Hacker Martin and other "country" flint makers

[capnwilliam]

Flintlocks were considered passe by the 1850's. First the percussion, then the cartridge, forced it into history.

By the 1960's, the Centennial of the Civil War, followed by the Bicentennial of the American Revolution a decade later, coupled with the high-tech level that modern sporting firearms had by then achieved, caused many American shooters and hunters to develop an interest in the "old guns". By doing so, of course, they were practicing a conscious anachronism.

But from the 1860's to the 1970's, the flintlock lived on, in the hands of makers like Hacker Martin. The distinction between he and his brethren, as opposed to the flintlock gunsmiths of today, was that his customers were not reenactors or such, but his country neighbors, who were hunting for the table.

A curious phenomenon! Does anyone have any thoughts why the flintlock survived during this vast "middle period" of its history?

Capt. William

 

[Stumpkiller]

Look how long folks have been shaping "D" section yew longbows. There is an art and beauty in some things that makes them rise above pure functionality. It becomes a expression of art and a tradition to be passed down.

And, in some regions, a keg of powder, a few pigs of lead and a keg of flints at the local sutler could supply many different calibers & descriptions of flintlocks. A cartridge rifle needs a specific cartridge.

 

[Liver eatin’ Johnson]

That is a great question! It might be the same reason people drive their old car long after it should have been sent to the junk yard. Wear the same cloths that have gone in and out of style without noticing. Hunt with "Dad's old gun" instead of a new short magnum... There are those who recognize when a thing is just right the way it is and appreciate what made it become a reality... being more than the just the sum of it's parts.

 

[Gary]

Try Ned Robert's the Muzzle Loading Cap Lock Rifle. It was alive (but not thriving) back at the turn of the century when Roberts wrote the book. Hacker Martin was a young 'un when these old timers were still making the guns.

Renewed interest started with folks like John Bivens and Wallace Gusler. Gusler convinced Colonial Williamsburg to open a gunshop and then to make a documentary. That documentary sparked the interest of thousands and is still sold today (I wish they'd make a CD).

As to why it survived? I think there was always a handful who were always interested in it. We were fortunate to have Walter Cline and the other enthusiasts keep the embers glowing for us. Later enthusiasts include Joe Kindig who both wrote and ran the Log Cabin Shop.

Some old timers tell me that back in the '60s, you could drive through the Southern States and pick them up cheap. One fellow showed up in Friendship with a pickup bed filled with iron mounted rifles. He sold them cheap (and for a profit too).

My own opinion is that the Centennial of the Civil War really gave the black powder industry a boost. The transition for the industry with the bicentennial was quite easy then (change the hammer & add a frizzen & frizzen spring to your lock & voila! Flintlock).

Enough rambling.

 

For those of us either "old enough" or "young enough" to remember, (depnds on how ya look at it!), let us not forget the impact Fess Parker as Davy Crockett and Dan'l Boone had on us baby boomers. Another possible reason is that they worked and worked well. Also, as others have said, there is a simple elegance to a well crafted long rifle.....pleasing to the eye.

Vic

 

I grew up in the hills and hollows of TN and I can assure you that none of the romantic notions I've seen posted are accurate accounts of why the craft survived. IT WAS POVERTY. .10 cents worth of powder in a paper sack and .10 cents worth of lead and another dimes worth of caps would keep you fed for a month. You could buy civil War surplus clear up to the turn of the 19th century. Springfield and Enfield muskets for .50 cents, Star and Metropolitin revolvers for $1. Check out a Bannerman Catalog sometime.

The Great Depression was a perpetual situation in the mountains from the end of the Civil war until today. We were a conquered colonial dependancy within our nation, purposely kept in poverty and generally disarmed by intent. The south "rising again" politically, economically or militarily was a real fear for almost 100 years.
Folks couldn't afford fancy guns and they couldn't afford the shells or cartridges they required. One of my friends has an 1861 Springfield rifle hanging on the wall today. It still has the final charge his father loaded into the gun in 1920somthing while attempting to shoot a duck. The charge was "a handfful of powder and a bunch of ball bearings".

Hacker Martin became famous because he was tapped by the national museums and collectors as cheap labor. His skills had been passed down through the generations due to necessity in keeping the old worn out guns shooting and replacing parts when needed.
I have shot guns with barrels made from the axles of model T Fords, breech plugs made from plumbing plugs and locks salvaged from Civil war era Enfield muskets, all hooked togather on an ancient piece of wood from God knows where. It wasn't done for the nostolgia, it was done from necessity!

Fess Parker had nothing to do with it, no one had a TV and if they did have a TV they couldn't plug it in because there was no electricity. And when we got electricity and a TV we found out that the darn thing wouldn't pick up any channels back in the hollow where we lived! That stuff was for you city guys that were buying those spanish made kits and guns, not for us hill folk that were making our own locks, stocks and barrels from whatever we could turn into a gun. Most of what I saw people shooting until I was grown would be termed as " black powder zip guns" by todays shooters.

