Archaic arms, created by Rudyard.

[GREENSWLDE]

Hi Rudyard.
Must do an "E" catch-up.Rather a lot of Detritus in the Local ventilator Here..
Go Well-Stay Well.
OLD DOG..

 

[Heelerau]

Rudyard, the barrel will finish up about 30 inches long, according to the pattern you sent me, should I put a reinforce ring at the muzzle? we can heat shrink one on. Bore is about .52, and has a lovely mirror finish, so won't need to do anything with it for that part. I will see about draw filing the breech area. Pictures to come.

 

[toot]

I think the older that I get,76, the farther back in time I have traveled. I went from ROCKLOCKS to STRING BURNERS, and it makes this old hart feel good. no flinching with a STRING BURNER, just pull the TILLER or TRIGGER nice and slow. and BANG! no time to flinch.

 

[sportster73hp]

I too would be interested in reading of your travels. Do you have any books being sold in the USA? If so ,what should i look for ?

 

[Rudyard]

Wow fan mail ! Heelerau Re the barrel seems ideal for a fowling piece classically the muzzles on such pieces swell out gently concave then have a shorter convexed rounding to the muzzle , Bit like a traction engine funnel but smaller .There is a photo of a painting of some Lord in bare feet & holding such a gun . Thomas Lee rings a bell. The lock is nicely proportional to the barrel . Looking forward to seeing the finished piece .
Sportster 73 Thank you for the compliment I have written many articles and have the draft of the West Africa book .But no books out there . I certainly was a bit of a rolling stone. I travelled on the hitch hike & freight train plan with many stops in the' Starlight 'Never had a car and it was as I saw it ' A service we offer to the travelling public ' In that people mostly pick up a hitchhiker for some one to talk to ,If they can only talk about Football or some such I have difficulty as I know nothing of such sports. But if they can talk on travel, history, politics phylosophy . We are away and I've often 'run' hundreds of miles non stop talking and made my & the drivers day as I can talk & listen .One chap said " I was the most exotic person he'd ever met". I concluded he must not have met many people . I never 'ran' at night. The freights where better that way just get under the diff of some piggy back refridgerated 'Hot Shot" and ran from Boston to Toledo Courtesy of Con Rails' Fully air conditioned observation cars ' They don't call out the stations but you go by the water towers & rivers and freeway signs. reached Toledo . Got off & asked two locals the silly question 'Where are we ?' was night so I went back to the yards and checked into the' Starlight' to run down to Greenville next day. I was allway' s considerate of the Companies , Burlington Northern CN, Illinois Central .Who ever . Did occasionally have to converse down a revolver barrel levelling ' Bull' . But have every respect for them all . Any brain dead Bo can ride freight but I found it exciting and very handy . I did sometime run still in my primitives buckle shoes & coat at least . Regards Rudyard

 

[GREENSWLDE]

Dear Rudyard,The Sleeping Bags I had in mind were Two refuse sacks one with a hole in each corner of the bottom for the arms and one in the middle for the head. The other bag to put the legs in. Never tried it But told it works well.. Best wishes OLD DOG..

 

[Rudyard]

Dear Greenswlde curious expedient bit like a space blanket but I tried one of them & found it useless. Went up to Dawson City Yukon one spring time full dressed & in two sleeping bags camped on snow by a long fire worked fine set up poly lean to bower same as ide do hunting here , snow near pushed it flat one night ,Part of the joys of the healthy outdoor life !
Regards Rudyard

 

[Zonie]

Folks: Let's try to keep the discussions on guns. After all, this is the Pre-Flintlock area in the Firearms section of the forum.

 

[Heelerau]

Roughed out the stock from a piece of old jarrah, on my newly acquired band saw !

 

[Rudyard]

Dear Heelerau . Your getting there cant see why you need to scarf its long enough , aim for dainty & light it being a fowling piece .Cheers Rudyard

 

[Heelerau]

That is the jarrah plank I emailed you about ! There will be a lot of rasping, draw knifing and no doubt some colourful Elizabethan language !

 

[LawrenceA]

Barrel looks great Heelerau. I know where you are at with the Stock.
Looks very light in color for Jarrah. Must be from a young tree.
Used to sell the stuff back in the day and we were told the deeper the colour the older the timber.

I didn't know dainty and light was a thing for matchlocks.
Always thought they were big bulky heavy things?

