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The National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association (NMLRA) is the largest association of muzzleloaders in the United States. The Association was founded in 1933 and is known for its promotion of the sport of muzzleloading which involves the firing of muzzleloader or black-powder firearms.
There are varying degrees of membership within the NMLRA, all of which entail paying dues to the Association. Members of the Association are granted all of the rights of a member of the Association. They also receive a copy of the NMLRA's monthly publication Muzzle Blasts.
The NMLRA has granted charters to local and regional muzzleloading gun clubs, groups, or associations in all fifty states in the United States as well as Canada. Generally, each of the charter clubs holds their own championship shoot and reports the results of the shoot to the NMLRA.
The NMLRA is based in Friendship, Indiana, approximately forty miles from Cincinnati, Ohio. The area is a combination of both modern and primitive facilities reflecting the diverse nature of the Association and the sport of muzzleloading.
On site at Friendship, the NMLRA has The Museum of the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association as well as Gunmakers Hall, where the works of contemporary gunmakers are displayed. The Museum is located within the historic structure known as The John Linsey Rand House. The Rand House also houses the offices for "Muzzle Blasts", the NMLRA's monthly publication.
There are two shooting ranges at Friendship: the Curly Gostomski Primitive Range and the Walter Cline Modern Range. During national shoots, and other events, the site also hosts Commercial Row where some of today's most skilled muzzleloading craftsmen set up to sell their wares covering all aspects of muzzleloading.
The site also includes two camping area: a modern area for campers and modern tents and a primitive area for canvas tents, tipis, etc. No pets or animals are allowed on site for the national shoots or any other NMLRA-sponsored event.
The NMLRA holds two national shooting competitions at the Walter Cline Range at Friendship: the annual Spring National Shoot held in mid-June and the National Championship Shoot held in mid-September. Registration for these events is $30.00 ($20.00 for pre-registration) for members of the NMLRA.
According to the NMLRA website, "During the two major events shooters from around the world compete for national record scores. There are competitions for muzzleloading rifle, pistol, shotgun, musket, bench and slug guns, as well as tomahawk and knife throwing."
Several weekend shoots are also held at Friendship throughout the year including a 4-H Invitational Championship Shoot, the NRA National Muzzleloading Championship Shoot, a Youth Shoot, a Family Shoot, the Lore of the Laughery Shoot, a Turkey Shoot, and a National Women's Weekend Shoot.
The NMLRA was responsible for creating a number of National Regional Primitive Rendezvous, or historical reenactments of the North American fur trade, during the late 1970s and early-to-mid-1980s. These rendezvous spanned the entire breadth of the continental United States. These rendezvous were managed directly by the Association through the year 1998.
However, in late 1998 the NMLRA decided to discontinue their direct control of these national rendezvous as they no longer believed them to be profitable. They created the National Rendezvous and Living History Foundation to manage the rendezvous. While the NMLRA technically still continues to sponsor the national rendezvous, the NRLHF currently runs and manages those events that remained affiliated with the Association after its 1998 decision. Those rendezvous are the Eastern Regional Rendezvous, the Northeastern Regional Rendezvous, the Southeastern Regional Rendezvous, the Old Northwest Territory Regional Rendezvous, and the Midwest Regional Rendezvous.
The NMLRA also sponsors an activity known as The Longhunter. The Longhunter program is designed to encourage the sport of muzzleloading while hunting large game due to the challenges and thrills such activity entails. It is associated with the Big Game Records Program which is the only trophy recognition program strictly for the muzzleloading hunter.
The NMLRA also sponsors Muzzle Blasts Postal Match. A target is included in an issue of the NMLRA monthly publication "Muzzle Blasts" and the participant must shoot the target and mail it into the NMLRA along with a $2.00 entry fee. The winners are posted on the NMLRA website and the proceeds go towards the Association's Youth Program.
