Hawkyns

Not exactly a Jack Sparrow coat, but an excellent piece is the Billy Bones coat, from Bradley Company of the Fox. (tried to post a link but it didn't work. do a google search) The coat is modeled on the one worn by Billy Bones in the TNT version of Treasure Island from the early 90's. Oliver Reed (wonderful actor) made the character and the coat worn in the opening scenes is the ultimate pirate's coat. Hawkyns

Well, again, yes and no. The last matchlocks were withdrawn from regimental use in the British Army in 1711. Armies being what they are, between the conservative attitude and the increased cost of the firelocks, it took 60 years from the first issues to total replacement. The Royalist armies relied almost entirely on matchlocks, not having access to any of the government armouries. The New Model Army issued firelocks only to dragoons, artillery train guards, and some specialist troops for service in England. The change over was relatively slow, but not a noticeable problem, since armies still lined up and fired at each other, a job for which the matchlock was ideally suited. The colonies were a completely different story. Firelocks were preferred weapons by all who could afford them. They were the recommended weapon for all the companies bringing colonists over. Some militias were equipped with matchlocks, again due to being issued old stocks and governmental parsimony, but they were relatively useless against fast moving natives and deer. Colonial militias required a blade of some sort, in addition to the firearm. Swords were common in the early years, and that did last until the War of Rebellion . See Neuman's 'Swords and Blades of the American Revolution'. Frontier militias found the belt axe much more useful, since it was a tool as well as a weapon. I will check Neuman tonight, and see what he has to say on the subject of sharpening. Hawkyns

Ahoy, Mates. Sorry to be out of the discussion, I was out of town for the weekend and spent today flying back through the latest storm. I don't think there's a huge disagreement about sharp or not. I think we are all dealing with different items and areas of expertise. My knowledge is 16th/17th century, for the most part, when the sword was a much greater part of a fighting man's armament. I would not dispute the knowledge of the 18th/19th century people who say they weren't sharpened, it's not my field. Hangers were certainly sharpened in the mid 17th century. They were withdrawn from general issue to English Civil War armies since they were being used for menacing civilians and chopping wood, far more than they were used on the battlefield. That indicates sharp, at least in some form. Taking all that's been said so far, I would deduce that as the sword became less relied upon, and soldiers and sailors became less trained with the weapons, then the blades were less likely to be sharpened. It is always difficult to find a rule that holds true for 3 centuries when it comes to weapons. Hawkyns

Haven't handled enough original cutlasses to say. Other blades, though, were pretty sharp. Rapiers, cut-and-thrust blades, hangars and similar blades were plenty sharp. Not razor sharp, that's the wrong way to sharpen a sword, but enough to cut yourself running your thumb along. I suppose there's a difference between a swordsman and a grunt or deckhand, too. Someone who isn't trained and gets a blade stuck in their hand has a different attitude from a trained swordsman. That brings up the difference between pirate and sailor. Sailors fought when needed and avoided it when possible. The sword was the pirate's tool and the articles I've seen stipulate punishment for not taking appropriate care of weapons. Wouldn't that mean sharp, too? Either way, the idea of an unsharpened blade, other than a purpose made competition or stage blade, just makes me twitch. Someday, when I have time, money, and access, I'd like to get a properly made, thousand fold katana blade cut down and mounted to a hangar or cutlass hilt. The curve is right and that would be truly sharp. Hawkyns

Speak f y'self mate, I keep a short hanger near the head of the bed, and a cutlass over the door frame. In fact, thinkin' on it, I have blade or staff weapons in every room. Hmmmmm...... Seriously, I have three levels of weapons that I use, depending on the muster. My Del Tin rapiers are for competition, blunted, tipped, and used with masks. I have a couple of Armour Class blunts, full size and weight blades with rounded edges and tips, that I can use for competition or re-enactment when masks would be out of place. And I have my sharps, regular blades with sharp edges and points. These I use for living history, so I don't have to deal with the 'How can you kill anybody with a blunt sword?' questions. These are also the blades that I carry as a my regular carry pieces. Been in enough dodgy areas that I've been glad to have a useable live steel weapon with me. So if it will sharpen up nicely, go ahead. Hawkyns :angry:

That would depend on size, age, construction, and number of chambers. Send me some specs, and a picture or two and we'll talk!! Hawkyns

