Flint power! - Page 2

**4V50 Gary** · February 27, 2001, 06:09 PM

Please don't use that cherished family heirloom for self defense. Use a modern firearm instead and if you must buy one of those used S&W Model 10s for less than $150, do so. Here's why:

Guns used in shootings are seized in evidence. Typically the cop in the evidence room isn't a gun buff and to him it's just another gun. Toss it goes onto the shelf. While it sits there, since it hasn't been cleaned or oiled, it begins to rust. By the time the DA determines that it's a good shoot and no charges will be filed, your once cherished heirloom will be scratched from rough handling, nicked from being tossed onto the shelf (with possibly some chips of wood being missing), rusted from no hygroscopic action of the black powder residue, lack of preservatives and handling by humans with "acid" hands. So, put the gun aside and let a more modern gun do the work. Please, for your children's children, do it.

Cap n ball · February 28, 2001, 01:25 PM

Gary, Your absolutely correct. I've unloaded it and cleaned it up and put it and the rest of it's gear in my safe. I think I'll only fire it on the 4th of July and then with a plug of tow instead of a load. Thanks for the admonishment. I replaced it with an 1858 replica Remington 44. I'll try to post a photo of it along with the horns. I also have his sword and scabbard. It's in really great shape and as much as it embarrasses me to admit it, when I was a little kid we used to cut watermelons in half with it but we always cleaned it up real good and never nicked the edge. My mother tells me that his uniform went to another relative and she doesn't remember which one it was but that when she was a little girl her older brother wore his tricorner hat once in a while but there again she doesn't remember what happened to it either. I found about twelve of the buttons that were on the coat and waistcoat in my grandmother's sewing basket and still have them. I've got a pretty good idea of what the old pistol is worth but I wouldn't even have mentioned it if you guys hadn't been talking about flintlocks. I wouldn't give it up for anything. That's one gun that they WILL have to pry from my cold dead hand.

**4V50 Gary** · February 28, 2001, 05:50 PM

Thank you, and congratulations on having the sword (hanger) and the uniform buttons. Drop by the Smithsonian American History Museum right now and you'll see a display showing the evolution of the firearms and swords carried by our Army.

February 27, 2001, 06:09 PM	#26
4V50 Gary Staff Join Date: November 2, 1998 Location: Colorado Posts: 21,833	Cap N Ball... Please don't use that cherished family heirloom for self defense. Use a modern firearm instead and if you must buy one of those used S&W Model 10s for less than $150, do so. Here's why: Guns used in shootings are seized in evidence. Typically the cop in the evidence room isn't a gun buff and to him it's just another gun. Toss it goes onto the shelf. While it sits there, since it hasn't been cleaned or oiled, it begins to rust. By the time the DA determines that it's a good shoot and no charges will be filed, your once cherished heirloom will be scratched from rough handling, nicked from being tossed onto the shelf (with possibly some chips of wood being missing), rusted from no hygroscopic action of the black powder residue, lack of preservatives and handling by humans with "acid" hands. So, put the gun aside and let a more modern gun do the work. Please, for your children's children, do it.

February 28, 2001, 01:25 PM	#27
Cap n ball Senior Member Join Date: October 17, 2000 Posts: 247	Gary, Your absolutely correct. I've unloaded it and cleaned it up and put it and the rest of it's gear in my safe. I think I'll only fire it on the 4th of July and then with a plug of tow instead of a load. Thanks for the admonishment. I replaced it with an 1858 replica Remington 44. I'll try to post a photo of it along with the horns. I also have his sword and scabbard. It's in really great shape and as much as it embarrasses me to admit it, when I was a little kid we used to cut watermelons in half with it but we always cleaned it up real good and never nicked the edge. My mother tells me that his uniform went to another relative and she doesn't remember which one it was but that when she was a little girl her older brother wore his tricorner hat once in a while but there again she doesn't remember what happened to it either. I found about twelve of the buttons that were on the coat and waistcoat in my grandmother's sewing basket and still have them. I've got a pretty good idea of what the old pistol is worth but I wouldn't even have mentioned it if you guys hadn't been talking about flintlocks. I wouldn't give it up for anything. That's one gun that they WILL have to pry from my cold dead hand.

February 28, 2001, 05:50 PM	#28
4V50 Gary Staff Join Date: November 2, 1998 Location: Colorado Posts: 21,833	Thank you, and congratulations on having the sword (hanger) and the uniform buttons. Drop by the Smithsonian American History Museum right now and you'll see a display showing the evolution of the firearms and swords carried by our Army.