I got into the black powder lifestyle in 1987. I have a Lyman Plains pistol in .50cal (cap and ball) that I bought in the summer of 2000. Literally hundreds of rounds have been fired since then. It is still just as accurate as any other pistol I have. And is my favorite pistol to shoot. When I lived in North Carolina, they had an open carry law and this is what I carried. You better believe I got some strange looks when I was in Walmart 🤣
Handguns started to become more common before the War between the states in the 1850s with the Colt cap and ball revolvers and after the war by the mid 1860s they became very common with all of the plethora and ubiquity of surplus cap and ball revolvers
Hay I love shooting my muzzleloaders but my wife hates when I clean them . I love watching your videos. Keep it up please. I want to hunt turkeys with a pistol .
Very nice gun, kit, and shooting. By far, the most common pistols of the flintlock era were smoothbore pistols produced for the various navies of the world. The cramped quarters on board an old wooden sailing vessel necessitated much shorter firearms than on land. They'd have a few short muskets for land raiding parties and some blunderbusses for general defense and to take out enemy rigging, but when it came to fighting off a boarding party, the smoothbore pistol and a blade gave you your best fighting chance. Other than being a sailor, and unless you had the chance to buy a surplus/ captured navy pistol or were rich, you were probably toting around a fowler. Rifled arms in general never really gained widespread popularity amongst the masses until they could be easily and cheaply manufactured in the 19th century.
@Ardshiel Complex Did you actually read my comment? I was making that exact point while also pointing out that no military had general issue rifled muskets until the industrial revolution kicked off in the mid 19th century.
My uncle has a pistol almost like that, except it's a caplock. Just as he still has his 50-cal Hawken rifle. I've offered to buy them off him as he hasn't shot them in over 15 years now, but he wants to hold onto them.
I read a lot of people had their flintlock pistols and rifles converted over to cap locks. So do some research, perhaps your Uncle's gun used to be a flintlock.
Love flintlock guns. Living in Japan I can't have any firearms. I did buy a Pedersoli 54cal pistol kit and had it sent to my brothers home in CA in 2006. I worked on it in 2015 on a visit home. I got the handle finished to where I'm comfortable and fitted the lock but that's about as far as I got. I'm planning to brown all the hardware and finish the kit hopefully in the near future. Best wishes, Edward
Great video, great shooting. Everything Black Powder experimented with a mixture of 50/50 water to dawn dish soap to spray or soak his cloth patches before loading and the fouling wasn't an issue no matter how many times he shot and loaded without cleaning or swabbing the barrel between shots. He did say it would obviously make your hands a bit slick/slimy to work with but it seemed to work great. Mybe give it a shot sometime (pun very much intended).:50 water to dawn dish soap to spray or soak his cloth patches before loading and the fouling wasn't an issue no matter how many times he shot and loaded without cleaning or swabbing the barrel
Greetings fellow ,from the hills of KY I say there fine pistol Goodman very proud of you for keeping tradition and your love for the frontier keep your powerder dry top knot tight, we're a rare breed
Love the sound of Lead on STEEL! Love the Perfection of the Imperfections! Flint is a journey, an Art, and a Science, with Adventure! Keep your Smoke Poles SMOKING!!
We tend to think our 18th century counterparts were primitive yet they ushered in the enlightenment era and the scientific revolution. I think they knew a thing or two about making accurate firearms 😉
Nice piece for sure! I myself am currently looking at having a .40 caliber pistol made in the white to match my mountain rifle, and to replace my "cheap" Indian made light cavalry pistol.
Makes me want to finish my 50cal Kentucky Pistol in flintlock. I also have the matching kentucky rifle in flintlock to finish as well. I cant wait to have them finished so I can shoot them and add them to my 18th century kit. Thanks for the video.
Very nice pistol. I do hunt deer with a Hawken percussion style pistol but no Turkey. I use a Pedersolie 10 ga double front loader for that. Here in Nebraska it's not legal to take Turkeys with a handgun. Keep bringing us great content. I enjoy your videos.
Nice video , and a very nice pistol . My first builds were Kentucky pistols .but they were caplock . But they were fun to build and fun to shoot . I like your outfit Ethan . Keep it up .
