Home built muzzleloader

If you build your own muzzleloader for smokeless powder then in my opinion, you have become the manufacturer of the muzzleloader. Is there any disagreement with that statement.

If you make the parts yes if you assemble from parts you bought then eh idk maybe just a muzzleloader assembler. I feel that if you build your own action and install a barrel that you ordered you would be the manufacturer but if you just mate a pre-made barrel and action then all you did was assemble the weapon.

If built for yourself and never sold dont believe and regs. But if for sale atf would be involved.
And liability would be risky. My opinion.

Question i have?
Theres many great platforms available to build sml at reasonable cost why not go this route

IMO what company really builds a muzzle loader? Are they not assembled. The parts are made else where to strict tolerances but in their defense it is their design and tolerances. The stocks are made in molds. And once all there the parts are assembled. They are put together and basically tuned. Even my custom muzzleloaders, the barrel is Colerain, the lock is Seiller, the trigger made by Davis, but the stock is hand carved (and I have often suspected they have a lazer router for most of that). So all the parts are assembled and fitted to the stock. Does that make the builder of my rifle a muzzle loader maker? If it does then its yes to answer your question. They all place their name on the rifles as the maker of the rifle.

Semisane years back did an in-depth build of a rifle he called the Swamp Dragon. Granted he purchased the barrel (as who has the tools and facility to rifle a barrel anymore) but he made the other parts. He documented the build and it was one of the most fascinating thread I followed. I even showed it to a tool and die maker friend of mine and he was "very impressed." To me, that was a gun maker!

So if the homemade muzzleloader is an assembly of parts from various suppliers of parts, who then gets to recommend what smokeless powder is used? The barrel supplier? - The parts supplier, or the stock supplier?

The builder its your liability.

bestill said:

The builder its your liability.

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Correct, call BadBull and ask them who is liable if there SML fails and anyone is hurt. They make nothing in house except maybe the breach plug. If it blows with a recommended load i doubt you will get a penny out of Shilen, Timney, Boyds, Ruger or Remington.

Sounds like a legal question. Legal has nothing to do with right or wrong, It all depends on who has the better lawyer (legal team)

Realistically, (My opinion) virtually all catastrophic muzzleloader failures are user error ( bad loading/barrel obstruction ) Sure theres a lot of blown guns out there, but muzzleloaders are basically hand loaders without case limitations, and more steps involved to load, hence more chances to get it wrong. Short started projectile, double load, wrong powder are probably the most common. Everyone has had a dryball, its known to be common. but the scary ones usually dont get circulated as readily. Focus and witness marks are key.