Flintlock Safety, Loading A Flintlock Gun By Keith H Burgess

The Truth About Firearms Ownership In Australia & Gun Legislation.

The general public do not seem to understand that the law abiding Australian firearms owner is NOT a criminal. Constantly there are calls for tougher firearms legislation, all aimed at making it harder for the legitimate would be law abiding gun owner to actually own a gun. The government have introduced more laws to make it even more difficult for gun owners to purchase ammunition, again, all aimed at law abiding citizens. What will it take for the general public, & the government to start making it harder for the criminals in our society to obtain guns.
We keep saying it over & over, take our guns away, & the only people with guns will be the police & the criminals. We do not have the right to own a gun to defend ourselves & our families from criminals, why not?! Who's bloody side are the politicians on? We, the law abiding citizen gun owners are doing all we can to protect our guns & keep them safe, but we need your help, the general public to do that. You should be out there demanding stiffer penalties for criminals involved in gun related crime. You should be out there demanding better health care for the mentally ill. You should be out there demanding that the government crack down on the sale & use of illegal drugs, this all affects the misuse of firearms in our community. 

So stop blaming us, we are NOT the enemy, we are NOT the criminal. We are just normal people trying to get on with our lives & enjoy the normal appreciation of firearms as they have been appreciated for hundreds of years. If you don't like guns, fine, but that does not give you the right to penalise us because we do like guns, we have a right to like guns, we have a right to own guns. We are free Australian citizens, & so long as we are not breaking any laws, we have the same rights as you. Don't be a party to making laws that will make us criminals.

Keith H. Burgess 23/01/2015.

Bullshit From The Greens.

“Following the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, the Howard government led the process of formulating the National Firearms agreement with the view of introducing and harmonising firearms laws across Australia. All semi-automatic long arm weapons were banned and a large-scale national buyback was instigated.

Since then, however, gun laws in NSW have been watered down due to political pressure from the Shooters Party, moving NSW away from the National Firearms agreement and increasing the number of guns and gun owners in NSW. http://davidshoebridge.org.au/portfolios-2/firearms/

Gun laws watered down? Can anyone tell me exactly what it is that we have now that we did not have then? Semi-auto guns are still banned in NSW. Pump action guns are restricted by licence to professional shooters only.

200,000 native ducks shot dead by amateur hunters in NSW

“New figures released today show that almost 200,000 native ducks have been shot dead by amateur hunters in NSW over the last five years. This industrial scale killing is said to be for the protection of rice crops. The Greens and animal rescuers are calling for an end to the amateur hunting of our native 
http://davidshoebridge.org.au/portfolios-2/firearms/

As far as I know, duck hunting has been banned in NSW for the past several years.

Traditional duck hunting was effectively banned under the Carr Government, but the passage of theGame and Feral Animal Control Further Amendment Act 2012 will re-introduce duck hunting under a system that puts limits on where, when and how many ducks can be hunted, but not in the usual form of open seasons.

Instead, in areas where the new Native Game Bird Management Committee considers populations need to be managed, licensed hunters will be allowed to shoot them.

“The application process has been streamlined through Game Council, which frees up resources to better help our farmers,” Mr Mumford said.

At least one ongoing hurdle remains for NSW hunters: opportunities to sit the compulsory waterfowl identification test (WIT) are currently limited. They are conducted by the Victorian government, the Victorian-based Field & Game Australia, and the NSW NPWS out of its Griffith office”.

http://www.sportingshootermag.com.au/news/low-key-start-for-nsw-duck-hunters

So what has happened is, that due to duck hunting being banned, the numbers of ducks have increased; which is a good thing, but, there are now more ducks feeding on farm crops. So the hunting of ducks is now restricted to farm crops only.

The Greens Firearms Policy.

FIREARMS

Revised March 2014

Principles

The Greens NSW believe:

 1. Public firearms policy should be concerned with the prevention of firearm violence and be directed towards the removal of objects that cause injury and death; (What they are saying is, that all firearms should be taken from law abiding citizens so that only the police & the criminals have firearms).

 2.    Public policy should be underpinned by World Health Organisation standards and the resolutions outlined Australasian Police Ministers Council Agreement on Firearms. ;( I have no idea what this means. Anyone?).

