|
rattus58 & MaIIIa,
Good chat about the smokepoles we know and love. I help out each August for Tioga County Youth Field Day and work the BP site. We run through about 150 kids ages 8 to 16 in groups of 30. We shoot .50 caliber ball at balloons on a target frame about 30 yards away. We had flintlocks one year, caplocks the next year and Black Diamond inlines last year. I noticed greater kid interest in the flinters and caplocks compared to the black synthetic stock on the inline.
I helped on the BP site at my local gun club last September when we had about 50 women come to the station where we had all three arms mentioned above. Lots of women never shot any firearm although their husbands owned and shot muzzleloaders. I found that people wary about guns in general were intrigued by old guns. The geometry of the flintlock was a popular discussion item.
Rattus makes a good point about relating some history of the arms during the shooting session. I tell the shooters that "this is like the guns of the Revolution" or "this is type of arm used by the old Mountain Men." Finally, I agree that we all need to share our expertise and powder and ball with new shooters, both young and old.
Adam
__________________
Adam Helmer
|