The Buccaneer Project

[Patrick Hand]

I'd have to look up a picture of it from an old Muzzleloader magazine....

Without seeing a picture of it, what is wrong that couldn't be fixed with some work......

When I got my Dixie Gunworks Southern Mountain rifle, I didn't like the finish (looked like everyone elses.... ) so I took it off, and re-stained the stock.... If I were to get back into Rendezvous, I'd do some more work on the stock... slightly change the ramrod entry into the stock, and add a simple patchbox (I'm not crazy about the tallow hole in the butt....)

Anyway... is it anything that can be fixed with some woodwork and file work... or maybe replacing a few parts to make it better?

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

The butt of the stock is shaped like a Hawken minus the cheek piece, and doesn't guage thick enough to turn it into a "trade gun " style like I've seen originals. The lock is one of CVA's standard tiny Spanish flint locks, only this one actually throws sparks! But it also has the cheesy stamped engraving of I don't know what. It has a small rifle btype brass trigger guard that looks like the one on a Philidelphia Derringer. It was quite a novelty piec, but the smooth tapered round brass barrel is very authentic, and it just bugs the hell out of me!

I might be able to salvage the stock, but it is curly Maple, and also not very authentic to the time period. I've almost convinced myself to mount it in cherry, or walnut. It's just that I'm also the "if it works-don't fix it" type. AHHHRRRRGGGH! What to do what to do!?!

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Back to the topic of the Buccaneer Project... I've decide to begin my kit in the latter part of the GAoP as well. I always come about late nyway... ( ie 8tracks went out after I got a bunch... cassettes... VHS... ETC )

Anyhow, as soon as I learn how to use the camera and scanner on this thing, I'll run up some photos of my existing kit pieces to see what will work and what I need to come up with. I just got this thing back in November and have no previous experience with computers. Teaching myself as I go, and slow going it is!

My sister is coming to visit this month and she's going to hold Computer 101 classes with me here in the house so hopefully I'll be able to share more info soon.

Later... Capt. Bo

[Patrick Hand]

I figure that because a gun is such an inportant part of a Buccaneer's kit, I'll kill two stones with one bird, and talk about the blunderbuss, and gun stuff.

On the Blunderbuss, is the barrel attached to the stock with lugs, or does it have a screw holding the barrel on? If it has a lug, you could replace the lug and re-make the stock and replace all the furniture and a lock. Re-build it to make it more correct, but keep all the old parts (or just sell them), but by replacing the lug, you could switch everything back.

Have you ever seen "The Trade Gun Sketchbook"? Trade guns are out of period, but the parts (and full sized patterns) in the book are very close So with just a little modification they are a good place to start. Also in "Foxfire 5" there is a good chapter where Hershel House makes a Southern Mountain Rifle, OK it's also outta period, but how he makes most of the parts for the rifle are very informative..

Have you seen the Muzzle loading forum?

http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com

There are some discussions on blunderbusses, making guns, and how to "age" the overly bright finish on the India made muskets. There are a few Pyrates that post there, just not a topic area for our time period yet..

I haven't dealt with this company, but they sell smoothbore barrels and gun parts, their lock are very reasonably priced also.

http://tennesseevalleymanufacturing.com/index.php

Somewhere on Loyalist Arms page, the sell their Dog locks for about $160, but its hidden on one of the pages so you will have to search for it.

http://www.loyalistarms.freeservers.com

I'm planning on setting up a forge this Spring, so I can make the parts ...

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/green51.html

OK... I know for about $50 more I can make a Musket, but I want a blunderbuss also, so I might make that first..

[Monterey Jack]

Looks like we be in the same boat, there Cap'n. I have a mees o pics but haven't figgered out how t post em or for that matter how to set up me own blasted avatar. Interested t see how its comin along, for ye though.

[Patrick Hand]

To post pictures they have to be on a page first..... Photobuckets is free..

http://i8.photobucket.com/

but you have to register....

Then to post a picture, you load the picture in photobucket, put the curisor on the picture and right click "Copy Image Location"....

then in the Pub, click the "IMG" button and right click and "Paste" the image....

I then "Preview Post" just to be sure that I did it right... if it works, then I "Add Reply"

My page is kinda jumbled up, but it has pictures of my Buccaneer stuff....

(the first line is the link, the second one (the picture) is done with the "ING" tage, so it shows the picture......

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b97/Patr...ckHand/gear.jpg

[Monterey Jack]

Thanks Patrick; I'll get on that tonight and start floodin the forum with pics!

Seriously, I will toss a couple out to get some feedback now I know how to do it. BTW, is that a machete in the lower part of yer photo? I just got one off eBay that was made in Britain around WWI and was shipped to Jamaica, where the owner replaced the wood grip with a carved mahogany grip it the shape of an African figurine. very cool. It'll go great in the smoke-tanned boa constrictor / pigskin baldrick I have in mind. I'll try and get a shot of it tonight.

