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What Did You Do Today?

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loon:
wake up
work in compilers assignment a bit remotely with partner
go to class
be tired for no apparent reason

UPS doesn't take returns at drop-off over 16x13x3"..??! Sigh

Will make a flemish jig & string for someone's fiberglass laminated longbow. I need to make some sinew glue for fixing that blemish in my hornbow..

edit: Pretty much made a flemish jig.

This BCY "black cherry" looks like some metallic pinkish purple.

Eric Krewson:
If the gun was new in 1851 it is highly unlikely it was ever a flintlock. A close up picture of the lock would tell the story.

Speaking of flintlocks; I took my .54 to the woods today but forgot to hold low on a big doe about 25 yards away. A damp morning, damp priming powder and slow ignition give a deer on high alert time to "jump the string", I shot over her back.

looper:
It was definitely a flintlock. I had the year wrong, though. I was actually looking up information about the gunmaker, and he died in 1849. It could have been 1821, or maybe 1831. My aunt has a handwritten note about the history of the gun written by my great, great grandpa. She keeps it with the powder horn and a patched up possibles bag. Where the date is written, the 3rd digit in right on a fold in the paper.

She actually has a picture of my 3rd great grandpa Miles Singleton holding the rifle before he went off to fight in the Civil War. He was holding that gun, and it is clearly a flintlock in the picture. I don't think he took that rifle to fight in the war, though.

The lock was converted to a caplock. The prime pan was sawn off, and you can see where the main spring was. A friend of mine, Don Bruton, looked it over with me the day it came into my hands. We partially disassembled it, and he pointed out all the changes made to the lock. He's a master gunsmith and has handled who knows how many original guns, so I'm confident he knows what he's talking about.

Eric Krewson:
With that time frame it was definitely a flintlock that was converted.

I am familiar with Don's work, top notch!

Eric Krewson:
I had my friends .50 bored out by Bobby Hoyt to .54. Of course my friend didn't have any .54 stuff so I outfitted him completely from my stash. Later I found I only had one .54 loading block and it went with my friend.

No problem says I, I will buy a 35/64" bit and make myself another block, that is until I found I could buy a bit online for $7 but the shipping would be more than the bit.

I looked through my old bit drawer and found a rusty 3/4" spade bit. I ground down the sides to the correct size and proceeded to make myself a new loading block, it worked perfectly.

Osage, from a selfbow limb with too many rotten knots to fool with that I had put in the burn pile.

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