Justin and I went to a gun range today to shoot his new flintlock pistol. Our hosts, the Wilderness Rangers of Kentucky, are blackpower enthusiasts, a dozen of the most generous and friendly people you could hope to meet. Most were dressed in period garb. A few looked like they stepped out of the 1700s.
Even though they didn't know us, they took the time to show us how to properly load and fire Justin's pistol. They also let us shoot their rifles quite a lot.
I always thought shooting a flintlock rifle would involve a heavy trigger pull, a delay while the powder in the pan burned, and then a wooosh! as the ball left the barrel, visibly traveling downrange.
Wrong. The trigger pull tended to be feather light and instantly followed by a crisp crack. Recoil was light, in part because of the rifles are heavy.
We happened to attend their Thanksgiving meet. So after a turkey shoot, which is a multi-round shooting contest, they had a spread of food. There was homemade chili, hot dogs, corned beef, turkey, soft drinks... and no vegetables :-D Of course they tried to feed us until we popped.
ooo someone made coffee over a fire, it was great coffee. I used my period-accurate Starbucks insulated coffee mug.
A good time was had by all!
Justin takes a shot.
Tony misfires, then takes his shot.
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Sounds cool!
ReplyDeleteAh, very nice! I've been interested in making a black powder pistol for a long time, and I recently inherited a kit. I think this blog post (and your thread on HSM) has inspired me to build it over the winter.
ReplyDeleteExcellent work, good to see the videos!