So. Cal. Flintlock Pistols?

[Pirate Petee]

I live in southern california and I'm looking for replica flintlock pistols. I hate ordering things of the net. So I was wonderin if any of ya out there might know of a place were I could pic one up?

Thank Ya

[capnwilliam]

KIND related to this topic; does anyone know when percussion ignition started to become commercially available?

If I recall correctly, the percussion cap was invented by a Scotsman named Forsyth, around 1805 - 1807, but when did they start to move into the marketplace?

Capt. William

[Capt. Flint]

First to Pirate Petee... I recommend you give Dixie Gun Works a call. I know there are mailing restrictions in Cal., but, I'm sure they can help you with what you want. With them, you do not have to order on line. They have a catalog you can purchase and then you can order over the phone or by mail. There is also a company called Deer Creek Products. I ordereed a catalog from them and then ordered a Flintlock pistol kit. Thier selections are limited,but thier prices are pretty good. You might want to try there. Dixie ,you can contact for a catalog via e-mail or at 800-238-6785..... Deer Creek is available at 765-525-6181.... Hope this helps..... The Capt.

[Capt. Flint]

Capt. William.... I meant to respond to your query also, just forgot to . I can't say as I know when the actual timeframe of when percussion caps were in the common market, but, I thought that there was a percussion rifle prior to the year you list. I was under the impression that a man named Fergison invented a rifle that was fired without the aid of a flint. He was given his own company of men who carried these rifles in the revolutionary war. There were only one hundred of them made and they are very very hard to come by now. Fergison himself was killed in battle and his company dispersed elsewhere. His rifle was then also lost with time and for a while, forgotton about. I know the History channel does a continuing story called tales of the gun. This is where I first heard about this rifle. Perhaps you might want to check out thier web site and look up that episode to see whats what. If I am getting the name of this individual wrong; sorry. It's just that I saw this a long time ago and cannot remember it very acurately...... The Capt.

[redhand]

Gentelmen-

In response to your query about the use & date of "percussion"

ignition firearmes, I don't believe they made a commercial

debut until sometime in the early 1830s. They may have been around before that, but not in commercial use, in fact the US military didn't

start using them in any degree until after the Mexican war of 1846-48.

As far as the Ferguson rifle goes, you got his name right,

however the rifle (it was a rifle, as opposed to a smoothbore)

was a breechloader, which in itself made it a novelty of it's time.

The trigger guard was a coffee grinder like lever, which when wound

down, allowed the shooter access to the open breech, a flint was still required as the ignition for this firearm. After Ferguson's death at

King's Mountain the rifle was largely forgotten, and the breechloading

system would take another 50 years before it showed up again

in a military firearm-the Hall breechloading rifle carried by US Dragoons

during the Mexican war, then showing up in the sharps rifle & carbine

during the American Civil war.

I hope that helped.

Redhand

[Redbeard]

Avast ye Swab,

If'ee be loking for a good non-firing replica flintlock, there is a Spanish company called Denix that make a good range of display pistols from various periods. Their website is at:

www.casiberia.com/denix.html

Or if you put "Denix" into a search engine you should find some suppliers in the US. Happy shooting, or non-shooting in your case.

[capnwilliam]

Speaking of shooting and non-shooting firearms; has anyone on the list ever had any bad experiences with the authorities while carrying, or transporting via airline, any black powder firearm, or for that matter edged weapon?

Just curious....

Capt. William

[Sidewinder]

Percussion guns were of a period later than the pirate era. Get a flintlock. They are much neater to shoot and more period correct.

Sidewinder

[capnwilliam]

Aye, Sidewinder, 'tis flintlock ignition that interests me, not percussion. I was just trying to pin down the dates of the transition between the twain.

For instance: Lafitte's era lasted into the 1820's; might percussion weapons have been drifting into use at that time? The responses I've gotten from the list seem to indicate NOT, and I'm inclined to agree.

I like to avoid anachronisms if I can. OK, we all know that Blackbeard didn't carry a .36 Navy Colt, e.g.,; but it's the more subtle ones that can creep in; such as the Battle of New Orleans (1815) reenactor who was proudly showing off his collection of weapons of a type that might have been carried into that battle; including a Bowie knife.

Problem is, James Black, Arkansas frontier blacksmith, didn't create the first Bowie knife until 1836!

But, something like that is "close enough" that we might be deceived if we're not careful.

Capt. William

[Salamander]

Whence percussion? Jan 30, 1835: assassination attempt on US President Andrew Jackson; both pistols misfired, described by eyewitnesses as "spotless" percussion pistols (emphasis mine, percussion common enough to be readily recognized). "Transition period" lasted until common use of closed (modern) cartridges, as in the alleged Confederate quote "I never walked down a river bed and found a bunch of percussion caps".

I also found at http://www.city.north-bay.on.ca/lavase/97FRS629.HTM : The percussion lock was invented in 1807 and began to replace flintlocks in large numbers by the 1830's. Percussion firearms were the dominant technology until the rise of the modern cartridge in the 1860's (Adams 1995: 99, 104).

So I agree about percussion being anachronistic for us. But big knives were around long before Black's 1831 Bowie....

Keep yer whistle wet an yer powder dry

Salamander

[redhand]

Salamander-

I think Capt Will was speaking specifically about the "Bowie",

rather than just a "big" knife.

The bowie being a specific style of knife patterned after the

the knife that Col. James Bowie carried on his person. I believe

this knife's distinctive & unique trademark is it's additional cutting

edge located on the top potion of the blade.

Large bladed kniveshave been around for a long time.

However, long bladed knives have long since become synonymous

with the "American Frontiersmen". Made popular by their use on the colonial frontier, especially by the militia & long hunters inhabiting the Kentucky/Virginia areas, and were labled "long knives" by the indians

from their habit of carrying long bladed knives.

Redhand