QS 4570... Just seems as though you are just a stick in the mud ol fuddy duddy.
. Actually I like my ol Hawken a lot and have shot a few deer with it. Left it loaded(no cap) for over a month once...fired right on time.
The new Savage though is a real easy one to use... clean it every 100 shots or so. I really do hate cleaning the Hawken. I also have an original Pennsylvania rifle that was given to me. I shoot it occasionally..just to keep it going. It was originally a flinter that was changed over to caplock a long time ago. It is a bear to clean cause ya have to get the stock off which ain't easy.
It just seems as though the ease of use and familiar configuration is an incentive to get new and younger shooters into the game...Yep....except for a few diehards, at this time the flinter and sidelock guns are effectively a thing of the past...again!!