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  1. Canute Rex

    Unfamiliar Matchlock Style

    A friend of mine made a copy of a 1615 era french wheellock. It has a full length buttstock that curves down slightly and looks like a trumpet from the side, but the buttplate angle is about 45 degrees. It shoulders, but it sits up on the shoulder, and tends to kick up and back. It's like the...
  2. Canute Rex

    Unfamiliar Matchlock Style

    There's a clue in a breastplate dug up, I think, at Jamestown. It has a flange, like a piece of angle iron, attached to the front of the right armhole, with the piece sticking out forward and to the right. Apparently it was put there to make shouldering a musket more practical. Without it the...
  3. Canute Rex

    Matchlock cord not igniting powder?

    A lot of stump remover is now enzyme based instead of potassium nitrate based. A friend of mine used some and said it just smelled bad. I told him to read the package and it said "Powerful enzymes!" You can just buy potassium nitrate on eBay. More important than that is bucking the match. That...
  4. Canute Rex

    Battle accounts of matchlocks vs. flintlocks?

    There's a museum in Canada that has a matchlock musket that was issued to a a regiment (Carrignan? Deep memory retrieval.) in Quebec in 1660. I can imagine the plods guarding a fort or a town being given the dregs from the armory just so they have *something.* They weren't expected to be out in...
  5. Canute Rex

    Brown Bess: I gots me some questions...

    Please report back on how it goes.
  6. Canute Rex

    Brown Bess: I gots me some questions...

    Shooting a Bess is tricky because of the bear trap trigger pull, slow lock time, and minimal sight (bayonet lug). Some tips: Get a death grip on the wrist with your right hand. That way it won't "fall off the trigger" and shoot low. Just before getting your sight picture, shift your head back...
  7. Canute Rex

    Please recommend some custom builders

    I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Jim Alford yet. His SMRs are beautifully done. https://contemporarymakers.blogspot.com/search/label/Jim%20Alford
  8. Canute Rex

    Ball mold - a nice looking failure

    Hey Tyler, I started by using the tailstock and then switched to the tool holder. Tried my best to center it, but my best wasn't good enough. I have some ideas, though. Tip for others crazy enough to try this: I needed to do a 0.242" plunge, but was getting some chatter. I did a powered plunge...
  9. Canute Rex

    Ball mold - a nice looking failure

    Good advice, Cheyenne. I think my tailstock needs a rebuild just to tighten it up in general. I don't think it's off center, I think it's a couple of thousandths loose.
  10. Canute Rex

    Ball mold - a nice looking failure

    Thanks, Brokennock. I cast a dozen balls and left them with my friend. He's going to try them out. If they shoot straight I'll cast him some more. I'm actually quite pleased with the fit and functionality of the piece. When I first fitted the halves together (before the sprue hole) I could feel...
  11. Canute Rex

    Ball mold - a nice looking failure

    Thanks, JHB. If my second attempt has an equal lack of success I'll refer my friend to Lee.
  12. Canute Rex

    Ball mold - a nice looking failure

    A friend of mine just built a rifle using a Coleraine 50 caliber barrel - or so he thought. Turned out to be a ~49 caliber barrel. He emailed and asked me if I had a .485 or .480 mold. Of course I didn't. There's a man named Tanner in England who will make you any size mold ((no title)) out of...
  13. Canute Rex

    Getting ready to shoot a matchlock as a newbie

    Another thought on technique. Shooting a matchlock, I found I had to reverse my shooting style. With a flintlock you need follow through; holding the firearm steady after the trigger "breaks", during the lock time. With a non-snapping matchlock you need lead-in; holding the arm steady while you...
  14. Canute Rex

    Help identify a 2.5 inch cannon

    I would bet the rent that it is a line throwing gun. That kind of carriage is distinctive.
  15. Canute Rex

    An original! Priced piece in my collection

    This is pure speculation on my part, but the buttstock reminds me of a repair job a friend told me about on a more modern gun. The rifle in question had been sitting in a barn with the butt on a dirt floor for decades. Of course the last couple of inches of the stock had rotted away. My friend...
  16. Canute Rex

    FOR SALE Very Fine Contemporary Baker Rifle

    If I wanted to check on whether that patchbox is original, I'd carefully remove one of the screws holding it. They look a little suspect to me. Machine cut wood screws didn't start being made until 1812, and weren't widespread until after that date. These first machine cut wood screws had...
  17. Canute Rex

    Slow Match Help!

    Smokey, Rudyard is right that you need larger diameter cord. I get braided hemp from R&W Rope, but I have to buy it by the spool. Generally 10-12mm (3/8" to 1/2"). The most important thing is to buck the match. That is, boil it in wood ash liquor (potassium carbonate) and rinse it. That gets...
  18. Canute Rex

    How to “harden” leather?

    You can try cuir boulli, or "boiled leather." Depending on temperature and soak time it can be anything from kind of resilient to rigid armor. Here's a way to experiment: Get a candy/cooking thermometer so you can heat a pot of water to about 180F. Cut five small (2") squares of your leather...
  19. Canute Rex

    Japanese Edo period slowmatch

    Line a big stainless pot with an old t-shirt, fill it with wood ashes, then hot water, and let it soak for 20 minutes. Then I bundle up the t-shirt and squeeze out the liquor. That's mild potash solution. Use rubber gloves. Alternatively, buy potassium carbonate on eBay. It's the pure version of...
  20. Canute Rex

    Japanese Edo period slowmatch

    The matchcord I have seen appears to be braided rather than twisted. You can get braided hemp cord from R&W Rope in Massachusetts. You may have to buy a whole roll. I'd recommend that you buck the match before nitrating it to remove the lignin. That is more important than the nitrate. I have...
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