Frequently Asked Questions
1. How do you ship?
2. How long does shipping take?
3. What is your return policy?
4. Is there a warranty?
5. Can these be fired with shot?
6. Who is the manufacturer?
7. Are the barrels proofed?
8. Can you build me a pistol in .75 to match my Brown Bess?
9 How about a canoe gun?
10 What kind of Charleville is correct for 1775 New England (I.E. "Battle Road")?
10A So does that mean that a Short Land Bess is more correct for early RevWar impressions?
11. Is the vent hole drilled?
12. Are the frizzens hardened?
13. Do you accept credit cards?
14: What kind of wood is the stock made out of?
15: What are your hours?
16: Can I come pick up my musket in person?
17: OK, this is my first gun, can you teach me to load/shoot/clean it?
Q #1: How do you ship?
A: We ship most items using UPS Ground and some smaller items using USPS in the lower 48. For AK, HI, and foreign countries, we ship USPS while keeping within size limits. Oversized packages to overseas countries will sometimes have to go via airfreight. We don't use FedEx at all, so please don't ask.
Q #2: How long does shipping take?
A: If the item is in stock and we get the order early enough in the day, oftentimes we can ship it out via UPS on the day the order is recieved. Then it is up to them, depending on where you are located. To ship to the Northeast, they will deliver in a day or two, to California, it tends to be just over a week.
We do not have a full time "shipping department", remember that this is a small business and there are often projects on the bench that ahead of yours. First come, first serve, no whining, fighting or cutting in line!
Oftentimes popular items are backordered. That is how it goes with handmade, period correct stuff, it takes time to build. Backorders are held by deposit, and filled on a first come, first serve basis.
Please don't order something, then send me rude emails telling me that you ordered an item a week ago and still haven't got your package and that by comparison you ordered a sword from some giant mail-order house and it came in less than a week so you have put a stop on your credit card payment. Flintlocks need to be tuned, and mass-produced swords don't. If your life needs to happen that quickly, muzzleloaders are not for you.
Q #3: What is your return policy?
A: Simple. Don't like it? Send it back UNUSED and UNALTERED for a refund less shipping.
Unused means just that. If you have fired the gun, even once, it is now "used" and I can't resell it as a new one and therefore cannot refund the full purchase price.
If you are buying these to resell, take them to an event (reenactment, gun show...whatever) and they don't sell that weekend, that is not our problem. Please use common sense in this regard and don't try to return a gun that is all scratched up and covered with rusty fingerprints because everyone and his brother picked it up and fondled it over the weekend. We don't offer guns "on consignment".
Before returning anything, be sure to contact us first for instructions. We can not be held responsible for unauthorized returns as the security of a box sitting out in front of the shop over a long weekend is beyond our control, nor can we be held responsible for a returned gun that was damaged in shipping.
Q #4: Is there a warranty?
A: Yes. We warranty the locks against breakage under normal operating conditions.
"Normal operating conditions" means not rusted or modified. Your next door neighbor's cousin's brother-in-law who "works on guns" is probably not qualified to repair a flintlock. If there is a problem with a lock, send it to us and we will take care of it.
Springs and frizzen wear are included in the warranty. Frizzens wear out today just as they did in the 18th century. The sparks you see when snapping a flintlock are little bits of frizzen being scraped away by the flint. If the case hardening wears through send it to us and we will reharden it. If there is a problem, communication with us is the way to fix it and keep it from happening again. Grumbling about a problem around a campfire doesn't fix anything.
Lock repairs including return shipping are free of charge for one year from the purchase date. After one year, the repairs are still free, but there is a $10 charge for return postage and handling. We had to make this change to our policy on free return shipping because of certain people taking advantage of our generous policy by not maintaining their lock for a whole season and sending in a rusty, skanky, dirty lock for us to "fix" because it was free. This got to be a habit and like many other situations in life, a few bad eggs ruined a good thing for everyone.
For warranty repairs, go to our "repairs" page by clicking the button on the sidebar. Follow the instruction on the page.
Q #5: Can these be fired with shot?
A: Yes. Many of our customers hunt with these. Others target shoot. Others just shoot blanks in reenactments. The barrels are made of D.O.M. steel just like the "big names". The breechplugs are threaded and tight.
