BlackPowderMag.com

Category: Interviews

  • “Mr. Flintlock” Discusses “Impossible Shoots”

    “Mr. Flintlock” Discusses “Impossible Shoots”

    You may know George Sutton for a variety of reasons.  George, aka Mr Flintlock, has been doing the “Impossible Shoots” on Shooting USA on outdoor cable networks for a number of years.  You may know George from his visits to Friendship.  You may also know George as the man who has brought back Lehigh Valley lube under the name “Mr Flintlocks Patch Lube and Bore Cleaner”.

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    George and I sat down and chatted about flintlock shooting, those impossible shots, and how he was able to market Mr. Flintlock’s Lube.  I enjoyed this interview; I hope you like it.

     

    Mr. Flintlock's Lube
    Mr. Flintlock’s Lube

     

  • Allen Martin on Gun-Making

    Allen Martin on Gun-Making

    It’s Saturday morning , and Allen Martin and I will try a new method for interviews.  Formerly, I used a digital audio recorder, but this year we will use video. On the picnic table where we’re sitting is a wonderfully thin flintlock. That’s where the interview will start.

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    Allen with Teddy (L) and Tucker (R).

    Allen, thank you for a most impressive rifle.  Thanks also for being a part of this first try at a video interview.

    Larry Pletcher, editor Blackpowdermag.com

  • Jim Chambers Discusses Gun Making and the Lock Business

    Jim Chambers Discusses Gun Making and the Lock Business

    Jim Chambers has been a friend of mine for many years. I stopped in his booth and enjoyed a chat with him.

    Jim told me about his start in muzzleloading and his work with John Bivins. You’ll enjoy Jim’s story of his interview with John. He also tells about acquiring the Siler lock-making business from Bud Siler. Jim tells how the kit business actually began with ideas as far back as the Bicentennial. It was especially fun for me to hear about what Jim likes to do more than anything else in muzzleloading. It shouldn’t be a surprise.

    Visit Jim Chamber’s website www.flintlocks.com

  • Gunmaker Mike Miller Interviewed at Friendship 2006

    Gunmaker Mike Miller Interviewed at Friendship 2006

    Mike Miller Interviewed at Friendship 2006

    When I stopped by Mike’s booth there was a lot of activity. Noise from customers and shooting are in the background. As a former investigator, Mike is a far better interviewer than I am. I enjoyed his comments about his start in gunmaking and how he acquired his skills. Mike offered good advice when it comes to a customer planning to have a rifle built. He can help you develop your ideas even if you aren’t sure yourself.

    I also liked his philosophy about copying original pieces. Mike has a common sense approach to this issue. I think you will enjoy his thinking. There were a number of beautiful rifles displayed in Mike’s booth, perhaps most notable was one owned by Mark Baker of trekking fame.

    Below are some photos of a rifle Mike made for me:

    Dickert by Miller
    Dickert by Miller
    Dickert style rifle by Mike Miller
    Dickert style rifle by Mike Miller

     

  • Mark Silver Discusses Gun Making

    Mark Silver Discusses Gun Making

    Mark Silver discusses rifle making during the 2006 Spring Shoot.

    Friendship – Spring 2006

    I stopped by Mark’s booth just before I had to leave Friendship. I thought I had missed him. He’s another long-time friend. I was lucky enough to take one of his classes at the rifle-making Seminar.

    Mark is another of today’s makers who worked for John Bivins. Mark is on my short list of men whom I consider authorities on the flintlock. I greatly admire his work. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did. We taped this conversation in a booth at Friendship where there were a few interruptions. I left them in the recording feeling that they added to the atmosphere.

    Mark Silver
    Mark Silver
    Mark Silver
    Mark Silver and I talk in his booth at Friendship

    Visit: Mark Silver’s Website

  • Mark Baker Talks About Trekking

    Mark Baker Talks About Trekking

    I’m sitting in the back of Mike Miller’s booth at Friendship. There are a bunch of fellows interested in Mike’s guns. You can hear the bench guns at the firing line, but I’m doing the interview anyway. I lucked into a chance to talk with Mark Baker. Widely known in trekking circles, Mark just happened to be there when I walked by. I couldn’t miss this chance.

