For more information visit TraditionsFirearms.com.
Every year at SHOT Show we think about what would be the biggest story of everything we have seen. This one is going to be tough to beat!
Traditions, maker of super high quality and super affordable modern muzzleloaders, in partnership with Federal Ammunition, has pretty much broken all the rules. The Nitro Fire is a muzzleloader without a breach plug. You can see right through it, and you load the powder charge from the back.
The bullet is still pushed in from the front. That hasn’t changed. But Federal created a new polymer chamber sleeve to hold the gunpowder charge. It’s called the Federal Firestick. The stick slips in from the rear, and it resembles a .410 shotgun shell.
You will load your 209 primer into the back of the Firestick, as if it were the nipple on the back of what has always been the breech plug.
The chamber sleeve houses the actual combustion, so most likely they will not be reusable. The powder is going to be a new product from Hodgdon called “Triple Ei8ht,” which we will hopefully get more details on in the future. For now, there seems to be only one loading.
Firestick changes the whole dynamic of muzzleloading firearms. The plastic sleeve is sealed, and waterproof. It is made on commercial ammunition manufacturing equipment, so it will always be consistent. Cleaning the gun will no longer be a chore, and you won’t have to deal with breech plug threads that never seen to want to move after you figure out your ideal magnum load. I can’t imagine an avid hunter who would not want to scream from the rooftops, “EVERYTHING JUST CHANGED!”
Range Day was a first look at this gun, and according to the Traditions company, it will have no legal problems at all in all but “about 10 states.” Traditions is in contact with the legislative activists and regulatory agencies in those states to hopefully overcome these obstacles. It certainly does bring a new dimension to a whole extra month of deer season in many states. We look forward to getting one in for review.
For more information visit TraditionsFirearms.com.