Using a reasonable load is expected of you and beyond our control. Black powder only!!! An owner's manual comes with each gun. If you lost yours, bought the gun used, or your dog ate it, the entire document is available to download as a text document here
Q #6: Who is the manufacturer?
A: Exactly who is proprietary information. We have most our flintlocks made in India by a company who has in it's third generation and has been in the gun business since 1952 (that is even before Turner Kirkland started Dixie Gun Works). We also deal with several other suppliers in the same area.
There are pros and cons to guns made in India. There is a town in the Western part of the country that is packed full of gunmaking shops, some good and some bad. Through trial and error we have found a few companies who are willing to work with us to produce reproduction flintlocks that fit the time periods we reenact here.
I'll admit that I have seen Indian built guns that are pretty much junk, but I don't sell them. Please don't confuse these with guns that are available from movie prop companies. While we have provided flintlocks to several prop houses, we have no fantasies about being in the movie business and therefore have different priorities. Our goal is to provide historically accurate weapons and gear to the living history community.
These guns are on static display in several museums around the US, used by the National Park Service in interpretive programs, and are used by yet other museums for musket firing demonstrations daily.
Pros:
1. With the exception of the barrel, all steel parts are handforged for the ultimate in period correct construction. This makes for some of the strongest locks available. The investment cast parts available elsewhere are not only not historically accurate, but are also prone to casting flaws and cavitation. Hand-forging eliminates these problems.
2. Since the manufacturing techinques are still "old world" instead of "high tech", production runs are smaller, generally 20-25 pieces at a time. This allows smaller numbers of unique patterns to be built at a reasonable cost. This isn't possible in the "high tech" world of CNC manufacturing where large numbers of a pattern need to be made to make it cost effective.
3. Cast brass parts are generally made the old fashioned way with attention paid to historical accuracy, and not manufacturing efficiancy. In many cases, molds for brass furniture are made directly from original pieces.
Cons:
1. Walnut stock blanks are not available in India at anything like a reasonable price. The stocks on these are made of teak (the Indians call teak and other similar woods "rosewood"). These are pretty woods with prominent grain, but are slightly heavier than walnut. If I were to send raw materials to the shop to have them make walnut stocks, it would probably double the price. The other downside to teak is that it is difficult to work with unless your tools are very sharp (they should be sharp anyway).
2. Interchangeability. Since the parts are hand made, they don't always interchange. Replacement parts need to be fitted. The good news is that because of the manufacturing techniques, there is seldom a reason to replace a part.
Q #7: Are the barrels proofed?
A: No. Here in the US, there are no proof houses. I checked with SAAMI as to their reccomendations about proofing. ("Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturer's Institute", the organization who sets standards for such things)
Here was the response:
"SAAMI is currently working on setting standards for muzzleloading guns.
There is no proof standard at this time... Cartridge guns are proofed at 130% to 140% of
service load pressures. Where and how proofing of muzzleloaders will be done
is not yet set."
What does this mean? It means that here in America, there are no standards to proof barrels to, nor proof houses to do the testing. In countries where there are proof laws and proof houses (like the UK and Germany), these routinely pass proof testing.
If you really, really want a muzzleloader to be proof tested, we can perform that task for a fee of $50. The gun barrel will be measured, test fired with double the service load (far in excess of Italian standards that are only 130% of service load) and measured again. The barrel will be marked with our stamp and you will get a copy of the test report. We keep a copy of the test report on file here.
Q #8: Can you build me a pistol in .75 cal to match my Brown Bess?
A: No. I don't have time to do custom work anymore, and even if I did I would not build something that was historically inaccurate. Pistols were meant for three kinds of troops; horse soldiers, sailors, and highlanders. I don't care what they showed in "The Patriot", infantry soldiers were not issued pistols, and the idea of having a pistol bore to match your musket is not historically accurate for English troops.
British service issue pistols were generally in two sizes: pistol bore (roughly .58) and carbine bore (roughly .65). Never have I seen an original in .75 bore.
Our French pistols are in .69, which matches the French muskets. The French really advanced their gun technology and concepts while the Brits clung to traditions. Look at how each generation of French musket was an improvement over the one before. Each new generation of British musket was really just a cheaper, shorter version of the Brown Bess.
