Flintlock

[Hotglove]

I was having a conversation today that brought up an old colleague, Bill, who was a top-class pistol shooter.
He told me once about a member of his club bringing a flintlock Dragoon pistol along to the range, now Bill was used to “state of the art” Olympic class pistols where the trigger travel was tiny, the object was to have the lightest components moving the shortest distances in microseconds to ignite the fastest-burning propellent.
Now, here he was with massive lump of wood, steel and brass, a trigger that creaked back for half an inch and a hammer that swung in a lazy arc.
Bill said that, as he pulled the trigger, he was thinking, “When is this thing going to go off” then, as the hammer swung, the same thought, same again when the flint crunched down in a shower of sparks, again as the priming sizzled in the pan, again as the golf-ball sized lump of lead rolled down the barrel, then everything disappeared in a cloud of blue.
Funny the conversations that stick in your head. 😂

[keith66]

I bet he loved it! recently i was watching Cap & ball on you tube shooting a brand new pair of wheellock pistols built by polish gunmaker Bolek Maciaszyk, The speed of ignition was phenomenal, A 16th century gun & it was fast really fast, No delay on those!

[acmsarh]

Try a matchlock where you have to blow on the smouldering match to ensure it is hot enough before the shot , Then watch when pulling the trigger as the match holder does a lazy arc over to stub itself out in the powder pan.

[BLONDIE1866]

I have a video taken at the club of my mate having his first go with a BROWN-BESS which is on my ticket as a 10-bore,
It is a pity I do not know how to upload a video on here,
I always end up with a que wanting ago when I take it to the range,
always a fun day out,

[DesG]

I always warn newcomers to the club when they want a go with a bp gun of any description that it's more addictive than crack cocaine.