the latest NMLRA muzzle blasts magazine

[Rob DiStefano]

the inside cover is a full page color ad for shiloh sharps rifles.  really?  breech load cartridge rifle advertising in a muzzleloading magazine?

then there's the multi page article on inline zip guns.

not my NMLRA any more.

guess they gotta do what they gotta do to stay alive and keep their friendship range and facilities.

[AxelP]

It does seem strange advertising a BPCR in the magazine. There is a lot of cross-over though. I own and shoot a Shiloh Sharps as well as my trusty ML Flinters. They both have a rich presence in American history that attract like-minded folk. I would have no problem with a flintlock rifle maker advertising in a BPCR or even a modern shooting magazine. That kind of marketing strategy has merit.

I have no problem with an inline article--certainly not my thing, but the NMLRA has a broader membership than traditional bp shooters and have various shooting disciplines represented at their events which I think is great. So long as the ratio of articles approximate the ratio of the membership-- makes perfect sense to me.

[Rob DiStefano]

i'm not at all against breech loaders - i shoot them at least weekly, rollers and sharps with paper patched bullets.  this is not about individual preferences, it's about an organization that has radically changed its course.

clearly it's an evolution thing of changing priorities with the NMLRA, because they were founded on the principles of the traditional muzzleloaders of the 18th and 19th centuries ... not the inlines of the 20th century nor the breech loaders of the later part of the 19th century.  i can see and understand the inline zip gun acknowledgements, but they are, or have been, a MUZZLELOADING organization, and why they're messing with breech loaders is, yet again, their need to chase the dollar to support their LAND and FACILITIES.  to keep friendship, they've changed their core philosophy.  as an NMLRA member, they didn't ask my opinion, either.

[Ohio Joe]

Well August of this year will end a long running association with the NMLRA and myself.  About 40+ years I reckon?

Now before anyone jumps to any conclusions of me leaving the NMLRA, it is primarily that I don't use the facilities and have only visited there 3 times since being a member.

I figure that annual NMLRA membership dues can go to a club that holds the same interests as I,,, and that is the; Bordeaux Creek Fur Trade & Muzzle Loaders Assn. (which is basically the home of "Chadron Fur Trade Days" every July with an annual Rendezvous.) They are 25 miles away from me, and the NMLRA Range in Indiana is 1100 miles from me.

As far as the Muzzle Blast Magazine goes, I can get all the traditional muzzle loading talk and information I want, right here at the TMA. So I'm not missing out on anything really, and now it's time for my home "traditional muzzle loading club" to benefit from my once - NMLRA annual membership fee. 

[Rob DiStefano]

the core issues that the NMLRA has always wrestled with is their land holdings and facilities.  membership has been dwindling.  this is why they need the money.  and if it takes reinventing themselves into something completely diff'rent from their core beliefs and goals, to keep friendship alive, so be it.

for me to join an organization that has a venue that i pay for with my dues but will rarely if ever attend makes no sense.  however, i joined the NMLRA not to shoot at friendship, but to keep the sole organization that revered traditional muzzleloaders alive in order to educate, promote, expand, and continue solely with these weapons.  that era is now over. 

NOW ... i've asked this before - what national org is gonna take the place of the NMLRA? 

[Hawken]

Well August of this year will end a long running association with the NMLRA and myself.  About 40+ years I reckon?

Now before anyone jumps to any conclusions of me leaving the NMLRA, it is primarily that I don't use the facilities and have only visited there 3 times since being a member.

I figure that annual NMLRA membership dues can go to a club that holds the same interests as I,,, and that is the; Bordeaux Creek Fur Trade & Muzzle Loaders Assn. (which is basically the home of "Chadron Fur Trade Days" every July with an annual Rendezvous.) They are 25 miles away from me, and the NMLRA Range in Indiana is 1100 miles from me.

As far as the Muzzle Blast Magazine goes, I can get all the traditional muzzle loading talk and information I want, right here at the TMA. So I'm not missing out on anything really, and now it's time for my home "traditional muzzle loading club" to benefit from my once - NMLRA annual membership fee. 

Ohio Joe

"They are 25 miles away from me, and the NMLRA Range in Indiana is 1100 miles from me."

Makes a lot of sense to me! I'll grant you I'm probably the only 'hardcore' shooter of Traditional ML rifles in North Louisiana; so much so that it's like being the Lonely Maytag Repairman.....sort of!! If there were a local club available I'd be a supporting member but frankly I just don't have the time to go traipsing off to the 'nether-lands' to enjoy what I can right here at home 50' from where I sleep at night! The general trend has been these last two decades for folks to go with the modern stuff and to put scopes with an objective lens about the size of a lard bucket atop what they call 'Muzzleloaders'; basically because they know nothing about blackpowder or how to use regular barrel sights or how accurate the traditional ML can be used by a competent rifleman! And like you....I can come here and find out anything I need to know from folks that have a lot more experience than myself concerning certain issues!

You have a good day sir!

[Winter Hawk]

NOW ... i've asked this before - what national org is gonna take the place of the NMLRA?

The TMA?  And I'm serious...

~WH~

[rollingb]

NOW ... i've asked this before - what national org is gonna take the place of the NMLRA?

The TMA?  And I'm serious...

~WH~

I'm all for that.