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  1. Canute Rex

    Any difference in point of impact when using different powders?

    I could see the change in powder changing the height of impact due to velocity change. The left/right is something else. That is, if the shots were grouping well. I have never used Swiss, but I have always heard and read that it is actually more bang for the same grain weight. You'd think that...
  2. Canute Rex

    Wanted: Pictures of Italian Wheellocks

    Thanks, Dolk! That's an interesting collection. I like those half fishtail, half hooked butt pistols. Looks like a design for retention on horseback. My rifle is under way at Leonard Day's shop. It's going to have one of those octagonal buttstocks like the ones in the drawings that Ricky...
  3. Canute Rex

    Bullet trap

    Make a plywood box with a hinged top, 24" x 24" on the target end, about 36" long. (Or larger, your choice) Fill it with rubber playground mulch. It's just shredded tires. It will stop most bullets in 18" or less and it's easy to scoop down in and find the balls. If you use 1/4" ply on the front...
  4. Canute Rex

    Matchlock & Primitive Gonne Safety Practices

    The biggest danger with a matchlock on the range is some guy coming up to me and saying something like "Hey, is that a matchlock? Let me pepper you with rapid fire questions while you are trying to load and fire!" The only times I have screwed up have been in that kind of situation. I made...
  5. Canute Rex

    Clay pipe leaks

    There's a guy up here in Ferrisburg Vermont (Erik Andres? Good Companion Bakery - also a baker) who makes clay pipes in a compression mold rather than slip casting them. It's an old method that makes a much thicker-walled, uniform wall pipe. They also have a larger inside diameter in the stem...
  6. Canute Rex

    Then and Now

    I remember reading about an incident at Mount Independence (Vermont) during the AWI. An officer lined up 100 men to fire their muskets to make sure that they were all functional. Three blew up. That would be considered an unacceptable failure rate today.
  7. Canute Rex

    Japenese Matchlock replica musket

    I had a Miroku matchlock for a while. It was 50 cal smoothbore. It was well made and looked cool, but the design wasn't really authentic, which made it hard to shoot. The originals I have seen have tapered barrels, generally, with an acorn finial at the muzzle. The Miroku was made with a...
  8. Canute Rex

    Paper a cartridge Templates

    Stack a few sheets of 8 1/2" x 11" printer paper. Fold them in half lengthwise. Cut along the fold. Stack up these two stacks of strips. Fold this stack in the middle at a 45 degree angle to make an L with even legs. Cut along the fold and stack again. Roll cartridges from the short...
  9. Canute Rex

    Wheel Locks

    A couple of things: I just ordered a bunch of pyrite cubes (12-16mm) from China. I'll report back on structural integrity and sparking. I already got some Chinese pyrite in a smaller size that held together well and sparked nicely. On the coil spring idea - Leonard Day has this figured out. I...
  10. Canute Rex

    how fast?

    No, it doesn't mean post-equine face-plant. I have to say, though, that guy was well bucked. Bucking is boiling the rope in a solution of wood ashes or lye. This leaches out the lignin in the fibers. The lignin gives the rope strength, but it also creates ash when the match is burning. My...
  11. Canute Rex

    how fast?

    It's a matter of preference. I am a slow pull guy myself. The match slowly disappears behind the flash guard and the moment of ignition is a surprise. No flinch. Sometimes when the match isn't glowing as hot as the musketeer might like a sharp pull that smacks the glowing end down into the...
  12. Canute Rex

    Making the Hickok-Tutt Shot

    That is spectacular shooting with a cap and ball revolver. Of course, it reminds me of the story of a revenue agent in Kentucky during prohibition. In a showdown with a bootlegger at a similar range he shot the gun out of the man's hand. It made his reputation and suspects always surrendered to...
  13. Canute Rex

    high risk but lightly armed

    What Tenngun said. Roughly speaking, in the 18th century in America a long gun might cost 2 to 6 pounds depending on quality and condition. A farmer might net 10 pounds a year and an artisan 30 to 60. It was kind of like buying a major appliance or used car today. Not an impulse buy.
  14. Canute Rex

    Extendable stocks

    This reminds me of two things. In my search for Italian wheellocks I found two examples, very similar, of carbines with folding stocks. Hinge on the bottom behind the trigger guard, thumb button for a catch on top of the wrist. One was described as a "blunderbuss", but aside from the flared...
  15. Canute Rex

    Wanted: Pictures of Italian Wheellocks

    Wow, Ricky, that is a wheellock gold mine. Thanks so much. There is a definite Brescian buttstock style. This gives me good material to work with. The lock is probably from the early part of the 17th century, so that's the time period that interests me.
  16. Canute Rex

    Wanted: Pictures of Italian Wheellocks

    Bill, I am as sure as I can be that I have your lock. I will give it a good home.
  17. Canute Rex

    Wanted: Pictures of Italian Wheellocks

    Rick, I'm having a hard time finding photos of Italian wheellock rifles of any kind, sporting or military. Lots of pistols. Lots of German and French long guns. What I've noticed is that the Italian wheellocks have a diamond shaped lock plate. The French tend towards the shape of a comma turned...
  18. 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...
  19. Canute Rex

    Buttstock angle

    Now I am wondering whether it was a transitional style between a cheek stock and a shoulder stock. There's not really a lot of drop in the comb and the LOP looks short. It has sights, so the eye/face level has to be down on the stock. That makes me doubt the petronel off-the-chest hypothesis...
  20. Canute Rex

    Wheel Locks

    "Fire sticks" are the words that pre-technological people use to refer to firearms in old movies. Also how bears refer to firearms in Gary Larson cartoons. But seriously, look up "ferrocerium." That is what makes up the "flint" in a Zippo lighter or a cutting torch lighter. People sell sticks...
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