"an 18th century gunsmith ...."

At some point I’ll need to finish my muzzleloading rifle kit and stop just throwing lead balls at things.
I’ve been tinkering with my Revolutionary War-style flintlock rifle kit for a couple weeks and it’s making real progress. It’s at the level of a car that’s missing a few fenders and has no paint but will run if required – some of the pretty brass hardware isn’t fitted yet and I haven’t sanded everything smooth or put finish on the barrel or stock, but it would work if I got impatient.
The most interesting bit of the saga is hunting for parts and tools. Most folks don’t know how hard it is finding a gouge in contemporary America.
Most folks don’t even know what a gouge is.
Tell you what, first person to email me the right answer (no, it’s not a type of cheese and I’m not talking about what gas companies have done to my wallet) gets one of the many small files I’ve come to own as a result of this project.
It’s been a two-week romp through four counties and half a dozen hardware stores, reaffirming my burgeoning belief that our society isn’t set up to supply an 18th century gunsmith and that internet shopping can be useful.
Some stores carry muzzleloading supplies because deer hunters using the old-fashioned weapons get longer seasons. But hunters generally use percussion rifles, with a small metal cap struck by the hammer to ignite the powder. But the Revolutionary War used even more old fashioned flint striking steel….
And because few people want to buy these things few stores waste their resources on them. I walked into a well-stocked, modern gun store, said I had a flintlock kit and they took me over to look at the percussion caps….
They’re being wise not to worry about such a small niche, but it’s no fun when you are that niche.
So I drove over to Bass Pro in Concord, a hunting and fishing mega-store, for .50 caliber lead balls, a gun case long enough to hold a Rev. War rifle (all the ones at Wal-Mart were too short)….
And they had a ramrod I needed. The one in my kit didn’t have the screw thread needed to attach cleaning tools. But rods in most stores don’t use the same threads as fit my cleaning attachments. And they’re too short to clean a 33 ½ inch barrel anyway.
When I did find the right device it cost almost $20 for a simple metal rod with a screw thread at one end.
It’s almost like the manufacturer knows that though it’s a very small market, they’ve got a monopoly.
Maybe there are gouges in contemporary America.
Ultimately, it seems I often resort to the internet – the latest incarnation of what I’ll call “distance shopping.”
I’ve heard that back on the wild frontier the Sears catalog allowed people in the middle of our nations great, western nowhere to buy stuff even when far from stores.
Now instead of using a paper catalog to save a trip into town for a plow, I’m using an online catalog to save a drive to Connecticut for a powder measure.
So I’m out on some frontier of time, culture and technology, trying to buy 1700s hardware over a 21st century medium, a ramrod with a 10/32 screw thread….
My flints arrived in the mail last week. I can assure you they make quite an impressive shower of sparks, check out my blog for a picture – jderrickstar.blogspot.com.