My question, being new to muzzleloading forums, is: Do dedicated muzzleloading hunters repeatedly buy rifles the way many centerfire cartridge hunters often do, or do more of them (us) subscribe to the "Beware the man with one rifle, for surely he knows how to use it" philosophy? I understand many may start with a "fixer-upper," hand-me-down, or $150 "Blister Pack Noob Kit," from which the learning amateur (like me) would eventually progress to a higher-end rifle. But, considering the durability of good rifles and the slow rate of fire inherent to muzzleloading, just how often do good muzzleloading rifles actually need replaced? It's not as though a sidehammer with iron sights will become "more obsolete," or for that matter, that a good scoped inline is going to wear out or fall any further behind the cartridge rifle state-of-the-art at any point. Soft lead, lubed pillow ticking, and plastic sabots sure don't wear down rifling very quickly, and black powder substitutes don't develop nearly the gas velocities or heat that double-base smokeless rifle powders generate to erode throats and lands. Properly heat-treated and fitted fire control components simply can't be worn out in one lifetime. Diligent care precludes corrosion. Proper handling and storage prevents significant damage.
I own 3 muzzleloaders, but have only ever fired one of them. I have an older style blued/synthetic T/C Encore 209x.50ML "Magnum" (from before the speed breech craze) bought new at a Gander Mountain store for $450 in 2010 when they wouldn't refund my $400 deposit on an AR I had ordered & I had to use my deposit as store credit; it's still unfired. There's a T/C Grey Hawk bought used in 2008, which I've only disassembled and cleaned to confirm the seller's claims of "like new condition" (which were true); I'm keeping it just in case I find myself restricted one day from using my scoped inline, and need a sidehammer with iron sights. But my first muzzleloader purchase was a .50 caliber H&R Sidekick stainless/synthetic which I bought for $199.99 & free shipping from Cabela's in 2006.
The H&R got a $300 Leupold scope, $45 Choate raised comb buttstock, $35 improved ramrod, 3 better Metrics, Unl. sealed-style 209 breechplugs at $35 each; $120 for Warne base & rings; another $150 in accessories like primer keepers, sling, strap-on butt pouch, scope caps, etc. - to say nothing of powders, primers, bullets, sabots, powder measuring & storage devices, cleaning & maintenance tools, etc. that are not necessarily specific to that rifle since I plan to use them on that Encore if I ever get around to setting it up (already have scope/base/rings/caps & a few aftermarket items on hand). Range rod, soft & hard cases, etc. are not in this total either. This rifle, with Blackhorn, CCI 209M, Hornady 300 SST-ML & Harvester Crush Rib, will make one hole from 4 shots at 100 yards on any calm day I do my part. It now has 637 shots fired, and the only sign of wear is slight erosion of the flash hole in the breech plug on the primer side, which is why I bought 2 spare breech plugs.
I have a little over $950 invested in hardware and can't imagine getting $300 if I sell it, and that much only if I left the scope & rings on. After all, it's a used, obsolete, 13 year old frontstuffer that was under $200 new, and now missing a few of its original parts. Never mind that it has a sweet barrel, locks up like the proverbial bank vault, and its 3 pound trigger breaks the same every time it's pulled, with no creep or grittiness - you know, the important things, that make the only real differences between potentially accurate single shot rifles and expensive tomato stakes. The rest comes from properly-installed add-ons & replacement parts, self-disciplined range work, experimentation with isolated variables, and the humility to seek and accept plausible advice from experienced shooters.
Why would I ever sell it, though? It does absolutely everything I could ever expect of a muzzleloader short of what smokeless propellants and alternative calibers can do. I have my pet load tested into a range card that gives my dial-ups out to 300 yards, which I've also tested with inclined/declined firing angles. I know my wind holds to 200 yards well enough to hit a grapefruit in a thunderstorm. I'm guessing many of you here get similar (and often much better) accuracy out of your rifles, with total reliability as well. I don't shoot long range muzzleloading or black powder competitions; if I did, I'd build a Hawken or Kentucky kit for my LGC's black powder matches (they'll let me shoot with the Grey Hawk, just not for points/placement/prizes), or I could sell a kidney & call GunWerks for one of their precision smokeless/full-bore MLs that require a picket pounder to load. But just to punch paper on a 200 yard range, and take a poke at an Iowa whitetail once or twice a year? I have my pet rifle, and one I could most likely shape up into a proper backup, so despite my affection for muzzleloading and increasing annual number of shooting range and ground blind hours, I am essentially a nonparticipant in today's new muzzleloading rifle market. I cannot justify, in practical terms, why I should ever buy another muzzleloading rifle except to replace one that becomes lost, stolen, or damaged beyond the capacities of reasonable repair efforts.
In summary... once a hunter gets the smokepole bug, has shot his/her first rifle enough to know what he/she really wants in that rifle, then gets the higher-end replacement, do many of us keep buying more muzzleloading rifles after that? Being new to the muzzleloading community, I'm interested in knowing how we justify buying more rifles once we have one that's all "dialed in" for us. I don't mean to judge anyone for doing so, but I'd like to hear rationale for owning more than "one and a spare" per hunter. In scientific use, terms like "critical" and "discriminate" have constructive meanings (and nothing to do with social injustice or hate crimes), and I'm just trying to understand through critical thinking how the muzzleloader manufacturing industry keeps going.
(It also won't hurt to have my excuses already prepared, if I have to explain an unexpected purchase on the Visa bill to my wife one day.)
