Zephaniah W. Nash

Finding it for me, locally, just doesn't happen -- no one keeps it in stock. Most people shooting reproduction firearms are using percussion, which works fine with the substitute. Not that I've found a few other real black powder shooters, though, we can easily combine an order for the lot of us. Even they are mostly CAS folks, but like to load their own rounds with BP.

If you want to go really basic, and really start off simply and easily, go with Mr. Beer -- available at Amazon, if nowhere locally. I've been using it for a year or so now, and have just about talked myself into moving on into "real" brewing, instead of the pre-prepared ingredient kits and simplified process. The Englishman's Nut Brown Ale and the St. Patrick's Irish Stout are both downright awesome (though I do suggest using an extra "booster pack" or just adding some extra sugar to the kits to up the alcohol content a bit -- it's pretty weak without it).

Aye, and ya do look sommat familiar, as if I'd run across ye somewhere's else before... :-) The sword forum is titled "1st Mate's Forge," listed over under "Ship's Armory" from the front page. Pictures, I think you may have to embed, if they are uploaded at a site that offers that code for you -- hopefully, someone else more familiar with the current tech of the board here will help you, if that won't work. Welcome, my friend -- good to see you!

It is, at that -- if you can buy in enough bulk to take advantage of it! If I was buying just for myself, it would be awfully expensive. Granted, it's not like it will spoil, so it's something you can keep, but I don't have enough free cash at the moment to buy 20+ pounds -- particularly after Baltimore Knife and Sword went and ran a Labor Day sale...

My small group has hit on a pretty decent way to get around the "accuracy" part of female pirates/privateers, particularly when it's my wife and I. When we give a historical presentation, we try to put it in the frame of "Hollywood vs. History." She dresses in a bit more of a "Hollywood" style, while I'm trying for more "History." We can show the differences, and from that discuss the rarity of female pirates. And, my lovely wife simply can't get away with dressing as a man. She has certain... attributes... that are not at all easy to disguise. As far as our personas go within that framework, we've taken a bit of inspiration from Grace O'Malley, even though the time settings are way off. She is the owner of the ship, and I am the captain. That, of course, means we have to lean more towards privateering than pirating, but we all also know just how easily that particular line was crossed anyway. At any rate, just my input, for what it's worth...

I seriously doubt this will come as a surprise to anyone here, but actual black powder is just so much better than BP substitute! I have, for some time, been limited to the substitute -- there's just no one nearby dealing in real BP. Recently, though, I've gotten in touch with some Cowboy Action shooters who load their own cartridges, so we can all share in ordering BP. Makes it much more economical to share that hazardous material shipping fee. At any rate, it had been so long since I had real BP, I had forgotten how much better it is in flintlocks. The substitute is fine for percussion firearms, but... My misfire rate has fallen to maybe a fifth what it had been, and the hangfires are simply no more. It happened quite a bit with the substitute. So, if all you've got is BP substitute, you can still shoot -- but it's just not the same!

In last evening's feeding, there were five deer -- Calamity, who was the only one to actually come into the yard while I was still out there, two other does and two fauns, including Calamity's latest. Talk about a deer with the best of both worlds -- when she wants a handout, she's tame. When she doesn't, she's wild! :-) And not a drop of rain here in quite some time. Just hauled about a quarter of our cattle to the sale today, more to follow next week. We're going to cull down to about a quarter of what we had and hope we can find enough to keep 'em fed...

Many thanks, William -- looks like plenty to read through to get myself caught up hereabouts!

I know it's been long and long since I've visited this shore, but a few folks have found me on some o' them other social networking sites, reminded me of all the fine folks hereabouts, so I thought I'd swing back through and re-affirm some old friendships and hopefully make a few new ones. So, apart from the pirating, I'm still cowboying a bit (at least, for a bit longer, unless we get some rain) and working some gas wells. But, that's the "real" jobs. I'm just finished up with what pyrate gigs I've had for the summer, looks quiet on that front 'til the Fall, at least. At any rate, I'm looking forward to trying to get back into the swing of things here around the old Pub -- I have missed it, and those who abide here!