For many years I've known that I'm left eyed and right handed. It doesn't seem to affect tomahawk throwing or archery. However, despite hours at the range, my fusil marksmanship was deplorable, and I always seemed to miss in the same spot. I talked to a lot of people with the same situation, right handed and left eyed. Half advised closing the left eye when shooting (which I was doing) and half advised switching. One person suggested shooting left handed with my right handed flintlock and seeing how it worked.
So I gave it a try at the range on Sunday, shot some normally, they all ended up at about 7'oclock outside the bull. Then I switched to shooting left handed. At first I thought I'd pulled and missed entirely...then I noticed the problem...I hit the bull dead on, right in the center. With amazement I just continued to tear up the bull while shooting left handed. Then I switched to right handed and the shots all ended up in the lower left at 7 oclock, outside the bull. It was pretty tricky shooting and always getting a face of smoke and flint shards, but the proof was enough to convince me.
Also some notes on hawk and knife throwing, which I got rusty on:
-7 paces my best range
-always follow through
-look down and around softly, then quick focus on target and throw
-Staring too long at the target usually results in a miss
-Knife, doing better with a blade grab
Monday, May 3, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
Indian Discipline described by James Smith
American Indian Discipline and method of War:
The business of the private warriors is to be under command, or punctually to obey orders
--To learn to march a-breast in Scattered order, so as to be in readiness to surround the enemy, or prevent being surrounded
--to be good marksmen, and active in the use of arms
--to practice running
--to learn to endure hunger or hardship with patience and fortitude
--to tell the truth at all times to their officers, but more especially when sent out to spy the enemy." Smith p 157
Concerning officers. They say that it would be absurd to appoint a man an officer whose skill and courage had never been tried--that all officers should be advanced only according to merit--that no one man should have the absolute command of an army--that a council of officers are to determine when, and how an attack is to be made--that it is the business of the officers to lay plans to take every advantage of the enemy-to ambush and suprise them, and to prevent being ambushed and suprised themselves--it is the duty of officers to prepare and deliver speeches to the men, in order to animate and encourage them; and on the march, to prevent the men at any time, from getting into a huddle because if the enemy should surround them in this position, they would be exposed to the enemy's fire. It is likewise their business at all times to endeavor to annoy their enemy, and to save their own men, and there fore ought never to bring on an attack without considerable advantage, or witout what appeared to them the sure prospect of victory, and withthe loss of few men." Smith p158
"He said as the art of war consists in ambushing and suprising our enemies, and in preventing them from ambushing and suprising us..." p104-105 Smith
"I scattered my men about forty rod along the side of the road, and ordered every two to take a tree, and about eight or ten rod between each couple, with orders to to keep a reserved fire, one not to fire until his comradehad loaded his gun--by this means we kept a constant, slow fire, upon them from front to rear." Smith p109 note rod=16 feet Smith is leading rangers, but as he says "I taught them Indian discipline, as I knew of no ther at that time, which would answer the purpose musch better than British." p 107
"General orders are commonly given in time of battle, either to advance or retreat, and is done by a shout or yell, which is well understood, and then they retreat or advance in concert. They are generally well equipped and exceeding expert and active use of arms." Smith p 151
"...Each man is to fight as though he was to gain the battle himself." Smith p 151
"When they go to battle they are not loaded or encumbered with many clothes, as they commonly fight naked, save only breech-clout, leggings and mockasons." Smith p 151
"...They have all the essentials of discipline. They are under good command and punctual in obeying orders: they can act in concert, and when their officers lay a plan and give orders, they will cheerfuly unite in putting all their directions into immediate execution; and by each man observing the motion or movement of his right hand companion, they can communicate the motion from right to left, and march abreast in concert and in scattererd order, though the line may be more than a mile long, and continue, if occaison requires, for a considerable distance, without disorder or confusion." Smith p 150
"They can perform various necessary manuevers, either slowly, or as fast as they can run: they can form a circle, or a semi-circle: the circle they make use of, in order to surround their enemy, and the semi-circle if the enemy has a river on one side of them. They can also form a large hollow square, face out and take trees: this they do, if their enemies are about surrounding them, to prevent from being shot from either side of the tree." Smith p.150
"There is no such thing as corporeal punishment used, in order to bring them under such good discipline: degrading is the only chastisement, and they are so unanimous in this, that it effectually answers the purpose." Smith p 151
Smith, James, 1737-1812. "An account of the remarkable occurences in the life and travels of Col. James Smith during his captivity with the Indians, in the years 1755, '56, '57, '58 & '59" Cincinnati, 1870
The business of the private warriors is to be under command, or punctually to obey orders
--To learn to march a-breast in Scattered order, so as to be in readiness to surround the enemy, or prevent being surrounded
--to be good marksmen, and active in the use of arms
--to practice running
--to learn to endure hunger or hardship with patience and fortitude
--to tell the truth at all times to their officers, but more especially when sent out to spy the enemy." Smith p 157
Concerning officers. They say that it would be absurd to appoint a man an officer whose skill and courage had never been tried--that all officers should be advanced only according to merit--that no one man should have the absolute command of an army--that a council of officers are to determine when, and how an attack is to be made--that it is the business of the officers to lay plans to take every advantage of the enemy-to ambush and suprise them, and to prevent being ambushed and suprised themselves--it is the duty of officers to prepare and deliver speeches to the men, in order to animate and encourage them; and on the march, to prevent the men at any time, from getting into a huddle because if the enemy should surround them in this position, they would be exposed to the enemy's fire. It is likewise their business at all times to endeavor to annoy their enemy, and to save their own men, and there fore ought never to bring on an attack without considerable advantage, or witout what appeared to them the sure prospect of victory, and withthe loss of few men." Smith p158
