Let's put it this way. If they were decent men they had a sense of right and wrong and personal honor but at the same time they were TOUGH. Unbelieveably tough, and with no time for nonsense. Hard-nosed and practical. I'm old enough to remember the World War One generation and let me tell you those people were tough as well. I think if many of todays generation ran into those old long hunters they'd run screaming in terror. Only today's armed forces veterans would come close to understanding them.
I'm so thankful for the people in the past who wrote down the details of their daily life so that people like Simeon can live and preserve that history today.
@@2blessed2 I would wager they never imagined it would be read hundreds of years later, or even decades later in most cases. Makes you wonder what things we do today may last anywhere near as long.
my husband purchased a muzzleloader rifle kit from sportsman and i am so amazed seeing him putting it together. My husband has a look of stoic and quiet nature while he works in his workshop next to our garage. I’ve seen him many times fix and disassemble our firearms but i’m amazed to see him do this. His greatest treasure is a Martini Henry from the old country (South Africa) and he takes care of this rifle because it’s part of his heritage. I can see these firearms being taken care of by our son in the future. I also love watching our little son watching his father work on firearms.
This is the actual true spirit of the "firearms comunity". It is a hobby, a passtime activity, that we practice because we just need to stay away from this planet for a while. The stoic, silent and focused toughts and actions bring us those 2 square feet of peace we all crave. Well, most hobbyes are a little like that, but firearms have a weight behind them. The history and stories, the responsability, and also the danger, all coalescent around the simple act of taking some time to ease away the brain. As a gun owner myself I understand this. Also I would love to have an "old bessye", but they are damn hard to find here in Brazil.
I'd like to get Mr. England's opinion on loading blocks, blocks of wood with holes drilled, 4 to 6, holding greased, patched balls for rapid loading. The idea is that after putting the powder down the barrel, a hole in the block was positioned over the muzzle and the patched ball rammed through. Some historians dispute whether these were used on the 1700s frontier, since to my knowledge no artifact has survived. It's such a logical and practical thing for them to have done, I'm inclined to think they did. On the frontier, practicality was a supreme virtue.
This reminded me of how much I miss my grandfather, who was a gunsmith. He was so knowledgeable about different guns from different time periods and how to repair / maintain them. Any time we would be watching a movie or TV show about any time in the past, it would drive him nuts when we would see a gun that was not period appropriate. 😂
He must have been upset a lot. I've seen quite a few movies with the wrong guns being used for the time represented, and I'm sure I don't know guns as well as he did.
I know just where your grandfather was coming from! I've lost track of how many times I've seen Trapdoor Springfields passed off a flintlocks or Civil War muskets! AND Colt Single Actions in Civil War movies as well! It's the reason I snicker a bit when a lot of UA-camrs nitpick movies set in the 18th Century over inaccuracies. Man, if they're using REAL flintlocks I'm happy! I can ignore everything else! I remember the bad old days.
I met Siemon last summer at The Davey Crockett birthplace in East Tennessee for Davey Crockett days. We talked about Blacksmithing and the Militia. Pretty cool.
AAAHHHHH ITS THE PINS! I have had a brown bess for over a year and haven't been able to figure out how to get the stock off of it for cleaning. I haven't tried to remove the pins. Thank you for this!
I have been flintlock shooting since the later 70's, this is the best advice I have heard. Simeon is the Master. I learned several tips overlooked in the past. This is the best video period. Thanks Simeon and Jon...
I have a single action revolver which only requires me to remove 1 part to service it, well 2 if you count the cylinder. Holy good gosh this rifle is so much less friendly to take apart without losing a part in the field.
I had to forward this to my friend. He is taking a gun smith class and I think he would really enjoy this. I love the history of this and now I'm hungry for more flintlock stuff!
I can only imagine what these longhunters would have thought of hard chroming, nitriding, and cerakote finishes...really shows how far we've come in a score of decades.
@@benn454 Agreed, all that would blow their minds. Amazing how far we've come. Things we take for granted, even cheap stainless steel, would have been seen as a miracle back then.
love your videos! ive always hated how traditional history was taught in our school systems, so surface level that its impossible to sink your teeth into before moving on to the next year, and covering those events. then moving on yet again with no substance. you have a much smaller scope with more nitty gritty detail of everyday life. so much more fun than sprinting through the decades.
