Rendezvous question

[PaulK]

I have never shot at a rendezvous and want to give it a try.  I checked out a historic reenactment forum and there were some strong, negative opinions about some manufactured guns.  Is my Lyman GPR .54 cal percussion an acceptable gun to bring to a rendezvous shoot?

 

[exMember]

Don't pay any mind to those guys, I've left ALL of them due to the foolish snobs and their attitudes toward new guys wanting to learn.

Yes, your GPR is perfectly fine. Most rendezvous will say No adjustable or fiber optic sights of course. And you have the no conical or sabot rules as well. Check with the rendezvous leader "Booshway" about the rules, they may have a website that has all this info.

 

[Hilljack1]

Why not, most of the events would allow it, they are not a copy of any specific firearm but they are very similar to Gemners and several others. It would be a good idea for these groups to encourage the participation. many people cannot afford a custom rifle. There are several events that are noted to be Juried or they check for clothing and accessories represent correctly the period and The event....above all enjoy the event.

YMHS
Hilljack

 

[lighthorseman]

Most rendezvous I ever attended weren't juried...and most seem to put greater emphasis on clothing...geegaws and fooferaw. I wouldn't be ashamed to show up at an event with a Lyman GPR. I started my journey with a Lyman like this:

 

[PaulK]

Thanks guys. Looks like I'll have another hobby in retirement. Now I need to work on the attire.

 

[lighthorseman]

Paul

so that you get it right the first time, google "Alfred Jacob Miller paintings"...Miller an artist was there to give a first hand account of the early fur trade. That's about the best visual primary source, which oddly is rarely copied by  the modern rendezvous culture.......IHMO

:thumbs up:

 

[PaulK]

Thanks. Some great ideas there to work off of. Hate to show up looking like a total nimrod!

 

[lighthorseman]

as to decoration and such, less is better......less Indian style, more Anglo/American or if in the southwest more Spanish/ Mexican style dress.  keep in mind, buckskin clothing had been tailored both in Eastern states as well as Europe. in your region, French as well as metis clothing styles included a great deal of wool and buckskin often decorated with floral beadwork. having to peck with non dominant finger, so not able giver greater responses. try this link for further research:

http://www.mman.us/index.htm

 

[Kentucky Colonel]

I have never had anyone comment on my garb and/or rifle in a negative way 
at any event I have attended. (My garb could use help) I have been asked 
"rifled or smooth bore?" in rifle matches.

Anything else, to me, would seem rude if uninvited. Unless it is a specific, 
specified type of gun for a specific class competition? I would be surprised if 
someone would butt in. 

But, you know, I am sure it happens somewhere. As someone here said, 
"Some folks just get ate up with it."

Just smile and have a good time.

 

[strong eagle]

about period correct guns. many years ago before deadwood s.dak become a gambling mecca i was up their and went through a museum for guns of the gold rush days. it is not there any more. i saw a couple of hundred guns the miners brought in all muzzle loaders for the most part. no peroid correct rifles or any schools i could see. they were guns for the most part that was built from other guns that had worn out. some were really well made and none looked in bad shape. they were well taken care of. what this all means is guns are guns and many of the day you want to be apart of were guns built from other guns. you gun would fit right in that way, even if you could travel back in time. some think the thompsom hawken was not peroid correct. the only thing that wasnt is the modern back sight. it was designed after the michican (sorry sp) school of muzzle loader builders. the lyman fits in their some place also. have fun and enjoy. i read somewhere recently and it may be on this site or some where else. a new to black powder shooter said this. i love blackpowder shooting but i have met some of the biggest jerks ive ever met in my life shooting black powder. we have all met these guys. they are like the religious guys who look down their noses at you and believe they are the only ones with the keys to the kingdom. the first two guys i met in black powder were like that, didnt stop me, now i know for a fact im way beyond anything they ever become in blackpowder. again, go to the meets and have fun. strong eagle.

 

[Coalforge1]

PalK, I am in about the same boat as you regarding the rendezvous shooting. I sent an email to one of the local muzzle loader clubs and received a reply that outlined what the course was and what they were looking for. The most interesting part was that he stated the club held monthly shoots and invited me to attend. That would give me 5 shooting meets prior to their rendezvous to learn more about the whole thing. Perhaps there is something similar in your area. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Hilljack1]

Like everyone has said go and enjoy yourself....Even with small Rondy's the amount of things to do would amaze you...Just got back from the Alafia in Central Florida....You could wear yourself out walking along and checking out the vendors and the trade blankets....The shooting was really great also....Rifle woods walk, Pistol woods walk, Paper Targets, Trade gun, Primitive, Pistol, Knife and Hawk, Primitive Archery....And not counting the Scottish Games....So you can have fun for 7 days and wear yourself out....

YMHS
Hilljack

 

[Kentucky Colonel]

Like everyone has said go and enjoy yourself....Even with small Rondy's the amount of things to do would amaze you...Just got back from the Alafia in Central Florida....You could wear yourself out walking along and checking out the vendors and the trade blankets....The shooting was really great also....Rifle woods walk, Pistol woods walk, Paper Targets, Trade gun, Primitive, Pistol, Knife and Hawk, Primitive Archery....And not counting the Scottish Games....So you can have fun for 7 days and wear yourself out....

YMHS
Hilljack

Yep.

 

[Buck Conner1]

you could travel back in time. some think the thompsom hawken was not peroid correct. the only thing that wasnt is the modern back sight................ 