Good eye Flinty, yes it was. Max offered it to me before he passed and I couldn’t turn him down. Paid him what he asked and promised he could come over and shoot anytime he wanted. Going to miss him for many years.
Nice shooting! To comment on an earlier part of your video, I felt that back in the 18th and 19th Century, many people could only have enough money to own 1 or 2 arms. Usually the first arm would be a smoothbore long gun for the versatility. I could see though a pistol as the 2nd backup weapon. Small enough to carry and quick enough to use if you don't have the time to reload the long gun. At least that's my take on it.
Yeah, I think pistols would have been more for the moderately wealthy who could afford them. An average frontiersman would probably just go for the rifle musket.
Nice shooting. Just a word of advice, don't dump your powder if you don't get a spark off the frizzen. Without that spark, the best powder in the best condition will not go off.
@@michaelpriest6242 He didn't knap the flint and said he was just changing out the powder. My comment was based on the video and what had happened in it rather than what someone may or may not be willing to do in a different scenario.
Looks like a ton of fun. Did you lose 10 lbs of sweat in the summer heat!? Glad to see you’re shooting one handed too. We need to get together and shoot sometime.
15 grains is easy to redd up after. You could probably increase it to 30 grains for more power. It would be like a small game load or 25 yard target load in a .50 or a .54 caliber long rifle or a Hawken but for plinking a 15 or 20 grain load probably is suficient especially with the accuracy you’re getting. It’s probably sending that heavy ball at a velocity of about 550 to 600 feet per second with about maybe a hundred foot pounds of energy
Definitely. 15 grains is really just a plinking load. If I were wanting to hunt with this or do anything else, I'd bump it up to make sure I had enough force. Thanks for writing!
Very cool! I purchased a Traditions 50cal flintlock pistol a few months ago and it's so fun to shoot. One question; do you have a holster for your flintlock pistol? I've been looking for one for mine and I'm curious what a period correct holster might look like.
@@swamprat9018 Yeah I agree, I've seen a few that look similar to a bandoleer across the chest with a small loop for the gun. I met a leather worker a few months ago and thought about asking him to make one for me.
Excellent marksmanship Ethan. That pistol is beautiful. The swamp barrel and in .54 is is soooooo cool. I watched your video on the Kibler open house and I saw pistols? Amazing flintlock, thanks for sharing brother. I have to make a video on my horn and accessories I made. Not as refined as yours but more crude as if made by a caveman with a blackpowder firearm. Lol.
Thanks for watching Jack! Those Kibler pistols were some Jim made many years ago. I hope to see him make a pistol kit but don't expect it soon. Can't wait to see your accessories!
I always thought the Kentucky style of long gun and pistols, where of smaller caliber. But maybe going as high as .40 caliber. I know there are Hawken style pistols used in the west, that where of .54 caliber. Any ways, looks like you had fun. I used to hunt with a Thompson Center .50 caliber rifle, percussion cap. It was a good shooter. P.S. If your using a .530 round ball, you should only need a .10 inch thick patch.
Historically, larger caliber guns go back to the 1600s here in America. most of the originals I have handled are above 60 caliber with many in the 50, 54, 58 as well. Smaller caliber arms were certainly around and used, but it's a misknomer that the east had smaller calibers. Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for sharing, those Thompson Center rifles were great!
Hey Ethan, nice pistol, nice shootin’!! Didnt how how busy you have been, found the Iron Ram, very good! I know you have done NMLRA vids, I get alot out of those too! Great outfit, almost thought I was watching Duelist, lol
The idea of turkey hunting with a black powder pistol lead me hear. My state it is illegal to hunt turkey with a muzzle loader but a muzzle loader pistol 50 cal or bigger is allowed. Probably just use a shotgun this year but maybe next year get a pistol and give it a go.
It's lovely, you guys are so lucky. We here need to have a handgun lic even for a modern replica pistol like this. Antiques yes you may own one of these without lic. Stupid isn't it.
Rifled barrel handguns in a way don’t make a ton of sense from a practical standpoint for that technological period. A rifled handgun doesn’t have much of a range or accuracy advantage over a smoothbore handgun, and would be slower/more difficult to reload. It doesn’t make them any less fun to own and shoot though!