I'm mostly here for the cooking... but this was fascinating! Just watching him take the rifle apart was kind of soothing. Also, the auto-generated closed captions for this are hilariously bad, it can't handle Simeon's slight accent. For example 'linen making process' becomes 'Len and Mac in process', and 'bear oil', despite sounding perfectly like 'bear oil' to me, repeatedly becomes 'Bar oil' (capital B for some reason).
It's a pleasure running onto this. As a black powder enthusiast, I enjoy what you are presenting, and I had never seen a rifle torn down this far. Very informative. Will check out your site. Thank you!
This really answered allot of questions and too me was a great historical value for showing the fine details. Going over the musket, the kit, and the things that had to be done to survive was really interesting, good to see this knowledge is still not lost.
As a novice gunsmith student, this was so interesting to see how they clean and disassemble the flintlock rifle. Like, wood ashes and brick dust as abrasive and deer tallow...how intriguing (before bluing solutions and lube). Cheers everyone. Great video!
I have learned something more about flintlocks! Thanks Townsend's and Samuel England! My third great grandfather's made flintlocks like these.David Back.
… wow … my engineering ancestors were absolute geniuses. To be able to hand-craft such parts, to such tolerances, and to be able to do it on the field … I am shamed into working better, harder, and practice more to at least know what I don't know. Thank you most kindly, dear Sirs.
Great video on how to field strip and clean an old flint lock. My great grandfather had an old Springfield rifle musket that was from the mid 1800s he handed down to my grandfather many years ago. Not sure where my great grandfather obtained it from. Never got the story behind that. Anyway, my grandfather used it occasionally for hunting deer, but that was about it. He cleaned that old musket religiously. He even had the barrel and most of the other metal parts blued, and the stock sanded and re-finished. I never got to shoot that old musket. My uncle has possession of it now, and is hanging in their living room to this day as a fireplace mantle decoration.
They might have bought it as surplus. I was looking at a 1902 Sears catalog, and they had old Civil War era muskets that were cut down for use as shotguns as well as early "trapdoor" Springfields that were Civil War muskets converted (by the military) into breech loaders. I wouldn't be surprised if they got it at a local hardware store back in the day.
Well done, setting the standard for history lessons! Photography, music and facts all done to such a high standard, thank you team Townsends. LOVE & HUGS
I absolutely love this channel. It’s always a mood booster to listen to someone joyously share their passion. Always positive, informative, and interesting.
This was such an engaging and educational pleasure. Sincere gratitude to Simeon, Jon, and all the individuals who share the struggles and stories of those who came before us. Thank you for bringing history to life. Cheers!
In the last few years I’ve gotten into flintlocks but I’m still very much a newbie. This was very fun to watch, well made, and I learned a lot of little stuff. Thank you!
One minor point, this level of tear down, while regular, wouldnt be more than once or twice a year in most cases. Pulling the barrel pins does wear the holes in the stock for them, creating a need for a new stock at some point. Making a stock is fairly labor intensive, even with modern tools. Ive read accounts of it being done with a pocket knife back then, and it was a rarity.
@Rumblestrip, I think he was pulling out the pins to demonstrate to us onlookers how it was put together. Simeon did mention how he oiled things he didn't want to rust, so my guess is if he oiled the pieces liberally, a good yearly or biyearly oiling would be sufficient. My dad and brother used muskets. They would clean them after a day of use if the next chance to use them was several days away. If they were using them for a weekend away, they'd typically wait until they were back home before they cleaned them. They did systematically take them completely apart and clean them from time to time.
Great video! My 6th great-grandfather Teter Nave was a longhunter and the first white man to settle the Siam Valley in East Tennessee & was a part of the Watauga Settlement in 1771. During the American Revolution Teter was with Issac Shelby's company at the Battle of Kings Mountain. I am proud to be one of his descendants.
Terrific video, as usual. Simeon did a great job of explaining the workings of the gun, and the common practices of the men of the day. I imagine the motivation behind long hunting was much the same as other trades. It could be a provide a livelihood for those willing to endure the difficulties. Some would be more taken with the life, like those who became sailors or fishermen, long hunting isn't for the stay at home type. But just like those others, the job has become vastly safer and more comfortable.