Pretty!! pity you guys are in the wrong colour Seriously, is that school an army sponsored one? I know they still have a flintlock cert for The Old Guard. Do they have a BP cannon cert too, or is it through NPS? Schools and certs are important to keep up on. I attend school every year, just to keep on top of things. There are so many though, and most of them don't talk to each other. Different periods, different organisations, different states. Makes it hard to keep track. Hawkyns

Try wadding with 4 ought steel wool. Makes wicked tracer....... Hawkyns

Yeah, oak and maple are the most common. Personal preference is red oak, it works nicely and looks good. The most critical fittings are the trunnion caps and capsquares (pins that hold the trunnion caps in place). You do NOT want your tube loose in the carriage. Even a blank load puts a fair amount of pressure on the caps. There are generally two kinds, one that has the trunnion completely recessed in the carriage and a flat cap over it, and a half recessed truniion with a semi-circular cap over it. Either way, they have to fit nice and tight and not let the tube slop around. Biggest difference between field and naval carriages is the wheels. Field carriages have larger wagon type wheels, naval or garrison carriages have small solid wheels, or trucks. Once you get into the Vicky period, you see a whole bunch of ghastly cast iron garrison carriages. Field carriages will also have a longer trail that can be attached to some sort of limber for towing. Carriages will last a long time if properly cared for. There are still 19th century guns being fired on their original carriages, when properly cared for and stored indoors. Voice's carriage was my first and I've learned a lot since then. She's had some upgrades along the way, but I think it's time for a ground up refit. I use my guns as often as I can. It really depends on the musters and if there is call for cannon. Some years they go out once or twice, sometimes a dozen times in a season. That's kind of why I want duel carriages for them. Makes it easier to fit them into any given scenario. Nigtingale is a 1/2 pdr swivel, on a pintle mount with a monkey tail. Voice is a 2 pdr field gun on a field carriage, 1640's vintage. Cricket is a 3pdr, currently on a 1450's veuglair carriage. She's different, in that the chap who made her cast the barrel around 3 feet of 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft barrel. Can you say rifled? Morning Glory is a 24 pd coehorn mortar. All guns are sleeved and subcalibred for safety. Smaller guns are generally easier to move and deal with smaller crews, but I've got my eye on an iron 6pdr. And if anyone knows of a banded breech loading murderer looking for a home.......... Hawkyns

Just the 4 tubes, Voice, Cricket, Morning Glory, and the new one, Nightingale. The project is to make sure each has both a field and a naval/garrison carriage. That way I can use them whatever the event scenario is. Voice's carriages will be the major project. The carriage she is on is 20 years old this year. I want to do a complete rebuild on that as well as building a naval truck carriage. Biggest problem with all this coming up with enough square head lag screws in mutlple sizes. The blacksmith work I can do myself, and I've got a place can do any small bronze casting I need. Hawkyns

Ask away, Mate. I'll help ye where I can. RS&R was one of the first books I picked up back in 83 or so. Good overview, and Peterson is one of the big names in weaponry. Some of his stuff is a bit dated now, with new research, but nothing major. If I can figure out how to use one of the new dgital cameras, I'll post a couple of pics of the new small carriage I made to mount my swivel. Got tired of being in a fixed postion with it, and found an example of a pintle mount piece on a wheeled carriage. Started the drawing phase for the Dutch 3 truck carriage this morning. Scaling it to fit the barrel that I have. Now comes the process of locating the appropriate hardware, and assembling the iron work. I've found it's best to do that, because it's always easier to make the wood fit the iron, rather than vice versa. Hawkyns

