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  1. Canute Rex

    First try at a 17th C priming flask

    I was inspired by some "ice cream cone" priming flask/spanner combinations that Brian Anderson had done, so I decided to try one myself. The originals are either Italian or German in origin; there seems to be a debate. Brian gave me a lot of vital guidance on the project. I used sheet steel from...
  2. Canute Rex

    Don't bring a knife to a knife/gun fight.

    You can also know the date of your knife/gun fight. Hunting Knife Combined with Wheellock Pistol Creator: Ambrosius Gemlich Date Created: blade ca. 1528–29, etched with a calendar for the years 1529–34; barrel dated 1540 or 1546 Physical Dimensions: L. 18 1/4 in. (46.4 cm); L. of barrel 12 3/8...
  3. Canute Rex

    A real page turner

    From 1688 to 1694, Francesco Morosini was the Doge (leader) of Venice. He had a special Bible made for him, just in case prayer alone didn't assure his safety. The pistol was fixed to the back cover of the book. It could be fired without opening the book by pulling on a silk bookmark...
  4. Canute Rex

    Ball mold #2 - Success

    A while back I posted about my first try at round ball mold making. A friend of mine made a rifle from a barrel that wasn't quite 50 caliber. He needed a mold that would throw a .480" or ..485" ball. I got a 31/64" ball end mill and gave it a try. It was not perfectly round. The cutter was off...
  5. Canute Rex

    Ball mold - a nice looking failure

    A friend of mine just built a rifle using a Coleraine 50 caliber barrel - or so he thought. Turned out to be a ~49 caliber barrel. He emailed and asked me if I had a .485 or .480 mold. Of course I didn't. There's a man named Tanner in England who will make you any size mold ((no title)) out of...
  6. Canute Rex

    26 TPI nipple

    I have read a few old threads about threads - specifically nipple threads - and I still have a question. I have an 1867 target rifle with a nipple that seems to be threaded 26 threads per inch. Too fine for 20 and not fine enough for 28. Apparently fairly standard back then. The nipple is in...
  7. Canute Rex

    Miroku Tanegashima sights

    I have a modern repro Japanese matchlock, made by Miroku. The sights are mystifying. The rear sight is a tall rectangular block with a tiny groove and a large hole drilled directly down into the top. The front sight is also a tall rectangular block, but with a larger groove. Also a tiny...
  8. Canute Rex

    Skinner, Morphy, and other auction houses

    Does anybody have any experience, either on the buyer or seller side, with these auction houses? For that matter, any other auction house that deals in historical militaria? Thanks!
  9. Canute Rex

    Venetian cannon

    I was looking through some old photos from a trip to Greece and found a few photos of a really spectacular 17th century Venetian bronze cannon. For your enjoyment (click on the thumbnails) Note the lion of St. Mark. " 1685 Marc Antonio & Nicolo DiConti Fonditori Publico D'Artigliarie"...
  10. Canute Rex

    New Wheellock

    Last week I went down to Westhampton Massachusetts to see Len Day Sr. and Jr. and pick up my new wheellock. I thought I'd share my joy with you folks. This is a long saga that started with much pipe dreaming. I got kind of obsessed and started looking around for a maker. Of course, the world...
  11. Canute Rex

    Tall safes again

    I have been looking all over the internet (and on this forum) to try to find a tall safe that isn't the size of an apartment building. I know I can get a 60-gun safe that is 72" tall, but I have neither the need, nor the budget, space, or rigging equipment for that. There was a Sentry safe...
  12. Canute Rex

    Wanted: Pictures of Italian Wheellocks

    I just bought a wheellock lock made by the renowned Bolek (AKA Razpla, AKA Boleslaw Maciacizcic (sp?)). It is an Italian design, a copy of the one in the so-called John Alden gun. I'm not such a fan of the Alden gun design. I'm looking for other examples of Italian made wheellock rifles. I have...
  13. Canute Rex

    Buttstock angle

    I have been looking at photos of wheellocks from the earlier part of the 17th century. There are, of course, cheek stock firearms, but also a variety with a regular shoulder stock. In some cases, a not-so-regular shoulder stock. With some French firearms in particular there is a tendency for...
  14. Canute Rex

    I think I found my .54 load

    My last post was about how I had tried a .495 ball in my .540 bore matchlock. I was thinking about getting a .520 mold and I did. I may review the mold (a Lee six cavity) in another section - tough to use. But I got some .520 balls made. The lead is a high zinc alloy I got as scrap, so the...
  15. Canute Rex

    1503 shipwreck yields arquebus barrels

    This might be of some interest to fans of early firearms. Nautical archeologists have excavated the wreck of one of the ships of Vasco de Gama's fleet of 1502-1503, the Esmerelda. It yielded some bronze arquebus barrels, as well as a serpentine and 13mm ammunition to fit the barrels. The divers...
  16. Canute Rex

    .495 in a .54...Yes, I did

    This is just an extreme data point for the big ball/thin patch vs small ball/thick patch debate. I have a Leonard Day .54 smoothbore matchlock with an exact .540 bore. I have tried several ball loads in it: bare .535 over wad, rasped .535 over wad, .010 patch and .530 ball (with and without...
  17. Canute Rex

    Powder measure equation

    I was just reading the post about historical use of powder measures and thought of some numbers I came up with from measuring the dimensions of modern adjustable powder measures. These are not guaranteed to be perfect, but they will get you close. After all, it's not so important whether the...
  18. Canute Rex

    Char cloth - face-palm

    So I cooked up some char cloth yesterday in a tin in my woodstove. It looked great, but it had shrunk strangely in the tin. I tried out a piece. I struck sparks on it until my fingers were sore. Frustrated, I stuck a piece of fresh char cloth into the flame of my propane range. It glowed red...
  19. Canute Rex

    L. Day matchlock does the job

    About a month ago I picked up a 54 cal smoothbore matchlock from Leonard Day in Westhampton Mass. What a shooter! A friend of mine has one of his 62 cal matchlocks, but I found that to be a little light in the muzzle, so I opted for one gauge down. It hangs on target beautifully. Went to that...
  20. Canute Rex

    NMLRA rules for matchlocks

    I just got a notification for a territorial shoot in my area. I'm wondering about shooting my matchlock in the smoothbore competitions. They are listed as flint, but there don't seem to be any NMLRA categories for matchlock. Are we hemp burners excluded from territorial NMLRA competitions? I...
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