A Muzzle-Loaded Rifle

This has nothing to do with beer. In  fact, don't have any if you're going to do this. But, it's just too cool not to share.

Some time ago, I had mentioned to my son (an Army vet) how much fun I used to have loading and firing a friend's muzzle-loader. One day, he showed up with this,

 a modern muzzle-loaded rifle. We took it out to the local range to try it out. Great fun!

Getting ready to fire is a much more involved process. I don't know how they did it way back when, while being fired at.

The powder is added first, then the ball is forced down the barrel, and "seated" against the powder.

Next, a priming cap is added, which produces the initial spark, after being hit by the hammer. This spark lights the powder, and propels the ball.

Firing these is very satisfying. The cloud of white smoke is unreal. And, since it's a modern weapon, it's surprisingly accurate.