Link to Page 1 of the auction
Seven pages and 336 lots as-of January 30
Random examples
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Springfield 45-70 Trapdoor Rifle
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Tanker helmet from Spanish Civil War
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Powder flasks
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Engraved Hopkins Allen revolver
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Eickhorn Lionhead sword
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16 gauge, double-barreled, Damascus steel shotgun
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Colt .31 caliber manufactured 1856
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For the record
The third, timed reload of the 1858 New Army took 3 minutes and 5 seconds (including check to see that no caps were in-place).
Improvements that need to be made are to trim the pig-tails on the foam plugs to 1.5" and to have a better system for holding the lead balls. Basically, I need a short chunk of two-by-four with a groove in it long enough to hold seven balls.
Those were the only "bobbles". Once those changes are made and I get a few more untimed reps, I should be at about 2:30 and improvements will come more slowly as it will be primarily from training my muscle-memory.
Joe you are aware that cap and ball gunslingers carried more than one revolver. That calvary soldiers often had three Cap and ball revolvers along with their carbine.
ReplyDeleteEven the early cartridge revolver gunslingers carried a backup and often a hideout pistol.
Why the interest in fast reloading, friend?
Just curious.
"Efficiency" is a skill I used to be good at. Skills are perishable and "efficiency" is a skill I want to keep fresh.
DeleteIf the SHTF, there will not be enough hours in the day. There will not be time to waste, and if something can be done in 2 minutes (with some forethought and organization and practice) then it is wasteful to always take 12 minutes.
I don't foresee getting a blackpowder revolver(s) to fend off Morlocks from Casa de ERJ even though that is an intriguing mental picture.
Some interesting items on that auction!
ReplyDeleteI thought you would like it. Lots of patches, medals and insignia that you don't normally see.
DeleteIf offered the opportunity to obtain extra cylinders for a blackpowder revolver, accept it gladly, and consider pursuing it even if unoffered. It was common for some to carry spare, loaded cylinders to provide speedier reloads, with the caps (hopefully) held in place by a couple drops of wax or, for the more adventurous, slightly squeezing the cap slightly out of round.
ReplyDeleteWhile blackpowder arms, of any size, do not have the efficacy of modern magazine-fed weaponry, they function well and have the advantage that black powder can often be fashioned from available chemicals under somewhat rudimentary conditions, while double-base nitrate-based powders are considerably more difficult to manufacture.
An old non-functional refrigerator makes a reasonably good powder repository; it's insulated, has shelves, and a full-height door offering easy access to contents. Magnetic door closures are recommended and mechanical latches of any and all types to be avoided; should a quantity of powder - of any type - catch fire it will not explode, but the rapidity of combustion will closely resemble an explosion. Anything that restricts the exit of combustion volume will, however, cause a result indistinguishable from an explosion, and randomly propel pieces of the enclosure at hazardous velocities. It is also recommended that said refrigerator be placed, by itself, in a small outbuilding with controlled, or at least severely limited, access. And, needless to say, priming materials, of any type, condition, or amount, do not belong in or around that outbuilding.
As you point out, should SHTF, time, for each and all tasks, will be a precious commodity; today, time conservation - aka "efficiency" - is a very worthwhile activity, it could easily become a necessity. For some of us it already is.
These guys:
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/QH6wAAn6bQ0?si=nsyhaR-EIu60UQ12
know a little about Civil War cavalry and based on their research it was very rare for troopers to have extra cylinders or pistols.
The 1858 Remington was the best of the black powder revolvers. I recall being instructed to only store black powder in wooden crates with non-sparking fittings.
ReplyDeleteBoat Guy