The NMLRA is currently seeking to restore the Rand House, a historic structure located on the ground at Friendship and home to both the NMLRA Museum and "Muzzle Blasts". In order to raise money for this restoration the Association is selling bricks to individuals so that they can inscribe any message of their choice on them for between $50.00 to $250.00. These bricks will then be used in the restoration of Rand House.
The NMLRA also has a college scholarship program. They offer two, $500.00 scholarships per-semester to members or dependents of members in good-standing with the NMLRA. The awarding of the scholarships is based on a number of factors including academic performance in high school as well as the financial need of the applicant.
The NMLRA is also seeking to create a permanent, $1,000,000 endowment for itself by seeking out one thousand individuals who are willing to donate $1,000 each to the Association. According to the NMLRA website, "The donation will be placed in the permanently restricted endowment fund of the NMLRA. The principal will remain in the endowment, and can be used only to generate interest or to purchase a permanent asset such as land. The principal can never be used for the general operation of the Association. The interest earned produces income for new and innovative programs that help ensure the long-term viability of the organization and help it to prosper."
The NMLRA also seeks to educate and train individuals in the sport of muzzleloading so as to further their goals as an organization and to have trained individuals available to manage their activities. The three main courses the Association offers are as follows:
A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries.
In firearm designs, the term single-shot refers to guns that can hold only a single round of ammunition inside and thus must be reloaded manually after every shot. Compared to multi-shot repeating firearms ("repeaters"), single-shot designs have no moving parts other than the trigger, hammer/firing pin or frizzen, and therefore do not need a sizable receiver behind the barrel to accommodate a moving action, making them far less complex and more robust than revolvers or magazine/belt-fed firearms, but also with much slower rates of fire.
Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms and bows/crossbows.
A muzzleloader is any firearm into which the projectile and the propellant charge is loaded from the muzzle of the gun. This is distinct from the modern designs of breech-loading firearms. The term "muzzleloader" applies to both rifled and smoothbore type muzzleloaders, and may also refer to the marksman who specializes in the shooting of such firearms. The firing methods, paraphernalia and mechanism further divide both categories as do caliber.
A muzzle brake or recoil compensator is a device connected to, or a feature integral to the construction of, the muzzle or barrel of a firearm or cannon that is intended to redirect a portion of propellant gases to counter recoil and unwanted muzzle rise. Barrels with an integral muzzle brake are often said to be ported.
A sawed-off shotgun is a type of shotgun with a shorter gun barrel—typically under 18 inches (46 cm)—and often a shortened or absent stock. Despite the colloquial term, barrels do not, strictly speaking, have to be shortened with a saw. Barrels can be manufactured at shorter lengths as an alternative to traditional, longer barrels. This makes them easier to transport and conceal due to their smaller profile and lighter weight. The design also makes the weapon easy to maneuver in cramped spaces, a feature sought by military close-quarters combat units, law enforcement SWAT team users, and those concerned with home-defence. As a result of the shorter barrel length, any sawn-off shotgun with a magazine tube will have its capacity reduced.
A gun barrel is a crucial part of gun-type weapons such as small firearms, artillery pieces, and air guns. It is the straight shooting tube, usually made of rigid high-strength metal, through which a contained rapid expansion of high-pressure gas(es) is used to propel a projectile out of the front end (muzzle) at a high velocity. The hollow interior of the barrel is called the bore, and the diameter of the bore is called its caliber, usually measured in inches or millimetres.
Practical shooting, also known as dynamic shooting or action shooting, is a set of shooting sports where the competitors try to unite the three principles of precision, power, and speed, by using a firearm of a certain minimum power factor to score as many points as possible during the shortest amount of time. While scoring systems vary between organizations, each measures the time of which the course is completed, with penalties for inaccurate shooting. The courses are called "stages", and are shot individually by the shooters. Usually the shooter must move and shoot from several positions, fire under or over obstacles and in other unfamiliar positions. There are no standard exercises or set arrangement of the targets, and the courses are often designed so that the shooter must be inventive, and therefore the solutions of exercises sometimes varies between shooters.