No one made BP parts except by hand for their own use and maybe to fix a friend's gun. No TOW, no Dixie Gun works, no Log Cabin Shop, no Rifle Shoppe, if you kept it shooting you fixed it yourself, and you kept it shooting because it was the only gun that was feeding your family! School of style, preservation of the origional, balance or looks were irrelevant, hitting supper in the top of the tree was the only thing that mattered.

 

[Gary]

Thank you ghost for your insights. Little wonder the "poor boy" was truly a poor boy.

 

[RussB]

Ghost.......I think your post is very accurate. I also feel it was economic necessity that kept these guns alive. Those of us who have been in the area described by you, can almost "feel" what you described. It had nothing to do with what was popular outside those mountains, or what was on television.
There is still, to this day, a lot of shooting game, through out the Appalachian Mountains, from the necessity of eating, and feeding the "youngns".
I'm sure this is hard for many to believe, but it is a fact.
A place where honesty, and poverty, walk hand in hand. A place where God fearing people are literally, trying to scratch a living from the land, with whatever is at hand.
Russ

 

[Donny]

Begrudgenly, Thanks should be given to the rich guys, who bought the old guns because they had plenty of money, and preserved them. Turner Kirkland, Kindig, and others..I have a friend who was in a guys home with the attic full of ML guns,unknown, & not seen and for maybe 75 yrs. JM Davis would buy some old guns for the price of a meal. 22,000 + now in his museum. He would hang them on the hallway walls of his hotel in Okla. and people would steal them, or trade up or down, right off the wall. Or just leave one.
One friend 's father would buy old guns,of course cheap, that were broken, obsolete. Some were thought with the rifeling shot out, not so. They just needed a good lapping. He once had over 1000 guns. If I had an original Ml back in by youth, I'm sure I would have not appreciated it, used and abused it.. I hate to tell what I sold a 68 camaro, 56 merc, 55 chevy etc. for. Don

 

I had a few old friends from Ky. that I hunted with for many years. They are nearly all gone now and from them I heard many stories of neccessity hunting and of thrift in taking of game. If they were reading these post now I believe they would agree with Ghost. :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

 

Not to mention all the new fangled ignitions from cap on up are still relatively short lived compared to the flint ignition area. I

 

[musketman]

A curious phenomenon! Does anyone have any thoughts why the flintlock survived during this vast "middle period" of its history?

Romance of an era gone by.

Plus economics as well, percussion caps are a one time use item, flint and other sparking stones can be found in every state and used for 50 shots or more...

Even if the flint was to last for only two shots, that's still twice as many shots than a percussion cap gives.

 

I misinterperted the question. I replied in referrence to what kept the flintlock going for me. Not the geographic area of the Appalachians. Gee....after re-reading the question it seems pretty clear. Now, I ain't no city slicker, never have lived in a city or much of a town for that matter, except for about a year in Chandler, AZ. compliments of the Air Force and this brief hiatus in Rolla. I grew up in the hills and hollers of the Missouri Ozarks and while perhaps not as impoverished as our Appalachian hill cousins we counted on a lot of squirrel, quail, rabbit, coon and fish to dress our table. Deer and turkey were years in the future at that time. That and a big garden, friends from church and relatives who raised hogs and once in a while a beef kept us fed. Electricity we had but our water was from a hand pumped well, no running water in the house.

Anyway, ghost, thanks for relating your experience and knowledge of the area. I hope to spend some time with my sister just outside Gallatin and a good friend in Knoxville later this year and see more of Tennessee. It's in the plans as soon as we finish our house back in one of those Missouri Ozark hollers!

Vic

 

[2172]

Ghost got it right. about 5 years ago, I picked up a wrecked old rifle..no lock, and the stock fell away when I picked it up by the bbl...I took a bunch of photos for whatever info they might contain...there was too much damage to even preserve it...when I took off the "iron "buttplate and trigger guard, I found they were hand-made brass. I got a couple of local experts to look at the gun...the conclusion was that it was composed of the parts of at least two, and probably 3 guns...the brass was ID'd as Southern Ohio, and there was speculation that it pre-dated 1800...although that was argued. The half stock turned out to have been a full stock that had broken off, a rib added, and then some bits of wood tacked to make the stock reach the base of the rib...the bbl was 44", and .38 caliber....there had been some stock repairs using bits of galvanized metal and handmade brads...I give you all of this detail to point out how far they would go to keep a gun a working tool....the bbl has been given to a local gunsmith (I guy who built his own barreling machine), as was the trigger..set and workable...he got the remains of the stock to copy the lines...the brass ended up on an old CVA percussion rifle I was rehabing...at least part of the old timer is still going...and much of the rest may be, some day...Hank