Traditions Black Powder Rifle Parts

[Sanna Pospicil]

Newhunters are learning that blackpowder firearms can expand their hunting opportunities, and FireStick makes it even more appealing for rifle and bowhunters to make room in the gun safe for a muzzleloader. In my home state of Ohio, for example, deer hunters can use a muzzleloader during both the regular firearms season and blackpowder season, effectively doubling time in the field.

Overall length measured 411/2 inches, which is short enough to be manageable in the tight confines of a blind or stand. The stock and Cerakote finish will serve you well against the rigors of hunting season, and the grime associated with blackpowder shooting.

The firearms industry faced many challenges in 2020, but products like the NitroFire rifle and FireStick offer hope. These mark an evolutionary turning point in muzzleloader design and offer increased participation in hunting.

Blending the speed and simplicity of a red-dot optic with the reliability and small footprint of iron sights, the new FastDot H3 from HIVIZ might be the best all-purpose handgun sighting system designed to date.

Eric Poole meets up with Adam Wainio, founder and president of Ballistic Advantage. His company is a premier barrel maker and provides top-quality pipes to both major gun manufacturers and small-shop gunsmiths. Ballistic Advantage has been a pioneer for profiled barrel blanks and experimenting with a barrel's mass and contours to wring out the best performance. Looking forward, Ballistic Advantage is working on its take on weight-saving carbon fiber barrels and is keeping ahead of new chamberings with interesting offerings like the 8.6 Blackout.

If Winchester is known for one thing in firearms, it's lever guns. Both the historic examples and modern renditions are held in high regard, and the centerfire models can command a premium price due to desirability. New for 2024, Winchester is lowering the barrier to entry and raising the fun factor with the return of the Ranger. Now, though, the iconic lever action is chambered for .22 Long Rifle. What's more fun than a rimfire rifle? Probably nothing, that's why Winchester has invested in the recent Wildcat semiauto, Xpert bolt action, and now the Range, all in .22. Eric Poole and Winchester's Rafe Neilson discuss the latest lever addition.

Aero Precision is a go-to source for rifle-building components including receivers, handguards, and all the necessaries. New this year is the M4E1 Pro kit, which offers ambidextrous controls: bolt catch/release, radial selector, and even the magazine release. Besides being lefty friendly, the M4E1 Pro also sports the new overbuilt Mod4 handguard designed specifically for professional users and shooters that are just plain hard on their gear. Stepping away from rifle parts, the company is also expanding its suppressor offerings with the new Tephra-22 rimfire can. Finally, the company is teasing the most talked about firearm at SHOT Show 2024: The Aero Precision Lever Action. Kirk Foreman of Aero Precision joins Eric Poole to talk shop from the show floor.

SAKO's new 90-series bolt-action rifles have finally hit the U.S. market. Guns & Ammo's Joe Kurtenbach was one of the first American sportsmen to take these guns afield. In pursuit of Colorado elk and mule deer, Kurtenbach takes a break from climbing mountains to describe the SAKO 90 Quest, a lightweight hunter that benefits from modern construction and precision-inspired features.

Warne Scope Mounts has unveiled several new red-dot sight riser mounts at the 2024 SHOT Show. One of the challenges of mounting a red dot to a long gun is getting the optimal height setting. These mounts feature included spacers to adjust the height setting to fit individual preference. Warne has also introduced a universal rib mount to easily attach red dots to shotgun ribs. Many turkey shotguns don't have a Pic rail, so this mount gives you access to the entire rib on a shotgun to mount a red dot. If you've never turkey hunted with a red-dot sight, it's a game changer!

Warne Scope Mounts has upgraded its popular line of Skyline bipods to the new Skyline lite, with three different options for ARCA, Pic rail and QD pic rail mounting options. The Skyline Lite bipods feature 13 micro adjustments to fine-tune rifle height, 0-, 45-, and 90-degree leg positions, and the universal-style head accepts multiple mounting configurations. Built from premium aluminum and steel, the Skyline Lite bipods have all the modern features we expect while keeping weight low.

Smith & Wesson's John Myles has been a regular on the New Product Premier, and he joins Joe Kurtenbach to run it back again at SHOT Show 2024. Last year the company introduced the Response pistol caliber carbine (PCC), an AR-styled platform designed to run off commonly available semiautomatic pistol magazines. A direct-blowback action powers the Response, but what sets the gun apart is its interchangeable magazine well. Mag wells are easy to swap for owners, and the Response comes with both an M&P mag option, as well as a mag well for Glock-pattern 9mm magazines. New for 2024 is a magazine well for SIG Sauer P320 mags. No matter what pistol platform you choose to shoot, Smith & Wesson wants you to rely on the Response for your PCC needs.