The International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) is the world's largest shooting sport association, and the largest and oldest within practical shooting. Founded in 1976, the IPSC nowadays affiliates over 100 regions from Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania. Competitions are held with pistol, revolver, rifle, and shotgun, and the competitors are divided into different divisions based on firearm and equipment features. While everyone in a division competes in the Overall category, there are also separate awards for the categories Lady, Super Junior, Junior, Senior, and Super Senior.
Muzzleloading is the shooting sport 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 1930s, just as the last original users and makers of muzzleloading arms were dying out. The sport received a tremendous boost in the 1960s and 1970s. The Muzzle Loaders Associations International Committee (www.MLAIC.org) was formed in 1970 and held its first World Championship in 1971. Since then a flourishing industry manufacturing working reproductions of historic firearms now exists in the United States and Europe, particularly in northern Italy, for example at Gardone Val Trompia, in the Province of Brescia. In the United States muzzleloading guns are, subject to a number of qualifications, generally not considered firearms. Subject to state law they may be possessed by persons who might otherwise not be legally allowed to own a firearm.
The double rifle, also known as a double-barreled rifle, is a rifle with two barrels mounted parallel to each other. Synonymous with big game hunting found primarily in Africa and Asia, the double rifle is a sporting weapon with very little military heritage.
Thompson/Center Arms was an American firearms company based in Springfield, Massachusetts. The company was best known for its line of interchangeable-barrel, single-shot pistols and rifles. Thompson/Center also manufactures muzzle-loading rifles and was credited with creating the resurgence of their use in the 1970s.
Hunting weapons are weapons designed or used primarily for hunting game animals for food or sport, as distinct from defensive weapons or weapons used primarily in warfare.
The United States Practical Shooting Association(USPSA) is the national governing body of practical shooting in the United States under the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC). Its over 35,000 active members and over 500 affiliated clubs make USPSA the largest practical shooting organization in the United States and the second largest region within IPSC after the Russian Federation of Practical Shooting. USPSA publishes a monthly member magazine called Front Sight.
An antique firearm is a term to describe a firearm that was designed and manufactured prior to the beginning of the 20th century. Although the exact definition of what constitutes an "antique firearm" varies between countries, the advent of smokeless powder or the start of the Boer War are often used as cut-off dates. Antique firearms are usually collected because of their historical interest and/or their monetary value.
Gunsite is a privately run firearms training facility based in Yavapai County, Arizona, just south-west of Paulden in the United States. It offers tuition-based instruction in handgun, carbine, rifle and shotgun shooting, as well as other specialty firearms. Located on a 3,000-acre (12 km2) facility, Gunsite has classrooms, indoor and outdoor firing simulators, and various pistol and long-barrel ranges. The ranges go out to 2000 yards for precision rifle training. There is also an on-site pro shop and gunsmith.
The 8 bore, also known as the 8 gauge, is an obsolete caliber used commonly in the 19th-century black-powder firearms.
The .44 Henry, also known as the .44 Rimfire, the .44 Long Rimfire, or the 11x23mmR in Europe, is a rimfire rifle and handgun cartridge featuring a .875 in (22.2 mm)-long brass or copper case. The round has a total overall length of 1.345 in (34.2 mm), with a 200 or 216 gr .446 in (11.3 mm)-diameter cast solid-lead heeled bullet. The original propellant load is 26 to 28 gr of black powder. The round has a muzzle velocity of approximately 1,125 ft/s (343 m/s), giving a muzzle energy of 568 foot-pounds.
The French Shooting Federation (FFTir), FrenchFédération Française de Tir, is the umbrella organization for sport shooting in France. It was founded in its current form in 1967, but has roots as far back as 1866.
The Norwegian Black Powder Union, NorwegianNorsk Svartkruttunion (NSU), is the Norwegian association for muzzleloading competition shooting under the Muzzle Loaders Associations International Committee (MLAIC) and Muzzle Loading Association Scandinavian Committee (MLASC).