 3.    The availability of firearms contributes to violence in our society; (It may well do, but only the illegal guns available to criminals through the black market, NOT the guns owned & secured by law abiding licenced gun owners).

 4.    There must be a holistic approach to preventing gun violence, including:

 4.1    tough legislation to reduce firearm ownership; (We already have this. Application for a firearms licence includes a Police check of that person in regards to any criminal record).

4.2    education on the dangers of firearms; (We already have this, in the mandatory firearms licence test).

4.3    long term funding for programs that help to reduce gun violence; (I can’t argue with this one, but the Abbott government has cut funding to health care & social services, which is a great pity. Mental illness is a problem, & it is being ignored. Same with drugs; Both contribute to gun violence).

4.4    support for intelligence based policing to prevent firearm crime; and

4.5    ongoing funding for research into preventing gun violence. (This is really just so much dribble, I mean just what does this statement mean? We do not need to spend any more of the tax payers dollars, we already know where the problem lies. We need a better health service, we need to crack down on crime & drugs. End of story).

5.    The aims and tactics of the gun lobby must be publicly exposed. (They have already been made public. Whilst I will agree that there are some gun lobby factions out there that do not put forward sensible reforms, the majority of gun owners, like myself, only want a fair go. We are not out to reintroduce automatic or semi-auto guns, but we would like to reduce the cost to the law abiding gun owner & the tax payers of Australia by removing useless, pointless, & needless legislation).

6.    Rural owners of licensed firearms should limit their use of firearms to legitimate farm purposes and minimise disturbance of people on neighbouring properties. (Now what the bloody hell is this comment about? Now farmers are on the firing line?! We use our firearms for the shooting of feral animals, that is not only our right, but it is in fact our responsibility! Since when have we been known to interfere with our neighbours in this regard?!).

7.    That personal protection should never be regarded as a genuine reason for owning, possessing or using a firearm. (Well this will not likely ever happen, but this statement is being made by a Greens member who has absolutely no idea what he is talking about. There are, & always will be, times when someone will need a firearm to protect themselves & their family. Just think sensibly yourself for a moment, what would you do if confronted in your own home by someone with a knife or an axe or a base ball bat who intends to injure you or kill you. You are the only one standing between this violent criminal & your family members. You think you have time to call the police? How long will they take to arrive? You & your loved ones could be dead by then. DO NOT say this could not happen, it has already for many people, & it will again. To say that we do not have the right to protect ourselves & our families is ridiculous & inhuman).

Policy detail 

The Greens NSW will work towards:

8. Legislation which brings NSW laws into line with the 1996 Australasian Police Ministers Agreement on firearms;

9. A total ban on the ownership, importation and use of semi-automatic firearms; (Personally I don’t have a problem with this, but guns of this type, already confiscated by the police, have been turning up at crime scenes! Military firearms have found their way onto the black market! Are we going to ban the use of these guns across the board? Police & Military as well?).

10. An improved firearms registration system in NSW; (We do not need an improved one, we already have a registration system in place. This needs removing all together so we can save the tax payer unneeded expense).

11. Improved cooperation between the NSW government and other levels of government in Australia to strengthen national uniform gun laws, firearms training and a national register of firearms; ( I do not agree with the register, but I agree with the rest. We do need sensible uniform firearms legislation Australia wide).

12. The development (with the appropriate rights of appeal and protection of privacy) of the most stringent mechanisms to ensure that those who are not fit and proper to possess a licence to own a gun do not get a licence;  (This is already in place).

13. Tighter legislated minimum standards for the refusal and cancellation of licenses, including:

13.1 Conviction of violent offences within the past five years;

13.2 Being subject to an Apprehended or Domestic Violence Order within the past five years; and

13.3 Mental or physical fitness.  (Already in place; These comments are just pandering to the general public & anti-gun lobbyists to make the Greens look go0d).

14. The abolition of existing minors' permits;  (Stupid comment & totally irresponsible. We need to teach proper & safe gun use to minors so that they will be responsible & safe gun owners).

15. All persons seeking a licence being required to:

15.1 Have no criminal record involving violence, have a character reference from an authorised member of the community and the right of veto by household (immediate relatives or partners) members; (The criminal record part is just repeating what they have already said, & it is not necessary. This legislation is already in place. The rest of this comment is simply unreasonable. The applicant may not be known by an “authorised member of the community”, whoever that may be?! You think family members should have control over your life just because you don’t get on?! Total cods wallop).

