Go | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
Member |
A friend of mine just picked up a flintlock pistol from 1836. It looks to be in good condition but I want him to get it checked before I teach him how to shoot it. Any recommendations for a place to get it evaluated? "You know, Scotland has its own martial arts. Yeah, it's called Fuck You. It's mostly just head butting and then kicking people when they're on the ground." - Charlie MacKenzie (Mike Myers in "So I Married an Axe Murderer") | ||
|
| Member |
Hi GH, I grew up in Westchester County NY in a Liberal Jewish Democrat household and was certainly not allowed to have guns (but I have since been able to do a good bit of 'catching up') so I do not have any personal knowledge of gunsmiths in that Progressive stronghold. LOL! That said, Dixon's Muzzleloading Shop is practically legendary in the muzzleloading community in this region and a call to them may yield some good referrals in NY. Good luck! Rob __________ "I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal labotomy." | |||
|
"Member" |
Have him drive there. lol You'll be hard pressed to find an actual gunsmith, let alone one who knows the slightest thing about old flintlocks. _____________________________________________________ Sliced bread, the greatest thing since the 1911. | |||
|
Dinosaur |
While you didn’t provide info to as to model or manufacturer, presumably it has some value based on age alone, and I assume it’s in decent shape if he’s considering firing it, so I question why? Springs and small parts may be brittle and should they break it’s value would drop. His call but I think it would be better to buy a modern reproduction of it or something similar if he wants to experience what it’s like to shoot it but if he’s determined to see if it works, consider loading it with just enough Pyrodex to push a patch out. Using eye protection and a thick leather glove, give it a shot then call it a day. As far as gunsmiths go, to my knowledge all the ones in Westchester who were any good at the antiques are retired. | |||
|
| Member |
I asked a friend who escaped upper Westchester NY several years ago (to PA) if he knew of any good gunsmith's in the area, and although he does not he said that "L&L Sports" in Harrison, NY has a good reputation. __________ "I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal labotomy." | |||
|
fugitive from reality |
I'll ask the black powder guys at my club. It's in Putnam so the distance won't be that different. _____________________________ 'I'm pretty fly for a white guy'. | |||
|
| You're going to feel a little pressure... |
The best gunsmith I knew in NY was John Blauvelt, in Walden, I think. No idea if he does flintlocks but I would trust his recommendation. Email me if you want contact info. Bruce "The designer of the gun had clearly not been instructed to beat about the bush. 'Make it evil,' he'd been told. 'Make it totally clear that this gun has a right end and a wrong end. Make it totally clear to anyone standing at the wrong end that things are going badly for them. If that means sticking all sort of spikes and prongs and blackened bits all over it then so be it. This is not a gun for hanging over the fireplace or sticking in the umbrella stand, it is a gun for going out and making people miserable with." -Douglas Adams “It is just as difficult and dangerous to try to free a people that wants to remain servile as it is to try to enslave a people that wants to remain free." -Niccolo Machiavelli The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all. -Mencken | |||
|
Member |
If you/he shoot it, the cleaning part afterwards is important. After that, an oil coat to protect the metal. I realize you sound versed in the drill. If serviceable & inspected by a black powder shooter I’d move forward with a light charge of Pyrodex powder. It’s already a lower pressure powder, then back it down more. | |||
|
| Member |
Thanks for the replies. I will pass this on to him. I told him if it was me I wouldn’t shoot it and offered to take him out for a Range day to shoot blackpowder rifles & pistols, the M1, some pistols and the MCX. We’ll see what he decides. "You know, Scotland has its own martial arts. Yeah, it's called Fuck You. It's mostly just head butting and then kicking people when they're on the ground." - Charlie MacKenzie (Mike Myers in "So I Married an Axe Murderer") | |||
|
| Member |
It would be a bit of a drive but I would give Turnbull Restorations a try. They are upstate near Rochester. My understanding is they do excellent work. | |||
|
| Powered by Social Strata |
 | Please Wait. Your request is being processed... |
|
© SIGforum 2024