This week's column....
Click…
Hiss…
BOOM!
Fired my flintlock over the weekend.
I finished up my kit for a Revolutionary War-style, Kentucky rifle a week or so back and had been waiting for a good time and a legal place to fire it.
Last Saturday the stars aligned and I went with our webmaster Chad to his folks’ house to fire my first muzzleloader.
We’ve got video of the whole affair thanks to Chad’s camerawork. Just visit my blog for the link: jderrickstar.blogspot.com.
You’ll get to see me with a gun wearing camo and a Santa hat. I figured the fuzzy, bright toboggan would keep me warm and in the future may help fend off misguided marksmen gunning for deer, rabbits, squirrels – nobody wants to shoot Santa!
And the ratty old Army BDU shirt gives an upper layer with plenty of pockets that you don’t mind getting messy. I understand the black powder these guns burn is actually a very dirty chemical – corrosive, on fire and none to kind to a set of clothes.
I interviewed a Rev. War re-enactor a while back. He wore a shooting smock over his clothes to absorb the soot and scrapes of the range. He also had a floppy hat he’d charred the edge of to replicate the effect of extended firing of the weapon, which involves a small explosion only inches from your face.
This is a pretty old fashioned gun. It’s loaded through the muzzle (hence the term, “muzzleloader”), a slower and more technologically primitive manner of function.
Once you’re dumped a measured load of powder down the barrel you ram home a greased patch and a spherical lead bullet.
It’s a pretty snug fit going in because it needs to be a tight fit coming out again. Although lots of folks have called this new device of mine a musket, it’s actually a rifle – using “rifling,” ridges in the barrel that impart a spin upon the projectile, stabilizing it in flight like a spiraling football.
The bullet of an unrifled, smooth-bored musket doesn’t have to grip such ridges, making loading faster but firing less accurate.
After loading the barrel you ready the priming pan with powder. This ignites after you squeeze the trigger, releasing the spring-loaded stone shard that gives the flintlock its name to strike a piece of steel, casting a shower of sparks into the pan.
The pan goes *poof*, a small explosion goes *flash* through the hole connecting the pan to the main charge in the barrel and the gun goes *bang*.
Instantaneously.
Ideally.
Firing it the first time, aiming at an antifreeze jug filled with water, I heard the click, the hiss… the hiss… umm, wha? BANG.
I missed.
Firing it the second time I knew better what to expect – prepared to stay on target unconventionally long as the flint, pan, powder, hole and charge hold committee on how to do their thing.
I nailed it at 20 feet with .50 caliber worth of lead.
Water splattered everywhere, including my where.
For more on why there was a delay in firing and some possible solutions check out the blog: jderrickstar.blogspot.com.
Hiss…
BOOM!
Fired my flintlock over the weekend.
I finished up my kit for a Revolutionary War-style, Kentucky rifle a week or so back and had been waiting for a good time and a legal place to fire it.
Last Saturday the stars aligned and I went with our webmaster Chad to his folks’ house to fire my first muzzleloader.
We’ve got video of the whole affair thanks to Chad’s camerawork. Just visit my blog for the link: jderrickstar.blogspot.com.
You’ll get to see me with a gun wearing camo and a Santa hat. I figured the fuzzy, bright toboggan would keep me warm and in the future may help fend off misguided marksmen gunning for deer, rabbits, squirrels – nobody wants to shoot Santa!
And the ratty old Army BDU shirt gives an upper layer with plenty of pockets that you don’t mind getting messy. I understand the black powder these guns burn is actually a very dirty chemical – corrosive, on fire and none to kind to a set of clothes.
I interviewed a Rev. War re-enactor a while back. He wore a shooting smock over his clothes to absorb the soot and scrapes of the range. He also had a floppy hat he’d charred the edge of to replicate the effect of extended firing of the weapon, which involves a small explosion only inches from your face.
This is a pretty old fashioned gun. It’s loaded through the muzzle (hence the term, “muzzleloader”), a slower and more technologically primitive manner of function.
Once you’re dumped a measured load of powder down the barrel you ram home a greased patch and a spherical lead bullet.
It’s a pretty snug fit going in because it needs to be a tight fit coming out again. Although lots of folks have called this new device of mine a musket, it’s actually a rifle – using “rifling,” ridges in the barrel that impart a spin upon the projectile, stabilizing it in flight like a spiraling football.
The bullet of an unrifled, smooth-bored musket doesn’t have to grip such ridges, making loading faster but firing less accurate.
After loading the barrel you ready the priming pan with powder. This ignites after you squeeze the trigger, releasing the spring-loaded stone shard that gives the flintlock its name to strike a piece of steel, casting a shower of sparks into the pan.
The pan goes *poof*, a small explosion goes *flash* through the hole connecting the pan to the main charge in the barrel and the gun goes *bang*.
Instantaneously.
Ideally.
Firing it the first time, aiming at an antifreeze jug filled with water, I heard the click, the hiss… the hiss… umm, wha? BANG.
I missed.
Firing it the second time I knew better what to expect – prepared to stay on target unconventionally long as the flint, pan, powder, hole and charge hold committee on how to do their thing.
I nailed it at 20 feet with .50 caliber worth of lead.
Water splattered everywhere, including my where.
For more on why there was a delay in firing and some possible solutions check out the blog: jderrickstar.blogspot.com.
posted by John Derrick | 6:42 PM
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