1. How do you ship?
2. How long does shipping take?
3. What is your return policy?
4. Is there a guarantee?
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?

Q #1: How do you ship?
A: We ship using UPS Ground at this time. FedEx has lost too many packages and we won't use them except in special cases.

Q #2: How long does shipping take?
A: That depends on a couple of factors. First, we need to retrieve the item from either the shelf, or sometimes the trailer. Then Pete (or sometimes Jeff) needs to inspect the lock, sometimes tune it, and then pack it. Wendy will then prepare an invoice and UPS shipping label for our daily UPS pickup. 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 "shipping department", remember that this is a family run business and there are often projects on the bench that ahead of yours. First come, first serve, no whining, fighting or cutting in line!

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.

Also keep in mind that sometime we are on the road going to or from reenactments. Sometimes we have three events in a row, and only a day or two home between them to try and catch up on emails, phone cals and mail orders. When it is a busy time and we expect a delay, Wendy will be honest and tell you about it when you place your order.

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.

Before returning anything, be sure to contact us first for instructions. Remember that we are reenactors and might be on the road in season. If you send a return without checking with us first, it may sit on the front step for a week while we are away at a major event. We can not be held responsible for unauthorized returns as the security of a box sitting on my front step over a long weekend is beyond our control.

Q #4: Is there a guarantee?
A: Yes. We guarantee 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 guarantee. To date we have had a grand total of five broken springs. 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 me and I 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.

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.

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 bird 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 subtle 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 Enland fowlers were basically copies of mid-centruy 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 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 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.

To be really correct, New England militia would have a Long Land, an early French musket or a fowler. Mostly fowlers. 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.

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 and Visa over the phone.

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).