That's the Best video yet! Thank you for showing us the process of cleaning a Flint. I have to learn to pull those pins on the barrel and how to disassemble the lock. Just got a lock vice so that's my next project.
In my time I've seen some really good reenactment and a lot of really bad reenactment, and this is really wonderfully good reenactment. Top quality stuff, as always. Love it.
Excellent and informative video. My wife and I met Mr. England at the CLA show earlier this year. I remarked on the elegance of his tomahawks and he explained how important it was to be able to quickly move the blade and bit of the tomahawk in order to parry the blow of an adversary. He is a very wise and capable human.
This is a great video. I'm not sure if you've made a video before about the Pony Express and their journey across the country but it would be an interesting one to hear about.
Absolutely fascinating!! I truly enjoyed this knowledge and knew nothing about this history. I do not feel the need to clean my guns after each shot! I think today, folks are hypersensitive about everything! I clean my guns a couple of times per year and have no issues. However, I do not hunt with my guns. But with tactical and target practice, I feel I utilize my guns as much. I have never had any issues. Thank you for this great video!
The production quality of these videos is better than most things on television
Yes it is -- so, too, is the interest factor!
With big productions you end up with too many cooks far too often.
You still watch television?
Television?? I threw that thing out in 2014😂😂
Thats because its the facts. No political or social ideology.
"Do you think they were savory characters?" "They were.......colorful." 😂
Let's put it this way. If they were decent men they had a sense of right and wrong and personal honor but at the same time they were TOUGH. Unbelieveably tough, and with no time for nonsense. Hard-nosed and practical.
I'm old enough to remember the World War One generation and let me tell you those people were tough as well.
I think if many of todays generation ran into those old long hunters they'd run screaming in terror. Only today's armed forces veterans would come close to understanding them.
I'm so thankful for the people in the past who wrote down the details of their daily life so that people like Simeon can live and preserve that history today.
They should film it like 'Little House on the Prairie' was.
I wonder if they ever thought that anyone would read their stuff and actually find it interesting or educationally.
Educational
@@2blessed2 I would wager they never imagined it would be read hundreds of years later, or even decades later in most cases. Makes you wonder what things we do today may last anywhere near as long.
How on earth can this channel keep putting out so much great content?
By exhausting every element of Colonial living he can, he'll likely have content material for decades.
The power of nutmeg compels them
I'm pretty sure it's the time travel vortex
Passion.
Knowledge, and lots of people like us who feel like we are in the wrong time period.
my husband purchased a muzzleloader rifle kit from sportsman and i am so amazed seeing him putting it together. My husband has a look of stoic and quiet nature while he works in his workshop next to our garage. I’ve seen him many times fix and disassemble our firearms but i’m amazed to see him do this. His greatest treasure is a Martini Henry from the old country (South Africa) and he takes care of this rifle because it’s part of his heritage. I can see these firearms being taken care of by our son in the future. I also love watching our little son watching his father work on firearms.
This is the actual true spirit of the "firearms comunity".
It is a hobby, a passtime activity, that we practice because we just need to stay away from this planet for a while. The stoic, silent and focused toughts and actions bring us those 2 square feet of peace we all crave.
Well, most hobbyes are a little like that, but firearms have a weight behind them. The history and stories, the responsability, and also the danger, all coalescent around the simple act of taking some time to ease away the brain.
As a gun owner myself I understand this.
Also I would love to have an "old bessye", but they are damn hard to find here in Brazil.
@@MK-yx7qi he loves cap and ball a lot his next black powder rifle is a reproduction Dreyse Needle gun from the Franco Prussian war
@@MK-yx7qi my husband says the same about modern weapon systems he likes WW2 vehicles,firearms and equipment because that time had a lot of character
@@MK-yx7qi thank you
You are a man .
One of the best history channel on UA-cam! Great to learn about this part of North American history.
*The best
I'd like to get Mr. England's opinion on loading blocks, blocks of wood with holes drilled, 4 to 6, holding greased, patched balls for rapid loading.
The idea is that after putting the powder down the barrel, a hole in the block was positioned over the muzzle and the patched ball rammed through.
Some historians dispute whether these were used on the 1700s frontier, since to my knowledge no artifact has survived.