OK, as promised, here is more info on matchlock pistols. A number of online searches came up dry. Plenty of stuff on D&D pistols, and Indian and Japanese pieces, but no solid evidence of a european matchlock pistol. In the library, neither Blackmore or Peterson mentions them. Wilkinson only mentions them to say that they were impractical and extremely rare. You mentioned the Pistol Shield of Henry VIII's Royal Guard. Yes, they exist, I've seen one at the Tower Armouries. Remember 2 things, though. First, they were for a Royal Guard, and supposed to be special. Second, Henry VIII was fascinated with firearms and had a number of one of a kind pieces. He even had a six shot revolving carbine, but it would be 3 centuries before the technology caught up with the concept to make one practical. I've also seen pictures of the battle axe with an attached matchlock pistol on the steel helve. Some people think this may be a Victorian item from the medieval revival period, and therefore not a real piece. There is also a boarding axe with attached pistol attributed to Sweden, but I don't have much info on that. Even so, the existence of two specialty pieces does not make them common or useable. Now, on to practical concerns. A matchlock pistol would be a questionably useful item. You can't load it, set the match and put it in your belt or baldric. The match will either set you on fire, go out when it hits the serpent, or blow you up when the burning end hits your powder supply. For a musket, cocking the match is the last step prior to aiming. Otherwise, you keep the match in your left hand. Doing that and setting the match prior to firing a pistol would sort of negate the concept of having a ready use firearm. They are also susceptible to damp, and the nautical environment is nothing if not damp. Stealth is not a reason either. At night you can see the match, during the day you can see the smoke, and you can smell it at all times. In the final analysis, there are 2 questions. Did they exist? More than likely, but in what quantity? They are cheap and relatively easy to make, so in backward or poor areas, they could be locally made. Were they useful? When you consider that there are few if any surviving examples, and little or no primary documentation, it would seem unlikely. Hope this helps. If you do make one, I'd love to see pics. If you've got other questions, I'll be happy to try to answer them. Hawkyns

Hoo boy, ambitious, aint'cha? First, matchlock pistols are surpassing rare in Europe. I've seen more Japanese pistols than ever I've seen western ones. Most 16th c pistols are wheelocks, damn tricky, and of questionable value. Gets better at the end of the century when the snaphaunce shows up and when the metallurgy for making springs starts to catch up with the designs. There are some matchlock petronels that are a sort of long pistol/carbine. Everything I've seen at museums around Europe that could be construed as a pistol, i.e barrel length less than 14 inches, has been a wheelock. I'll check my references tonight when i can get to my library and see if there are any specific examples I can point you to. If you are of a mind to do it though, there are a couple of things. The pan on a matchlock is attached to the barrel, on a flintlock its part of the lock. Dixie used to have a matchlock pan in their catalogue, just a rough casting that takes a fair amount of finishing and then needs to be soldered to the barrel. Due to the mechanism on a matchlock, the early pieces lend themselves to a sear bar rather than a trigger. That would also be a bit difficult in a belt/baldric mount. There are only a couple of moving parts, sear bar, sear, serpent and spring, so a compentant machinist or even a good blacksmith should be able to make the lock. Soldering the pan to the barrel would be tricky as to get the pan attached without destroying the temper. (apologies if you are a gunsmith and already know this). All that said, a matchlock is going to be considerably cheaper than a wheelock. Wheelock kits, if you can still get them, run about $500, but I think I got one of the last of those. Snaphaunce pistols run about a grand, and the only person I currently know making them is Dale Shinn out of CA. Parts for a matchlock pistol should be less than $100. Hawkyns

Happy Birthday t' the both of ye!!!! Raise all the hell ye deserve. Hawkyns

Dorian, isna' this the blade you carry? It looks mighty similar. Hawkyns

They were period to the mid 18th C. Dixie sells them as kits and finished pieces. Not a snaphaunce, but a boxlock flintlock. http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info....roducts_id=1220 Hawkyns

Interesting. I thank ye all for ye' replies. As I said, I'm no tryin' t' start something, just tryin' t' get a handle on where things are and where I fit in to this grand crew. Obviously, I'm on the authentic side of this game, having been a re-enactor for 23 years and a member of the SCA for 27. I have three periods that I do, 1595, 1740, and 1770. I don't carry a weapon that I can't use or that is not the real thing, and I make damn sure that I really can hit my targets, by time on the gun range and time in the sword salle. I guess where I felt a bit out of place is in reacting to the public. I can talk for hours about the history, the ships, and the weapons. I do living history real well, both 1st and 3rd person. But the 'street theater' aspect of this game is a lost art to me. Dumb comments from the populace are most like to get a blank look from me. That, or I'll go full bore period and wind up insulting them and turning them off. Not everyone is interested in the whole experience. That is exactly what I'm looking for. I guess an example would be a couple of years ago, I was on the Half Moon and the only place to doss down was in the anchor cable flat. My mattress that night was the anchor cable, still damp and smelling from use in NYC harbor the previous week. Some joined me, some went and found a hotel. I loved it. My feeling was that it gave me one more tiny aspect of shipboard life for a period seafarer. Anyone can have fun in the sun with a good crowd and friends about. Dealing with the hardships of the pirate life is something that I want to know how well I can do. My lady wife does variations on the game too. She can do wife, wench, fantasy pirate, or when neccesary, turn out as a man and work the guns with me. Anyway, thank ye all f' listening, and f' helpin' me figure things out. Drinks are on me, next time we meet. Hawkyns