15.2 Undergo a 28 day waiting period to enable check for a criminal record (including applications for a second or subsequent firearm); (The criminal record check is already done before the licence is issued, so this is rubbish. There is already a 28 day waiting period before you can purchase a gun, which again is a total waste of time & serves absolutely no purpose other than to frustrate the law abiding would-be gun owner).

15.3 Demonstrate safety knowledge; (Again, just repeating what they have already said, this requirement is already in place as part of the firearms licensing test).

15.4 Establish good and genuine reasons for possessing a licence (e.g. persons with an occupational requirement, e.g. primary producers, other rural purposes, security employees and professional shooters for nominated purposes or a member of an approved sports shooting association); (Nothing mentioned here about the recreational hunter or the person who needs to hunt for food. Yes, these people exist. Recreational hunters do a terrific job of cutting down the numbers of feral animals that are at present a threat to our environment & native wildlife. These hunters, despite what the Greens will tell you, do mote for the eradication of feral pests than any other organisation in Australia).

15.5 Undergo tests for licences conducted by the police, or an independent government body, rather than by members of the NSW Sporting Shooters' Association; and, (This would cost the tax payer even more money. The police department don’t have enough hours in the day to fight crime as it is, & the Greens want to give them more work to do! The licensing system is working just fine as it is, in fact, the firearms group members know more about firearms than the police do, & this is a known fact!).

15.6 Be required to renew licences at regular intervals with the payment of a fee to cover government costs, with licences to be issued for a period of no more than 5 years; (Already in place).

16. Sale and purchase of firearms and ammunition only through licenced firearms dealers; (Already in place).

17. Legislation that allows the sale of ammunition only for those firearms for which the purchaser is licensed, with a limitation on the amount of ammunition that can be purchased at any given time; (Already in place. In fact, there has been another stupid requirement added, which means that you can only purchase ammo for the guns registered in your name, & you have to produce the registration at the gun dealers! This means that the gun dealer now has your details & home address! These details are not secure! And my wife, though a licensed gun owner, can’t purchase ammo for her own gun because as a farm firearm it is registered in my name! How bloody stupid is that?!).

18. Registration of firearms at the time of purchase with details to be sent immediately to police for registration; (More work for the gun dealer & rather pointless, as there is already a record of the buyer)

19. A ban on mail-order sales of firearms and ammunition; (Already in place. Guns must be posted to a licensed gun dealer & picked up from there).

20. A state-wide register of all ammunition bought and sold in NSW; (What is the point of this, we have already demonstrated that there is a restriction on ammunition sales, so this would just add more expense for the Australian tax payer!).

21. A prohibition on guns being stored: (Guns being stored. What does this mean? We already have regulation gun safes which are mandatory, are they saying we should not have safes? Or are they talking about hoarding firearms? Having more than one firearm?).

21.1 In rural homes without good reason; and (In rural homes without good reason? Sorry, this one goes over my head. I thought we had already covered this one under rural land holder’s responsibilities?!).

21.2 In urban homes, except where a licence is granted for antique gun collectors (defined as manufactured prior to 1920) and the guns have been disabled; (What is all this about? The antique date by the way is 1901, NOT 1920, get your dates right! They want to ruin an antique by disabling it?! When there is no ammunition available for these guns anyway! Read the regs Greens).

22. All ammunition must be stored in locked containers separate from any firearms; ( Already in place)

23. Guns in urban areas are to be stored at gun clubs under lock and key, with firing mechanisms kept at designated police stations; (Ah yes, this is to make it easier for criminals to steal all the guns at once from just one place, brilliant, NOT!).

24. Regular unannounced checks by police or another enforcement body to ensure that individuals and clubs are abiding with firearm storage regulations; (Already in place, in fact this is NSW wide for all firearms owners, not just clubs).

25. Enforcement of regulations requiring guns in homes in rural communities to be kept in a metal box with a combination lock securely bolted to wall or floor, with firing mechanisms and ammunition locked in a similar box in a separate room; (Give me a break Greens. We already have regulation gun safes bolted to the floor, now you want us to put in more safes in another room of the house for ammo & actions?! We already have a separate locked safe for ammo & actions in the same room as part of present regulations. You are just trying to give us a hard time. When will you understand that the law abiding community is not the problem? WE are not the criminals here, so stop treating us as though we were!).

