EVIC Optics has announced a new addition to their sight line up with the REVIC Exo Sight. The sight claims to be a breakthrough in open sight technology with a true long-range capable turreted open sight. This is definitely targeted for those Western US Hunters, with state mandates on open sights, looking to increase their range while on the hunt.
The following article appeared first in the June 2020 Issue of “Muzzle Blasts Magazine”, the official magazine from the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association.
So begins an unassuming little book called “The Kentuckians”. The great Janice Holt Giles’ epic tale of a young longhunter’s amazing experiences during the late 1760’s in that vast, totally uninhabited expanse known as “the dark and bloody ground”. Lazy High School student that I was, I chose to read The Kentuckians under odious decree of a compulsory, English class, book report. Drat! My selection of this thoroughly astounding tome, owing mainly to its diminutive and insignificant size. Little did I know… Talk about lightning in a bottle! Hah! Right then and there began my irrepressible zeal for the saga of the longhunter which still holds me in its burly grip yet today.
Once anyone becomes seriously entangled amidst the bona fide history of true, classic longhunting; various intriguing references and allusions to this place called “the Wolf Hills” begin to pop up regularly. Arising from the most inauspicious, trifling parties you seldom ever hear about to the best known and most famous woodsmen of that age: “…Daniel Boone, accompanied by several hunters, visited the Holston and camped the first night in what is now known as Taylor’s Valley. On the succeeding day, they hunted down the South Fork of Holston river and traveled thence to what was known as the Wolf Hills, where they encamped the second night near where Black’s Fort was afterwards built. It is interesting to note at this point that Daniel Boone and his companions, immediately after nightfall, were troubled by the appearance of great numbers of wolves, which assailed their dogs with such fury that it was with great difficulty that the hunters succeeded in repelling their attacks and saving the lives of their dogs, a number of which were killed or badly crippled by the wolves. The wolves had their home in the cave that underlies the town of Abingdon. The entrance to this cave is upon the lot now occupied by the residence of Mr. James L. White.” 2 Yes… Actually, the huge entrance to the infamous Wolf Cave of so much extraordinary, longhunting lore, is now wholly contained within the backyard of a beautiful, Victorian house - located in central, downtown Abingdon!
John Curry
References:
1 Giles, Janice Holt, The Kentuckians, p. 2.
2 Summers, Lewis Preston, Southwest Virginia, 1746- 1786, p.76.
3 Haywood, John, Civil and Political History of the State of Tennessee, p. 55.
4 John D. Shane’s interview with William Clinkenbeard, Filson Club Quarterly, Vol. 2, No. 3, April 1928, p.105.
5 John D. Shane’s interview with John Hedge, Filson Club Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 3, July 1940, p.181.
Current list of sponsors:
Vortex Optics
A&J Sporting
Accu-Tac
B&T Industries
KIDD Innovative Design
Labradar
Pacific Tool & Gauge
PMA Tool
Madison Outdoors
This post comes from Bob Browder as he shares some of his personal research about beeswax in America in the Traditional American Craftsmen Facebook Group.
➽ ➽ Support the NMLRA - nmlra.org/store/membership ➽ ➽
Saturday, June 6 & 7 we hosted a .22 silhouette match for marksmen and women to get out and enjoy the outdoors.
We hosted two classes, modern and traditional. Saturday’s match was the regular silhouette match but on Sunday, all competitors were in the prone position. Targets included chickens at 100 yards, pigs at 150 yards, turkeys at 200 yards, and then the rams at 300 meters.
Traditional Class
Mark Finney with 35 points
Bob Johnson with 33 points
Woody with 33 Points
Modern Class
Chad Brown with 35 Points
Willie Pool with 34 points
Joe Fortkamp with 33 Points
Traditional Class
Mel Barnell with 27 Points
Lora Parks with 27 Points
Jim Davis with 27 Points
Modern Class
Willie Pool with 27points
Joe Fortkamp with 24 points
Sandra Pool with 24 points
If you are interested in our next .22 shoot, mark your calendars for August 1-2! We’ll be hosting the 22 Long Range Silhouette Match with challenging games to test you and your rifle. Watch the video from last years match to see some of what we’ll be doing!
The event was limited in attendance to comply with Indiana guidelines on COVID 19. Attendees were asked to social distance and be aware of current CDC guidelines.
When I was a young man, I apprenticed under a master tool and die maker. In the first two years I worked with him I seldom saw him use a milling machine, he did it all with a file. Being young and headstrong I would often complain, but his reply was always the same: before you can use the mill, you must master the file.
This article and many more are published each month in Muzzle Blasts Magazine. Order your copy today!
Mark “ValleyReb” Lee shared this document in a Facebook post and we thought it interesting enough to share with all of you!
Frank House originally shared this post on the CLA facebook page
Alright Engravers,
Time to think about chasing hammers!
The idea here is to use a very light hammer (mine weighs in at 2.9 oz) with a thin flexible handle as the lighter and faster taps will not only yield a finer and more consistent cut, your gravers will hold out far longer with less breakage of your tip. (More on that later)
To get started, I use machinable brass
and have posted at least one source for 1" stock (photo)
Machine the head to the dimensions provided in the drawing and bore a 3/8" (.375) eye for the handle and then, using a tapered reamer relieve the eye slightly from both the top and bottom so that the handle will "swage" itself into place with a wooden wedge.
The handle dimensions are 1" diameter at the butt or grip end, .300" at the neck or smallest portion and
.400" at the portion that goes through the eye with a slight taper to .375" or 3/8".
I have as well listed a chasing hammer along with the contact info (photo) from Rio Grande that will suffice.
Next up, shaping the graver and sharpening!
Upwards and onwards!
July 25 and 26, Shoot Saturday or Sunday or Both. Same course of fire both days
(Not an Aggregate)
$30.00 for one day, $50.00 for both days. Medals for 3 places. Apex Hunter side match after main match $20.00 pay in, winner take all.
Practice period 0800-0900, Shooter Meeting at 0930
Drawings for gift certificates and merchandise:
2- Vortex Optics gift certificates valued up to $800.00 each.
1-Arrowhead Rifles gift certificate value $100.00
2- Fury Bullets gift certificates valued at $50.00 each
$500.00 in EGW gift certificates
Rules:
15 lb. weight limit as shot. Rifles will be weighed at registration.
Any sight- open-peep-scope.
Black Powder or black powder substitute, Maximum Allowed by Powder or Rifle Manufacturer. No Smokeless Powder
Front and rear rest allowed, must be separate. (No lead sled type rests)
Course of fire main match:
15 shots for score.
Spotters Allowed.
5 full size Silhouette animals at 300 Meters, 385 Meters, and 500 yards.
3 sighter shots at each yard line.
18 minutes per scoring relay.
APEX HUNTER Match Course of fire
No spotter allowed.
Yardage and Target announced at shoot
Limited to first 20 shooters
Special Prize drawing for APEX Hunter Shooters
Match Director reserves the right to make any changes to rules, course of fire, or safety concerns as deemed necessary.
These patterns were shared by Wil Crouch in the “Buckskins & Muzzleloaders, The Life & Times Of The Mountain Men, 1760-1840” Facebook Group. Try making a pair and let us know how it goes!
This article and many more are published each month in Muzzle Blasts Magazine. Order your copy today!
Diving into the world of French trade axes, most of which all look fairly similar to each other, reveals that not all Biscayne Axes are really “Biscayne” axes, per se. I’ve acquired a bunch of information on these axes, most of which people have sent to me, compiled from various well-informed sources. Most of what follows is from those materials. A little bit is from me, and of course from other things I’ve found using my google-fu and research skills.
