Commodore Swab

If you let me know your problems I can come better prepared.

Cutter would be better, since we don't really have anything relating to wreckers

Most definatly, my speciality you could say. Im going to try to bring some tools to work on stuff there is there is space and time.

Yes "ringing the barrel" is part of our inspection, I made a rod for this purpose with an old drill bit on the other end simply so that if it doesn't sound right I can reverse it and twist to see if Im coming up with any residue or find out what might be in the breech. Another bit of a safety inspection is actually measuring the bore roughly to see just where the breech is, it can be very informtive on some guns when you find the breech is sometimes as far as 1/2 an inch foreward of the vent hole. "Original flash guards" that I have found are refered to as "pan protectors," no I haven't had time to scan any pictures yet. The reason for so many flint shards more recently I would wager is the source of the weapons and not inferior flint. Many of the Indian built muskets have overy hard frizzen springs and shatter flints in making a spark. The only time I have been "hit" by pieces was in firing my own weapon which has a built in flash guard. Most definatly a flash guard will send the sparks up and away, where they come down is another story make sure there is no open powder . . . Snaphaunce Musket, note how many of the sparks are still travelling up

If possible this year our "group" would love to have a designated fire (roughly DB, Pearl, Jake, Wasabi, Cutter, and us) as we will more than likely be cooking quite alot (yes thai food). Another question, what duties are to be expected this year?

sneak peak

I checked out the pictures, does everybody in the "group" shoot percussion?

I will be there with stuff available for trade/sell some of the larger things I may be bringing Light dragoon pistol worked over with belt hook Short India Blunderbuss Short India Blunderbuss reworked French Musket reworked India Brass Blunderbuss reworked with sling Bronze Miquelet Spanish Pistol (blunderbuss) Bronze Espignol (Large swivel blunderbuss) Double Barrel bronze Knee gun Blunderbuss (yes a double barrel bronze blunderbuss) Various smaller items original flints treasure coins early 18th century ballast rock and more

My shoes are loyalist and Im very happy with them, still breaking them in (only 2 events so far) but they don't hurt my feet and if they become as comfortable as the boots I got from them I will love them for a very long time. The period construction adds to the looks as well.

This was the first year the festival was held in the fairgrounds and I think that there is much potential for growth. There was a large grass area where we had the beginings of a period encampment and a large area off to the side where weapons could be fired. Most of the vendors were under shelter with some even in air conditioning. Pleanty of food vendors and a stage setup in the shade where you could just hear the music in the encampment but was not a distraction. The bands were good. As far as firing was concerned something new was tried. Instead of having everyone with weapons line up and just fire them off we showcased individual unique weapons and then individually fired them talking with the crowd. Weapons fired in the show case were a snaphaunce buccaneer musket, early spanish miquelet pistol, heavy dragoon pistol, spanish blunderbuss, and an espignol. On Saturday a duel was paced out which went very well and on Sunday we tried a new bit "Last Gun Standing." We gave 3 people 10 charges and allowed them to see who had the best gun, no cleaning between shots, once you misfire you are out. The scores were 4, 7, and 8. We also did a couple of reliability compettions giving people the chance to test their locks, scores ranged from 3 to 18 out of 20 attempts. Aside from the compettions every flintlock fired every time the trigger was pulled.

Well said

The Espignol in action at Fisherman's Village Pirate Fest

It is very difficult, very time consuming, and very expensive to get a permit in FL with the various stages that you must go thru. I know of 2 people that have been trying to get permits for the past decade. Long story short nobody cared about the ship until treasure was found. Nearly ALL cargo traversing has some sort of military support and can be tied in that way. I was slightly surprised you didn't bring up the stolen artwork that was also suposed to be returned. Are you saying for example that the coins that were so far recovered from the Mercedes ALL need to be tracked in case someone in the future wants to test the entire collection? Considering 17 tons of coins and considering they were all 8 reales at 1 oz each thats roughly 600,000 coins alone to keep track of!

Well almost back to flash guards . . . I have seen both of these issuse and my "solution" since there are so many experts out there that all know exactly how to be safe is that when they are having their weapon inspected a verbal rundown of how they shoot becomes part of the inspection. This allows everyone to be on the same page so to say and also identify possible issues, simple things like finding out if they typically shoot with wadding or prime then load etc etc. As far as being on the same page for a battle my thoughts are to have a small number say 4-6 people that know whats going on. The rest of the shooters are assigned to these 4-6 people and shoot when they do. I will try to find the documentation I have on flash guards and get back to you with it. I know where it is, but I need to look it up, and there is no internet there.

These might help . . .

It is a one of a kind, there is not another one like it anywhere. A brief discription is walnut stock, bronze barrel, brass lock plate. One of the most identifying features is that the ramrod thimble is part of the triggerguard.