Where does one find nice pistols these days... I want something a little nicer than traditions/lyman/etc to match my Colonial, Pedersoli seems like my best option but if i can find American made KY for a decent price id be happy as heck
Surviving images show us that they were generally stuck in belts or pockets as needed. There is some evidence of early holsters, but not really like what we see today.
These are a pair of “Milwaukee” ear plugs. Unfortunately they just come in red and black. For unnoticeable I like black in ear foam plugs or I have a pair of Walker Silencer plugs that work well
@@ILoveMuzzleloading Neat! I use a lot of Milwaukee tools for work. And I did not know Milwaukee made these. I sure appreciate it. Have a great weekend!
Thank you! I think flintlock inaccuracy is greatly exaggerated, in original and contemporary arms. With practice and care a flintlock can be just as accurate as a centerfire gun. Now there is a difference between a rifled barrel like this and a smoothbore barrel like in a Bess or Charleville. The smoothbores will be less accurate, but with load development and a good shooter, they can be accurate at 150yds
A pistol like that would only be really useful if you were involved in duels, not really a gun for militia duty or hunting, so not so much something a poor fellow would bother to spend money on
I got into the black powder lifestyle in 1987. I have a Lyman Plains pistol in .50cal (cap and ball) that I bought in the summer of 2000.
Literally hundreds of rounds have been fired since then. It is still just as accurate as any other pistol I have. And is my favorite pistol to shoot.
When I lived in North Carolina, they had an open carry law and this is what I carried. You better believe I got some strange looks when I was in Walmart 🤣
Handguns started to become more common before the War between the states in the 1850s with the Colt cap and ball revolvers and after the war by the mid 1860s they became very common with all of the plethora and ubiquity of surplus cap and ball revolvers
The wood is beautiful.
Very nice pistol..
Thank you!
Hay I love shooting my muzzleloaders but my wife hates when I clean them . I love watching your videos. Keep it up please. I want to hunt turkeys with a pistol .
I hear you Kent, I clean them far away from the house ;)
Very nice gun, kit, and shooting. By far, the most common pistols of the flintlock era were smoothbore pistols produced for the various navies of the world. The cramped quarters on board an old wooden sailing vessel necessitated much shorter firearms than on land. They'd have a few short muskets for land raiding parties and some blunderbusses for general defense and to take out enemy rigging, but when it came to fighting off a boarding party, the smoothbore pistol and a blade gave you your best fighting chance. Other than being a sailor, and unless you had the chance to buy a surplus/ captured navy pistol or were rich, you were probably toting around a fowler. Rifled arms in general never really gained widespread popularity amongst the masses until they could be easily and cheaply manufactured in the 19th century.
Nope, the Brit Royal Navy had Brown Bess Sea Muskets and smoothbore pistols a plenty, as did the French, Spanish etc (their own variants of course.)
@Ardshiel Complex Did you actually read my comment? I was making that exact point while also pointing out that no military had general issue rifled muskets until the industrial revolution kicked off in the mid 19th century.
Make sure you wipe residue from under your flint, and flint is striking good .
My uncle has a pistol almost like that, except it's a caplock. Just as he still has his 50-cal Hawken rifle. I've offered to buy them off him as he hasn't shot them in over 15 years now, but he wants to hold onto them.
I read a lot of people had their flintlock pistols and rifles converted over to cap locks. So do some research, perhaps your Uncle's gun used to be a flintlock.
Love flintlock guns. Living in Japan I can't have any firearms. I did buy a Pedersoli 54cal pistol kit and had it sent to my brothers home in CA in 2006. I worked on it in 2015 on a visit home. I got the handle finished to where I'm comfortable and fitted the lock but that's about as far as I got. I'm planning to brown all the hardware and finish the kit hopefully in the near future.
Best wishes,
Edward
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Your gun to me, almost looks to pretty to shoot. I love the color and pattern of the wood. I'm glad you are enjoying your gun.
Good pistol shooting , especially for first time out to the range.
Thanks Stephen!
Great video, great shooting.
Everything Black Powder experimented with a mixture of 50/50 water to dawn dish soap to spray or soak his cloth patches before loading and the fouling wasn't an issue no matter how many times he shot and loaded without cleaning or swabbing the barrel between shots. He did say it would obviously make your hands a bit slick/slimy to work with but it seemed to work great. Mybe give it a shot sometime (pun very much intended).:50 water to dawn dish soap to spray or soak his cloth patches before loading and the fouling wasn't an issue no matter how many times he shot and loaded without cleaning or swabbing the barrel
Greetings fellow ,from the hills of KY I say there fine pistol Goodman very proud of you for keeping tradition and your love for the frontier keep your powerder dry top knot tight, we're a rare breed
Thank you kindly!