    Mention trekking to black powder enthusists and the name Mark Baker is sure to come up. Mark spoke with me at the Spring Nationals in 2006. Mark’s passion for wilderness living using ways from the 1700’s is evident in this interview.

    Mark and I come from an educational background, but his knowledge of primitive ways quickly leaves me behind. I envy him all the rich experiences which he has enjoyed living in the past. I hope you find his conversation as enjoyable as I did.

  • Tom Schiffer Discusses all Things Muzzle Loading

    Tom Schiffer has been a fixture around Friendship for many years. It’s fun to hear fellows like Tom talk about the “old days” when business was conducted out of the trunks of cars.

    Tom Schiffer Interview, Friendship 2006

    I’m reminded of the fabled gun writer who wrote the book “Hell, I Was There”. Tom truely was there. In the interview Tom talks about his first muzzleloader and his experience firing the first shot. Tom also discusses the additions to shooting over the years and one of his favorites, the long range silhouettes. He mentions his friendship with Bill Roberts and Bill’s contributions to long range shooting.

  • Ron Ehlert Interview on Rifle and Horn Making

    Ron Ehlert discusses rifle and horn making with BPM.

    Rifle Maker, Ron Ehlert Interview at Friendship 2006

    Ron Ehlert is another long time friend that I met at Friendship. For the last few years Ron has shown me his progress on his German yeager project. The chiseled lock and barrel are incredible. In the interview he talked about his start in gun building, some other pet projects, and of course the yeager project. Ron is on the Board of Director of the NMLRA and talked about his views the association’s future.

     

  • Reaves Goehring: supplier of fine riflemaking castings

    Reaves Goehring: supplier of fine riflemaking castings

    Riflemakers look to Reaves Goehring for the best castings for their flintlocks. His care in providing the correct parts for the various schools of muzzloading makes him widely respected. Reaves tells Tom Curran some of his story. This interview takes place on July 27, 2008, at Dixon’s Gunmaker’s Fair, Kempton, PA,

    Reaves gives us a bit of background details of his life, and some of the story behind his marvelous longrifle castings. While Reaves refers to his castings as “his hobby”, I think it cannot mask the passion he feels for the longrifle. When you see his table of brass and steel castings, you know he takes his “hobby” seriously with every fiber of his being. Reaves gets incredibly fired up when talking about original guns. He loves to talk about where he bought a certain gun, unusual features of a particular gun, what he had to go through to get the patterns made, and who he has met along the way. Reaves is such a gracious and generous man, a gentleman in the truest sense of the word.

    Reaves supplies us gunbuilders with patterns taken directly off original guns, in a beautiful soft brass, for a very reasonable price. When you shop at his table for parts, he points out which guard came with a certain buttplate, yet may show you several other guards which would be appropriate for your design. He vividly remembers details of guns he has taken patterns from, and shares any information he can recall. When I go the Fair, I always stop to visit with Reaves. He like a lantern in the darkness, shedding goodwill and knowledge upon anyone who asks. I have seldom met such an enthusiastic and energetic supporter of the art of the longrifle. Thank you, Reaves Goehring.

    (Previous photos unavailable)

    BlackPowderMag wishes to thank Mr. Goehring for his interview, and to thank Tom Curran for conducting the interview for us. When I interview someone I worry about my inexperience in the interview process. Tom expressed that to me as well. I am quite confident in Tom’s interview skills. The thing I like very much about this one is that it sounds like two old friends chatting. I suspect that is actually the case. Thanks again, Acer. —–(Larry Pletcher)

    (Title Photo: Reaves at Dixon’s 2008 – Photo: Tom Curran)

     

  • Wallace Gusler Chats about Colonial Gun-making

    Wallace Gusler Chats about Colonial Gun-making

    Few men have had as large an effect on the muzzleloading sport as Wallace Gusler. To many he is the man in “the video” who makes a rifle from a skelp of iron, a plank of maple, and a bucket of scrap brass. Wallace Gusler made the video as the first full-time master of the Williamsburg Gun Shop. His influence doesn’t stop there. Since then his research and writing have added to our understanding of colonial firearms.