It's such a logical and practical thing for them to have done, I'm inclined to think they did.
On the frontier, practicality was a supreme virtue.
This reminded me of how much I miss my grandfather, who was a gunsmith. He was so knowledgeable about different guns from different time periods and how to repair / maintain them. Any time we would be watching a movie or TV show about any time in the past, it would drive him nuts when we would see a gun that was not period appropriate. 😂
He must have been upset a lot. I've seen quite a few movies with the wrong guns being used for the time represented, and I'm sure I don't know guns as well as he did.
Django Unchained drove me absolutely insane for this reason lmao
I know just where your grandfather was coming from! I've lost track of how many times I've seen Trapdoor Springfields passed off a flintlocks or Civil War muskets! AND Colt Single Actions in Civil War movies as well!
It's the reason I snicker a bit when a lot of UA-camrs nitpick movies set in the 18th Century over inaccuracies. Man, if they're using REAL flintlocks I'm happy! I can ignore everything else! I remember the bad old days.
I met Siemon last summer at The Davey Crockett birthplace in East Tennessee for Davey Crockett days. We talked about Blacksmithing and the Militia. Pretty cool.
AAAHHHHH ITS THE PINS!
I have had a brown bess for over a year and haven't been able to figure out how to get the stock off of it for cleaning. I haven't tried to remove the pins. Thank you for this!
Seems like a quiet time there. I find this channel so peaceful in the loud world today. Thank you James for this. God bless y’all
Man, I love listening to experts talk.
Always a good day when a new Townsends video drops! 🎉
This was FASCINATING! Thanks to everyone who was a part of this!
I have been flintlock shooting since the later 70's, this is the best advice I have heard. Simeon is the Master. I learned several tips overlooked in the past. This is the best video period. Thanks Simeon and Jon...
Nice job, another fine guest that knows what they're talking about and comes across genuinely. Another in a long line of excellent history videos.
I've just added this to my playlist and can't watch it yet, but anything with Mr. England is always going to be worth the time.
I have a single action revolver which only requires me to remove 1 part to service it, well 2 if you count the cylinder. Holy good gosh this rifle is so much less friendly to take apart without losing a part in the field.
You never shortchange us on research or presentation. Thank you for so many interesting stories!
I had to forward this to my friend. He is taking a gun smith class and I think he would really enjoy this. I love the history of this and now I'm hungry for more flintlock stuff!
I like how the guests have such passion for this stuff
It's a 11/10 documentary. I can't find any thing better 👏👏👏
Simeon, a very talented blacksmith and an outdoorsman? He's like a colonial jack of all trades. It was great meeting him at Martin's Station!
I can only imagine what these longhunters would have thought of hard chroming, nitriding, and cerakote finishes...really shows how far we've come in a score of decades.
Not to mention polymer lowers, LPVOs, and modern cartridges.
@@benn454 Agreed, all that would blow their minds. Amazing how far we've come. Things we take for granted, even cheap stainless steel, would have been seen as a miracle back then.
love your videos!
ive always hated how traditional history was taught in our school systems, so surface level that its impossible to sink your teeth into before moving on to the next year, and covering those events. then moving on yet again with no substance.
you have a much smaller scope with more nitty gritty detail of everyday life.
so much more fun than sprinting through the decades.
Love seeing Simeon England getting some publicity.
I really enjoyed this episode about
the pioneer days of the Long hunters
Thank You very much.🤠👍🐴🐎
Incredibly well done. The pacing between sharing some history and the clear and concise demonstration was easy to follow and fun to watch.
I'm mostly here for the cooking... but this was fascinating! Just watching him take the rifle apart was kind of soothing.
Also, the auto-generated closed captions for this are hilariously bad, it can't handle Simeon's slight accent. For example 'linen making process' becomes 'Len and Mac in process', and 'bear oil', despite sounding perfectly like 'bear oil' to me, repeatedly becomes 'Bar oil' (capital B for some reason).
One of my favorite guests so far
It's a pleasure running onto this. As a black powder enthusiast, I enjoy what you are presenting, and I had never seen a rifle torn down this far. Very informative. Will check out your site. Thank you!
In 40 years, I've never removed the breechblock from my smoke pole. So I guess I learned something new from this video.
