the way we stopped for her quilting fix and I got to snoop out pawn and gun shops for used muzzle loaders. I've been wanting to find another side lock and only saw three, all of which were in pretty tough shape. Lots of Knights, T/C and Traditions guns, fairly low numbers of CVA, but what was most noticeable was the condition of many of these guns: unreal amounts of fouling in the breech and bolt areas, rust beyond belief and out of the fifty or so guns I looked at on this trip three actually had loads, or what could have been loads, in them.

On any BP gun I handle the first thing I do is pull the rod and lay it up against the barrel so I can get an idea of where the breech plug should end and then slide the rod down the pipe to see where it stops. No rod in place ON the gun will extend beyond the muzzle and when it goes down the barrel will not extend past the barrel's end and three rifles had obvious obstructions in the barrels yet not one word was ever said about that fact by the shop personnel. I can see how accidents can happen.

One White Mountain T/C had a broken/poorly repaired stock that was otherwise a clean gun and almost came home with us. Another find that was clean was an X150 Winchester bolt in-line that was in a pretty much immaculate condition but 50 caliber...had it been a .45 it would be in the safe right now.

In all I saw 7 Knight rifles, all plunger/#11 cap guns. Every single one of them was a nightmare in the clean department. Most of these had so much rusty crap in the barrels at the muzzle it looked like they had fuzzy socks stuffed in them. Two of these guns were what appeared to be loaded. All in all it was pretty discouraging to see the number of black powder guns out there that simply looked abused. I just don't understand how anyone could make an investment in a nice gun and let it go straight to pot like most of these had.
 
Probably because the good ones get snapped right up while the rough ones just sit there. Go back in 3 months and you’d probably see the same guns.
The advantage goes to the locals that drop in regularly to see what’s new.
 
I wish I could say I never saw one or 2 like those in a shop. :d'oh!: It really is sad what some do to a muzzleloader. In some cases I don't think the individual really has any idea about the proper cleaning and care and the time it takes. They just expect to shoot it and put it away just like their old 22LR or 30-06. They have no clue how corrosive BP and the subs are. Once they see the corrosion start it gets sold or traded off. I sort of not only blame the individual for not doing his homework but also the store sales person for just "Making a sale" and not telling the customer about its care and most likely never asking if they are familiar with a muzzleloader at all. :roll:
 
I would say there is a proportion to gun care with the cost someone pays.
 
Maybe its just me, but if I own it I am going to take care of it and value has nothing to do with it at all. For me value is not a dollar and cents thing.

I do have to agree in part with you 52. Some people just don't care about something they see as disposable when they go out to buy it just to hunt for a few days. Then when they are done hunting they are done with the gun and could care less about its care and condition. There are far too many of this sort out there. I still have the first gun I owned, a simple Sears single shot .22. Its a shooter to this day and is maybe the best cared for gun I own in spite of costing under 30 dollars in 1963.
 
I know a guy, who never cleans his guns, never has for decades. every year he has to buy a new gun, he usually swaps the scope and rings over, sights in and hunts every year. I think lately its just a new CVA wolf. (or whatever he can find cheapest) I dont know what he does with the old rust tubes. hes kind of the black sheep of the bunch. He is a deckhand on my buddy's boat and I guess has more money than time for gun care. :think:
 
I'm off the additional gun craze for now but I found a number of bargains over the years. I travel by car for work ( 3-4 states ). I had my favorite shops to hit. It was fun and you never know what will show up.

98% junk but that 2% was worth the time and effort. Still have many of them in the safe. Someone will have some gems when I get tired of this silly hobby. I can really only use a few at a time. Some of these " safe queens " haven't been out in years..
 
I quit the habit of buying and not using. I am down to three muzzleloaders now (two inline / one roundballer) and love it.
All of them get used in hunting season - at least every two years now.

I am down to only two centerfires....one .270WIN and one .300WSM. Love that also. I keep three calibers in pistols..... .45 / 9mm / .380. My wife has both a .22lr and .32ACP pistol. One shotgun these days..... 12 gauge with a couple different barrels.

That's it....... no AR-15s in my safe..... yet! :drool:

I am looking for a half-stock roundball 1-66 twist that's short & light. No heavy, long Lymans, or full-stock longrifles from Kentucky anymore. Wish I never sold my 24" barrel CVA Plainsman years ago. What a dufus I was for selling that.
 
I love the Gun Hunt, most Pawn Shops and some Stores that sell ML have no ideal of the value of what is on their shelf, or a simple drop of the RAM ROD down the barrel would confirm if the ML is loaded or not.
 
The pawn shops around here want top dollar for everything. I recently saw an inexpensive CVA Bobcat selling for $150 and a Traditions Deerhunter selling for $175. Both obviously used.

I quit going to local pawn shops. They list them at new gun prices and won't bargain down / lower the price more than around $25. I quit buying used from gunbroker too. The sellers ship me rusted bores, despite saying they are fine in conversations prior online.

It's quite a hassle to return these guns. So the best step is to not even purchase sight-unseen muzzleloaders anymore.
 
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