Cascabel

Well, it's about time ye showed up !!! We missed ya....

I been wonderin' wot happened to ye. Scrape off the barnacles afore ye get comfortable !!!

>>>> Cascabel

**tsk, tsk, tsk** Fancy clothing do not make one a fop. The wealthy had access to fancy, better clothing all the time... now fops on the other hand, were not just about their clothing, but manners, speech, being effeminate but not necessarily gay, all of it was usually taken to extremes and rolled into one person, not exactly like but closer to being a ...what do they call em now adays? Metrosexual??. so not just the clothes... remember the mindset of the time period...

Aye Cap'n, true enough....

I had actually considered going with the full-blown fop character, but couldn't quite wrap my head around some aspects of it. I figured if I did it once, I would have to do it every time I wore the outfit. Thanks for the comment !!

>>>> Cascabel

Cascabel joins the fop contingent...... I've been told I look like Louis XIV's lawyer !!!

Avast there he scallywags!

As many o' ye be knowin', thar be a piratical convention be happenin' in Denver come September 18th. BrethrenCon it be, an' if the winds be any mark, it's promisin' t'be a day the likes o' which old Hob has yet t'see!

If ye or yer piratical mates be plannin' on settin' sail fer said shindig, and would like t'be sharin' yer knowledge of life on the account, send a messenger by yer fastest ship over t'the BrethrenCon port o' call, and let the fine crew that be puttin' together the festivities know who ye be, and what ye be wantin' to share.

Panels will be considered in just about any format ye can name -- round-table discussions, classroom instruction, or participatory engagements -- you name it! Topics can be serious in nature, or more t'the light-hearted sort, an' should they concern historical or modern piracy, or anythin' t'be doin' with piracy in popular media, thar be a good chance ye'll be accepted as panelists.

(a side note, to readers of this forum: While this is a general invitation for -any- sort of piratical panels, I posted it here because I truly hope some of ye who may be attending, and are partial to forums such as this what espouse authenticity and historical accuracy might be interested in bringing yer knowledge t'this shindig. Many thanks fer yer listenin')

Drake

Is there a website ?

>>>> Cascabel

The biggest issue that I had with the episode was that all hits were in between ribs. It's fairly easy to punch a clean hole in that area, free of large splinters. Depending on thickness, you could do it with a sledgehammer. They should have tried a few shots that hit the ribs. I think the results would have been considerably different !!!

>>>> Cascabel

Cascabel, when exactly is the Bald Head Island event? I might be interested in coming to that one...

It's a week before Beaufort.

>>>> Cascabel

Also Cascabell, when the hell am I gonna see you again?

I'll be at the Beaufort, NC event in August, and also the Bald Head Island event. I hope to cross paths with ye.....

>>>> Cascabel

In side views of the early galleon type ships with the high stern castles, they appear to have quite a severe forward slope to the upper decks, and possibly all of the rear decks. This looks like it would be very uncomfortable to stand on for any length of time, for instance standing at the helm. Did the decks actually slope like that, or is it an illusion caused by the slope of the rail ? I have never been up close to a real one, so I thought I would pose the question.

The other question is, if they actually slope in that fashion, what is the purpose ? Later style ships don't have that steep sloped appearance

>>>>> Cascabel

Well........

I hope you didn't pay much for it. Unfortunately, it has all the appearances of one of those cobbled together pieces intended for the tourist trade made in the Middle East or North Africa from old parts of dubious origin. Never intended to be fired, only a wall hanger.

I really hate to torpedo a guy's choices after he has spent his hard earned money, but there it is........

>>>> Cascabel

I'm sure that you are correct. You can get some interesting parts from these wall-hangers. I bought a pair of pistols that had some real snaphaunce locks. After I soaked the better one in oil for a while I got the rust off and got everything loosened up. I was able to replace a few pieces and get it to fire. Of course, the rest of it was complete junk.

Mark

The interesting part about some of these things is that they often have decent quality European made locks, or other parts attached to them. There was a thriving market in obsolete and surplus gun parts going on in the old days, just like today. Obsolete parts were sold where ever people would buy them. Many of them wound up in the Middle East and Africa after they became totally outdated in Europe.

