Our Story
The Florida State Muzzle Loaders Association (FSMLA) was originally chartered to act as a catalyst for black powder competitive sports in Florida. Unfortunately, the FSMLA became inactive in the mid to late 70’s and stopped being a formal resource in the 80’s. Through the generosity of the Central Florida Rifle and Pistol Club (CFR&PC) and the Florida Frontiersmen, Inc. (FF, Inc), the State Competition was brought back for Florida’s black powder shooters! CFR&PC hosted it in 2008 & 2009 and the FF Inc hosted it from 2012 – 2017. Both of these great Florida shooting clubs enjoy a centralized location, which permits clubs and individuals from around the State of Florida a chance to compete against each other.
To make sure our sport remains viable for the next generation, the Florida Muzzleloaders Association (FMA) was formed from a group of muzzleloading enthusiasts that have been shooting, promoting, and organizing the Florida State Shoot for a number of years. The State Shoot has been traditionally held in the Spring (April). After years of informal communication and a great deal of initiative and dedication by a few enthusiasts, the FMA finally launched a website intended to gather muzzleloader information into a collaborative organization dedicated to the promotion and continuation of Black Powder Shooting and education activities in the State of Florida. The National Muzzle Loading and Rifle Association officially chartered the FMA in August of 2017.
It is the aim of the FMA to serve as a resource for all Black Powder Shooting clubs in Florida by both promoting and organizing competitive Shooting matches throughout the State of Florida. FMA resources include a Statewide directory, calendar of events, and an online classified service for the sale of muzzleloaders and associated equipment.
Membership in the FMA can be obtained by application and will be approved in a few days. The membership is now at no charge to black powder enthusiasts. Additionally, our Classified Ads section is also at no charge. Please note however, that our rules, requiring all items for sales to be either black powder or 18th/19th century period correct remain in affect. Membership in FMA will be terminated for anyone not adhering to these rules.
Next Steps…
We hope to see you at one of the Statewide matches. Please join us and if you are aware of any Florida muzzleloader resources that could benefit by this association, encourage them to contact us so we can include them in both our directory and add their key activities to our Statewide calendar of events.