Mentors

[AZbpBurner]

First shooting mentor was who it should always be, my Dad. He taught me the fundamentals of gun safety and proper sight & trigger.

For black powder, Dad brought home an 1861 Colt Navy & we spent time together shooting it. It was my job to disassemble, clean & reassemble it. Before Dad passed on, he left that 1861 with me & it still shoots and looks like new.

Never considered this guy a mentor until just now, but in High School & College I'd shoot at a public range in Delaware, Ohio. There was an old guy there who had several flintlocks to shoot. It was great fun to watch him load & fire, and he quickly asked me if I wanted to shoot one. He showed me the basics of firing a flintlock (already knew how to load, since Dad had built a caplock rifle).

The old guys' rifles were all beautiful examples of the gunmaker's art & I thought he was just testing out some of them before selling them to his customers. Ends up they were all originals amassed by one of his forebears & he said it was his duty to exercise them all on a regular basis. He usually fired 3-5 rifles & I never saw the same one twice. They were all well cared for throughout the generations and were his family legacy, to be handed down to succeeding generations. He said his Grandfather kept a ledger with names and information about all the original owners, and never ever said how many rifles there were - my guess was several dozen.

He taught me the fundamentals of firing a flintlock, and assured me that it didn't make any difference if I was firing a righthanded flintlock lefthanded. As a consequence, today most of my flintlocks are righthanded & it feels odd to fire one of my lefthanded flinters.

 

[Eric Krewson]

Mentors; I have had a few that stand out, mostly by setting an example for me to follow.

My scout master Sam Alexander was more a father to me than my own PTSD wracked and distant dad.

My work supervisor of years ago and badly wounded WW11 vet Harold Merritt set an example of honor, honesty and compassion for ones friends that I have followed to this day.

As for BP I would have to say Joe Bogle of the Bogle gun building clan has shown me what one can accomplish with perseverance in gun building.

Lastly, my friend, gun builder and top notch shooter Bruce McKelvy has shown me what attention to detail on the range can accomplish.

 

[Billnpatti]

.... was Rebel Arms a Texas gun shop?

If it was the Rebel Arms with which I am familiar, it was located in Pasadena, Texas. It was owned by a guy by the name of Ronnie White. When he first located his muzzleloading gun shop and muzzleloading range out there, it was way out in the boonies. Then builders started developing land not far behind his gun range. Ronnie improved his back stop but that didn't help. The folks who lived behind his gun range kept giving him grief and got the authorities involved. They couldn't do much about making him move because he was there first and the developers knew his range was there before they started building houses. I think the straw that broke the camel's back was when BATF got involved and started giving him grief about the storage of black powder. All of the hassle and grief and legal fees finally drove him out of business. I think he turned the whole place into a storage business. When he was at his peak, in addition to first class outdoor rifle, pistol, shotgun ranges, he had indoor and outdoor air gun ranges and archery ranges, he had a huge inventory of black powder guns and supplies as well as air guns and archery. I hated to see it go. There is no other place like it anywhere that I know of any more.

 

[hanshi]

I was raised by my maternal grandmother and had no mentors. I always seemed to have an innate sense of guns and shooting and a passion for it, too. 100% self taught, actually. Have learned quite a bit, though, by association with others on forums and reading.

 

[RonRC]

I started my interest in traditional muzzleloaders when I was about 65, so I had no mentors.
There were people who were helpful at the range, but no one I could call a mentor. I read everything I could get my hands on and bothered people on muzzleloader forums with questions.

My gun education started in 1967 after being drafted and I had no desire to touch a firearm after 1969. It was some 12 years later before I shot a firearm again and realized how much I enjoyed shooting. Of course I then appreciated the practical applications of defensive weapons.
Ron

 

[SgtErv]

I was the same way about hunting. Muzzleloaders have me back in the woods, at least, but this former grunt still hasn't actually taken a shot at a critter. Still, flintlocks got me to enjoy shooting again.

Mentors...

Truth be told, this forum taught me the lion's share of what I know. No kidding; it's here that I got started in earnest in living history, flintlock shooting, and dozens of related pursuits. In just a short while, Ive learned quite a bit.

So thank you, ladies and gentlemen

 

[Silky921]

Thank you my friend from the south. Seeing newer people getting exciting and diving right in, helps me to keep my fire burning brightly.