26. The immediate and mandatory police confiscation of all firearms from people who show themselves to be unfit to hold a licence, and where a license has been revoked - this is to apply to both interim domestic violence order and those who are subject to a domestic violence order; (I agree with most of this, but the wording “show themselves to be unfit” is a little ambiguous don’t you think? Just who makes this decision? No I don’t like that bit).

27. A permanent amnesty for the surrender of unauthorised firearms and strict penalties for those people found possessing unauthorised firearms; (Fair enough).

28. The development of a strict new set of training and testing procedures for all security guards with all existing security services being required to meet the new standards. (Well I am ex security, I owned my own security business, & the training required at the time to obtain a security licence was pretty stringent. I don’t see any point in adding unneeded requirements. There are some real nasty people getting security licences, but I fail to see how you can weed these people out with a test. It is the same with the police, some good ones, & some bad ones. If you can’t improve on the Australian police force, how do you imagine you can do any better with security personnel?).

The Newgreen Report By Chief Inspector Lex Newgreen,
Victorian Police.
End Firearm Registration. Chief Inspector Newgreen
Herald-Sun 2 November 1990.
 COMPULSORY Registration of all Firearms should be Abolished,

http://www.foaa.com.au/ammunition-to-send-to-politicans/the-newgreen-report-by-chief-inspector-lex-newgreen-victorian-police/

Regulation Gun Safes.

Greens NSW Firearms Policy PDF.

http://archive-nsw.greens.org.au/sites/greens.org.au/files/policydownloads/Firearms_2.pdf

Making a Hammer Stall & Documentation.

A hammer stall, also known as a hammer cap, is a leather device like a thumb stall which is placed over the hammer on a flint lock as a safety measure. With the stall in place, the flint in the jaws of the cock can not strike the hammer face, and therefore prevents accidental discharge of the gun. Although the hammer stall seems to have been mainly used by the military in the 18th century, it is possible that civilians and militia could have used them. To date, I have been unable to find any original images or originals in museum collections. Being made of leather it is possible that none have survived, though I would have thought that some of the larger military arms collections would still have intact stalls.

Quotes:

Items used for leather-work  From top and left to right: A leather palm pad, used to push the needle through the leather if it is a tight fit. I did not need to use this when making this Hammer Stall; an awl, beeswax for waxing the linen thread; needle, and linen thread.

Further research has shown that "Boot" may not be a period term. Hammer stall or hammer cap or even in one case the term "Thumb stall" was used. The term "Frizzen" is apparently a 19th century term derived from a similar German word.

On this one I placed the suspension tab on the back half of the stall because I had more of that leather, I was using scraps. But the tab can go on the back or the front half.

Here you can see a hammer stall I made some years ago for my fusil. The stall is in place on the hammer or steel.

The Correct Way To Load A Flintlock Gun. Or The Way I Do It.

Flint Fusil.

Flint Rifle.

I am posting this information in response to an article recommended on another blog. Not all the information is correct in that article & to follow its instruction could be dangerous. When writing on such a subject in the public domain, one must be clear & precice & leave nothing that can be wrongly interpreted.