    I first met Wallace at the Seminars in Bowling Green in the late ’80s. I have had occasion to learn from him numerous times since then. I never stop at his booth without learning something. I had the chance to tape the panel discussion in which he participated at GunMakers’ Hall at Friendship. (Parts 1-6 of the interview are located on another page of this site.)

    As wide as Wallace’s interests are he still finds time to make beautiful guns. Some are shown in “Three Centuries of the Tradition” in which he also shared in the writing.

    I am pleased to be able to add Wallace’s interview to this site.

     

  • Riflemaker, Homer Dangler talks with Black Powder Mag

    Riflemaker, Homer Dangler talks with Black Powder Mag

    One cannot think of flint riflemakers without including Homer Dangler. A maker of muzzleloaders for decades, Homer is widely respected for his work. Home Dangler has been a part of Friendship for many years. He began attending Friendship when I was 10 years old. His booth has been a stop of mine since I began attending in 1977. There are always neat guns to look at and drool over. Although Homer is 82, he is still active whether it’s making fine guns, building airplanes, or flying them. Home and I sat down and recorded an interview, and we also took photos of some of his recent gun projects. The recording failed in our first try. We arranged to meet at the CLA show in Lexington in August. Our second interview was done there near the finest display of original and contemporary long rifles in the world. Included here are some of the photos we took of Homer and his work.

     

    Some were done at Friendship, with the last few taken at CLA.PhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucket

     

  • David Price talks with Black Powder Mag

    David Price talks with Black Powder Mag

    David Price makes beautiful guns. His speciality is the Swivel Breech. In the years I have known him, I have had the chance to look at many of his guns. His work is on numerous magazine covers, at Dixons, at Friendship, and as the raffle gun for GunMakers’ Hall.

     

    David is man with the desire and ability of teach others what he knows. His web site,  The Flintlock Shop, has tutorials on carving and wire inlay. He teaches classes in his shop, Dixons, and at Friendship. As an example after attending one of his classes on tool sharpening, I know what “sharp” is.

     

    Our first try at an interview suffered from technical difficulties. Below is the interview just completed (2014 Spring Shoot).

    I spent a particularily enjoyable afternoon when David helped me with the high speed video of locks at GunMakers’ Hall. When we discussed our plans I mentioned that I thought we should use the same powder for each trial, David said, “I think the same guy should do all the priming.” And then he did just that – removing another variable in our work.

    In all of this David and I have become good friends. Besides his abilities as a gunmaker, David is a good story-teller and has a great sense of humor. And – I treasure the book he gave me containing photos of his work.

     

    David granted me permission to use photos from his book. Here is one I especially like.

     

  • Chuck Dixon Chats with Tom Curran

    Chuck Dixon Chats with Tom Curran

    Tom Curran caught Chuck Dixon in the shop and collected this interview for Black Powder Mag. Even if you know Chuck you are likely to learn more listening to the interview. (Larry Pletcher)

    I had tried to call ahead to make an appointment to meet Chuck for this interview, but I don’t believe my message got through, judging from Chuck’s reaction when I asked him if he would grant me an interview. Everyone who knows Chuck knows how willing he is to talk, but never about himself.

    Having already had these thoughts, I arrived at the shop, to find one customer being served by Chuck himself. No one else was around. When the transacton was done, and it was my turn, I stepped up to the counter and introduced myself. When I mentioned my mission, Chuck got this terrified look, and said, “Oh, no, you’d be better off talking with my son, Greg”. I told Chuck that wasn’t going to work, because this was kind of a living history, similar to Foxfire, and I wanted to hear his story. Chuck’s face lit up, and he ran over to the book section, and started piling books up on the counter. “There,” he said with a smile. “There’s the whole story.”