Sometimes complete locks were available, but most often by the time they made it to the surplus market, parts were missing. Missing parts were crudely made by local craftsmen. You will sometimes encounter the long "camel rider" muskets with English or French pistol locks incorporated, along with locally made barrels. Napoleonic period French locks are commonly found on cheap smoothbore guns made for sale to native tribesmen in the African interior. Later on, the non-functional pieces for the tourist trade were being made using the same sources for some of the parts. This is where inexperienced collectors can get into trouble.

>>>> Cascabel

... most of the rules and regulations are strictly insurance driven...rates and cancellations can be MAJOR problems for any contractor...

an event that requires peace tying cannot be looked upon as some kinda personal insult to the owner's proficiency or skill level but rather to the idiocy of others that are in attendance... even a minor incident can spell major headaches for the organizers regarding security and insurance rates... factor in political idiots on the city council that think a bunch of drunken maroons running around with guns (oh, my !! ) AND lethal edged weapons can be dangerous and unhealthy to the standards of the community to which they proudly serve, are willing to jump at any chance to get on television and advance their own careers...

not only do we police ourselves, we have to police others as well to insure future events will happen...

you can most certainly control yourself, but have absolutely no control over the general public who may be an up and coming runner for the darwin awards...

:)

I agree completely with Silas on this issue. It's someone else's sandbox, so we have to play by their rules, or not play at all. The rules are not there to insult us, but because of paranoia about lawsuits and bad publicity, or in some cases legal issues about weapons in public. I didn't bring any weapons at all to the Fells Point event, out of respect for the rules, even though I considered the rules total nonsense

However, I have always objected to the term "Peace Tying". It almost seems they are trying to get it accepted as a historical concept to make it more palatable.

>>>> Cascabel

Now, what English terms are you wondering about?

Well:

Cup Hilt?

Match lock?

Dog lock?

Frock coat?

Any of us will be glad to help you out in understanding English words. To start with, try entering the words you don't understand in Google Images http://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi You will get pictures of what you are looking for.

>>>> Cascabel

Well........

I hope you didn't pay much for it. Unfortunately, it has all the appearances of one of those cobbled together pieces intended for the tourist trade made in the Middle East or North Africa from old parts of dubious origin. Never intended to be fired, only a wall hanger.

I really hate to torpedo a guy's choices after he has spent his hard earned money, but there it is........

>>>> Cascabel

I wonder what kind of powder he's feeding it. It seems to be sort of a reddish brown color......

>>> Cascabel

Hmmmmm.......

And all this time I thought Cousin Robbie was a totally fictitious character that only existed on the pub !!!

>>>> Cascabel

Every now and then I see references that say that a blunderbuss was fired from the hip because of the recoil. I am more than a little skeptical, myself for several reasons:

1) At least some blunderbusses had curved shoulder stocks. My wife's cousin was showing me his over the weekend. It was heavily researched and had a curved shoulder piece. This just doesn't work when braced against the hip. You have to tilt it at a slight angle. A flat stock would work much better against the hip.

Mark

Actually, the expression "firing from the hip" does not entail bracing it against the hip, but rather firing from hip level, pointing instinctively, rather than aiming from the shoulder held position. Recoil is absorbed by allowing the piece to move back or rise controlled by the strength of your arms. Not at all difficult.....

>>>> Cascabel

While that may be true, some people take it literally. I've caught people on TV bracing a blunderbuss on their hip. I started this thread after seeing a link to a Buccaneer 101 course that said a blunderbuss had to be braced against the hip.

If you try bracing a weapon with a shoulder stock against your hip, you will find it to be quite awkward, and also unnecessary. The recoil impulse is only momentary, and quite easily controlled with a strong grip. Of course, this assumes a reasonably normal load, rather than something that may exceed the strength of the breech. If you are around guns very much, you soon realize that there are a lot of "old wives tales" passed around as the gospel truth. This is especially true as applied to movies and TV !!