Beautiful pistol
Love the sound of Lead on STEEL!
Love the Perfection of the Imperfections! Flint is a journey, an Art, and a Science, with Adventure!
Keep your Smoke Poles SMOKING!!
Interesting. Especially with your period outfit. I didn't think that type of pistol was so accurate, perhaps more so than antique originals?
There’s a lot of myths out there about accuracy of 18th century arms
We tend to think our 18th century counterparts were primitive yet they ushered in the enlightenment era and the scientific revolution. I think they knew a thing or two about making accurate firearms 😉
Great video. I shoot a .54 pistol also. Always a good time.
Very beautiful pistol. Thank you.
Nice piece for sure! I myself am currently looking at having a .40 caliber pistol made in the white to match my mountain rifle, and to replace my "cheap" Indian made light cavalry pistol.
Awesome! Hope you enjoy it.
Lol Ethan: here we are 25 yards easy shot with a flintlock pistol...... me: I'm gona need to hit the range more....
LOL, we all need more range time. My father had some notes for me on my shooting- always room to improve ;)
Outstanding shooting! I LOVE it....!! Thanks for sharing....
Thanks Mark!
Makes me want to finish my 50cal Kentucky Pistol in flintlock. I also have the matching kentucky rifle in flintlock to finish as well. I cant wait to have them finished so I can shoot them and add them to my 18th century kit. Thanks for the video.
Adam, you should absolutely finish it! Please let me know how it goes.
@@ILoveMuzzleloading Thanks for the motivation!! I will let you know how they turn out. Thanks again
From Australia, you always produce quality presentations Ethan, I subscribed.
Thank you kindly! Hope all is well down under!
Wish we could get the blackpowder firearms you guys get.
Beautiful pistol and nice shooting. Also, I really like the period clothing. Adds to the fun I think.
Very nice pistol. Would love to have one
I love it. Easy to shoot and easy to clean.
It makes me want a flintlock pistol. I love to look of the dark curly maple and dark hardware.
You definitely need one
Nice looking firearm…handsome piece! Appears to be very accurate despite what would seem to be a relatively light load.
I am always buying guns like this. Unfortunately, it's all I can own. But it's better than no gun.
Very nice pistol. I do hunt deer with a Hawken percussion style pistol but no Turkey. I use a Pedersolie 10 ga double front loader for that. Here in Nebraska it's not legal to take Turkeys with a handgun. Keep bringing us great content. I enjoy your videos.
Great video. I think your 18th C garb is looking great!
Nice video , and a very nice pistol . My first builds were Kentucky pistols .but they were caplock . But they were fun to build and fun to shoot . I like your outfit Ethan . Keep it up .
Thanks Stanley!
Thank You !
Nice video and good shooting. I like the shooting videos the most, keep it up please.
They are my favorite too! More to come
Beautiful pistol sir!🫡👍🏻
Thanks man! I need to get it out soon.
Very nice. Love the shape of the trigger guard. Is that a small Siler lock? Was that previously owned by Max Egolf?
Good eye Flinty, yes it was. Max offered it to me before he passed and I couldn’t turn him down. Paid him what he asked and promised he could come over and shoot anytime he wanted. Going to miss him for many years.
Nice shooting! To comment on an earlier part of your video, I felt that back in the 18th and 19th Century, many people could only have enough money to own 1 or 2 arms. Usually the first arm would be a smoothbore long gun for the versatility. I could see though a pistol as the 2nd backup weapon. Small enough to carry and quick enough to use if you don't have the time to reload the long gun. At least that's my take on it.
Great thoughts on it!
Yeah, I think pistols would have been more for the moderately wealthy who could afford them. An average frontiersman would probably just go for the rifle musket.
Looks great from where I'm sitting.
Thanks!
That is one cool pistol. Love the trigger guard and the horn ramrod cap.
Thanks James!
Pretty good chootin’!