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Do I load from the camera or from my folder? So far I haven't even been able to e-mail from the folder. I know ... I'm a dummy... but I am tryin ta learn!

Man... I'm gonna be in soooooo much trouble when Blondiewench sees all the gear stretched out allo'er the house :)

Well... she shoulda married better I reckon!

Capt. Bo

[Patrick Hand]

I'm not compleatly happy with the machetti, but I figured that it woud be more usefull as a tool than a cutlass.......

I don't know if this is a good idea or not.....

Because the few of us that are working on Buccaneer garb and gear are just starting the project, what if we chose a specific time for our kit? that way, if we ever can get together we don't have a huge range of time. And we could share information here about anything that we find.

I'm thinking about 1670... right after the Sack of Panama.... England is Mad at Morgan, and the Buccaneers disperse to become logwood cutters or back to hunting...... well... and a few raid of their own.......Or just after the time when Morgan returns. (I'll have to PM Hurricane about this...)Also, we can use the information written by Dampier .

Hurricane is setting up an "Event" in Port Royal in 2007. Tieing all of our stuff to a specific time might work really cool.... If Hurrican agrees, we would have a Morgan, and ther rest of us could be scummy logwood cutters and Buccaneers.......

I think having a specific time and place, would have some advantages. For example... if I went to a rendezvous, instead of just telling the "mountain men"... "well I'm a Buccaneer...." we would have History to back up our stuff.........

OK... so what does everyone else think about this?.......

[Monterey Jack]

I like the idea of a relative time frame, though for folks who've been working on a "generalized" kit we could draw the line at, say, 1700-1715 (Dampier's death). That way between 1670 and 1715 we have a slightly broader spectrum to work with. It still will have a few shaky spots, fer instance my pistol is 1738, even though similar ones were made earlier.

Using Dampier for our main souorce is a really good idea; keeps everyone on the same page so-to-speak, and makes it easier to back up our info. That's not to say we shouldn't be able to expand upon certain items if we feel it logically falls within our time frame.

Jamaica sounds like a great plan. I don't think I'll personally be able to afford it, but if there's any way the HMCA (Historical Maritime Combat Assoc.) can get involved, teaching demos of boarding weapons use, it could possibly pay my way out there. I have one fight partner that already has a period bucc kit, he's just not on the forum. He and I would be happy to spend a weekend in jamaica teaching the use of cutlasses, machetes, hand axes, belaying pins, long knives, boarding axes and the like.

Hurricane, if you're reading this can you give me some details? Either here or in private. Does this sound do-able?

[Fox]

For "soft" kit I don't think the time frame needs to be all that specific (if you're going for the pig-hunter look rather than civilian or military). The principal sources for the outfits seem to be a couple of drawings, one done in the early 1680s to illustrate stories set in the 1670s (Esquemelin), and the other is the one of the French buccaneers which dates from 1700 or thereabouts. They look more or less the same, so it's fair to infer that that kit would do you from, say, the mid 1660s to 1700 at least.

Hard kit like guns might be more of an issue, but if you avoid weapons with a specific date and go for generic 17thC dog-locks then you've got the same wide spectrum.

Just some thoughts.

[Monterey Jack]

I can do 1700; no problem clothing-wise and plan to pick up either the Loyalist dog-lock musket, or at the latest the French musket circa 1717. I want to be as close to accurate as possible, though when I'm laying out the big bucks I'm going to temper that slightly with what I really want to own. The Dutch cutlass and dirk are 1690 so that's out of the way at least.

[Fox]

Unless your personal preference is against it the English dog lock sold by Loyalist will do you for the better part of a century or more from 1660 onwards. It'll cover you for buccaneering, GAoP, FandI militia, even as a civilian weapon for the Colonial Scuffle.

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

I was looking in the Track of the Wolf cat. and they offer a french type 'c' lock that was used from 1680- 1720. this is one of the components I was considering for the Blunderbuss project. Flintlock/ Doglock transition period is in this time frame, and because the flintlock was considered inferior to the Doglock, it took far longer to "make the scene" than the transition from flint to cap. At any rate, todays manufacture seems to be in reverse. the Doglocks I have seen in operation simply do not impress me in their function. I want reliability first, and as I said, this period was the transition from Doglock to Flintlock. I'll be going the Flint route myself.

As soon as I figure out this picture thing, I'll post my first build project of several years ago. it was intended to be an early 1750's trade gun, but I believe it could go earlier as it is a cut down or "carbine" length with a sort of Dutch looking stock. I had to replace the cheap Italian lock I originally used, with an L&R early trade type lock that is very plain and very reliable. The musket resembles several early 1700's pieces I've seen .

Capt. Bo

[Monterey Jack]

Unless your personal preference is against it the English dog lock sold by Loyalist will do you for the better part of a century or more from 1660 onwards. It'll cover you for buccaneering, GAoP, FandI militia, even as a civilian weapon for the Colonial Scuffle.