OK, I've got a general question for the board, based on a couple of things. First, I just got back from PiP in Key West. Now, granted I couldn't stay the whole week and left before many things even started, but I kind of felt out of place. Definitely a re-enactor among a group of Faire Folk. I even heard some talk among the Faire Folk about whether to remove fox tails, etc, and how 'faire' they could look. On another thread over at Captain Twill, Cap'n William says that he tailors his look and expectation to the event. So here's the question, or actually questions. Do the patrons of this pub consider themselves Faire Folk or re-enactors? Do you change your clothing to match the period of the event or always wear the same thing? How important is the accuracy of your kit? Do you participate in battles or are the cutlasses and pistols just for show? Not trying to start anything, but I'd just like to get an idea of where I am on the pirate continuum. Hawkyns :)

It's a great idea, but a lot of work. Needs a central area, a site that allows firing, a cooperative site staff, and a fair amount of pre-planning. Hauling cannon around the country takes a fair amount of doin'. Scupper- about the guncrew- should not be a problem, but we'll talk after the holidays. the next three weeks are going to be a blur... Hawkyns

It's generally the first weekend of June, if it happens. I've been trying to get down to it for the last couple of years and there have been problems. First, they stopped the fight through the streets of the Old Town. (this was happening about the time that the chamber of commerce was trying to get rid of the street performers) Of course it was listed as a budget problem. It was cancelled completely 2 years ago. Then it was limited to a camp up at the Fountain of Youth site. The old idea of actually hauling the cannons across the sand spit and then a fight through the streets of the town seems to be fading. I hope they do get their act together and make a go of it this year. If they do, I'll definitely be there. Be warned, though, it is an event for re-enactors, not a faire type event. Hawkyns

I thank ye f' yer kind words, Mister Lassiter. They are much appreciated. And Longarm, it's good ta know that words spoken and instruction given so long ago has had an impact. I have seen far too many stupid things done with cannon and musket. I've met one armed gunners and seen people injured on the re-enactment battlefield, and seen some damn close near misses. If I can prevent any of our number from taking that trip to the ER or worse, then any knowledge I can give is freely available. In some quarters, I'm known as a bit of a hardass about safety, and even a bit paranoid. So be it. I want to be able to fight my friends over and over, for many years to come. Hawkyns

That would be because I wrote 'The Gunner's Instruction' One of my early attempts at trying to get an instruction manual that could be used at a living history event without looking horrendously modern. For a dozen years I commanded a company of matchlock musketeers and gunners in the English Civil War Society. The School of the Musketeer was a joint effort between a number of ECW/17th Century re-enactment units , intended to get some recruits and expand the hobby. Hawkyns

That's correct. Without the touchhole that goes through the barrel, the priming in the pan cannot reach the main charge in the breech. The gun is inoperable and no more than a wall hanger. I got my piece through a gunsmith/importer who did the lock test and drilled the touchhole. Mad Dutchman Importing Co. He's out of the Boston area, but does not have a website. I see him at area musters. Cap'n William- it's not the lock that would be ruined, but the barrel. The touchole has to be drilled correctly through the barrel. Not too small to let the spark through, but not so large as to let the main charge bleed out. Far enough forward to just clear the breech plug, but no so far forward that it will ignite the main charge at the wrong point or even miss it completely. Just the right height to take the spark easily form the pan. Some people have an oversized touchhole drilled and a stainless steel liner threaded and put in. This prevents the corrosion that is inevitable around the touchhole and allows the liner to be replaced when the corrosion becomes an issue. Hawkyns

Ya know, this thread is just a bit too close ta home. Went ta Ft. Mifflin in Philly to shoot cannon and musket. Had a nice warm barracks under the wall by the gate. Then th' damn tide came up- real high! Seems there's a bloody great crack in the seawall. 8 inches of water in the barracks, nicely filtered through the salt marsh/swamp between the sea wall and the fort. Hope I get this stuff clean by next Friday, or they'll smell me all over Key West!! SO KEEP YER POWDER AND GRANADOES DRY!!!! Hawkyns

Drilling the hole is easy. 'Positioning' the hole is the tough bit. I got mine through a dealer in the US who did the drilling for me, and tested the lock to make sure it was OK. Any blackpowder gunsmith should be able to do this for you. Hawkyns