The Thompson Center Hawken has been kicked around for over 30 years about all the wrong pieces put together then called a “Hawken”. This rifle is as far off from being correct for the name it’s called. Buckskin Reports editor John Baird did an article years ago about each piece of the TC finding fault with each item for being correct. Then he started in on the hooked breech plug not being strong as the originals (he should have not went there) the legal folks lined up and the war started over the design, material and so on. I was asked if I had a used breech plug from a TC by Baird at a rendezvous. I did and cut it down the middle through the nipple, it’s a very good design (will take a picture of this as I have it sitting in front of me - there for over 30 years as a reminder of what you say can be used against you).

In the settlement Baird and the Buckskin Report were shut down because of his comments on the breech plug. With what I said and having sold hundreds of them for a starter the TC Hawken is as safe or safer than many on the market today. Thompson Center used an old firms name to get their feet on the ground, collectors and antique gun appraisers are still laughing about how well this worked for them, stealing another's name. This set historians, and writers to work showing all the things that were not or ever found on the Hawken rifle, those that are still alive still get pissed after 40 years. In the mean time TC made a killing and even TC lost count of the numbers of guns produced.

it was designed after the michican (sorry sp) school of muzzle loader builders. the lyman fits in their some place also.......... 

This is not correct, sorry have been involved with the subject of TC Hawken more than I should have been since the late 60’s to early 70’s.

have fun and enjoy. i read somewhere recently and it may be on this site or some where else. a new to black powder shooter said this. i love blackpowder shooting but i have met some of the biggest jerks ive ever met in my life shooting black powder. we have all met these guys. they are like the religious guys who look down their noses at you and believe they are the only ones with the keys to the kingdom............. strong eagle.

 You would have a fit about some of the issues in being period correct with some associations, organizations and speical groups. I’m a “Hiverano” in the American Mountain Men and a “Mountaineer” in the North American Frontiersmen Association. Both of these ranks are as far as you can go; each item you use, carry or wear has to be documented for the time period of your persona. Playing this game since 1955 has been trying and the number of hours invested is unknown trying to do living history correctly to experience what our forefather had lived.  

That alone turns off some interested future members and puts a bad taste in their mouth feeling this is more than they can handle. 

 

[lighthorseman]

I have told this tail before.....my first experience with buckskinners was at a shoot at Hot Sulphur  Springs Colorado in 1978....At the time I had a Lyman Plains rifle...not "Great" just "Plains Rifle" about the only difference between it and a TC Hawken was the patchbox. I was "keeping a low profile among the likes of Carney Pace, Kendall McDowell, George "Blue Jacket" Sanders and others.....about as high up in hierarchy of Fur Trade reenactment as one could get. Suddenly Carney Pace strolled up to me and asked to see my rifle. As he respectively examined my brassy half stocked .50 cal.....I in turn kicked the dirt with my head down embarrassed at the obvious discrepancy between my mass produced "more modern" version and their either custom made rifles or GRRW reproductions. I began to studder and do the whole "awe shucks I know it's not as nice as y'alls guns"...when Carney said "it's a fine piece.....and we all started somewhere". The wrong thing said at that very moment would have chased me away from 40+ years of living history....heck, I'd never moved to Steamboat Springs where the majority of those guys lived. From that time forward, no one was ever unkind to me, even knowing I was a committed Christian...they just gave me ol' Jed's moniker "Half Parsons". In time I got better.

 

[Buck Conner1]

I was "keeping a low profile among the likes of Carney Pace, Kendall McDowell, George "Blue Jacket" Sanders and others.....about as high up in hierarchy of Fur Trade reenactment as one could get.

 "Blue Jacket's" name was Phil Sanders. The guys from GRRW were always glad to welcome new kids to the block. Those that are still alive haven't changed to this day. 

I started calling Ron Paul (GRRW youngest gunsmith) "Preacher" 40 years ago because of being so pleasant and just had the look with the well groomed hair and long beard. After he left GRRW finally ended up in AK he became what we had called him years before. I get 3-4 rifles out of him between his travels in AK spreading the word.

 

[lighthorseman]

Yes...Ron went to Denver Conservative Seminary with a friend of mine "Jamie Hall"...they became fast friends. I started a kit gun for Jamie who fancied my Leman...long after GRRW closed it's doors. Ron ended up finishing it for Jamie. I never met Ron myself but would like to sometime. I always hope to run into Carney before one or the other of us goes under......he was always very kind to me. We had a high school outdoor discipleship group called "Shining Times Ministries" and Carney allowed us to stay in his cabins he had on Muddy Pass. We did a snowshoe retreat and had a grand time up on Rabbit Ears Pass....... :hats off:

 

[Buck Conner1]

Ron has his home for sale on Kodiak Island and wants to move to the main land this summer. Still preaching the natives on the island along with running a muzzle-loading rifle building class for the folks there. Fun guy that I've know since showing up at GRRW many years ago.

 

[lighthorseman]

Ron is the second guy I knew...or knew of.....who ministered on Kodiak....as to Alaska, Clair and I have considered a move there several times but the right deal never came along. Have you tried to get Ron to help build new GRRW CA rifles?

 

[Buck Conner1]

Ron is the second guy I knew...or knew of.....who ministered on Kodiak....as to Alaska, Clair and I have considered a move there several times but the right deal never came along. Have you tried to get Ron to help build new GRRW CA rifles?

Doc White, Carl Walker, Les Bennett and Ron Paull (he's the kid at 70 years of age) all are former gunsmiths of GRRW now building for GRRW CA. At this time Ron has a Poor Boy, a Leman Squirrel rifle, a J&S Hawken and a NW Trade Gun to build or being built, plus a few more for other customers.