GET IT RIGHT!!

[nightwolf1974]

sometimes i hate the History Channel!! when they do a repersentation of an event, they seem to mess up on the fireams......

point in case.........

on thier docu/drama DESPERATE CROSSING: the untold story of the Mayflower. there was a man armed with a flintlock musket and the rest had matchlocks.

now correct me if i'm wrong, but 1621 was a little too early for the "Pilgrims" to have flintlocks, right?

 

[Musketeer]

Definitely a wee bit early. My impression is that the flintlock (in the form we're familiar with today) wouldn't have become common until the early 18th century. :hmm:

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Some of them would have carried snaphaunces which can easily be mistaken for a true flintlock, especially in the quick glimpses T.V. tends to give us.

 

[RangerThacher]

Yep, Miles Standish carried a snaphaunce in 1620. And over in New Netherland, the Dutch were trading flintlocks to the Indians about the same time.

 

[Teleoceras]

Nightwolf:

You are correct that the Flintlock type we are familiar with (French Lock) invented around the time of the Mayflower. But there were many of the earlier flint types around at that time like the Snaphaunce, Miquelet (Spanish) Lock, and the English (Jacobean) Lock.

The odds are that it would have been a Snaphaunce or an English Lock.

Slowmatch Forever!
Teleoceras

 

[nightwolf1974]

i tend to look at weaponary in movies alot. and the History Channel tends to slack in getting the weapons exactly right sometimes.

for instance they had WW2 US soilders carrying Yugoslavian SKS rifles in one show, and a German officer armed with a British STEN submachinegun, so you can see why i scutenize them so much.

thanks for clearing up my doubts about the "pilgrims'" muskets

 

[Many Klatch]

I don't know how much research the History Channel does for a lot of these shows. I get the impression that they give a bunch of reenactors a chance to be in a documentary and they use whoever and whatever shows up. We just have to hope that the reenactors have done their homework.

Many Klatch

 

[Bob Riegl]

:v I don't know why all the fuss :hmm: ---understand that the people that write these shows have had a minimum or negative exposure to firearms in general let alone the Medieval History and beyond. They wouldn't know a Colt Python from a Harquebuse ! If you don't hear about this or learn it at home, you are certainly not going to learn this in school today.:shake: I did a term paper for Medieval History in College (50+ yeas ago)on the topic of Medieval firearms from the Handgonne to the Matchlock muskets etc.---my prof gave me an A- and admitted then he didn't know squat about what I had written. Let alone in today's extremely liberal left-wing world---Firearms----e-e-e-ek followed by dirty pants. :wink:

 

[rifleshooter2]

:v I did a term paper for Medieval History in College (50+ yeas ago)on the topic of Medieval firearms from the Handgonne to the Matchlock muskets etc.---my prof gave me an A- and admitted then he didn't know squat about what I had written. Let alone in today's extremely liberal left-wing world---Firearms----e-e-e-ek followed by dirty pants. :wink:

Wow 50 years ago I think they were still using handgonnes in a few armys. :blah:

Andy

 

[tmdreb]

I thought the History Channel only ran shows on gadgets and blue collar workers with tough and/or dangerous jobs? Are we talking about the same History Channel?

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

There's also History International. But periodically they both run some good shows about historical events. And just as often, they use incorrect terms and dating. One show recently gave the impression that rifling was developed just in time to make the Minie ball useable. Their shows are probably aimed at school kids and college students--most of whom think the American Revolution took place in 1976.

 

[Musketeer]

most of whom think the American Revolution took place in 1976.

Somehow I just can't picture George Washington in a liesure suit... :shocked2: :rotf:

Just to satisfy my own curiosity, when did the true flintlock come into common use in the general populations? As I said before, I always thought more like around 1700 or so. Though it was invented well before then, I'd think people (particularly civilians) would have taken much longer to adopt the latest technology back then. :hmm:

 

I see errors in firearms a lot on TV. From the History Channel to Cold Case File. I guess they have a bunch of liberal from Hollywood as "technical advisors". They would never ask someone from the NRA or NMLRA for advice.

 

[bioprof]

most of whom think the quote] Somehow I just can't picture George Washington in a liesure suit... :shocked2: :rotf:

Just to satisfy my own curiosity, when did the true flintlock come into common use in the general populations? As I said before, I always thought more like around 1700 or so. Though it was invented well before then, I'd think people (particularly civilians) would have taken much longer to adopt the latest technology back then. :hmm:

According to Torsten Lenk, "...from 1630 to 1650 the manufacture of flintlocks had already become widely spread, and in the middle of the seventeenth century it existed in the Netherlands, England, Germany, Switzerland and Italy." He does make a distinction between snaphaunces and modern flintlocks, so he if referring to flintlocks in the strictest sense. I assume that if they were widely manufactured, they would be readily available to the public. Dated examples during this period are rare however, so if you want dated examples, you probably have to say late 1600's to early 1700's.

 

[Musketeer]

Many thanks, Prof. :hatsoff: