Reenacters Ageing? Well, not really the reenacters but I have noticed on this site and a few others where a newly made rifle which has been aged so that it looks like it was 275 years old is highly praised.
I myself have nothing against these "aged" guns but I have wondered if the people who are REALLY into reenacting, you know, those who raise their eyebrow over a button which didn't exist until 10 years after the Time Period. Do they actually accept a gun which looks 200 years old as being proper? (Remember, if the gun looked 200 years old in 1753 it probably should have been a dog-lock or something similar.)
It seems to me that the people who lived during one of these time periods would have had guns which looked slightly used, but not one that looked like it had been mis-treated for 200 years.
Oh, I admit that some of the people had some old guns but I think they would would have been the subject of quiet little "in your ear" comments like, "My, I thought the Snivleys were doing better than that! Why his gun looks like it came out of the stone age".
I also doubt they would have had varnish or oils which had oxidized giving them a Black appearance.
So, what do you think about carrying a well aged, blackened gun to a reenactment?
I myself have nothing against these "aged" guns but I have wondered if the people who are REALLY into reenacting, you know, those who raise their eyebrow over a button which didn't exist until 10 years after the Time Period. Do they actually accept a gun which looks 200 years old as being proper? (Remember, if the gun looked 200 years old in 1753 it probably should have been a dog-lock or something similar.)
It seems to me that the people who lived during one of these time periods would have had guns which looked slightly used, but not one that looked like it had been mis-treated for 200 years.
Oh, I admit that some of the people had some old guns but I think they would would have been the subject of quiet little "in your ear" comments like, "My, I thought the Snivleys were doing better than that! Why his gun looks like it came out of the stone age".
I also doubt they would have had varnish or oils which had oxidized giving them a Black appearance.
So, what do you think about carrying a well aged, blackened gun to a reenactment?