Muzzleloading Proves Profitable In Women's Market

By Lisa Parsons-Wraith

Women are making a big impact in the shooting world.  They can be found competing in sporting clays events, IPSC and cowboy action shooting.  They can also be found in the field hunting game, big and small.  Their tools for hunting range from bows to rifles and shotguns, and yes, even muzzleloaders.  In fact, women's interest in muzzleloading is on the rise.

One of the reasons muzzleloading is attracting more women is the Becoming an Outdoorswoman (BOW) program.  This program teaches a variety of outdoor skills to women all over the country and the muzzleloading classes always fill up, according to BOW's West Virginia coordinator, Elizabeth Gallahar.

Why?  Gallaher has this take on the workshop's popularity, "It's new to women and they are very curious about it."  She said whenever she visits one of the workshops, the women are really enthusiastic and excited about trying this traditional form of shooting.

Another reason for the popularity of muzzleloaders is the guns are relatively inexpensive to purchase.  Rossi has a new muzzleloader on the market that will sell well to petite female customers or girls who want to get started in muzzleloading.  The Rossi Miniloader comes in .45 and .50 caliber, blue and stainless models.  These scaled-down firearms are full-featured versions of Rossi's inline muzzleloading rifles.  The Miniloaders sport a Monte Carlo-style stock and are drilled and tapped to accept a scope mount base.

The Miniloader sports a 20-inch barrel, an overall length of 34 inches and weighs in at 5 pounds.  The drop at heel on the scaled down muzzleloader is 2.44 inches and the length of pull is 12.75 inches.  At a retail price close to $200 your customers will be getting a lot of features for their money.

"We've had great response for all of our youth size models in the women's market," said Jeff Grainger, Rossi's marketing communications manager.  "In fact, even on the men's side I've gotten some feedback about the Miniloader.  One guy got a ram that ranks number two in the trophy game record book with the Model S50YBM (it was his son's gun)."  That's quite a selling point for dealers!

Rossi also has a full-sized .50 caliber gun that would be just right for women who don't need a smaller rifle.  The Rossi Muzzleloader is an inline designed to profit from new technology yet maintain the tradition of muzzleloading.

Available in a blue or stainless steel finish wtih a walnut finish stock, the Muzzleloader has a barrel length of 23 inches, and overall length of 38 inches and weighs in at 6.3 pounds.  The suggested retail price for the blue model is $179.95, while the stainless steel model runs $229.95.

Another bonus Rossi offers is the Muzzleloading Matched Pairs and Matched Sets in full and youth sizes.  They offer a Rossi muzzleloader paired with rifle and shotgun barrels, with several combinations available.