 

[Pukka Bundook]

Lawrence,
It's hard to generalise about matchlocks.
Depends what time period we are talking about. They came very short and stubby, and went right up to great heavy muskets weighing 20-odd pounds that Needed a rest.
Country makes a big difference, too.

 

[Heelerau]

It is a weathered piece of jarrah I had lying in the carport, I used it as a ramp for the wheel barrow when bringing firewood onto the veranda !!!

 

[Rudyard]

Knowing the dimensions of the barrel & lock (I made it) there is no need for massive proportions There not all built like brick outhouses its a birding piece not a military one or by its dimensions Ide say. What Heelerau calls it is up to him . Jarrah if old is definatly tough stuff. I used a lot of it building the township of Dampier But being a New chum Ide never seen any & enquired" Where are the 4'' nails ?" . But triple grips and stout clouts where the order of the day .
Cheers Rudyard

 

[toot]

VERANDA! now that is a word not heard much used anymore. now it is - deck-porch, ETC. is that like a couch-sofa-settee- divan? GOD I Shure like hearing the use of old time words that I grew up with.

 

[RAEDWALD]

Veranda came from Portuguese via Hindi and thus became adopted in English whilst settee is English from the old hard wooden bench 'settle'. Both in common use in Britain, and doubtless in West Island. When I was at school in England we had long wooden heavy tables and wooden benches in the refectory (dining room). All in oak and like the classroom desks/seats, had been in use for the last century or so and in good order. Headmasters tell me modern school furniture is bought with an expected 7-12 years life. Penny wise, pound foolish.

IIRC the wooden setts that covered London streets in the old days (and still could [can?] be found under the tarmac later) were made of Jarrrah which was a common return cargo of ships trading to Queensland. I wanted to cover the concrete patio of our new house with oak setts by getting oak ripped into square section beams by the local timber yard and cutting them into slices at home but the Memsahib forbade it.

 

[Rudyard]

Didn't know Jarrah grew in Queensland it do'se grow in West Australia. I believe the London underground sleepers (Ties for you Americans ) are Jarrah & still in use . But as a stock wood it would be my last resort . Though I did stock up a' rock drill special' of the crudest description in Jarrah for want of other .And later I stocked up another rock drill special in Natal. SA pine being its stock .I should explain a' rock drill special 'about 1/4" or 40 cal( they vary ) is a gun' got up' on a work place camp were no other gun might be had , the drills or' Jumper bits' often jamb or get wrecked in a blast but they have a central hole that air blows out the dust from the cutting bit . Fuse unwrapped gives you powder a piece of wood bored with holes of a size to fit gives you' slugs' The 25 cal was the most Heath Robinson percussion & the Pine stocked was a 40 ish cal flintlock since I took a lock with me in case. Jam tin trigger guard number 8 fence wire ram rod Cape Dutch stocking style .and I was in business .My work mate made a spear. I think he had the edge . I have photos but hanged if I can figure how to post them .
Regards Rudyard

 

[Heelerau]

Rudyard, if you find the photos it would be interesting to have a look at that piece ! I will be fining the stock right down, as far as what to call it goes, it will be a light sporting piece? The locals in early the early Americas must have been much better armed with their bows, far greater range and rate of fire? I have often thought that the rate of fire and accuracy of the English long bowman was only finally equalled with the advent of the Lee Metford. I believe Wellington was looking to raise a company of English Longbowmen, but was informed there were no longer any. Someone here might know more about that .

 

[toot]

Veranda came from Portuguese via Hindi and thus became adopted in English whilst settee is English from the old hard wooden bench 'settle'. Both in common use in Britain, and doubtless in West Island. When I was at school in England we had long wooden heavy tables and wooden benches in the refectory (dining room). All in oak and like the classroom desks/seats, had been in use for the last century or so and in good order. Headmasters tell me modern school furniture is bought with an expected 7-12 years life. Penny wise, pound foolish.

IIRC the wooden setts that covered London streets in the old days (and still could [can?] be found under the tarmac later) were made of Jarrrah which was a common return cargo of ships trading to Queensland. I wanted to cover the concrete patio of our new house with oak setts by getting oak ripped into square section beams by the local timber yard and cutting them into slices at home but the Memsahib forbade it.

remember that Memsahib, is SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED!!