Hello, my name is Bill Rowe, looking at retirement, I have been into Muzzle loading for almost 50 years, and hope to get more involved.

[Bill Rowe]

Zonie,
Even a blind hog finds a acorn now and then. But their not all gold here, rust in the .36 cal. is so thick it sucked the patch off the jag. Finally after a bed sheet of cleaning patch's I can swab it smooth. But still red and needs more love . Other's are a fair better. The workman ship is mediocre to ok, no master work here though. The locks on 3 of these were Siler kits I presume, as the person that assembled them left way too much tension on the main spring, and hammers are terribly loose on the tumbler from over whacking, or could be the tumbler was never heat treated. I have Rust breaker on them now, before I try to pull the lock and hammer off. Cheers,

 

[MeganAribat]

Congratulations on your retirement, this is a very important stage, in my opinion. I can't wait to finish my work and enjoy my retirement in my country house too.

 

[Tn poor boy]

Where you from bill and welcome from east tn

 

[Bill Rowe]

Thank you, hope you all had a great fathers day, I was fortunate enough to have one of my sons up from Florida, to spend the day with me. I live in the middle area of the mitten, and just back late Saturday from my first ML shoot in over 2 years this weekend at Howard City. Was a swell time and got to see some old pals that go back over 50 years, and sell off some of my surplus gear. The French Fusil that I bought in a group of flints from a friend, was shot for the first time, it has a .718 bore. Had only .672 balls at time, and had to heavily patch around it. Cast up some .690 size, and picked up the group at 25 yards, but still loose on the ticking seal. I think I will find a 18 mm ball cutter and make a new mold. My son Brad got to fire this pumpkin thrower yesterday in the back yard. He was impressed for a smoothbore with no rear sight how well it shot.
I will officially retire this fall as taking voluntary lay off from shop, I'm so tired of the demands, and even the 35 minute drive to work is a drag. With me gone , a friend with less seniority ( with family ) can stay working also, win win. . I do most the cad design and final say on the tooling development anyway, that I can work on at home , and avoid contact . I do not miss my cubical ! I find working at home is must more inspiring than the chaos in the front office. I still go in after hours and make my heirlooms in the toolroom . I just finishing a small Puckett canon, that I took this last weekend to show. Not quite finished totally , need to make degree dial and elevation adjustment, and eye let stakes to hold to ground , but nice enough to high light my trade blanket (NFS), a four year on and off project. Cheers.

 

[Bill Rowe]

MeganAribat , Tn poor boy, I meant to send picture of the canon, enclosed, 1'' bore, , stay safe, watch your top not.

 

[UndeadPoet]

Pleased to meet you, Bill!

‘Poet

 

[NorthFork]

MeganAribat , Tn poor boy, I meant to send picture of the canon, enclosed, 1'' bore, , stay safe, watch your top not.

Awesome!

 

[kje54]

LawrenceA,
I'm the one on the left, this picture was taken at Kalamazoo Living history show couple years back. This was one of the vendors that was set up , and really looked cool. I love it when they go over the top , and appreciate all that what went into it .. I have 21 grandkids (19 boys ) so I like to get pictures to send to them to help them get into ML and see how fun it is. Not just shooting guns, but the history. The Kalamazoo show is a Visual Disney Land for the muzzle loader with some wonderful outfits. I remember the first time the movie " Pirate of the Caribbean " came out, their were 1/2 dozen Jack Sparrows running around from mediocre to drop dead fantastic costumes. Most all vendor's are in period garb, its a hoot, and well worth the drive if you can make it.

I little bit of blue pigment and you could be Papa Smurf!!


Welcome!

 

[Bill Rowe]

Same here 'Poet, Kind words NorthFork , kje54 I also pass as a good Santa as my high blood pressure keeps my cheeks nice and red. After 5 kids I'm happy to have hair. Cheers,

 

[MeganAribat]

Congratulations on your retirement, this is a very important stage, in my opinion. I can't wait to finish my work and enjoy my retirement in my country house too. However, I advise you to take care of your financial situation from the beginning and put your eye on trusted pensions advisors who will help you sort out your problems. These guys helped me to ensure regular pension payments, so now I don't even worry about it. I advise you to tackle this issue now because the sooner you settle all the questions about money, the more likely there will be no problems. Good luck in retirement and all the best.

 

[swamperkk]

welcome BILL from louisiana,,i too been muzzleloading since the early 70's off and on

 

[Bill Rowe]

MeganAribat , Have my Roth in good hands, all in trust that is set up for grandchildren to go to community college for a couple years if they want, all 23 of them. With the newest 24th being born here in 3 months, I will probably not be around to send her off. What left then the kids split. I only fear what the
shysters that handle retirement account can now do as Trump took away their honesty clause , and they can invest your monies in poor accounts for their commissions , not your portfolio. *******.
Thank you swamperkk , I really love them smoke poles, this last weekend I sold a Thompson center lefty to a older kid at this shoot I attended, it was the first time for him at a shoot . My friend was range officer at the time , and seen him struggling with a right hand gun he had borrowed and was competing with, finds out the kid has a stigmatism in his right eye, so was heavy leaning over it to shoot with his left. My friend had remembered I had brought a new lefty to sell that I had purchased for a grandson years ago, that never came over. The young man was thrilled , sold it to him at cost as I saw in him what I wished I could see in my grandchildren , the absolute love of it. I sat there at this shoot with my pal Norm , We were dayshavooing the sound of the range fire, the smell of the black Smiths forge, and the colorful garb, that believers were wearing. It was a most wonderful father day weekend . I hope for many more. Norm and myself both got into black powder in around 1972, last couple years of high school to go, and had deer hunted together for years , so when Norm got a .58 cal. Zouave in his Jr. year, I had to have one , and it has not stopped for either one of us since. Cheers,

 

[kje54]

Same here 'Poet, Kind words NorthFork , kje54 I also pass as a good Santa as my high blood pressure keeps my cheeks nice and red. After 5 kids I'm happy to have hair. Cheers,

I do a good Colonel Sanders in my 1870s getup.........