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  1. M

    why half-stocked relics?

    A great many of the antiques I have seen, even those advertised in catalogues in the 1910s, often have stocks which were cut half length down the forearm. They seem to have been designed with full length stocks in mind, so why would someone do this? Is there some practical purpose to it that...
  2. M

    history of the gun cabinet

    I've just now realized something; no one really has mentioned the topic of historical firearms storage! We know that the armories of Europe stored, and still store, their long arms in standing racks. We know from sources into the 1870s that hanging rifles upon the hall, and behind doors and...
  3. M

    historical measures - or - pfund und zoll

    I was reading up a bit on all of the weird and wacky measuring systems of the old European nations, especially the pre-German unification states. We all know that a bore is a division of the British official pound, being of lead for small arms and iron for cannons (eg. 12 bore is 12 balls of...
  4. M

    fancy corn dodgers

    Today I made my first ever batch of corn dodgers, and learned some lessons along the way. I've no idea about the history of corn dodgers, and my only knowledge of them is a few lines from the bearded guy in "Little House on the Prairie" and from Rooster Cogburn. The first was not totally crisp...
  5. M

    the death of the commercial muzzleloader

    I was reading a bit of "Little House on the Prairie", and Ms. Wilder wrote of her father keeping a long rifle (we may never know what it looked like) over the chinked fireplace, hung on two green sticks jabbed into the log wall, and how he loaded it afresh each night with round ball and a cap...
  6. M

    flint substitute

    From what I can garner, flint and chert are both natural glasses, and this brings me to the idea - can glass (like soda bottle glass) be used to shave sparks? As long as it has a micro-edge and is harder than the steel frizzen, would it not be feasible? There is no flint in the area and all...
  7. M

    JaegerBushce regional variations

    We all know of the regional schools of the Pennsylvania long rifles, but there's something I've been wondering about - what about variations with the direct ancestors of the PA, the JaegerBushce (German; hunter rifle). By the existence of multiple nations, and from the fact these guns existed...
  8. M

    how common were composite arms?

    I know that the most common arms in the colonial era were muskets, and toward the revolution, it was the trade musket for all but the military and militias, who had mostly brown bess replicas and french arms. I've read the during the fur trapper period that up to 90% of the arms carried in the...
  9. M

    The painted stocks of history

    I've been reading a bit about historic furniture and have found that gun stocks were painted in some cases. Black paint or tar finish seemed to be common on military muskets, and Indians certainly applied strips, zig-zags and dots to their guns as well as more expensive brass tacks. I've read...
  10. M

    victorian equipment v modern

    I bought a little patch puller and ball worm all the long way back in 2008(?), at the same time I bought my first bullet mold and it's got me to thinking about redesigning old stuff for the modern day and if it's really a good idea. I have never used any civil war era equipment, but the...
  11. M

    minimum breech diameter for fowler

    So far, as much as I can gather, the minimum breech diameter of the barrel of a modern rifle should be the width of the base of the cartridge multiplied by 1.8. But this does not seem to be the case with shotguns, as black powder fowler barrels of .62 caliber/20 bore seem to have walls that are...
  12. M

    the officers fusil - its place in history

    We've probably all seen the fancy, light and sleek flintlocks labeled as 'officer's fusils'. I've seen and few and strongly believe that the lock plates were cast in lost wax to get so much detail. But - what is this gun's place in history? Were they ever actually give to military officers, and...
  13. M

    Delhi Gun house - have you held one?

    We've probably all been tempter by those very inexpensive Indian muskets made by the Delhi gun house. I was looking on a price list of theirs, converting rupees (not the Zelda kind, too bad... the world needs a pretty currency) to dollars and they go from 380 to 520 wholesale. I have never held...
  14. M

    schools and labels

    I had a look see at a few colonial militia guns, many of which were made of found/salvaged parts mixed with what could be made with whatever stock was easy and cheap to knock out. It got me to thinking about the notion of schools, and labels that we give to guns that share certain traits (poor...
  15. M

    hardwood in the great plains

    finding hardwood in Texas, of any species is proving to be darn near impossible. Pine is in abundance at various hardware mega-stores, but that’s not what I need. If anyone is from Texas here, how are you sourcing your wood? I’ve been calling various sawmills to ask if they’ve any hardwood on a...
  16. M

    the fact of the matter about lumber buying

    AND NOW HAS COME THE TIME! I will finally being moving to Sulphur Springs Texas in Febuary and will be founding my gunsmithing affair in that month or the next. I am very happy and best yet, it's a rural area so I'm let to my own devices and I have a steel retailer not but a mile down the...
  17. M

    standardized M1777 and hunting history

    seems that the late french empire was flung far and wide, and Napoleon expanded on that. Anyway, french design seems to be darn right ubiquitous. They were used by virtually every European power (excluding the British) in some form for many reasons. Is it a far assumtion that the M1766, M1777...
  18. M

    the wall at back of the pan

    With all flintlock I've ever gotten a real close look at, and these are all of modern make, the pan is manufactured as a seperate peice from the lock plate and the two are jointed with what I now know are iron rivets. I can see how the little elevated wall at the back of the pan is made during...
  19. M

    drawing the line of what you like

    I own only 3 muzzleloaders and I'll tolerate alot of stuff that is not historically accurate. What can you not tolerate? I hate modern shapes on reproduction guns, especially so with stocks. Seeing a 'kentucky' rifle with a 2.25" drop at the heel makes me cringe. Also, not a fan of case color...
  20. M

    government accepable variation

    I've been looky-seeing at different 1861 and 1863 springfield rifles from different manufacturers, such as the Springfield armory, Colt, Parker-Snow, etc. and it seems that there was quite a bit of variation allowed in rifles. (although I do not know if the guns I saw were actually accepted or...
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