haha yeah. most of my shite posts are just for fun for some, but when i occasionally am inspired i detect a greater likelihood of etheria. which isn’t really a word.

as spendy as that format is, what would you have to drop on an image sensor to be able to approach similar sized enlargements without noise (“grain” analogy)?
i like my x20 and my 35rc.
the newer breech loading bp rifles are tempting, as is that integrally suppressed one. pretty messy tho.

Viewer comments to articles on this site are a VERY sizable chunk of the value and appeal of this site. Sadly, my enthusiasm to try multiple times in multiple ways to get a comment to finally post here has ended. Thus I will be providing exceedingly few comments going forward and I most certainly will not try to repost a comment a different way to get past whatever automatic deletion this site does.

You may be wondering why I used my muzzleloader for all seven of the deer that I harvested the last two seasons. First and foremost: it is dead-nuts accurate and super reliable. I have placed accurate kill shots on at least four white-tailed deer all of which were 125 yards (plus or minus a few yards) out. Second, my “go-to” rifle WASmy .44 Magnum rifle–which has been inconsistent (in terms of shooting tight groups) and is questionable beyond 100 yards (due to waning bullet velocity and “rainbow” trajectory causing very fast bullet drop). The last two seasons, I did not have time to sort out whatever was going on with my .44 Magnum rifle so I pulled out my muzzleloader at the last moment and confirmed that it was still shooting dead-nuts on. Thus, I went out to the field with it, with great success and a perfect record.

In my opinion the only real downside to a muzzleloader is cleaning–you really have to clean it thoroughly and promptly after you shoot it, even just a single shot. With a centerfire rifle, you could wait several days (or months) to clean it after a single shot. You cannot do that with a muzzleloader because sulfur residue in black powder (and black powder substitutes) will destroy your rifle if you wait months (and possibly even several days depending on conditions) to clean it.

As the author stated, muzzleloaders force you to slow down and be accurate. That is a good thing. Plus muzzleloaders can be less expensive to shoot than popular hunting centerfire rifle cartridges.

If you don’t have a muzzleloader, I encourage you to buy one. And if you are not into really old-school muzzle loaders, buy a modern inline muzzleloader. They are fun to shoot. Speaking of being fun to shoot, there is another significant advantage to muzzleloaders. First, you can measure your powder load to any level you want. A young shooter would enjoy a 50 grain powder charge. A big burly guy could handle a 150 grain “Magnum” powder charge. Most people like somewhere between 80 and 100 grain powder charges for shooting–and 100 grains is more than adequate for most hunting scenarios. Last but not least, black powder and black powder substitutes burn a bit slower than modern smokeless powders which means their pressure buildup in the barrel is more gradual–and that translates to a more gentle recoil impulse. While recoil from black powder is as significant as many other calibers, it tends to be more of a push than a punch in your shoulder, which is a more comfortable shooting experience for pretty much everyone.

Growing up I had a similar experience with my dad. We shot mostly 7.62mm which we handled in 5 shot cartridges. I am pretty sure we mostly used a 3×9 lenses. 😉

When Dad passed my sister got his vast collection of 35mm gear – bodies and zoom lenses and everything else – and I got only his one Hasselblad body and three prime lenses. It uses 120-format film: 6x6cm with 12 shots on a roll.
I have been re-introduced to painstaking craftsmanship. When your camera has a fixed capacity – only 36, or only 12 – you take your time with each exposure. Each one matters more.

Your embrace of a muzzleloader follows the same trajectory.