1) Always load with a seperate measure. NEVER load from the horn or a flask with or without an attached measure. Any ember inside the barrel will cause the powder to be fired, & this in turn would ignite the powder in a horn or flask if it were being used.
2) Load the gun first, and prime last. I know the original military way was to prime first and load second, but this is a dangerous practice. I DO NOT recommend priming first.
3) Original smoothbores did not used a patched ball. If you wish to use patching you may do so. Originally a wad or wadding was rammed down on top of the powder charge, then the ball, & then more wadding. Whether you use wadding or patch material, the ball MUST be firmly seated on top of the powder. NO GAP should exist between the powder and the wadding & ball or patched ball. IF you leave such a gap, the pressure at that point will quickly expand & can result in the barrel exploding. However, you should not ram so hard that it crushes the powder in the load. Just a steady firm push will do the job, & a light tamping so that you can feel it is firm.
4) When loading you can place a quill in the touch hole to prevent it from filling with powder. Alternately you can use your vent pick to ensure the touch hole/vent it not blocked with powder before priming. When you prime, you do so from the main horn, & you only use a very little gunpowder in the pan. Any excess should be wiped away.
5) If your gun is loaded but not primed & is not to be used immediately, place a quill in the vent/touch hole to remind you that the gun is still loaded. This serves two purposes: 1) it ensures you do not store a loaded gun, & 2) it stops you from loading the gun twice!
6) Always use a leather hammer cap. This is an added safety feature that will prevent your gun from accidently being fired.
7) The COCK holds the flint, & the flint strikes the HAMMER or STEEL.
8) Always use the correct grade gunpowder/Black Powder for your gun. NEVER load with FFFFG priming powder. A rough gauge for grades is: up to & including .45 cal, use FFFG/3FG.
From .50 cal upward use FFG/2Fg. Cannons to my knowledge use FG/1FG.
This is not carved in rock, you can use 3FG in a .50 cal, but you need to use less of it otherwise it will generate too much pressure.
9) Always replace the plug in your powder horn after use & before firing the gun. Whenever possible swing your powder horn to your rear/back after use & before firing. Gunpowder can become ingrained in/on the shaft of the plug, & a stray spark landing on the plug can ignite the ingrained powder.
10) If using a rifle, I recommend that you wipe the bore between shots to stop the build up of powder residue. If a ball gets stuck part way down the barrel when loading, DO NOT try & force it down, pull the load. If you are using one of the modern gas pressure methods to blow the ball out, make sure the muzzle is pointed in a safe direction as this method has been known to fire the load! Personally, I would wet the load by pouring water through the touch hole before pressurizing the barrel.
11) If you get a missfire/flash in the pan, keep the gun pointed in a safe direction & wait a few minutes before cleaning the vent with your vent pick & re priming. An ember could be lingering & could still fire the main charge.
12) If you have trouble with the gun not sparking, you can either replace the flint for a new one or knap a sharp edge on the old one. Wipe the flint & wipe the face of the hammer/steel. If the problem persists, the fault could be with the steels hardness or lack of it, or the hammer spring could be too strong or too weak.
13) When making your own powder horn, or purchasing one, ENSURE that the base plug is only sealed with beeswax & is NOT glued! Also ENSURE that the base plug is only secured with 6 or less small diameter one eighth of an inch pins of metal or wood. This is my personal preferance. IF the powder in the horn should ever take fire, the base plug should blow out of the horn & not explode the horn. If the base plug is secured with glue or too many pins or overly strong pins then this "safety valve" will not work. I recently had some communication with a chap who makes the most beautiful powder horns, & he assured me that he was taught & advised by an expert. This chap has been glueing the base plugs into his horns. Please check any horn you purchase carefully & recieve a gaurantee that the base plug is only secured with pins, & only sealed with beeswax.
14) NEVER place your hand over the ram rod or wiping stick when loading. If your ram rod is too short to hold when loading, get a LONGER ramrod!
15) Until you get used to knowing when your gun's load is properly seated, make a mark on your ramrod so you can tell when the load is properly seated. In this way you can also tell whether or not a gun is loaded. I have known second hand guns to be sold with a load already in the barrel! Always check, & keep that muzzle pointed in a safe direction at all times.
16) NEVER use smokeless gunpowder in a muzzle-loading gun, EVEN if the colour looks black! Only the correct "Black Powder" gun powder should be used. Any ammount of Smokeless powder creates TOO MUCH pressure for use in a muzzle-loading barrel. Smokeless powder will blow your gun up!

I realise that this information can sound scary, one mistake & you can blow yourself up. But really it is much like anything else. Learn to do it properly & the dangers are minimal. Far less dangerous than using a chainsaw!

Note the leather hammer cap tied to the trigger guard of this flint rifle.

Here you can see the hammer cap in place on the hammer on my fusil.

Military Firelock.

This is a short video but well presented. The military method as you can see in this video was to use paper cartridges, and to prime the pan first before loading the musket. I do not recommend using this method for safety reasons. IF the cock should go off "half cocked", in other words if for some reason the half cock position should release, then the gun will fire whilst you are loading! If it went off whilst you were ramming for instance it could be nasty!
Load the main charge down the barrel first, then prime and fire.