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  1. jbwilliams3

    Wasp nest

    I've used wasp nest for years and I've never seen it smolder.
  2. jbwilliams3

    What you can do with a Cold Steel Frontier Hawk

    Nice! I talked to an older gentleman last year at an event in the Valley of Virginia who had a fantastic hand-forged tomahawk with the correct flat profile on the top and some faded maker's mark I didn't recognize. He had no idea why I kept asking him about it since he kept replying that, "you...
  3. jbwilliams3

    The Brown Bess in combat- how effective was it ?

    I highly recommend Matthew Spring's "With Zeal and With Bayonet Only." He is the recognized expert on the 18th century British army in North America. One of the myths the author dispels is that in 18th century warfare there was often massed volley fire from two sides standing 40 yards away (a la...
  4. jbwilliams3

    Let's see your Belt or Rifleman's knife

    This is probably my favorite knife though, made by Kyle Willyard. I use a scalper or a folding knife for living history, but this one for hunting and everything else.
  5. jbwilliams3

    Let's see your Belt or Rifleman's knife

    My primary interest is 18th century and I am most familiar with the Anglo-made material history (French trade knives are another subject). The relatively small number of individuals (in comparison to the overall population) who would have carried a knife on a belt would be using cheap Sheffield...
  6. jbwilliams3

    .45 vs .50 vs .54

    .54 for the game you stated you may be hunting and with the additional reason that you will have a slightly lighter gun with a .54 assuming the barrel profile is the same in the other calibers. I've owned all three and -while I like them all - I think the .54 is the most versatile and it's...
  7. jbwilliams3

    KIMBER COLONIAL RIFLE

    Way to go, both on the finish and the shooting.
  8. jbwilliams3

    Comments on TVM Fowler?

    I said, they "don't seem to have ever held an original or looked at one up close." They don't seem to. I don't know how much is willful to save in production costs or not. It doesn't matter unless that's something you care about. There was one young man who posted on this and other forums...
  9. jbwilliams3

    Comments on TVM Fowler?

    With all due respect to others, it's not just that those guns "aren't copies of originals" it's that the people who assemble them (and designed the templates) don't seem to have ever held an original or looked at one up close. Once again, there's nothing wrong with that if that's not something...
  10. jbwilliams3

    Comments on TVM Fowler?

    P.S. I can think of one or two gents who bought a TVM gun and then came online to complain about what they had since learned were historic inaccuracies in their guns (things like barrel profile [non-tapering, straight barrel] and too much wood left on stock, gap between forestock and ramrod...
  11. jbwilliams3

    Comments on TVM Fowler?

    It depends on what you're looking for. For guns that closely resemble fit, finish, and architecture of original guns - not so much. Granted, the vast majority of people couldn't tell the difference between an original 18th century fowling piece and a T.C. Hawken. However, If you buy one of their...
  12. jbwilliams3

    Ramin for ramrods?

    My experience exactly. I broke two ramrods around 15 years ago and both were ramin. Unfortunately, after the first one broke, my friend told me to use ramin for the replacement. It broke quicker than the first. The first just broke right across the grain while loading. The second broke across...
  13. jbwilliams3

    Smoldering wad

    Grease/lube is a good suggestion. I use green grass or green leaves when it's very dry out and it seems to shoot just as well for me as tow.
  14. jbwilliams3

    Who’s coned their smooth bore?

    I had a 28 gauge Carolina gun that was coned. The maker coned it, not me so I have no idea how it shot before. I can say confidently that it shot well enough that I doubt it shot any better before it was coned. I shot mostly bare balls out of it and it was a minute of deer gun 100% of the time...
  15. jbwilliams3

    Bare balls in the backwoods

    We also forget that our breech plugs are much tighter than period guns. Many references to removing breech plugs to remove stuck balls.
  16. jbwilliams3

    Dealing with lead buildup?

    Call me crazy but green leaves/grass make fine wads in my experience. Appropriate for a trade gun too. I often make sort of a nest which holds the ball snug (though not tight like a patch) as I ram the load down.
  17. jbwilliams3

    Dealing with lead buildup?

    Since we have no references to individuals in the 18th/early 19th century patching balls in smoothbores, and since round balls shoot just fine without patches in smooth bore barrels (for me they shoot about the same, if fact), one would be overthinking to try and jam a tight-fitting patched ball...
  18. jbwilliams3

    New Axe

    Love it. Jeff Miller is a top notch craftsman. I would just oil the handle and let it age, but it will not stop being a great axe if you stain it.
  19. jbwilliams3

    Who Used Fowlers?

    Agree, though Clay does make Bumford guns with a 47" barrel. I'm not even sure Mike Brooks is doing commission work anymore. I think he builds what he wants and then sells. If he is still doing commission work, his wait list is years long. Maybe it's different for the Carolina guns since they...
  20. jbwilliams3

    Who Used Fowlers?

    Hey, I didn't say I wasn't one. It's not the only think geeky about me, either.
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