This really answered allot of questions and too me was a great historical value for showing the fine details. Going over the musket, the kit, and the things that had to be done to survive was really interesting, good to see this knowledge is still not lost.
I really like that tomahawk.
As a novice gunsmith student, this was so interesting to see how they clean and disassemble the flintlock rifle. Like, wood ashes and brick dust as abrasive and deer tallow...how intriguing (before bluing solutions and lube).
Cheers everyone. Great video!
There needs to be a way to preserve these videos about bushcraft and frontier survival for the apocalypse, as I'm sure it would be most useful.
Excellent presentation on the Long Hunters - Thank You! Also great insight on the historic cleaning protocols of long rifles.
This is a great glimpse at how our some of our ancestors lived. Thanks for the video. 🥰👍👍
I grew up as a long hunter reenactor (White Water LH out of AL). Watching all your videos brings me back to childhood.
I learned a whole lot about flintlock maintenance from this video.
I have learned something more about flintlocks! Thanks Townsend's and Samuel England! My third great grandfather's made flintlocks like these.David Back.
… wow … my engineering ancestors were absolute geniuses. To be able to hand-craft such parts, to such tolerances, and to be able to do it on the field … I am shamed into working better, harder, and practice more to at least know what I don't know. Thank you most kindly, dear Sirs.
I guess that's why they call them musketeers and not guys who shoot muskets
I've been a buckskinner for 30 years and I learned stuff from your video! Bravo!
Great video on how to field strip and clean an old flint lock. My great grandfather had an old Springfield rifle musket that was from the mid 1800s he handed down to my grandfather many years ago. Not sure where my great grandfather obtained it from. Never got the story behind that. Anyway, my grandfather used it occasionally for hunting deer, but that was about it. He cleaned that old musket religiously. He even had the barrel and most of the other metal parts blued, and the stock sanded and re-finished. I never got to shoot that old musket. My uncle has possession of it now, and is hanging in their living room to this day as a fireplace mantle decoration.
They might have bought it as surplus. I was looking at a 1902 Sears catalog, and they had old Civil War era muskets that were cut down for use as shotguns as well as early "trapdoor" Springfields that were Civil War muskets converted (by the military) into breech loaders. I wouldn't be surprised if they got it at a local hardware store back in the day.
@@furrowingowl5906 might have been. He was on my mom’s side of the family, so I don’t know much of their family tree and history.
This was my favorite episode ever!!!
What a joy to watch a craftsman such as Simeon describe how to clean and maintain a flintlock rifle...
... this video made my day!
Well done, setting the standard for history lessons! Photography, music and facts all done to such a high standard, thank you team Townsends. LOVE & HUGS
Video and production values are superb. These are both educational and beautiful to watch. Thank you Townsends!
I love this episode it almost like you went back in time for an interview
I love it when you have the guests. It is amazing to hear from those so passionate about their crafts. Thank you for posting.
Thanks for sharing with us Jon and Simeon. that was a video well done by both. Stay safe around there and keep up the great videos. Fred.
This is one of the best videos you've produced! Really interesting and informative.
Ya, that fly makes me nervous when I take mine apart, knock on wood, I've managed to not lose them🤣
Very interesting and such high production quality. Great stuff!
I absolutely love this channel.
It’s always a mood booster to listen to someone joyously share their passion.
Always positive, informative, and interesting.
Thank you for featuring him again. Absolutely brilliant in his study, and a great presenter.
This was such an engaging and educational pleasure. Sincere gratitude to Simeon, Jon, and all the individuals who share the struggles and stories of those who came before us. Thank you for bringing history to life. Cheers!
I've been watching Dave Canterbury's longhunter series and then this comes along. Thanks, Townsends! Always enjoy videos like this👍👍
Fascinating details I’ve never seen before. Great guest. Great video.
Great job Simeon!
I love seeing the evolution of channels as they grow and become better and better. This one, however, started off fantastic. 🙂
What a great idea to cover. I didn't know that I wanted to know more about this topic until I watched this video.
I just found this channel and it is such a fun one, I am in awe. Simeon is also a great teacher!
In the last few years I’ve gotten into flintlocks but I’m still very much a newbie. This was very fun to watch, well made, and I learned a lot of little stuff. Thank you!
