New found appreciation for the modern cartridge

[DennisCA]

I recently purchased a black powder muzzle-loading pistol and it has given me a new-found appreciation for the modern cartridge. With a "modern" firearms (to include C&R firearms) guns that shoot cartridges, you load and shoot (more or less) and that's it.
With percussion or flintlock type guns, it's a whole different ballgame!
(These are general terms)
Pour powder, Get Patch and Ball, Start Patch and Ball, Get Ramrod, Push Patch and Ball down the Barrel, Put Percussion on Nipple. (or Put Powder in Pan) Cock Hammer, Fire.
Or yea almost forgot: You'll need to run a patch down the barrel (with a muzzle-loader) every so often - because of the powder.

[Fjold]

Don't forget that especially in the case of the flintlock, when you pull the trigger it's "click", pause, "bang".

[Emdawg]

You must understand though, soldiers back then could reload those things pretty fast to put a hail of lead down range.

[ElvenSoul]

Oh wait till you try BP Shotguns! Especially a double barrel!

[smle-man]

Near the end of the muzzle loading era the military had the reloading thing down pretty well but that is why the rifles had a bayonet attached and the officer carried a sword or saber. Sooner or later you were going to have to stab someone.

[toby]

Oh the beauty of black powder shooting, I wouldn't trade it for the world but I would trade it for shooting a 257 Weatherby.

[xibunkrlilkidsx]

We were at Escodnido Fish and game watching a gentlemen practice for a black powder match.. he fired 1 round every 10 minutes or so. shot check through spoting scope. make some notes, reload. repeat. think he only fired 5 rounds then left. fun sight to watch him go through his ritual for realoding though. very precise.

[Rosereader]

Black powder has a kind of style to it in my mind. A romance, if you will. Beyond military influences it really makes you respect hunters back in the day; A weapon that is very finicky, that has to be loaded precisely depending on what it likes, that has a slight delay in firing, and you will get one shot. Think of all the big game hunters going after the "Fatal Five" back then! I think I read somewhere that people used 4-bore shotguns back in the day. What a game they played...