Muzzleloader

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Image:M224Mortar60mm1.jpg A muzzleloader is any firearm into which the bullet is loaded from the muzzle of the gun (open end of the gun barrel).

Modern muzzleloading firearms range from reproductions of sidelock, flintlock and percussion long guns, to in-line rifles that use modern inventions such as a closed breech, sealed primer and fast rifling to allow for considerable accuracy at long ranges. There is even a clever selective fire muzzleloader with electronic ignition in development, known as the Metal Storm. Mortars are a type of short-range artillery that are muzzle-loaded.

Muzzleloading can apply to anything from cannons to pistols but in modern parlance the term most commonly applies to black powder small arms. It usually, but not always, involves the use of a loose propellant (i.e. gun powder) and projectile, as well as a separate method of ignition or priming.

1 Loading
2 Muzzleloading
3 See also
4 External links

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Loading

In general, the sequence of loading is to put in:

gunpowder, either by inserting premeasured pellets, pouring in loose powder, or by inserting a pre-measured bag of gunpowder usually called a "cartridge"
wadding, soft material like cloth or paper
the projectile, which may range from a solid lead ball to jacketed sabots. The gunpowder used is typically blackpowder or blackpowder substitutes like Pyrodex.

Since the items are generally tight-fitting, and the barrel long, a tool called a "ramrod" is used to push the items down.

Muzzle-loaders must usually be cleaned ("swabbed") before reloading, so that there are no bits of burning material left in the barrel to interfere with the path of the bullet.

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Muzzleloading

Image:VarsityScoutsBlackpowderShooting2004.jpg Muzzleloading is the term used to describe the sport, or pastime of firing muzzleloading guns. Muzzleloading guns, both antique and reproduction, are used for target shooting, hunting, historical re-enactment and historical research. The sport originated in the United States in the 1930's, just as the last original users and makers of muzzleloading arms were dying out. The sport received a tremendous boost in the 1960's and 1970's, and a flourishing industry manufacturing working reproductions of historic firearms now exists in the United States and Europe, particularly in northern Italy near Gardone.

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