    I thanked him for the books and explained what I wanted was to capture his voice. By now I can see he’s cornered and doesn’t know what to do. At this point, I asked him HOW he got interested in the longrifle. That was all it took to get Chuck into his element. Please sit back and let Chuck take you on a little tour of his story. by Tom Curran

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    Above is the sign one sees pulling into Dixon’s. The fair started in 1983 and has been going strong since then. (Photo used with Permission)Photobucket

    (Photo – Tom Curran)

    The following is the intro of “Ten Years of Dedication”, Remembrances of Dixon’s Gunmaker’s Fair by T. E. Ames. It helps to put into words Chuck’s dedication to the Pennsylvania rifle. Used with permission.

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    (Photo – Tom Curran)

    Directions: If you have a fast connection, simply click on the link “Download MP3“. If you are on a dialup connection, right click the link. You will get a menu that contains “save target as”. Here you can save the audio file to your hard drive. It should then play in real time.The interview has been divided into two parts. Click on the blue link below to begin Part 1.

    Tom and Chuck took a break here. When they start Part 2, Chuck talked to Tom about conversations with Charlie Cole, a local farmer and friend. These chats, the new flintlock deer season, and the coming Bi-Centennial all resulted in Chuck’s decision to start Dixon’s Gun Shop.
     

     

    Chuck was recognized as an inductee into the NMLRA Muzzleloading Hall of Fame for 2008. He was one of two inductees this year. Congratulations, Chuck!

    Black Powder Mag also wishes to thank Tom Curran for conducting this interview. Tom’s interviews have been a valuable asset, and we understand there may be more to come. Thanks, Tom, for your contributions.

    Chuck, thanks for being a part of the interview process. I enjoyed setting up the page and hope to meet you next year at the fair.

  • Bill Rose on Competitive Black Powder Shooting

    Bill Rose is one of the best men with a rifle that I know. I first met Bill at a Stones Trace Club match where he and I both attend. He also shoots at territorial matches that I scored. Bill recorded this interview the day after he cleaned the Production Inline Rifle Silhouette Match at the Spring Nationals in 2006. Bill brings to the table a wealth of experience gleaned from many different shooting games. His training methods and methods of match preparation are worth a listen.

    Bill Rose Interview – Friendship 2006

     

     

  • L C Rice Discusses Barrels and Locks

    Many shooters go to LC Rice to get a barrel. He and Liston make some of the best. I went to him for flintlock tuning. He tunes some of the best. . .

    LC Rice Interview at Friendship – Spring 2006

    LC Rice has to be one of the most knowledgable and entertaining characters at Friendship. Listen to his story about he and Liston beginning the L&R Lock Company and their eventual barrel-making business. When LC talks it’s a good idea to pay attention. While you think you are being entertained, he is teaching you a bunch. I’d try to use an example here, but you’re far better off listening to him on the recording.

    As of the Spring 2007 Shoot, Rice Barrels is operated by Liston Rice. I spoke with Liston about the change. LC is tuning locks for Jim Chambers. LC is on his own clock now instead of the company clock. And, few men are his equal at lock-tuning.

    Visit Rice’s website: www.www.ricebarrels.com

  • Pecatonica’s Dick Greensides Discusses Muzzle Loaders

    Pecatonica’s Dick Greensides Discusses Muzzle Loaders

    After shopping at Pecatonica for many years, it was fun to sit down and chat with Dick Greensides. I didn’t know until the interview that Dick grew up just a few miles of my home.

    Dick Greensides Friendship – Spring 2006

    Dick Greensides is another regular at Friendship. He started coming as a shooter, and his hobby became a vocation. Dick brought a few stocks to Friendship and grew the business until he now supplies stocks and parts for all kinds of muzzleloaders. Pecatonica River Long Rifle Supply Co. is a well known name in muzzleloading circles as simply Pecatonica. Dick Greensides is located in Rockford, IL.

     

  • Billy Watson talks about knife-making

    Billy Watson talks about knife-making

    Billy Watson has been coming to friendship for many years. Billy simply makes great knives.