John Snodgrass from Leupold joins Joe Kurtenbach to discuss the latest edition to the company's tactical line of magnified optics: The Mark 4HD riflescope family. The new series utilizes a 4X zoom ratio across five magnification ranges: 1-4.5X, 2.5-10X, 4.5-18X, 6-24X, and 8-32X. Each magnification will include multiple scope variants offering first- or second-focal-plane reticles, as well as different reticle designs and illumination options. Like the Mark 5HD series, there is a Mark 4HD riflescope for nearly any ballistic pursuit, all build to Leupold's rigorous standard for reliability, durability, and optical performance.

Live from the show floor, Joe Kurtenbach visits Grant Dubuc at the Smith & Wesson booth to talk lever guns. The new Model 1854 in .44 Rem. Mag. was an absolute stunner at SHOT Show 2024, and Guns & Ammo was on hand to get all the details. Drawing inspiration from Horace Smith and Dan Wesson's Volcanic lever-action firearms, the Model 1854 combines classic lines with modern materials and design. To maximize utility, the gun's polymer furniture and stainless finish offer all-weather durability while the optics rail and flat-faced trigger account for modern tastes. The new platform from Smith & Wesson is going to fun to watch this year!

We are located in a small midwestern city that prides itself on precision. Rockford, Illinois, is a machine tool center that got it's industrial start in the fine furniture business. It's early settlers were craftsmen concerned about shaping fine wood. Later they turned metal into machinery for parts in early aircraft and autos. Many of the descendants of those early craftsmen are still around, working with fine wood and modern metals. They maintain the same high standards. We don't build, sell or buy anything that does not reflect quality and those traditions of craftsmanship.

Our company offers top-quality goods at prices black powder shooters can afford. We stand behind our products and won't sell anything we haven't tested and wouldn't use ourselves. We sell to our friends and are reliable.

Muzzleloading takes a special kind of person to really enjoy the sport. It calls for an appreciation of our heritage and traditions. Craftsmanship is one of those important traditions we want to help keep alive.

We try to use good judgment in the customers' favor in selecting their stock. We guarantee your satisfaction. If you are in any way not satisfied, simply notify us at once, within 10 days, for shipping instructions for replacement or full refund. Guarantee is void if stock has been carved or inlet in any other way than it was received and may not be returned. Also, we have no control over hidden defects.

The people of the young Republic of the United States were greatly astonished, in the summer of 1803, to learn that Napoleon Bonaparte, then First Consul of France, had sold to us the vast tract of land known as the country of Louisiana. The details of this purchase were arranged in Paris (on the part of the United States) by Robert R. Livingston and James Monroe. The French government was represented by Barbe-Marbois, Minister of the Public Treasury.

The price to be paid for this vast domain was fifteen million dollars. The area of the country ceded was reckoned to be more than one million square miles, greater than the total area of the United States, as the Republic then existed. Roughly described, the territory comprised all that part of the continent west of the Mississippi River, bounded on the north by the British possessions and on the west and south by dominions of Spain. This included the region in which now lie the States of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, parts of Colorado, Minnesota, the States of Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, a part of Idaho, all of Montana and Territory of Oklahoma. At that time, the entire population of the region, exclusive of the Indian tribes that roamed over its trackless spaces, was barely ninety thousand persons, of whom forty thousand were negro slaves. The civilized inhabitants were principally French, or descendants of French, with a few Spanish, Germans, English, and Americans.

Nevertheless, a majority of the people were in favor of the purchase, and the bargain was duly approved by the United States Senate; that body, July 31, 1803, just three months after the execution of the treaty of cession, formally ratified the important agreement between the two governments. The dominion of the United States was now extended across the entire continent of North America, reaching from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The Territory of Oregon was already ours.

This momentous transfer took place one hundred years ago, when almost nothing was known of the region so summarily handed from the government of France to the government of the American Republic. Few white men had ever traversed those trackless plains, or scaled the frowning ranges of mountains that barred the way across the continent. There were living in the fastnesses of the mysterious interior of the Louisiana Purchase many tribes of Indians who had never looked in the face of the white man.

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