I can testify to the longevity of black powder. Growing up, my family had an old original flintlock pistol from the Balkans. We would occasionally try the lock, and it would spark strongly every time. Well, when I was about 15, I decided to check the inside of the barrel. A cleaning rod would only go about halfway down. Using a jag, I pulled out some old rags (no bullet) and then a double charge of black powder. Spread out on the ground, the powder deflagrated very convincingly. The only reason it didn't go off all those many times that we had pulled the trigger, must have been because the vent hole was plugged with dried grease and dirt. The gun must have been loaded for the last time probably before 1850.
I've often thought that the point of the bayonet would sometimes be more "convincing" than just the firearm alone. Someone might try to "call your bluff", thinking you won't shoot, but getting poked at with a long sharp pointy thing would cause them to back up or back off, I would think.
"Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight he'll just kill you."
I've found that the best source for Bess bayonets is G. Gedney Godwin "The Sutler of Mt. Misery." They're asking around $63 for them. You have to specify if it's for an Italian (Pedersoli) or Japanese reproduction.
I do like the word hydroscopicity though.Black powder is not hydroscopic, it will not "absorb moisture from the air" as some say. It will however, absorb oils and solvents from poor preparation when loaded. That is where the myth comes from. Properly cleaned and "prepped", a black powder firearm can be left loaded "forever" and be counted on to fire reliably, on par with any smokeless powder cartridge. Consider that black powder is made with water, and then allowed to dry in open air.
They won’t. And they won’t clean it if they run ballistic tests either. Generally cops treat this stuff pretty poorly.
I know. Generally the cops chosen for the Property Room are guys disinterested in firearms (no urge to steal). My buddy worked the Sheriff's Property Room and used to go next door to help the po-leece property guy diassemble them for smelting. Long guns were jammed down a barrel and handguns tossed onto a shelf. They didn't care if it was a Mossberg 500/Rem 870 Express or an engraved Krieghoff/Perazzi with extra fancy walnut. Let's see if we can shove something else down that barrel.
Guys are definitely afraid of sharp pointy things. During bayonet training and then later in the field you could tell that most guys didn’t like the idea of knife or bayonet fighting at all. Nobody wanted to be shot or blown up but knives and bayonets are just freaking nasty weapons.
Because investigators look at every possible piece of evidence. Miss one thing and the County attorney will be calling for your head. Your sheriff will likely give it to him.
Civil War bayonets.
It worked well for the British back in the day. The enemy would stand and face volley fire, but the bayonet charge would almost always rout them, send them home to their mommies.
Truth, I agree, but once you got Mr. Badguy backed into a corner, or at the end of the hall, I bet he'd begin to cooperate. !!!
Yes, I have a Pedersoli, and would not expect a fit "out of the box". Just figure I might have to ream it out to fit, assuming it's usually a case of the barrel being too thick or of greater diameter than the socket. ?? I have the "Ranger Carbine" and figure the muzzle is even a bit thicker than the full length musket. Do you know if that is usually the source of the fit-problem? Socket undersized for the barrel?
When I was really young, and just as dumb, I loaned my Grand-dad's double hammer gun to a friend. Yep, wound up in the property room. He got in some trouble. When I picked it up, they turned it over to me no problem, I discovered it had been dry-fired numerous times, the firing pins were hammered into the channels quite snug. Like jammed in really hard and tight. Was able to fix it though.
All the reproduction bayonets are made in India or Pakistan. The problem is that the dimensions (including, especially, the inside socket diameter) vary slightly from one example to the next. This is why I like Godwin as the source. He try-fits the bayonets to his sample guns, and defarbs them (removes the "India" markings).
