I Got to be the Cool Mom for a Change

After last week’s crash into the door, and subsequent damage, my son asked two of his carpenter coworkers to come over and give it a fix up. They did a fabulous job! My door closes without a problem. I do need to get some weatherstripping for the gap-osis that does remain. One problem solved.

Both of these gentlemen are avid hunters, so it goes without saying that firearms are part of their milieu.

However, they have not had much experience with black powder shooting, or flintlocks.

Hehehehe

I brought out my .36 flinter and gave them a chance to experience what black powder is all about. They thought it was going to “kick” them hard. Nope

One of the great things about black powder shooting is that it pushes but doesn’t kick. My right shoulder has had over 50-ish dislocations and been surgically repaired, so anything that would make my shoulder have problems is not on my agenda. Quite honestly, it’s been a worry for me for a long time. Rob and I worked out what calibers would be ok for me to shoot without dislocating my shoulder again, and which ones to stay away from.

A bit of background…. Rob and I participated in Colonial American historical reenacting while he was here on this earth. Our personas were former indentured servants now living on the frontier of Vermont. When we were at events, I would demonstrate colonial fiber arts and he would demonstrate black powder shooting when he was not watching and explaining to visitors what I was doing. And he is fabulous at talking about spinning, weaving, fiber prep, etc. He had it all down pat. Rob was a natural teacher! It is amazing to listen to him talk about how a Great Wheel works and what I was doing to spin on it. Given his natural talent to teach and wanting me to be a well-rounded reenactor that’s where my love of black powder shooting comes from.

Neither of these gentlemen who fixed my door had seen nor shot a flintlock firearm before. They got the crash course from me. Powder, patch and ball! After the first shot Mr J looked at us and exclaimed “I gotta get me one of these!!!” He was hooked!! Mr D took his turn and giggled like a schoolgirl over it. Another one hooked on it.

They both got two shots and my son took one also before Mr J and Mr D decided they needed to run some errands.

They came back a few hours later with an entire black powder set up and asked me to school them on what to do. Unfortunately, they had an inline set up (Ugh!) While I have some limited experience with inline firearms, they are sure not traditional black powder flintlocks. My experience was limited to an organization that taught youth shooters the ins and outs of the sport.

But that’s ok!!! It’s a start and they got started. I did teach them what they needed to know, and they were both happy as heck!!! Apparently when they stopped at the store for their supplies, they kept telling the shop personnel they had a “lady who was teaching them” and the store employee’s answer was “huh??” Evidently even though there are many female black powder shooters, they were surprised.

Next weeks lesson is cleaning a black powder firearm

It’s pretty fun being the “cool mom” for a change!!

Blessed Be