Thanks for valuable video as always ❤❤❤❤❤❤
Really appreciate the knowledge, detail, thoroughness and thoughtfulness of Sineion, thank you for including him in your production :)
Another wonderful episode. Thank you.
One minor point, this level of tear down, while regular, wouldnt be more than once or twice a year in most cases. Pulling the barrel pins does wear the holes in the stock for them, creating a need for a new stock at some point. Making a stock is fairly labor intensive, even with modern tools. Ive read accounts of it being done with a pocket knife back then, and it was a rarity.
@Rumblestrip, I think he was pulling out the pins to demonstrate to us onlookers how it was put together. Simeon did mention how he oiled things he didn't want to rust, so my guess is if he oiled the pieces liberally, a good yearly or biyearly oiling would be sufficient.
My dad and brother used muskets. They would clean them after a day of use if the next chance to use them was several days away. If they were using them for a weekend away, they'd typically wait until they were back home before they cleaned them. They did systematically take them completely apart and clean them from time to time.
Thank you for featuring simeon England! This guy is a treasure of knowledge.
Thank you! I enjoyed learning how a flintlock was/is maintained.
Hello from Britland.
Great video!
My 6th great-grandfather Teter Nave was a longhunter and the first white man to settle the Siam Valley in East Tennessee & was a part of the Watauga Settlement in 1771.
During the American Revolution Teter was with Issac Shelby's company at the Battle of Kings Mountain.
I am proud to be one of his descendants.
I always enjoy a Townsends video. Thanks again for your hard work.
Love this topic! I am very interested in "historical hiking" and "frontier trekking"
Excellent video! So much knowledge.
Thank you for preserving history!
The Legendary Simeon England. A true American.
Terrific video, as usual. Simeon did a great job of explaining the workings of the gun, and the common practices of the men of the day.
I imagine the motivation behind long hunting was much the same as other trades. It could be a provide a livelihood for those willing to endure the difficulties. Some would be more taken with the life, like those who became sailors or fishermen, long hunting isn't for the stay at home type. But just like those others, the job has become vastly safer and more comfortable.
This was amazingly informative! Thank you all!!
Please never stop!
Excellent video! I've never seen a flintlock rifle being disassembled before! Thanks!
That's the Best video yet! Thank you for showing us the process of cleaning a Flint.
I have to learn to pull those pins on the barrel and how to disassemble the lock.
Just got a lock vice so that's my next project.
Good morning brother and everyone else thank you for the live history video
Thanks for sharing this Jon. Such an interesting topic. Simeon is one of those guys I hope to cross paths with someday. So talented and knowledgable.
In my time I've seen some really good reenactment and a lot of really bad reenactment, and this is really wonderfully good reenactment. Top quality stuff, as always. Love it.
Loving the content as always!
I hope you do, your yearly Halloween reading special again! I do very much enjoy those.
never seen one of these guns broken down in such detail before! thanks Jon and Simeon.
I love when you have ‘guest’ reenactors that talk both about the history that they’re reenacting but also how they reenact. Super interesting!
i love this channel so much history about early America and food i can’t wait for the next video from this wonderful channel❤!
What an awesome video, a will definitely be purchasing a flintlock rifle after this. Super good info on the rifle, thank you both.
Gentleman knows his stuff.
great episode ..
Fantastic video 👍
Excellent and informative video. My wife and I met Mr. England at the CLA show earlier this year. I remarked on the elegance of his tomahawks and he explained how important it was to be able to quickly move the blade and bit of the tomahawk in order to parry the blow of an adversary. He is a very wise and capable human.
Most excellent video. Thanks for the great information!
This is a great video. I'm not sure if you've made a video before about the Pony Express and their journey across the country but it would be an interesting one to hear about.
Absolutely fascinating!! I truly enjoyed this knowledge and knew nothing about this history. I do not feel the need to clean my guns after each shot! I think today, folks are hypersensitive about everything! I clean my guns a couple of times per year and have no issues. However, I do not hunt with my guns. But with tactical and target practice, I feel I utilize my guns as much. I have never had any issues. Thank you for this great video!
Awesome video which is providing a wealth of information. Thank you.
What an amazing video!
Fascinating! I love this video.
Awesome lesson, I enjoyed that, thank you. Keep up the good work and God bless.