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Tuesday, 18 January 2011

Affordability. Equipment & Tools. The Gun.

As you have seen from my previous post, new guns are not cheap. In the 18th century you could probably pick up an old matchlock or wheelock for very little and a flintlock trade gun for maybe 4-5 English pounds. These days a cheaper alternative would be a gun that comes in kit form that you put together yourself. Another alternative would be a second hand gun, especially a mass produced product in percussion. A close friend of mine bought a percussion second hand not too long ago, and as luck would have it it was a CVA, and I had a new flint lock to fit his rifle. The locks are interchangable. A lot of people purchase muzzle-loading guns thinking it will be a lot of fun, and it is. But they don't take the time to learn how to use them properly and how to look after them so they end up getting rid of them at a loss. Always worth checking out your local gun shop.

A CVA rifle in kit form.
Another alternative is a bow. I have no documentation of non Indians using a bow, but in our group bows are allowed.
If you can't afford to purchase a gun or bow, then you can try making a survival bow, or you can simply carry on gathering the other tools that you want and wait for a bargain to come along. You do not need a gun or bow to get involved in 18th century living history or historical trekking, though in some parts of the world carrying a gun for protection is advisable.
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4 comments:

  1. Jenny19 January 2011 at 13:22

    There is a brief chapter in "Guns and Gunmaking tools of the southern Appalachians" on crossbows, where one gentleman mentions the families on a particular ridge being so poor they only had homemade crossbows - the older ones looked very much like a muzzleloading rifle stock with a bow on the front.

    .... that said, that source is probably *19*30's, and whether the same poverty existed in the original inhabitants is debatable.

    But it's a data point. :)

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  2. Keith19 January 2011 at 15:45

    Jenny you're a treasure, thank you. That has started me on a new line of thought!
    Regards.

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  3. Jenny20 January 2011 at 00:56

    LL - on finding the book, I think my dating is off.

    here's the rest

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  4. Keith20 January 2011 at 14:41

    Thank you Jenny, much appreciated.
    Please feel free to add your blog link to your comments on my posts, it will attract the search engines and more followers to your blog.
    Regards, Le Loup.
    http://calltowings.blogspot.com/

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