Join us for a weekend of Black Powder Fun!
We will have Trap, Skeet, Pistol, Double Rifle (Sat 9am) and Sporting Rifle (Fri 4pm) all open at the Walter Cline Range in Friendship, Indiana
NMLRA Black Powder Bonanza! May 15-17
How to stop grave robbers in the 18th century
Happy #flintlockfriday! Here’s a look at a flintlock I’ve never seen before. This is an English “Cemetary gun”, used to keep grave robbers away from your newly deceased relatives during the height of medical “study” in Victorian England.
Mounted on a swivel, this beast of a muzzleloader would be tied to trip wires that, when tripped, swung the muzzle in the direction of the thief and sent a lovely lead gift their way.
An original Augusta County Virginia | Original Flintlock from 1750’s
Longrifle made in Augusta County, Virginia Circa 1750s. This is a quintessential Virginia frontier workhorse rifle, which likely saw more than a century of service. At .62 caliber, it has an extremely large bore for a rifle. It is a rare example of a French and Indian War era rifle, in a conflict and time mostly comprised of smoothbore guns.
This is a very early relief carved longrifle attributed to Augusta County, Virginia School of longrifle gunsmiths. Possibly made by John Hannah, Augusta County Gunsmith or from the Augusta County Gun Factory in Staunton, VA. It is very possible that it was made by John Hannah. John was among the earliest gunsmiths known to have worked in Augusta County, Virginia. Prior to 1739, the Hannah family settled in Augusta County on land southwest of Staunton, Virginia on Colliers Creek (Colliers Creek lies southwest of Lexington, VA in present day Rockbridge County).
They settled on land acquired from Benjamin Borden who had been the recipient of the Borden Land Grant in 1738. In 1754, John Hannah agreed to teach his indentured servant, John Mitchell, the art of a blacksmith and gunsmith. In 1768, John built a mill on Colliers Creek.Based on his inventory of tools recorded after his death in 1782, he was a blacksmith, white-smith, silversmith, and gunsmith. Early southern wooden patchbox longrifles attributed to a Virginia maker are rare.
This longrifle was owned for many years by George Shumway. There is wonderful early carving on the check piece and the longrifle retains a period patchbox lid which may be the original patch box cover. The check side of this longrifle was subjected to heat from a fire in George Shumway’s home. The damage to the wood was minimal and the wood was sucessfully stabilized after the fire.
The lock was converted to flint by Alan Guthchess (Curator at Fort Pitt). Alan commented that this was his favorite “frontier longrifle”. This longrifle was on display at Fort Pitt in their renowned French and Indian War display, “Captured by Indians” in 2015 – 2016, along with the original spike tomahawk I posted yesterday.
Muzzleloading Basics, an excerpt from Guns & Ammo Magazine
Our friends at Hodgdon Powder shared this great excerpt on muzzleloading basics from Author Dave Emary and Guns & Ammo Magazine.
“For all you muzzleloader hunters headed out this season, be sure to check out January’s issue of Guns & Ammo Magazine for a nice write-up on our GOEX black powders and Pyrodex and TripleSeven substitutes from our good friend Dave Emary.”
Starting with blackpowder’s origin in China in the 9th century and continuing through modern black powder substitutes, author Dave Emary brings a comprehensive look at our beloved powder’s history.
New video from the Black Powder Maniac!
Duelist1954 Builds a York County Flintlock
Popular muzzleloading and black powder youtuber Duelist1954 has been working on building his own York County Flintlock for a while now. In case you’ve missed it, he’s uploaded part 17 this week focusing on his process of inletting the butt plate.
In this update I'll install the butt plate on the York County flintlock rifle.
Muzzle Blasts at Mississinewa 1812
It’s been a busy weekend for the NMRLA and Living History. With events in Indiana, Tennessee and Pennsylvania, our Muzzleblasts reporters are excited to share photos and videos from these events.
Reporting in first are some photos from “Missisissinewa 1812” a living history event and battle reenactment near Marion, Indiana. This event honors those who fought in the war of 1812, the historic battlefield is just miles away from the reenactment site.
“ ”An early search and destroy mission, the battle of Mississinewa was one of the major engraftments fought during the war of 1812. It marked the first offensive victory of the American army during the conflict.””
This was the 32nd year for the Mississinewa 1812 event, which draws 30,000 people each year to watch the battle, learn from craftspeople as well as shop and eat thanks to all of the reenacting vendors.
Find out more at www.mississinewa1812.com
Announcing the BPCR Super Bird Match at the NMLRA Black Powder Cartridge Nationals!
2019 National Family Fun Shoot Recap
There’s one more Family Fun Shoot in the books for us! We had absolutely perfect weather this past weekend at the Family Fun shoot. With over 100 registered participants, the firing lines were bustling all weekend.
If you haven’t seen it, check out this peek into the weekend from the NMLRA Media team-