Don't even get me started about so-called "canoe guns".
Q #9: How about a canoe gun?
A: You knew it was my pet peeve and just had to ask, didn't you?
OK, here are my thoughts on so-called "canoe guns".
They never existed!!!
The idea of a musket being cut back because the muzzle wore through, mushroomed, or was just plain too long is well founded in history, but the idea of a longhunter having a special cut-down musket for use in canoes is just plain BS and a product of someone's imagination. Think about it. You have a canoe and thus don't have to actually carry your gun unless you are actually firing it, so you could bring along a musket as big as you want.
Market hunters used big, clunky muskets with full sized bores. They loaded up with huge loads, crept up on a flock of birds, and blasted them while sitting on the water, killing or wounding sometime over 100 birds with a single shot. They did NOT use cute little cut down Northwest trade guns from canoes.
There is simply no historical precedent for a "canoe gun". The idea of a "longhunter" carrying a second gun for use in a boat is just silly.
I have an original musket in my collection that has been shortened. It was an Indian gun, complete with brass tacks on the stock. It has been percussioned, restocked, and worn out by long, hard use. It is short, but it is NOT a "canoe gun".
Q #10: What kind of Charleville is correct for 1775 New England?
A: None. It is well documented that so-called "Charlevilles" were shipped to New England via a straw company set up through Ben Franklin's contacts in France. They arrived in the spring of 1777. The war pretty much left New England around that time. Specifically, the "Battle Road" stuff happened in the spring of 1775, two years before the French muskets arrived in Portsmouth, NH.
When the French muskets did get here, they certainly didn't go to the local town militias. They were intended for the Continental Line troops and would all have had unit markings. I recently got to handle an original 1763 Charleville that has N.H. regimental markings on the barrel. It was different in many ways from the Italian repros.
The French guns in the hands of the militia in the 1775-1777 period would have been earlier military muskets, like the 1717, 1728 or 1754 patterns. There would also have been plenty of fusils and civilian style fowling pieces obtained in trade with Canada in the odd periods when we were not at war with the French. Remember that the New England fowlers were basically copies of mid-century French fowlers.
On display in the "Museum of Our National Heritage" in Lexington, MA are several fowlers and muskets documented as being used on April 19, 1775. There are lots of early French parts in them. Ask me and I will send photos to you.
Now some old guys who carried Navy Arms Charlevilles in the Bicenetennial will say that their character "could have brought it back from the French and Indian War". Nope. The Charlevilles in question are the 1763 pattern, which were not yet invented by the time the Seven Years War ended, so there certainly weren't a pile of these things brought home as war trophies by Yankee provincials. (no offense meant to the old guys here, they laid the groundwork for the reenacting we enjoy today, thirty years later)
There are tons of Charlevilles and Short Land Brown Bess muskets in the hands of reenactors today basically because that pretty much all that was available for years.
Q #10A: So does that mean that a Short Land Bess is more correct for early RevWar impressions?
A: Not exactly. The Short Land muskets with 42" barrels, but 1756 Long Land pattern furniture were introduced in 1768. The trouble here in the colonies officially began in April, 1775. The British troops that marched on Lexington and Concord were still carrying Long Lands, you can see a captured one with a 10th Regt. of Foot provenance at the museum mentioned in FAQ #10 above. Just exactly how would all of those Short Lands have found there way into the hands of the militia? It's not bloody likely that any did until the war escalated.
According to DeWitt Bailey's research, the "Short Land" muskets as we know them from looking at Japanese or Italian repros (I.E. with the flat sideplate and 42" barrel) aren't right for Battle Road at all. The brass furniture for the new flat-sideplate type musket wasn't ordered until July of 1775, with the first sets being delivered in November of 1775, the muskets themselves were probably not assembled until 1776. So an off-the-shelf "2nd model" or "Short Land" Japanese or Italian musket is NOT correct for Battle Road if you REALLY care about the details.
To be really correct, New England militia would have a Long Land, an early French musket or a fowler. Mostly fowlers and weird paramilitary "parts guns". Certainly no rifles.
