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.
Time is running out to register for the 2020 NMLRA/WKU Gunsmith Seminar. We currently have openings in the 6-Day classes and just a few in some of the 3 & 9-Day classes.
Deadline to register is February 19, 2020. As we have very talented and dedicated Instructors, this is an event you do not want to miss!
Learn more at NMLRA.org
Wednesday June 3rd through Friday June 12th, 2020
At Western Kentucky University
Bowling Green, Kentucky
We had a long day walking the SHOT Show and talking muzzleloaders. As we all know, this show isn’t focused on blackpowder, but the people here that work in black powder do it because they love it.
We’re here through today with a few more meetings and then we’re heading back to Indiana to get this edited and published.
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.
School of the Longhunter concludes with Mark A. Baker and some of his discussion
Good morning from the workbench of Malachiah Pifer, student of gunsmith Mike Miller. We’ve been watching Malachiah’s progress for a while now. It’s great to see a young man pursuing this craft with such enthusiasm and skill.
Thank you for sharing Malachiah, and thank you Mike Miller for passing on your craft.
Thank you Jeff Luke for running the “Traditional American Craftsman” Facebook group for craftsmen of all skill levels and experience to share work and discuss traditional craft.
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.
We are working to build an up to date directory for Reenactors and Living Historians in the United States. This includes Military Groups, Historic figures, and Demonstrating Craftspeople.
If you'd like to be included in our directory, please fill out the form on our website and we will get you added and promoted!
There is no fee to submit or be promoted, we only want to help events find reenactors and reenactors find events.
Go to the link below to submit the 4 question form and be included in our directory and promtional queue.
Here are the dates for the 2020 Nationals at The Ridgway Rifle Club.
BPCR Scope July 28-29
BPCR Iron July 30-31
PCLAR August 3
SBLAR August 4
LAR August 5-6
SB Warm-Up August 8
SB Nationals/Monarch Cup August 9-10-11
HP Nationals August 13-14-15