    Billy Watson on Knife Making – Friendship Spring 2006

    Billy Watson’s booth is a favorite stop of mine. He had made two of the knives I carry. I’m sure there will be others I can’t resist. While I have two of his folders, Billy does all kinds of knives. The selection is best early in the week before the choice knives are gone.

    Visit Billy’s website www.watsonknives.com

  • Wayne Dunlap discusses wood with BPM

    Wayne Dunlap discusses wood with BPM

    Need a beautiful piece of maple, walnut, etc for your next muzzloading project? You can’t do better than Wayne Dunlap.

    Wayne Dunlap Wood Supplier at Friendship – Spring 2006

    One cannot mention gun stocks at Friendship without mentioning Wayne Dunlap. Wayne brings a great selection of stock blanks to Friendship. Wayne is the kind of fellow you can learn a bunch from if you listen instead of talk. I learned a lot during this interview. While maple is a sizable part of Wayne’s inventory, he also has ash, cherry walnut, and other gun stock wood. If you’re looking for a nice band-sawed blank, check him out. Do it early; other makers also know of his great selection.

    Visit Wayne’s website www.dunlapwoodcrafts.com

     

  • Bill Keeler talks Tomahawks

    Bill Keeler talks Tomahawks

    Whether you need edged tools for trekking or a museum quality replica of Little Turtle’s tomahawk, your single stop should be Bill Keeler. Beaver Bill makes about anything with a cutting edge.

    Bill Keeler on Tomahawks at Friendship 2006

    Beaver Bill’s booth is always one of my stops at Friendship. My chat with Bill covers his many years in muzzleloading. He speaks about his museum quality edged weapons. One of my favorites is copy belonging to Little Turtle. I was especially interested in his discussion of his Lewis and Clark project. I think you will enjoy it too.

    Visit Bill’s website:www.beaverbill.com

     

  • Dan Kindig Interview

    Dan Kindig Interview

    Dan Kindig, past president and long time Friendship attendee, discusses the old days. Dan Kindig has been a fixture for years. His booth hasn’t moved since I first came in 1977.

    Dan Kindig Interview from Friendship – Spring 2006

     

    Dan was a lot of fun to speak with. His Friendship experiences go back to his visits as a young boy when his father came. He has many stories about the early days. He can relate experiences as a shooter, president, and as a boy playing along the creek. He is one of “the sources” for all things related to black powder. As we taped the interview, the loud speaker came on to announce the noon menu. I told Dan I’d edit that out, but he said, “Oh no, that reminds me of the meals we used to eat made by the church ladies.” And suddenly we were back 60 years with another view of Friendship. Sounds like good times.

    Visit Log Cabin Shop’s website www.logcabinshop.com

  • Mike Brooks Discusses Smoothbores

    Mike Brooks Discusses Smoothbores

    As Mike and I began this conversation, we realized that we had attended the same rifle-building seminar at Bowling Green. I was involved in timing flintlocks, and he was into tuning them. It was kind of fun to compare notes again. As you will realize as you listen, Mike loves to build fowlers. His last count was over 200 made. I like his approach to his relationship with the customer. I think some of his ideas will surprise you. You won’t be surprised by what he loves to shoot.

    Visit Mike Brooks’ Website: The Gunmaker

  • Lee Larkin talks about Horn Making

    Lee Larkin talks about Horn Making

    BPM interviews horn-maker Lee Larkin.

    Friendship – Spring 2006

     

    Lee-Larkin
    Lee working on a horn at the horners cabin in Friendship

    I met Lee at his horn-making cabin in the Primitive area on Monday morning. My conversation with Lee was especially fun because I learned so much. He filled in a lot of blanks in my horn education. His information about Robert Rogers’ horn at Fort Ticonderoga was particularly interesting. Lee is a member of the “Honorable Company of Horners”

  • James Klein Talks about Rifle Building

    James Klein Talks about Rifle Building

    James Klein discusses rifle building with BlackPowderMag.