Unlike in the 1970's, there are options for today's reenactors who want to do it right. Settling for a Short Land or a Charleville to do Battle Road isn't your only option anymore when we can be historically correct for the same amount of money or even less if you are coparing a correct musket to an overpriced Italian musket.
Q #11: Is the vent hole drilled?
A: Yes. A flintlock without a vent hole is a fancy paperweight. We sell muzzleloaders, not paperweights. For paperweights, try an office supply store. For international shipment, we can provide an unvented barrel upon request, sometimes advance notice is needed for an unvented gun though as 99.99% of our customers want them ready to shoot.
Q #12: Are the frizzens hardend?
A: Yes. Frizzens wear out though, that what the sparks you see when you fire it are: little bits of frizzen. If it wears out, we will reharden it for free.
Q #13: Do you accept credit cards?
A: Yes, we accept Mastercard, Visa and Discover.
Q #14: What kind of wood is the stock made out of?
A: Teak. Walnut stock blanks are not available in India at anything like a reasonable price. The stocks on these are made of teak (the Indians call teak and other similar woods "rosewood"). These are pretty woods with prominent grain, but are slightly heavier than walnut. If I were to send raw materials to the shop to have them make walnut stocks, it would probably double the price. The other downside to teak is that it is difficult to work with unless your tools are very sharp (they should be sharp anyway).
Q #15: What are your hours?
A: We are open Monday through Thursday, 9AM-4PM Eastern time. Sometimes there are holidays. Sometimes people call in sick. Sometimes we just take the day off and go hunting. If you call and get voicemail, be an adult and leave a message. Voicemail exists for a reason. Kathy WILL call you back. Don't be a weenie and call, get voicemail, then immediately hang up and hit redial. One clown did this 21 times in one day...on a day that we were closed. That is a new record!
There is ONE phone line. If Kathy is on the phone talking to someone, you will get voice mail. Relax, deal with it. It is her job to sell guns. She LIKES to sell guns. She isn't avoiding you, and she WILL call you back.
This phone line also goes into my house, which is located upstairs over the shop. This means don't call at 11PM or at 7AM.
Q #16: Can I come pick up my musket in person?
A: Yes, if you are in the area please do! Picking stuff up in person save you the shipping costs, eliminates the risk the UPS will break it, and often gives you the chance to pick your favorite one out of a crate.
We prefer that pickups be made during normal business hours, but can sometimes make alternate arrangements.
If you plan it out right and let us know in advance, we can even arrange a shooting lesson.
Make sure you call or email for directions. If you use mapquest or yahoo maps and are coming from south of here, it will send you up a road that isn't really a road anymore. Very often, GPS gets people lost too. Yeah, GPS gadgets are great for finding the nearest McDonalds when you are crusing the suburbs, but we are sort of out in the woods here and I've had to go and rescue more that one person whose GPS led them around in circles and they end up in the wrong town.
Q #17: OK, this is my first gun, can you teach me to load/shoot/clean it?
A: Absolutely. Generally what we do is spend an afternoon walking you through the basics:
Muzzleloader history You'll get the chance to see and handle original and replica muskets ranging from the matchlock and snaphaunce to the true flintlock, caplock and early breechloaders of the 19th century. We can talk about more modern breechloaders, but that is a whole other lesson plan.
Casting round ball and rolling cartridges We give you the opportunity to use our electric lead pots and single cavity molds of different types to understand the basics of casting. Once the projectiles are cast, we'll show you how to roll 18th century British style paper cartridges.
Loading and firing Using the balls you cast and cartridges you rolled, we head out to the range to do some shooting at 25 yards. You might be suprized at how accurate a smoothbore musket is, despite what you heard from other reeanctors who have never fired live before or what your 5th grade history book said. You get to take your target home to show it off.
Cleaning and basic maintainance You got it dirty, you get to clean it. We will tear the musket down for basic cleaning to show you how it is done.
We offer this program free of charge, we just ask that you plan ahead so as not to spring it on us at the last minute. We do not charge for this program. I feel that a person who is taught how to do it right will be a much safer shooter than someone who learns to shoot by reading all sorts of silly ideas on the internet. Donating my time to this program is my way of contributing to my sport. Over the years, I've seen people doing all sorts of unsafe things because nobody actually taught them how to shoot, and this is a way to get off on the right foot.
