filmjunkie4ever
Handloader
- May 4, 2011
- 1,840
- 932
So the weekend of August 21st found me in Depoe Bay, OR on vacation with friends. We rented a beach house collectively and were just in for some R and R. As we drove into town from the Lincoln City side we noticed a ton of people dressed in Pirate costumes. At first we thought it was just a bunch of college kids doing some kind of class project scavenger hunt or something. We were wrong.
After talking to one of the British Soldiers Garrisoned there in charge of the stocks in the town square, we discovered it was a Charity Fundraiser. I of course being the gunny that I am broke the ice by asking if the musket which he attended was a 75 caliber Brown Bess to which he answered yes, being understandably surprised. We talked guns a while, he being a hunter and a member of a Re-inaction society. After a while he asked his CO if anyone would care if I fired a blank round, to which the CO, also a hunter, shrugged and said, "I don't care."
I loaded the pan with a little bit of the paper blank cartridge I was given, closed the frizzen, and proceeded then to charge and seat my blank projectile. Overlooking the Pacific as we were, the British Soldier exclaimed jokingly, "Hey, there's a whale," while pointing at the tide some 300 yards out. Understandably, when someone exclaims such a thing in a tourist town on the Pacific coast, it grabs the attention of the majority of the several hundred on lookers who as of yet had no idea of our intentions.
Right about then I cocked the hammer and shouldered the old Brown Bess. I aimed carefully at the white cap of a wave which is on its way and squeeze the trigger. The hammer fell and "crack-bang" echoed through the town and white smoke drifted over the stunned crowd. Everyone looked at me with huge eyes and jaws wide open as I exclaimed, "I got him right between the eyes, but he sank straight to the bottom!" I handed the soldier back his musket as we shared a good-hearted laugh at the continued 10-20 seconds of silence and confusion that was shared by the several hundred ultra-liberal tourists who it seemed didn't know whether to be scared that I actually fired a shot in their otherwise unmolested anti-gun atmosphere (which now smelled of black powder) or be angry for our joke of poaching a whale. It was definately the highlight of the weekend and made for a great story to tell the rest of my friends on the trip which hadn't been at my side.
As for me, I definately need a front stuffer to add to my collection. Whenever the next time is that I draw a Doe tag, I plan to borrow my friend Andy's Lyman Great Plains .58 caliber to get the job done. Hope you enjoy.
After talking to one of the British Soldiers Garrisoned there in charge of the stocks in the town square, we discovered it was a Charity Fundraiser. I of course being the gunny that I am broke the ice by asking if the musket which he attended was a 75 caliber Brown Bess to which he answered yes, being understandably surprised. We talked guns a while, he being a hunter and a member of a Re-inaction society. After a while he asked his CO if anyone would care if I fired a blank round, to which the CO, also a hunter, shrugged and said, "I don't care."
I loaded the pan with a little bit of the paper blank cartridge I was given, closed the frizzen, and proceeded then to charge and seat my blank projectile. Overlooking the Pacific as we were, the British Soldier exclaimed jokingly, "Hey, there's a whale," while pointing at the tide some 300 yards out. Understandably, when someone exclaims such a thing in a tourist town on the Pacific coast, it grabs the attention of the majority of the several hundred on lookers who as of yet had no idea of our intentions.
Right about then I cocked the hammer and shouldered the old Brown Bess. I aimed carefully at the white cap of a wave which is on its way and squeeze the trigger. The hammer fell and "crack-bang" echoed through the town and white smoke drifted over the stunned crowd. Everyone looked at me with huge eyes and jaws wide open as I exclaimed, "I got him right between the eyes, but he sank straight to the bottom!" I handed the soldier back his musket as we shared a good-hearted laugh at the continued 10-20 seconds of silence and confusion that was shared by the several hundred ultra-liberal tourists who it seemed didn't know whether to be scared that I actually fired a shot in their otherwise unmolested anti-gun atmosphere (which now smelled of black powder) or be angry for our joke of poaching a whale. It was definately the highlight of the weekend and made for a great story to tell the rest of my friends on the trip which hadn't been at my side.
As for me, I definately need a front stuffer to add to my collection. Whenever the next time is that I draw a Doe tag, I plan to borrow my friend Andy's Lyman Great Plains .58 caliber to get the job done. Hope you enjoy.