I think we talked about this piece someplace else on Twill as well. I really like the doglock, but I've been hearing that the india-made pieces are heavy in the stock, not as slender as the originals and hence a bit awkward to lug around, let alone shoot. The French one also has sling mounts and a bayonet fixture that the doglock doesn't. At least not yet. Loyalist is making plug bayonet for it, but it won't be ready til the end of the year.

Incidentally, has anyone looked into "Buccaneer Bay", the living History camp Loyalist is trying to start up in Nova Scotia? They're hoping it will eventually have the draw that Colonial Williamsburg does, but they are a long way from the finished product and still looking for sponsors.

Might not be a bad way to both help them (even a few period camps and a shooting contest would draw the media) out and go buccaneering; and it may cost less to get to than Jamaica.

[Monterey Jack]

Forgot the Buccaneer Bay Link:

http://www.buccaneerbay.8k.com/

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

images

Found this while googleing for blunderbuss images. May be some good resource material.

Capt. Bo

[JoshuaRed]

Incidentally, has anyone looked into "Buccaneer Bay", the living History camp Loyalist is trying to start up in Nova Scotia? They're hoping it will eventually have the draw that Colonial Williamsburg does, but they are a long way from the finished product and still looking for sponsors.

Yes! I'm probably gonna be living back in Maine when this opens up, so I'll defintely be taking some trips up there --- sounds like a blast!

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

I'm in favor of time frame as well. Just keep me posted on when so I can be on track before I start sewing! I hink I have all but a cutlass covered. I don't want to put out alot for something that I'll be using for re-enactments, so I was looking at brothersmiths "pirate utlass". Would this be acceptable? It's not the fancy engraved big bowl type, just a simple wide bow guard, wood handle job. Something I wouldn't mind if it got all beat up in a swordfight. Feedback?

Capt. Bo

[Monterey Jack]

I'm in favor of time frame as well. Just keep me posted on when so I can be on track before I start sewing! I hink I have all but a cutlass covered. I don't want to put out alot for something that I'll be using for re-enactments, so I was looking at brothersmiths "pirate utlass". Would this be acceptable? It's not the fancy engraved big bowl type, just a simple wide bow guard, wood handle job. Something I wouldn't mind if it got all beat up in a swordfight. Feedback?

Capt. Bo

Nah; for buccaneering you wouldn't want the big fancy bowl type anyway. The cutlasses of the late 1600s still looked a heck of a lot like falchions with a knuckle bow and a half clamshell guard. Look up hunting swords and infantry hangers as well to get a feel for a turn of the century cutlass circa 1700. George Neumann's "Sword's of the American Revolution" has a whole section of cutlasses from the period that'd work.

Or, like Patrick, get a wood-handled machete. very much the working man's long-knife! And usually under $50.

[Monterey Jack]

Incidentally, has anyone looked into "Buccaneer Bay", the living History camp Loyalist is trying to start up in Nova Scotia? They're hoping it will eventually have the draw that Colonial Williamsburg does, but they are a long way from the finished product and still looking for sponsors.

Yes! I'm probably gonna be living back in Maine when this opens up, so I'll defintely be taking some trips up there --- sounds like a blast!

I've been in talks with Blair Higgins about bringing the HMCA up there for demos, and I'm hoping to help raise enough interest that we (the forum here) can send about 20-30 traditional buccaneers up there in 08. For a long time, til folks start coming to visit it, it'll likely be a wilderness that the buccs can camp and shoot in. They need some type of draw early-on to show the place's potential and get investors interested. permanent structures are a long way off; til then its period tents against the elements and living off what you can pack in with you.

Maybe we should start a drive here to get a group of buccs together for it. Srt the date as summer 08 and go from there.

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Here's what I was looking at...cutlass

I kinda like it, what' your oppinion? Not too pricey either. 54.95 + s&h

Says not intended for hard duelling, but good for theatrical and re-enactment sword play.

[Patrick Hand]

Or, like Patrick, get a wood-handled machete. very much the working man's long-knife! And usually under $50.

Yah... mine was made by some guy who stamped his name in the blade..... Tiawan

I have to find a better one..... I might just go with a hanger, a machetti works, but it looks like I was to poor or lazy to get a real sword..... but it IS functional......

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Hey... I know that guy! He's been peddlin' crap allo'er the place!

I've got a REAL Indian tomahwk... they stamped their name in it too!

INDIA

Haw Haw Haw... later, Bo

[Monterey Jack]

Here's what I was looking at...cutlass

I kinda like it, what' your oppinion? Not too pricey either.

That looks like the one Neumann lists as 1780 British. If you're getting it from Grendel's Cave on eBay examine it closely. They're made in india and many of them come over with the tang rusted thru to the point that they break when dropped or with continued use. they are also 1.5 pounds heavier than the originals and seriously blade heavy. If, howvere you're using it to carry and hang at your side for effect, they do look darn nice.