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Help With Some Alaska Mythbusting
- Thread starter Cosmoline
- Start date
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paulvallandigham
Passed On
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Perhaps, only when they are being cleaned or loaded??? :rotf:
Thanks for the laugh.
Thanks for the laugh.
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Hi,
The Rifle Shoppe sells castings for a Russian hunting rifle that appears to be similar to the gun shown by Benvenuto. They had baltic snaplocks and were of small bore. What that caliber was I do not know. However, I don't believe they would have been the main weapon used in the battle of Sitka. I think a ship's company would have been armed with standard 0.69 caliber Russian military or quasi-military musket of the day. Perhaps hunting rifles were in the mix but I'll bet the musket was the major gun used. Excavations at the site of the battle have yielded cannon and musket balls. Someone at the NPS park in Sitka should be able to tell you the size of those balls. War helmets and armor were not likely to have been made of hardwood. There are no hardwoods trees except red alder growing in any abundance on Baranof or any of the nearby islands. They may have traveled to the mainland coast where birch or cottonwood was available far up the river drainages. They also traded with inland tribes so some hardwoods might have been available in limited supply(maple is a long ways away). However, there was no need because old-growth yellow cedar (red cedar does not grow on Baranof and it is not as strong as yellow cedar)is very hard and some war helmets were made from Sitka spruce burl. Finally, Sheldon Jackson College is closed down. You may have some trouble contacting folks associated with the school.
dave
The Rifle Shoppe sells castings for a Russian hunting rifle that appears to be similar to the gun shown by Benvenuto. They had baltic snaplocks and were of small bore. What that caliber was I do not know. However, I don't believe they would have been the main weapon used in the battle of Sitka. I think a ship's company would have been armed with standard 0.69 caliber Russian military or quasi-military musket of the day. Perhaps hunting rifles were in the mix but I'll bet the musket was the major gun used. Excavations at the site of the battle have yielded cannon and musket balls. Someone at the NPS park in Sitka should be able to tell you the size of those balls. War helmets and armor were not likely to have been made of hardwood. There are no hardwoods trees except red alder growing in any abundance on Baranof or any of the nearby islands. They may have traveled to the mainland coast where birch or cottonwood was available far up the river drainages. They also traded with inland tribes so some hardwoods might have been available in limited supply(maple is a long ways away). However, there was no need because old-growth yellow cedar (red cedar does not grow on Baranof and it is not as strong as yellow cedar)is very hard and some war helmets were made from Sitka spruce burl. Finally, Sheldon Jackson College is closed down. You may have some trouble contacting folks associated with the school.
dave