A blunderbuss is really nothing more than the 18th century version of a sawed-off shotgun, and some of those only have a pistol grip, and no butt stock at all.

>>>>> Cascabel

Every now and then I see references that say that a blunderbuss was fired from the hip because of the recoil. I am more than a little skeptical, myself for several reasons:

1) At least some blunderbusses had curved shoulder stocks. My wife's cousin was showing me his over the weekend. It was heavily researched and had a curved shoulder piece. This just doesn't work when braced against the hip. You have to tilt it at a slight angle. A flat stock would work much better against the hip.

Mark

Actually, the expression "firing from the hip" does not entail bracing it against the hip, but rather firing from hip level, pointing instinctively, rather than aiming from the shoulder held position. Recoil is absorbed by allowing the piece to move back or rise controlled by the strength of your arms. Not at all difficult.....

>>>> Cascabel

Saturday I bought a Pirate Sea Service Pike pistol at a gun show....I will be posting pictures tommorow....I need help identifying this gun....The person I bought this from has not seen anything like this and he has seen collecting for 50 years.... It is in great shape and the detailing is very interesting...it has silver coarsing in the handle and under the barrel on the stock....the butt has been shaved down and a pike was installed...so its a gun with a pike/axe at the end.....the interresting thing is that it does not have a ramrod holder.......any thoughts Bretheren ?

Can't give you much info without Pics !!!

>>>> Cascabel

..... And since the re-hardenning of the frizzen it is behaving wonderfully! I still think I might need to stone the sear spring down (trigger pull is a bit heavy, and it is chipping out flints quicker than my other flinters).

Heavy trigger pulls usually can best be fixed by re-working the tumbler notches. The sear spring is usually only part of the problem. Could be a combination of both. As a test, try temporarily removing the sear spring completely, and see how it feels. It will give you an idea how much pressure is required to release it. Trigger pull is also very much effected by the location of the pin that the trigger pivots on.

Rapid wearing or breakage of flints is usually caused by overly strong frizzen springs. Many of the India made pieces are guilty of this. It can be remedied with a bit of careful work.

>>>> Cascabel

Cascabel,

So what can be done with a overly strong Frizzen Spring? Like M Bagley, I have a early doglock musket. I too think the frizzen came to me not hardened properly. I am planning on doing the tin can in a fire thing this weekend, but I am also interested in knowing how to lighten a frizzen spring.

To begin with, the way to test a frizzen for hardness is to take a SHARP file, and try to file across the face. Don't be afraid to bear down hard. The file won't "grab" or cut at all if the frizzen is hard enough, but merely "skid" across the face. The test only requires one stroke. If the file digs in AT ALL, then you need to re-harden. If the file simply skids across the face, then frizzen hardness is not your problem !! Always check in this fashion BEFORE deciding that it is not properly hardened. You should also check a re-hardening job in the same fashion.

Overly strong springs are typical of India-made guns. They can be dealt with in a couple of different ways, depending on the individual situation. Basically, if you look at your spring, you will see that it is much wider than it needs to be to start with (usually). It really needs to be no wider than to give the toe of the frizzen a place to ride. It usually is also considerably THICKER than necessary also. Each issue needs to be dealt with separately.

Narrowing the spring reduces the strength, because of course, you are removing metal. Don't go too far in narrowing the spring. Don't forget, you can't put the metal back on !! Reducing the thickness also reduces the strength, but also imparts more FLEXIBILITY. If you only make it narrower, it will still most likely be too stiff, and may break at the bend. Reducing the thickness should be done with the end result being a GRADUAL taper with the rear being the thinnest point. The area of re-work only needs to be the portion of the spring to the rear of the anchor pin, as that is the only part that flexes.

It can be done a couple of ways depending on available tooling. Filing by hand works nicely, or you can use a grinder, but avoid getting it too hot and effecting the temper. If you choose to grind it, holding it in your bare fingers will let you know if it is getting too hot !! Watch the color, and if you turn it blue, you will most likely have to re-temper it, so be careful, work slowly, and dip it in water often to cool it. Keep all filing and grinding marks LENGTHWISE to the spring, so as not to induce cracking and breakage during use. Polish out all tool marks, so as not to have stress points, which can start a crack.

