Old Wives' Tales

[Stophel]

They key to what makes a musket...the bayonet. The musket is a military gun made to take a bayonet. Rifled or smooth, doesn't matter.

 

They key to what makes a musket...the bayonet. The musket is a military gun made to take a bayonet. Rifled or smooth, doesn't matter.

Lots a folks come through and look at the longrifles and even the Hawken rifles I build and tell their kids,"Oooooh! Johnny, look at the muskets." or "Musketloaders". People are fun. :applause: :applause:

 

[Zonie]

Long ago I learned that when some proud father points at one of my custom Pennsylvania muzzleloaders and tells his kids "There's a old musket", it's much better to keep my mouth shut or to say "Yup. This is how they used to make guns. "
IMO, it's better not to make a dad look foolish in front of their kids. The kids will decide that all by themselves by the time they get to be 15.

zonie

 

[Larry Pletcher]

How many of you have heard an auctioneer say, "Ah here's a real gem - note the hex barrel. A real antique."

Regards,
Pletch

 

How many of you have heard an auctioneer say, "Ah here's a real gem - note the hex barrel. A real antique."

Regards,
Pletch

Hey! I've had a couple of barrels that were "hexed"! Had little demons ridding the balls and sending them off target!

How about "seasoning" a steel barrel you scrub down to the metal each time you clean it? That one refuses to die.

Along with "they didn't have peep sights in the 18th century".

 

Yeah, I hear that one too. Those old 8 sided HEX barrels are what those old guns had on them. :hmm: I don't know if some of these people ever went to school! :shake:

 

[jderrick]

I don't guess it's a wives' tale, but public ignorance.... The local paper (which I worked for at the time) was doing a piece on the anniversary of the Battle of Kings Mountain, including graphics of the Loyalist and Patriot weapons. But their photo of an American Longrifle was a Mosin-Nagant bolt action....

 

[Stumpkiller]

Well they are pretty long, especially the original M91's.

And they were made in America at Remington. :rotf: :rotf:

 

Scenario: Gunsmith inletting a nosecap on a shaped out longrifle.
Question from tourist: Are you making a gun?
Answer: No! I'm scraping the ice off of this peice of wood so I can burn it in the fireplace. It's been terribly cold here lately ya know.
Response: Nervous giggle.
That's your sign.

 

[dlemaster]

You brought back some memories some of which are pretty funny.
I worked as an apprentice in a late 18th- early 19th century gunshop which included doing interpretations for the public.
I would like to have nickle for everytime I heard "Ya'll make guns in here?"
Now keep in mind that we had a rack of stock blanks and barrels along one wall as well as several wooden boxes on the benches that included a box for locks, one for butt plates and trigger guards, one for ramrod pipes and muzzle caps, and another for the screws. Generally there were rifles in each of the vices on three work benches, in various stages of completion, and we were actually working on them as we talked. We also had a rack on the wall that included two original rifles as well as two or three that were priced and ready to sell. It seemed pretty obvious to me, but...
I must say working in front of the public was certainly an eye opener for me.

Another wives tale we heard often was "You can tell how tall the man was who owned that old gun, because they always made the barrels long enough so that he could put his hand over the end and rest his chin on it". Makes me wonder about those men when I see those 48" or longer barrels on guns.

Regards, Dave

 

:rotf: :rotf: Yeah, and those Frenchies and Dutch hunters along the Hudson must have been giants! :shocked2: :rotf:

 

Couple that I've heard more than a couple of times in my time:

You can't kill a deer with a muzzleloader unless you are 50 feet or closer.

They didn't have any firearms in medieval times!

 

It's amazing how often I hear that roundballs are either:
1. inaccurate
2. Don't have enough energy to kill or knock down power.

Even here on this forum there is quite a bit of questions pertaining to the above two points. Must be true since that seems to be what we call "conventional wisdom". :blah:
Oh yeah, don't forget the other biggy:
A roundball in a "One in forty eight" twist can't shoot worth a darn! :rotf:

 

[Lone Carabiner]

I :haha: have put a triple charge of powder in and topped with a wad only for New Years or the 4th. makes a good racket and flash.

 

[Lone Carabiner]

Yes, 'musket' is a military gun.

 

[Lone Carabiner]

Longer barrels were made in days before since the powder was of questionable quality and took awhile to burn, to develop pressure. :thumbsup:

 

[Zonie]

Any old rock will work in a Flintlock.

 

[toyforever]

:nono: "If you just cut the powder charge in half, you can use smokeless in that beanpole" :youcrazy: