horst Posted May 28, 2005 Report Share Posted May 28, 2005 You guys know ive been having a hard time finding black powder in my area.Well i stopped at a friend of mines house and asked him if he had any.He didnt, but he gave me the name of an older fella, a man in his late 80s and told me to give him a call and see if he had any he would be willing to part with.I was kind of skeptical of asking a complete stranger for something but my friend assured me if I mentioned it was for a flintlock the guy would be tickled to help me out. I called the guy, told him my prediciment, and mentioned my friends name, then told him it would be for a flintlock and I knew very little about shooting the guns, then asked if he knew where I could purchase powder locally.Almost before I was done he was giving me instructions to his house I brought the gun along and the guy ran me through the proper procedure for loading, firing, and cleaning the gun.Then he took the gun, admired it for awhile, told me what a well built beuatifull weapon it was and made sure it was in safe working order.He asked if had powder for the chamber and I told him not right now but if I had the priming powder I could shoot Pyrodex till Cabelas got some in.He dissapeared in the house and came out with a can of each, he gave me a lb of FFFg and about a 1/4 lb of FFFF. Then he proceeded to start telling me about himself.turns out he was one of the original group that pushed for and got the muzzleloading season started in Iowa many years ago.He has shot them all his life and when he was younger they used to make thier own percussion rifles, which I found out later after leaviing were quite awesome guns themselves.Him and another local old timer were in businuess together for some years but they only built these guns as a hobby.He had such an interesting life I hated to go and probably woulda sat and visited with him all day if my wife wasnt in the car.As I was leaving and asked him what I owed for the powder he just kinda grinned and told me to enjoy my gun, it had been a long time since he had seen anyone with a flintlock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bronco_mudder Posted May 28, 2005 Report Share Posted May 28, 2005 Re: A cool encounter Thats an awesome story horst. It made me think of an old timer, from where I grew up. Alec wasn't a gun maker, but a true hunter. He lived for the outdoors, and while his health allowed him he hunted with his old /06 with iron sights. Eventually he had to stop hunting, but come deer season many of the local boys stopped in to see him, and show him their deer. The coffee was always on, and he really liked it when you gave him the liver and heart, his favorite parts. He used to tell me stories of how the best bullet for his gun was a .220 grain round nose, and what ever it hit, it dropped. He had decades of stories to tell and you could see the joy in his face when someone would listen. Alec passed away about 8 years ago now, and when his wife decided to sell their home, and move into a seniors complex, I bought it. This is where I always go back to deer hunt, and it is still a place where "the boys", as Alec called us, congregate during deer season. He sure loved having the boys come over for a visit, and I sure miss being able to sit and listen to his stories. Thanks, horst, for bringing back those memories, some things won't ever be forgotten. Arron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnatecsteve Posted May 29, 2005 Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 Re: A cool encounter It's awesome to listen to the Ol'timers. I trekked in Kentucky with a few guys who you swore came out of the pages of a history book! One fella in particular, Bill Farmer. This guy was the Ohio State Trapping instructor for a while, he is a very knowledgable trapper. He could take you for a short walk in the woods and name off dozens of plants and what they were used for. He lived in a log cabin in a holler in the mountains in Kentucky, his driveway is an old creek bed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadHuntinPastor Posted May 29, 2005 Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 Re: A cool encounter Great stories fellas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
too_pointer Posted May 29, 2005 Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 Re: A cool encounter I enjoyed both the stories, thanks !! Chris, I bet you made his day, he got to relive some old memories, and it sounds you made out great also. You probably have a much better understanding on your gun and how it works now too When you get a deer this year, a nice gesture would be to drop off a few steaks for him, he would probably love it !! too_pointer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerClay Posted May 31, 2005 Report Share Posted May 31, 2005 Re: A cool encounter Great stories! Reminds me of an old timer named George who used to share stories with me. He was the one who got me started in ML and is the reason I still shoot traditional. Ranger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarvDog Posted June 4, 2005 Report Share Posted June 4, 2005 Re: A cool encounter Definitely some great stories! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.