How much to reduce the width and thickness remains a "judgement call". Don't try the shortcut of over bending the spring, as that usually results in breakage, or rendering it too weak to work properly.

>>>>> Cascabel

what about the 'rail gun' concept? http://www.icollecto...aped-m_i9323291

""English brass-barreled flintlock blunderbuss rail gun with brass yoke and furniture, cannon-shaped muzzle, maker William Wilson (London, 1760-1770), ex-Chalabis collection. About 14 lb, 38" overall, 22" barrel. A type of large gun known as an "espingoles," and typically placed in an oarlock to shoot at other ships,"" (picture on the site)

Placing it in an oarlock using the attached yoke does not concentrate the recoil forces on the wrist of the stock, as putting the butt against something solid does. If a stock gets broken for almost any reason, it usually breaks through the wrist, or through the area of the lock mortise, both of them are weak points. This includes dropping from high places, falling on them, using them as a club, etc. The rail guns were meant to be braced against the shoulder. The mount was mostly to support the weight of the piece, and steady the aim

>>>> Cascabel

yes it is Pedersoli Queen Anne but i doesnt seem to spark. i dont know its not that old i would say like a year and half old and i dont use it alot, what could it be cascabel

If you have attempted to re-harden it, you probably adversly effected the original heat treating. To what degree, I can't tell without examining it, but it can be put right without much trouble. The original problem is without a doubt lack of knowing how to operate a flintlock, or bad information, neither of which is your fault. There is a tremendous amount of bogus information and old-wives tales being passed around "out there", perpetuated by well meaning, but uninformed people. I wrote a series of in depth articles for No Quarter Given magazine a few years back that will tell you everything you need to know. PM me if you are interested in a copy.

>>>> Cascabel

i tried it on my queen anne pistol it didnt work, nothing is sparking on it i even tried changing the flint just to make sure and still nothing. I might have to try the Kasenit.

An original Pedersoli Queen Anne frizzen should not have required any attention at all, unless incredibly badly worn out. Unlike the India made guns, I have never encountered one that needed re-hardening. If you get it hot enough, there should be sufficient carbon already in the steel without the addition of Kasenit.

>>>>> Cascabel

I fire mine from the shoulder or from the hip, whichever is convenient. Even with a heavy load (live), the recoil is no worse than a 12 ga. shotgun. A blank load has very little recoil. I suppose you might get uncomfortable with a dangerously heavy overload, but with normal loads, it is not a problem. Mine has a stock similar to a Brown Bess musket with a nice wide buttplate to distribute the energy. Narrow butts, or very lightweight weapons can be a bit more uncomfortable, but not really much of a problem.

You really don't need to brace it against anything, just hold on to it tightly. Bracing against a solid object runs the risk of breaking the stock with a heavy load. It needs to have the recoil absorbed by being cushioned by your body, or being allowed to move back against the strength of your arms.

>>>>> Cascabel

Mayhaps, where can I find a decent powder measure?

Middlesex discontinued theirs. Any ideas?

Dixie Gun Works......

http://www.dixiegunworks.com/advanced_search_result.php?osCsid=0a425555bd62c6052e2f924d94f31761&keywords=powder+measure&x=15&y=15

>>>> Cascabel

What is going to be the "official" way of recommending or nominating people for consideration for membership ? I see people being mentioned in the public Order of Leviathan thread, and wonder if that is going to be the way it is to be done, or will it be done by e-mail to Pirates Magazine, or some other route ?

>>>> Cascabel

Now if I understand this correctly, and I'm not saying that I do after the amount of beers I've consumed. But I believe each one of us/each individual, as an Order of Leviathan member gets to nominate somebody.

...........and where and how do we make these nominations, in order for them to be recognized as "official" ????

>>>> Cascabel

Don't miss the Pirates of Nassau museum. Small, but nice with high-end wax figures in the displays.

>>>> Cascabel