"He said as the art of war consists in ambushing and suprising our enemies, and in preventing them from ambushing and suprising us..." p104-105 Smith
"I scattered my men about forty rod along the side of the road, and ordered every two to take a tree, and about eight or ten rod between each couple, with orders to to keep a reserved fire, one not to fire until his comradehad loaded his gun--by this means we kept a constant, slow fire, upon them from front to rear." Smith p109 note rod=16 feet Smith is leading rangers, but as he says "I taught them Indian discipline, as I knew of no ther at that time, which would answer the purpose musch better than British." p 107
"General orders are commonly given in time of battle, either to advance or retreat, and is done by a shout or yell, which is well understood, and then they retreat or advance in concert. They are generally well equipped and exceeding expert and active use of arms." Smith p 151
"...Each man is to fight as though he was to gain the battle himself." Smith p 151
"When they go to battle they are not loaded or encumbered with many clothes, as they commonly fight naked, save only breech-clout, leggings and mockasons." Smith p 151
"...They have all the essentials of discipline. They are under good command and punctual in obeying orders: they can act in concert, and when their officers lay a plan and give orders, they will cheerfuly unite in putting all their directions into immediate execution; and by each man observing the motion or movement of his right hand companion, they can communicate the motion from right to left, and march abreast in concert and in scattererd order, though the line may be more than a mile long, and continue, if occaison requires, for a considerable distance, without disorder or confusion." Smith p 150
"They can perform various necessary manuevers, either slowly, or as fast as they can run: they can form a circle, or a semi-circle: the circle they make use of, in order to surround their enemy, and the semi-circle if the enemy has a river on one side of them. They can also form a large hollow square, face out and take trees: this they do, if their enemies are about surrounding them, to prevent from being shot from either side of the tree." Smith p.150
"There is no such thing as corporeal punishment used, in order to bring them under such good discipline: degrading is the only chastisement, and they are so unanimous in this, that it effectually answers the purpose." Smith p 151
Smith, James, 1737-1812. "An account of the remarkable occurences in the life and travels of Col. James Smith during his captivity with the Indians, in the years 1755, '56, '57, '58 & '59" Cincinnati, 1870
Thursday, December 3, 2009
New Tulle Fusil
I'm building another Tulle Fusil de Chasse from a Track of the Wolf kit, the 44 inch barrel kit. Wow have the quality and realism of kits changed over the last 30 years... Well it is going together a lot smoother than the first Tulle kit I did. I lined up the touch hole, lock, trigger, tange screw very well on this one, am very pleased with the overall geometry... but list of gotchas:
Slow down and watch the Turpin DVD first, before doing anything.
Better more shop lighting needed!
Remember to undercut inletting, then fit
Don't rely on Inletting black, try to use a pencil more
Need a real drill press vise, smaller and better quality.
Need good drill bit stops. Woodcraft visit!
Get more good chisels from Track...I love the old Miller's Falls chisels, but they are too small/dull for many operations
Get a 3/8 ramrod drill, to get the extra 1/2 inch, also the hole seems to fill up with chips as the rear thimble is inlet.
Over inlet the round part of the barrel channel because I sanded it...prolly no inletting needed on the round part. Make some barrel profile sillouhettes...maybe a pain with swamped and tapered barrels, but things will look better
Over cut the notch for the dovetailed underlug /doh! Use common sense and eyeballs!
Make another jig to hold the stock with the vise.. a little lower and wider, maybe adjustable?
Gouged the lower ramrod thimble. It looks like it was meant to seat further forward than I placed it, also file the bands on the top of the thimbles down, no one sees them and the lugs on top of the thibles can also be reduced a lot, there isn't much space between the lug pins and the lower barrel.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
English Lock Fishtail Musket
I took my English Lock Fishtail stock musket for a spin. I did some target shooting and hunting with it over thanksgiving and was really pleased with it. It's an Indian made musket, and I bought it mainly for re-enacting King Phillip War scenarios, but was pleasantly suprised by its shooting performance.
Nominally it is a 12 guage gun, but .715 round balls were very loose even after 15-20 shots. .010 patches did not produce a tight fit and I didn't have any .015 patching so I mostly shot bare ball and also divoted ball. I loaded it with 60 grains 2f and primed with 2f. The divoted balls were very accurate, that is a neat trick. I also used 80 grains 2f and 80 grains worth of birdshot for squirrel hunting
At 25 yards it was very accurate even after fouling a lot it reliabley pegged the target. I learned from another more experienced shooter that all guns shoot high when they are fouled so when I made the adjustment by aiming lower, I was right on again. I didnt try 50 yards. Suprisingly the fishtail stock is very effective and ergonomic. It is a weird shape but very functional.
The main drawback is the English Lock needs some tweaking for reliable sparking. The flints in India must be a funny shape, or this was an exact copy or something because it does not work well with the standard flints available to shooters in America. A more experienced shooter showed me the main issue was the typical gunflint struck the frizzen in the middle and by raising up the flint in the jaws of the cock making it hit in the top 1/3 of the frizzen would fix it...and it did ...sort of. Of course the lead shims I use to jack it up are liable to get lost in the field and it still seems to eat gunflints...long story short is that when it is tweeked by raising the flint it gets about 15-20 shots per flint. Well maybe I'll just knap some myself.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Deer Tail Processing
Today it was revealed to me how to easily skin out a deer tail for use in regalia. As everyone knows as you move down the tail gets smaller and the skin is thinner and it tears at the end. The solution was easy, just use the back of the knife to loosen the skin from the tail as you get to the bottom of the tail and the skin doesn't slip easily. Rub the back of the knife down between the tail and the skin sort of like whittling with the blunt end. Then you get a nice tail you can use to make roaches or cones, one that you got yourself!
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