Because of a recent purchase I made, two new hunting seasons have been added to the list of Pennsylvania season’s I can participate in! Muzzleloader and Flintlock hunting season are now available to me, because of the flintlock rifle I recently bought. Early Muzzleloader season here in Pennsylvania last year ran from October 18th to the 25th, with flint lock running from December 26th through January 10th. So, that means 6 days + 14 days = 20 extra days of deer hunting per hunting year.

The gun came with an agated flint which worked O.K.–for a time, but soon became dull. I tried to knap it with a small deer antler, but with no success, so I just reversed it which then gave me a good spark again. Then when I was in a sports store the other day I bought a piece of English Flint, which some say is the best flint for a flintlock gun. After trying the flint for one shooting session of four shots I cannot yet attest to its durability compared to agated flint, however, it seems to be doing fine so far.

As can be seen in the picture above I made a mark on my ramrod. This mark is a recommended “safety” feature for muzzleloaders, because it and another mark I placed farther down the ramrod show whether the gun is unloaded, loaded, or loaded without either powder or projectile. The mark that cannot be seen also serves to help me be more consistent while I am loading, because it lets my compress my load the exact same amount every time.

Because my CVA Trophy Hunter III has a rifling twist of 1:48 I can shoot conicals, sabots, and round balls. However, it can shoot none of those three really well, just O.K. To shoot round balls well the barrel would have to have a twist rate of some where around 1:66. In contrast conicals and sabots like a rifling twist of around 1:28. So, my gun is in the middle of the road, which will allow me to shoot any kind of bullet instead of being restricted to one certain kind.