Muzzleloaders as a survival rifle?

[old salt]

I have not fired a modern rifle or hand gun in over 10 years.
Now if the balloon goes up the modern shooters that com for me will be at a disadvantage as I will not play by there rules. If they can get past the perimeter they still have to find me

A practitioner of unconventional war fare

[NAULTRICK1]

I have not fired a modern rifle or hand gun in over 10 years.
Now if the balloon goes up the modern shooters that com for me will be at a disadvantage as I will not play by there rules. If they can get past the perimeter they still have to find me

A practitioner of unconventional war fare

One shot, One kill, then displace, and they're my rocks and my woods

[Red Badger]

and several different types of booby traps!

[Watauga]

If you think about it Muzzle loaders were the ultimate survival weapon from the 1300s to the 1880's or so!
Not a bad record if that is taken into account!
It Was also the Muzzle loaders that freed this Nation from the British and opened this nation up for exploration!

[Hawken50]

  I would use anything i could git ahold of.The best survival tool is between the ears.By the way this thread starting to sound like a steve earle song.Learned a lot from charlie,huh,Old salt.

[Bryan762]

  well for starters, damn near everyone i meet has something to say on the subject! they will all be quick to jump saying ohhh you need an ak, ar, fal, g3, m1a, 870, m500, mini14, garand, model 336 30/30, etc etc etc! here is my take on it, and get ready because it will take you all to school, on the shortbus!!!!!!! okay shhhhh dont let anyone else know but ya'lll okay! shhhhhh quiet down and listen...... i know the secret answer, and you must listen to me on this, i am the exspert, and genious that is smarter then the rest telling you what to get in this situation, so ya ready for it......shhhhhhhhh BUY BOTH OF THEM AND SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! okay now that i have just destroyed your senses with the anticipation, you should buy both of them! yeah get that ak, ar, m1a, fal, whateverthehell 1000x61.2567967mm earginschplitennloudenboomer magnum heat seeking lazer guided uber badass rambo rifle/shotgun/grenadelauncher combo, with the depleated uranium high exsplosive pointed softpoints!!!! and then when your done with that, get yourself a good old flintlock, a smotthbore would be good, or better yet get two, one smoothbore, one rifled bore! same caliber to help with logistics! reason for one of each smoothe and rifeld??? well the smoothe will be better at harvesting foul aka winged creatures for your dinner plate, and the rifled bore will be better for big game aka that big huge giant 3million point sabertoothed dino elk that you keep yammering about to all your hunting buddies!!!! if the shtf/teotwawki/wrol/etc etc etc happens have a modern cartridge gun for a better chance to get out of a tight spot! nothing says loving to a bunch of looting gangbanging, drug addicted, raping, looting, pilaging, marauding, hordes of inner city orcs/dregs/parasites than a millitary style autoloader with the biggest capacity magazine you can use! yeah i love my ak-47's because they are ruged, reliable, acurate enough to hit minute of badguy (not angle) out to 400 yards, cheap in cost, easy to use, etc etc etc! how ever if the excreament realy collides into the spinning occilating air flow device, i will want a flintlock! now heres the whys! 1. you can make your own powder! theres plenty of recipies to do it! and it aint rocket science neither! 2. you can make your own shot! lead is actualy quite available ifn ya know where to look! wheel weights, window weights in old houses, roof vent flashing, auto battery terminals, in the local fishing hole, in the ground at shooting ranges etc etc etc!!!! 3. unlike cartridge guns, or percussion cap guns, you need no primer or percussion cap to shoot it! you just need flint, or some other rock that sparks against steel to fire it! pyrite comes to mind as well! so in the future when all those rimfires aka .22lr/mag/hmr/mach2's etc and all the centerfires and percussion caps have all been used up, the only guns around will be the old flint lock rifles/pistols/shotguns!

[Bryan762]

as i was saying only flinters will remain! or even the old matchlocks! and a bunch of modern high tech firearms will be either clubs, or canabalized for spare parts! i can even imagine new designs poppping out using parts from modern guns to make muzzel loaders! hmmmmm a .308(7.62x51mm nato) m1a rifle barrel with a breech plug in it, filed, taped, and converted with a homespun flint lock, in a stock, with some crude trigger system, and its sights turned into some improvised junk yard muzzel loader! hmmmm the original .308 barrel will withstand more pressures than a black powder barrel, and then they could use .30 caliber slugs, or ball! might even use some .30 caliber jhp, or soft points! just the bullets mind you, not the casings, etc! think mad max, meets the postman!!!! anyways i hope you under stand what i am saying! just get them both, and live!!!!! if it realy does all fall apart we will be back to flinters, and bow n arrows anyways!!!!!!

[Jusbo49]

i hope you under stand what i am saying! just get them both, and live!!!!! if it realy does all fall apart we will be back to flinters, and bow n arrows anyways!!!!!!

Amen to the above

[fullstock58]

I love my Muzzleloaders, but they are not good SHTF/TEOTWAWKI weapons. If we had a total meltdown to a like Mad Max type world and several years had passed then maybe they would be of some use.

The first couple of years you would want to have good offensive and defensive weapons, lots of firepower just in case you need it! I'm sure you will need it as everybody will want what you have and will not stop until they get it or they die trying. If the meltdown occures I would use my compound bows more then firearms to hunt with, my firearms would only be used in a defensive mode only (I Hope) I don't really want to go on the offensive unless it is needed.

After the dust settles and about 70% of the American population is dead, then I can see the Flintlock Muzzleloader coming of age again, by then there will be much less threats around!

[redhawk]

I'm athinking when they come for the modern rifles and start collecting all the ones you had to register I'll still have my stash of the black powder ones I haven't had to register.  And all that powder and lead I keep hoarding up will come in mighty handy.  Like the man said one shot one kill, they'll  be on my turf then.

[fullstock58]

One shot, One kill...........but what if theres two or more? weather you like it or not using a muzzleloader to defend ones self against modern firearms is nothing more then a lesson in futility! It reminds me of the poster back in my youth with the Rat standing tall and giving the finger to the swooping eagle coming for him!

[voyageur1688]

  I feel it is better to go out fighting for freedom whether you have only one shot or 5000. It doesnt matter much what you have as long as you have heart and stand for what is right. If I take out 1 of them before they get me, we are even. If I get 2 of them then I am in the lead.
Granted, I would rather be there to see our victory, but if not then its the great spirits way.
Voy

[old salt]

I have not fired a modern rifle or hand gun in over 10 years.
Now if the balloon goes up the modern shooters that come for me will be at a disadvantage as I will not play by there rules. If they can get past the perimeter they still have to find me

A practitioner of unconventional war fare

That one shot may well be just the bait of the trap, and to quote
Hawken50   "The best survival tool is between the ears."
This applies to all survival situations, wheather it is just getting caught in a bad storm or an end of the world scenario.

[William]

I really like the enthusiasm and passionate responses this question has evoked from the membership here, it is a thought provoking idea.  However, this post appears in the Flintlock rifle section and has reference to modern firearms, which I don't think follows the original intent of this forum; Traditional Muzzle Loading on the Cheap.

My .02, your mileage may vary.

[Red Badger]

I really like the enthusiasm and passionate responses this question has evoked from the membership here, it is a thought provoking idea.  However, this post appears in the Flintlock rifle section and has reference to modern firearms, which I don't think follows the original intent of this forum; Traditional Muzzle Loading on the Cheap.

My .02, your mileage may vary.

Strictly speaking you are probably correct - however, the original post topic said nothing about modern firearms and we kinda drifted that way,  I could move it to the open topics board if you all want....