When I was growing up, my parents often brought my brother and I out to spend time with my grandparents. We'd spend the day at their home, smack dab in the middle of nowhere, where the surrounding corn fields stretched on forever. At least, it seemed that way to me as an energetic eight year old. To keep my brother and I occupied, one of the things my grandparents did was to … [Read more...]
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So You Want To Get Into Blackpowder? Intro to Muzzleloaders
Have you thought about getting into "making smoke," but don't know where to start? This article and ones to come, ought to help point you in the right direction. According to various sources, millions of people in North America target shoot, reenact, and even hunt game with muzzleloaders. Muzzleloading guns run the gamut from primitive firearms that use burning cord to … [Read more...]
How Guns Work: The Percussion Cap
Have you ever wondered what made the modern gun possible? It was not the gun; it was the ignition. Modern firearms, as we know them, started with the percussion cap. In a previous article I described how flintlock firearms worked. The flint and steel method made gun ownership and military standard issue weapons a reality and shaped world we have inherited, but now I am … [Read more...]