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  1. 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...
  2. 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...
  3. Canute Rex

    Treatise on shooting a Petronel

    The breastplate itself was to deal with clubs and arrows, but most breastplates didn't have that added tab of iron at the right shoulder. The theory is that the butt of the musket would hook into the angle between the tab and the rest of the breastplate and not drop onto the bicep of the shooter.
  4. Canute Rex

    SOLD Uberti Walker

    PM Sent
  5. Canute Rex

    Treatise on shooting a Petronel

    Here's a breastplate that was dug up at Jamestown, so early 17th c. Note the added plate on the right shoulder. The researchers reasoned that it was an attempt to make shouldering a musket easier. Whether or not they did generally shoulder muskets or were able to shoulder muskets in a practical...
  6. Canute Rex

    Matchlock cord not igniting powder?

    Put it on your kitchen stove and simmer it for an hour. That is, in a solution of wood ash or potassium carbonate. Maybe use distilled water. You can get potassium carbonate on eBay. Don't use regular lye (potassium hydroxide) because it is too susceptible to absorbing moisture from the air...
  7. Canute Rex

    Wheellock Carbines

    Something to notice: cavalry carbines have wide spoon shaped trigger guards. It's added protection against snagging the trigger on equipment while jostling around on a horse. Arms for foot soldiers have notably narrower trigger guards. Not universal (is anything?), but a tell.
  8. Canute Rex

    Matchlock cord not igniting powder?

    Bucking in ash liquor works best if you rinse and wring the match afterward. I generally to two boilings/soakings with some aggressive wringing and rinsing after each. The rinse water will be really brown the first time and weak tea the second. Then I give it a soak in dilute vinegar solution to...
  9. Canute Rex

    Snap vs sear type matchlocks

    Smoothie has a good point about the gradual nature of the lever matchlock. In fact, my friend Steve has a copy he made of a 1715 Germanic rifled matchlock with a gradual trigger lock. It's a tack driver. The Germans kept the matchlock for target use right into the flintlock era because of *zero...
  10. Canute Rex

    Wheellock disassembly and cleaning?

    I'll bet that little ball bearing is somewhere it shouldn't be. The sear lever (Thanks, Flint62) might be toggled too far one way or the other. If the lock isn't spanned, then the ball bearing will be pushing up (away from the lockplate) on the forward end of the sear lever and the back end...
  11. Canute Rex

    Wheellock disassembly and cleaning?

    The sear on a wheellock is really two sears. The one that engages the back of the wheel is like a teeter totter, pivoting in the middle. The forward ends has the nub (or ball bearing) that fits in the depression in the back of the wheel. The back end engages the other sear that is pushed back by...
  12. Canute Rex

    Obhhh, got some nice pyrite chunks for $6!

    That's the right stuff!
  13. Canute Rex

    Custom Wheellock Builders

    The problem with wheellock building is the lock itself. It's a custom build every time. You can get a lock from Loyalist Arms in Canada, made in India, but you should consider it a pre-assembled kit. It will need to be taken apart and rebuilt; geometry changed, springs replaced, tweaks made...
  14. Canute Rex

    Swivel Gun Mounting

    You might want to consider making a basic naval style gun carriage but on a slide rather than wheels. Some rough cut 2-by and 4-by would do the job. Put your "competent" piece of stone on the wall with one big pin in it and the slide base could pivot on that. The force of the recoil would be...
  15. Canute Rex

    Shooting into......

    Maybe not so much of a solution for beginners, but I shoot into a plywood box filled with rubber landscaping mulch. The box is 2' x 2' by 3' deep. I've shot up to 69 caliber into it and most balls stop halfway through or less. The box is up on legs and has a hinged top with a piece of metal...
  16. Canute Rex

    Swivel Gun Mounting

    Sika (for one) makes an epoxy grout that comes in a standard caulking gun tube. Great stuff for mounting bolts in concrete or stone. Do what Rob M. suggests. Drill the holes in the plate oversized and then drill through them into the stone with a hammer drill. Shoot some mortar/epoxy into the...
  17. Canute Rex

    Bag style ball mold, size increase?

    .610 is very close to 39/64". .595 is very close to 19/32". You can get a ball end mill in that size, but it will cost you about $60. Not something to do unless you have a profound attachment to the mold you have. A ball/hemisphere cutting jig will cost $100 or more, and then you have to learn...
  18. Canute Rex

    Ball mold #2 - Success

    Thanks! I did this for the giggles, and to help out a friend, but I'm not looking for an encore. I would direct interested buyers to Mr. Tanner: Tanner Moulds
  19. Canute Rex

    Bag style ball mold, size increase?

    If you wanted to increase the cavity size of a ball mold you'd need one of three setups. 1) a lathe with a four-jaw chuck and a ball end cutter of the exact size for the desired ball. The first is not hard to find but the second is tricky, given that ball end mills are not produced in...
  20. 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...
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