Nice shooting. Just a word of advice, don't dump your powder if you don't get a spark off the frizzen. Without that spark, the best powder in the best condition will not go off.
Thanks so much.
Knap the flint with a loaded and primed pistol? No thanks.
@@michaelpriest6242 He didn't knap the flint and said he was just changing out the powder. My comment was based on the video and what had happened in it rather than what someone may or may not be willing to do in a different scenario.
Looks like a ton of fun. Did you lose 10 lbs of sweat in the summer heat!?
Glad to see you’re shooting one handed too. We need to get together and shoot sometime.
Haha! It wasn’t too bad but I was feeling it by the end of the day.
We definitely do! I’ve got plenty of lead to throw down range
Like your videos big time. Could you please do a video on how the flintlock pistols were carried in the day?? Thanks.
15 grains is easy to redd up after. You could probably increase it to 30 grains for more power. It would be like a small game load or 25 yard target load in a .50 or a .54 caliber long rifle or a Hawken but for plinking a 15 or 20 grain load probably is suficient especially with the accuracy you’re getting. It’s probably sending that heavy ball at a velocity of about 550 to 600 feet per second with about maybe a hundred foot pounds of energy
Definitely. 15 grains is really just a plinking load. If I were wanting to hunt with this or do anything else, I'd bump it up to make sure I had enough force. Thanks for writing!
I've been shooting 40 grains in my 50 cal 18 inches high at 25 yards . Think I will try 30 maybe that will help.
👍 Really nice pistol and really good shooting.
Thank you
beautiful pistol. well done video.
Thanks Jeff!
great video 👍
Thank you for the vedio, looks good. I my self am looking for a .62 cal. to go with my trade gun.
Very cool! I purchased a Traditions 50cal flintlock pistol a few months ago and it's so fun to shoot. One question; do you have a holster for your flintlock pistol? I've been looking for one for mine and I'm curious what a period correct holster might look like.
Believe that would be a sash most of the time. but a flap holster (think pirate garb).
@@swamprat9018 Yeah I agree, I've seen a few that look similar to a bandoleer across the chest with a small loop for the gun. I met a leather worker a few months ago and thought about asking him to make one for me.
I don't have a holster yet, working on doing some research this fall/winter to see what I can find.
Excellent marksmanship Ethan. That pistol is beautiful. The swamp barrel and in .54 is is soooooo cool. I watched your video on the Kibler open house and I saw pistols? Amazing flintlock, thanks for sharing brother. I have to make a video on my horn and accessories I made. Not as refined as yours but more crude as if made by a caveman with a blackpowder firearm. Lol.
Thanks for watching Jack! Those Kibler pistols were some Jim made many years ago. I hope to see him make a pistol kit but don't expect it soon. Can't wait to see your accessories!
I always thought the Kentucky style of long gun and pistols, where of smaller caliber. But maybe going as high as .40 caliber. I know there are Hawken style pistols used in the west, that where of .54 caliber. Any ways, looks like you had fun. I used to hunt with a Thompson Center .50 caliber rifle, percussion cap. It was a good shooter. P.S. If your using a .530 round ball, you should only need a .10 inch thick patch.
Historically, larger caliber guns go back to the 1600s here in America. most of the originals I have handled are above 60 caliber with many in the 50, 54, 58 as well. Smaller caliber arms were certainly around and used, but it's a misknomer that the east had smaller calibers.
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for sharing, those Thompson Center rifles were great!
Hey Ethan, nice pistol, nice shootin’!! Didnt how how busy you have been, found the Iron Ram, very good! I know you have done NMLRA vids, I get alot out of those too! Great outfit, almost thought I was watching Duelist, lol
Thanks! It keeps me out of trouble!
The idea of turkey hunting with a black powder pistol lead me hear. My state it is illegal to hunt turkey with a muzzle loader but a muzzle loader pistol 50 cal or bigger is allowed. Probably just use a shotgun this year but maybe next year get a pistol and give it a go.
Interesting! What state? Do they not allow seven a muzzleloading shotgun? I hope it goes well for you
@@ILoveMuzzleloading South Dakota. And they do allow muzzle loading shotguns
It's lovely, you guys are so lucky. We here need to have a handgun lic even for a modern replica pistol like this.
Antiques yes you may own one of these without lic.
Stupid isn't it.
