Black Powder Firearms... gunnery as an art form...

[Ekklesian]

A couple of years after my father in law died, my wife's brother asked me if I would want their dad's old Remington 12 ga. I said sure, though it was decades since I've shot or even been hunting. He said as long as it stays in the family.

When my wife and I separated, I gave the gun to my daughter. Being brainwashed by her four-year liberal arts education (summa cum laude btw) she wants nothing to do with guns. I said I'd hold it for her.

It wasn't long till my ex brother in law came looking for it. I said, it belongs to your niece now. Still in the family.

 

[aleshanee]

A couple of years after my father in law died, my wife's brother asked me if I would want their dad's old Remington 12 ga. I said sure, though it was decades since I've shot or even been hunting. He said as long as it stays in the family.

When my wife and I separated, I gave the gun to my daughter. Being brainwashed by her four-year liberal arts education (summa cum laude btw) she wants nothing to do with guns. I said I'd hold it for her.

It wasn't long till my ex brother in law came looking for it. I said, it belongs to your niece now. Still in the family.

that;s good to keep things like that in the family... .. my dads family had some classic guns - some that even had historical significance... having been carried in various wars from the past... or captured in wars.... . .. but as older family members passed away the guns were handed down and with multiple children each having multiple children of their own, the collection was split up between them.... .now whatever he has.. both old and modern.. is locked in the gun locker my sister owns and where she keeps hers.... ..that locker is huge and is built into the back wall of my walk in closet... .. but i don;t have a key to it.....

 

[aleshanee]

the M1786 French light cavalry carbine

probably the first muzzle loading flintlock with standardized - interchangeable parts...
... was used by napolean bonapartes cavalary... .who might have had considerable
influence on the concept... ...not quite the assembly line process of making firearms
today... . but this first step had to happen first before the assembly line could
become reality..... ...
.

the preparation - loading and shooting of the french light cavalry carbine....

 

[aleshanee]

the potential dangers of wild boar hunting... even when using a firearm...

 

[4everfsu]

No way I would go hunting with a muzzle loader. You kill a deer and if a bear shows up you maybe up the creek. Now the 45-70 lever action would be for me.

 

[aleshanee]

No way I would go hunting with a muzzle loader. You kill a deer and if a bear shows up you maybe up the creek. Now the 45-70 lever action would be for me.

when we were bowhunting for elk on the mainland years ago we were required to have a rifle or high power magnum revolver with us.. .. just in the event a bear came at us... (they were supposed to be hibernating at that time... but the law didn;t care).... . ... .. we had a winchester 338 mag bolt action rifle but never had to use it... .. . i wonder if the same rule would apply to hunting with muzzleloaders.... ..... it would make sense to have a back up even if there wasn;t such a rule.... .

but on this island we hunt a lot of wild boar with nothing but a longbow... .. but then we follow specific skills using natural terrain to advantage as a protection against hogs turning around on us... . which is exactly what happened to me once hunting with my sister up in the crater... ...i got chased up a tree by an angry hog that i missed a good shot on and only wounded... .. my sister heard me screaming and called out to me which made the pig go off after her... .... she ended him with a 45 colt revolver which nobody else would be allowed to carry in this state... . it was fortunate for her and a learning experience for me... . ... i never made the kind of mistakes i made that day ever again......

 

[abcaines]

when we were bowhunting for elk on the mainland years ago we were required to have a rifle or high power magnum revolver with us.. .. just in the event a bear came at us... (they were supposed to be hibernating at that time... but the law didn;t care).... . ... .. we had a winchester 338 mag bolt action rifle but never had to use it... .. . i wonder if the same rule would apply to hunting with muzzleloaders.... ..... it would make sense to have a back up even if there wasn;t such a rule.... .

but on this island we hunt a lot of wild boar with nothing but a longbow... .. but then we follow specific skills using natural terrain to advantage as a protection against hogs turning around on us... . which is exactly what happened to me once hunting with my sister up in the crater... ...i got chased up a tree by an angry hog that i missed a good shot on and only wounded... .. my sister heard me screaming and called out to me which made the pig go off after her... .... she ended him with a 45 colt revolver which nobody else would be allowed to carry in this state... . it was fortunate for her and a learning experience for me... . ... i never made the kind of mistakes i made that day ever again......

Not that I spend any time in the bush, but if I did, I'd take Maggie with me and some 180gr bear loads with me. Oddly, the last time I was shopping, the bear loads were cheaper than the standard .357 magnum rounds.

 

[aleshanee]

Not that I spend any time in the bush, but if I did, I'd take Maggie with me and some 180gr bear loads with me. Oddly, the last time I was shopping, the bear loads were cheaper than the standard .357 magnum rounds.

the cableas we went to when we landed in washington had these bear
emergency kits with a smith and wesson 500 magnum in them.... ...
..it also had other things scattered around in the box that didn;t make
much sense... not even to a novice hunter like i was... . it would make
more sense to me to have a gun like that in a holster worn at the ready
if you are in bear country and out in the brush... ... not in a plastic box
packed away with other gear.. . .....and small edc survival items like the
ones in the box should be carried in spare pockets or also on a belt
where they are always at hand....



the guy who took us out to the cabin we hunted from carried a 44 magnum
revolver in a holster.... i think it was a ruger redhawk.... he said when it comes
to repelling a charging bear with a pistol it;s the loud blast and muzzle flash
from the magnum powder charge going off in a short barrel gun that usually
scares the bear and makes it run back the other way .... as most people -
even experienced hunters ..panic when a bear charges and miss anyway....

but he told us the 338 mag we had would do the trick as long as the person
carrying it watches the surrounding area and not the elk we were hunting...
but the only thing we saw out there other than the elk was coyotes... even
the wolves that we heard howling at night stayed out of sight in the daytime

 

[Ekklesian]

 

[aleshanee]

my dad has a few black powder muzzle loading guns... ...i don;t know what all of them are
.... but i do know one is a hawkin 50 cal flintlock... .. and another is a 50 cal naval boarding
pistol - also a flintlock... .... that one is really cool as he has it hanging from a sailors belt
on the wall next to a naval boarding cutless from the same era.... late 1700s ....

in the past i have wondered what it must have been like for a young able bodied sailor -
on a wooden navy warship - to be handed one of each.. a single shot pistol and a short
sword... and ordered to climb over the rail onto another ship and fight other sailors armed
with those same weapons.... personally i would rather have my longbow with me... and a
lot of arrows in my quiver.... .and hopefully they let me stay on my own ship and shoot
arrows down into the other ship from up in the rigging...

the boarding pistol my dad has is very similar to the one in this video.... makes a huge
cloud of smoke when it;s fired..... pretty cool to be down wind of it....