Almost 4 million hunters a year drop powder down their barrel, ram in a bullet, and accept the challenge of muzzleloading. The blackpowder business, as they love to say in the industry, is booming.

One reason for the growth is that most states have special muzzleloader-only hunts. So picking up a smokepole can extend your season by weeks. There's also the lure of history. You can bring home venison with essentially the same rifle that Daniel Boone or Jim Bridger used. That's the great thing about muzzleloading-"you can be a mountain man with a Hawken caplock or a modern man with a scoped, superaccurate rifle using a nearly flawless ignition system. Or you can be some combination of the two, taking advantage of modern conveniences while still embracing the primitive challenge of the hunt. It's up to you. We're here to help you find your way among the piles of guns, bullets, powders, and other gear.

Your first decision is the type of rifle. Some states only allow certain types of muzzleloaders during their primitive seasons, so check the regulations first. Daniel Boone carried a flintlock, as did soldiers on both sides in the American Revolution. It's the gun that is responsible for the phrase "keep your powder dry"-"anyone who has shot one in the rain knows why. Developed in the early 19th century, the percussion caplock has a faster lock time and greater reliability than its predecessor. The in-line was invented by gunsmith Tony Knight in the 1980s, and it does away with many of the frustrations of traditional designs.

Bonus Web Coverage: The In-Line vs. Traditional Debate
Muzzleloading's Great Schism dates to 1985, the year Missouri gunsmith Tony Knight built the first modern inline rifle. Hunters who wanted a reliable gun they could scope and shoot in special seasons loved the inline. Traditionalists hated it. Twenty years later, the debate still rages in the woods and on the Internet:

(Shooting an inline in a muzzleloader season is) like taking a rocket fueled "monster tractor" to a draft horse "pulling" contest. Rlineb on huntamerica.com

"I, for one, am not imposing feelings on anybody. Do what thou wilt. I'm just saying that for me an inline has the appeal of a dog turd and that many guys get into them just to grab another season, thus tending to fill the woods with ill-prepared folks." "Woodswalker" on sixgunner.com

"The argument about muzzleloading today not being muzzleloading smacks of . . . intolerance for progress of OTHERS. Remember, NO ONE makes you SHOOT AN INLINE. You can shoot whatever you want to in the forest." Rattus58 on huntchat.com

"An older flinter once told me that "there ain't no nipples on a man's gun" Skinnyshooter on HuntChat.com