Frontiersmen & Flintlocks

On today’s show with GunBroker, we’re talking the frontier time period and the firearms that belong to it. When we talk frontier time period a lot of us think about flintlock rifles. Absolutely beautiful pieces of history and surprisingly efficient, even though most people would think otherwise. We talk with Chris Powell from Houndsman XP Podcast and Rick Larnerd from Gobbler Knob Long Rifles – we start in with how Rick actually makes flintlocks, and how that has influenced the way he hunts. He goes in depth about his journey that led him into the love of creating flintlocks. Rick shares with us some really nice examples of flintlocks that he has built himself, so make sure you tune into this episode Sponsored by GunBroker to see the beautiful examples he brought with him. Chris brings up the style or school of each long rifle we have on today’s show. The architecture is one key example on how to figure out what school these guns belong to as well as the maker’s signature being on the barrel flat. The style of the gun is a huge factor in finding out where they were created or even where the lineage of the owner came from. We then delve into hunting with flintlocks. Rick tells the group about Pennsylvania Flintlock only deer season which runs for a two-week span. Most at the table today has at one point in time hunted with a flintlock and Rick tells the group that for the past thirty or so years he has specifically hunted with flintlocks. Chris goes in depth telling about not only hunting with a flintlock, but hunting with a flintlock and a dog. He’s very involved with period hunting and has spent some time using flintlocks with mountain cur dogs. Some of the earliest depictions of flintlocks are drawn with dog chasing game during the hunt. In closing, Rick goes through the process of creating a flintlock. He delves into how he does the process from cutting the blank wood to hand engraving the finish. He spends countless hours building these beautiful examples of flintlocks. Check him out over at Gobbler Knob Long Rifles to see some of his beautiful work. Make sure you tune in to this episode and listen to his expertise on flintlocks. The show launches every Thursday morning. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.