    James Klein Interview, Friendship – Spring 2006

    From the time I first stopped by James Klein’s booth at Friendship, there have always been beautiful rifles to examine. In the interview Jim discusses rifle building, including his favorites to produce. James’s association with Homer Dangler has been a long one, and James has taken over the production of the gun stock stains that Homer began. Any builder looking for a stain that brings out the natural curl in a maple stock needs to stop here.

    James Klein
    James Klein

    James-Klein-08

  • Gunmakers Panel Discussion

    Blackpowdermag presents a Panel Discussion from GunMakers Hall. Listen as Mark Silver, Jim Chambers,Bob Harn, Wallace Gusler, and LC Rice field audience questions. . . . . . .

    Black Powder Magazine is pleased to bring you a series of digital interviews and discussions promoting black powder shooting sports. Our initial offering is a panel discussion taped at Gunmakers Hall during the NMLRA 2006 Spring Championships in Friendship, Indiana. Participants in the discussion are Jim Chambers, Wallace Gusler, Bob Harn, LC Rice, and Mark Silver. Because of its length, the discussion will be broken into six segments. The panel discussion segments will be published at intervals in the coming months. We think you will enjoy hearing the experts’ thoughts on a variety of muzzleloading topics. All comments are “off the cuff” responses to audience questions. The segments vary in length between 15 and 25 minutes.

    Panel Discussion Part 1:
    LC Rice talks about barrels. Wallace Gusler and Mark Silver discuss fitting a custom gun to the shooter. Wallace also talks about effect of moisture on the “movie gun”.

  • Gunmakers Panel Discussion Part II

    Blackpowdermag presents a Part 2 of the Panel Discussion from GunMakers Hall. Listen as Mark Silver, Jim Chambers,Bob Harn, Wallace Gusler, and LC Rice field audience questions. . . . . . .

    Part 2:

    LC and Wallace discuss barrel harmonics and stress relieving a barrel. Mark and Wallace discuss the proper location of the touch hole. (Rain begins.) Bob Harn and Jim Chambers talk about what they need from a potential customer.

     

  • Gunmakers Panel Discussion Part III

    Blackpowdermag presents a Part 3 of the Panel Discussion from GunMakers Hall. Listen as Mark Silver, Jim Chambers,Bob Harn, Wallace Gusler, and LC Rice field audience questions. . . . . . .

    Part 3:
    Jim and Wallace talk about leather vs lead in attaching a flint. Wallace discusses tools in the 18th century gun shop. Also discussed is knapping the flint on the gun. Wallace fields Mark Baker’s question about period shooting matches.

  • Gunmakers Panel Discussion Part IV

    Blackpowdermag presents a Part 4 of the Panel Discussion from GunMakers Hall. Listen as Mark Silver, Jim Chambers, Bob Harn, Wallace Gusler, and LC Rice field audience questions. . . . . . .

    Part 4:
    Wallace discusses silk patches (Last of the Mohicans). LC discusses variables involved in accuracy. Wallace, LC, and Mark talk about barrel coning. LC discusses square vs round- bottom rifling.

  • GunMakers Panel Discussion Part V

    Blackpowdermag presents a Part 5 of the Panel Discussion from GunMakers Hall. Listen as Mark Silver, Jim Chambers, Bob Harn, Wallace Gusler, and LC Rice field audience questions. . . . . . .

    Part 5:
    The group fields questions about the number of grooves in rifling a barrel. Jim Chambers talks about freshing out a barrel with a freshening stick. LC Rice discusses English locks. Also discussed were decorative cuts on barrel muzzles and low front sights.

  • GunMakers Panel Discussion Part VI

    Blackpowdermag presents Part 6 of the Panel Discussion from GunMakers Hall. Listen as Mark Silver, Jim Chambers, Bob Harn, Wallace Gusler, and LC Rice field audience questions. . . . . . 

    Part 6:
    LC discusses lock geometry. Mark talks about touch holes and internal cones. The group discusses how placement of the touch hole can effect the threads in the breech plug and how this causes problems with breechplug removal.