Rifled barrel handguns in a way don’t make a ton of sense from a practical standpoint for that technological period. A rifled handgun doesn’t have much of a range or accuracy advantage over a smoothbore handgun, and would be slower/more difficult to reload. It doesn’t make them any less fun to own and shoot though!
Great video!! Does it kick ?
I wish I could find a wheel lock pistol.
Question: Have you tried GUN Cotton? Very very clean, I know it came out in the mid 1860s or so
Where does one find nice pistols these days... I want something a little nicer than traditions/lyman/etc to match my Colonial, Pedersoli seems like my best option but if i can find American made KY for a decent price id be happy as heck
where do you get them and where can I get some??
Nice change up with the pistol shooting. Really enjoyed it thanks. Do you have any plans on how you are going to carry this (holster) ?
Hey Barry, I've not thought about a holster just yet but will need to do some research to find something that fits!
Enjoyed your video with your flintlock pistol. Do you have any idea where I can find a 15” swamp barrel for a pistol? Thank you.
What did they use to holster such pistols? What did the holsters (or however they carried them on person) look like?
Surviving images show us that they were generally stuck in belts or pockets as needed. There is some evidence of early holsters, but not really like what we see today.
“Mileage may very”…….. do you have a patent on that line or can it be used? Lol love these vids. Thanks Ethan.
No patents here, I hardly know how to spell it ;) Thanks Scott!
Bom dia
That's a beautiful pistol! Does it have a horn tip on the ramrod?
Yes it does! Good eye
What kind of penetration you would get with 15 grains?
Not much, but for woodswalk shooting like this it's okay. Maybe I need to do a penetration test with this.
Where can i find that brand of earpro? I like how unnoticeable they are with your kit. Hipefully they come in a black or brown
These are a pair of “Milwaukee” ear plugs. Unfortunately they just come in red and black.
For unnoticeable I like black in ear foam plugs or I have a pair of Walker Silencer plugs that work well
@@ILoveMuzzleloading Neat! I use a lot of Milwaukee tools for work. And I did not know Milwaukee made these. I sure appreciate it. Have a great weekend!
You too!
Nice outfit Ethan. Are these different from older flintlocks that are said to be inaccurate or is that inaccurate description over exaggerated?
Thank you!
I think flintlock inaccuracy is greatly exaggerated, in original and contemporary arms. With practice and care a flintlock can be just as accurate as a centerfire gun. Now there is a difference between a rifled barrel like this and a smoothbore barrel like in a Bess or Charleville. The smoothbores will be less accurate, but with load development and a good shooter, they can be accurate at 150yds
Great video(s). What are you using for a pan priming horn??
Thank you! I'm using a small brass primer made by Jerry Rice with 4F. I'll show the primer in a video soon.
Thank you.@@ILoveMuzzleloading
Hi Ethan. Very good video. Is that nice gun smoothbore or rifled? Greetings from Spain.
Thanks! This is a rifled bore
15 gr charge is way to weak for use other than what you are doing. 30gr to 40 gr would be my choice. Nice gun.
Thanks Bull!
Does an online list exist for muzzleloading activities exist? I’m located in the Midwest and I can’t find much in my region.
What area of the Midwest are you in? I can try to point you to a relevant list
Nice pistol, is that horn on the rammer?
Yes it is
I seen a picture of Blackbeard was 6 pistols and he actually died in 1718 so he lived in the 1700s and most Pirates use pistols instead of rifles
Cool thanks!
Where do you get your powder?
I get it from the NMLRA
They had iron sights back then?
It’s all they had
@@ILoveMuzzleloading is your pistol a smoothbore?
@@cardboardcapeii4286 no it’s rifled
@@ILoveMuzzleloading I thought most pistols and flintlocks were smoothbore in the 18th century.
Was it alot of money
I had to save my pennies for sure
15 grains, get the chronograph out before you go hunting with that load.
Would you ever open carry a flintlock pistol in public?
If I was at an appropriate event, sure. But it’s practicality compared to a modern carry pistol is lacking
A pistol like that would only be really useful if you were involved in duels, not really a gun for militia duty or hunting, so not so much something a poor fellow would bother to spend money on
This is what they had in mind when they wrote the second amendment to the constitution.
Lol
You can hunt with a 10mm pistol. Surprising results.
Interesting!