Please Sign This Petition. Muzzle-loading Pistols Other Than Percussion on Less Restrictive Licence.

I wrote to Adam Marshal seeking his help in changing these pointless & ridiculous gun laws concerning muzzle-loading pistols. A flintlock muzzle-loading pistol & a Wheelock pistol both require a piece of rock (stone) to enable them to fire. These pistols are very primitive, single shot, slow to load, most have no sights, smoothbore & not very accurate. Criminals do not use them because most of them don't know how to use them, & they can be difficult to use.

Adam Marshal simply passed on my request & the Police Commissioner replied that he had no intention of changing this law. Obviously this is NOT about public safety; this is about a law made out of ignorance & no thought regarding the people who love using these primitive tools as a hobby.

It is not good enough that the government can make a mistake in making a law, & then refuse to correct that mistake just because they can't be bothered! PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION. 

 https://www.change.org/p/to-the-honourable-the-speaker-and-members-of-the-legislative-assembly-of-new-south-wales-in-parliam-muzzle-loading-pistols-to-be-placed-on-a-less-restrictive-licence/u/23343996

PLEASE SIGN MY PETITION.

Please sign my petition if you DON'T think that a non percussion muzzle-loading pistol is likely to be used by a criminal in this day & age.

https://www.change.org/p/to-the-hono...nce/u/22524289

 I would like to see all non percussion muzzle-loading pistols placed on a non restrictive licence. At present all reproduction muzzle-loading pistols are only available on an "H' class licence & can ONLY be used on a club pistol range. Antiques can not be used at all unless once again they are licenced & registered (NSW). I can find no record of criminal use involving a muzzle-loading pistol in the last 100 years, so this to me only goes to prove that gun control has NOTHING to do with public safety!
Keith.

Please Sign This Petition.

This is a sawn-off pump action Breech-Loading shotgun seized by police from criminals, this is what criminals use. They do NOT use black powder muzzle-loading pistols. So why are flintlocks, wheellocks & matchlocks on a restrictive firearms licence? Either it is because of sheer ignorance, or they simply could not be bothered to distinguish a muzzle-loading pistol from a modern breech-loading pistol when they drafted the legislation.

Please sign my petition asking the government to take primitive muzzle-loading pistols off the restrictive H class licence & place them with other muzzle-loading guns on the less restrictive B class licence.
Thank you.
Keith.

This is a matchlock muzzle-loading pistol, it requires a smouldering matchcord to make it fire.

This is a wheellock muzzle-loading pistol, it requires a key to wind up the lock, & a piece of iron pyrite rock to make it fire.

This is the most sophisticated of the muzzle-loading pistols that I want removing from the H class licence. This is a flintlock, it requires a piece of hard rock clamped in the jaws of the cock to make it fire. All three of these pistols require black powder & only black powder to be placed in the pan & down the muzzle of the barrel to make them fire. None of these pistols is capable of firing modern cartridge ammunition.

How smart are you? Smarter than the average law maker? Do you think that in this day & age a criminal would even know how to use one of these guns let alone bother when they can easily access a modern gun?

https://www.change.org/p/12899519/u/22240317?utm_medium=email&utm_source=petition_update&utm_campaign=226711&sfmc_tk=kIvJhmhCg6n4rFH6o1psT6hKqK5Ay0M8zTEiEeeyWhi0a8o%2b50U2pp4A10tu34Jq&j=226711&sfmc_sub=49039519&l=32_HTML&u=41475935&mid=7259882&jb=1

Can you identify this. Powder Measure & Pricker.

A reader sent these images to me in the hope that I could identify this powder measure. What is unknown is the reason for the channel on the measure, was it meant to hold something? A gun tool for instance? It has a file cut which has gone right through the measure making a hole. Your thoughts please, could this be a marker for a lower measure of gunpowder? Or is the hole a mistake, filed too far? The silver band is apparently fixed in place & will not move.
Can anyone date this measure?
Keith.

The file cut and hole is just to the right of the silver band at top.

Here you can see the channel that extends under the silver band.

 

An enlarged image showing the file cut and hole.

Silver band is level with the cut-away end of the measure.

Showing part of the pricker that is tied to the measure with cordage.

Why Firearms Restrictions?

Why Firearms Restrictions?

·      Terrorism

·      Crime

·      Suicides

Do restrictions on law abiding licensed firearms owners do anything to stop the above problems/threats? Answer: No

Why No? Because law abiding citizens are not criminals or terrorists & if they want to commit suicide they have other gentler means of killing themselves without blowing their brains out.

How do restrictions to muzzle-loading long arms & pistols effect the above? They don’t is the easy answer. No criminal will choose a muzzle-loading firearm over a modern breach loading firearm to use in committing a crime.

Why are restrictions placed on muzzle-loading firearms by the Australian government if by doing so it has no effects on crime, terrorism or suicide? Good question, & if we could actually ask the government this question & get an answer, it would be very interesting to hear but probably complete & utter bullshit.

Firearms restrictions are based on the premise that they keep the public safe, but to date that has never been proven to be the case, in fact, there is some question as to whether being able to carry a side arm in public may not actually be a deterrent to crime & terrorism.

Let us take a look at the rules in NSW concerning muzzle-loading firearms:

·      Antique muzzle-loading guns do not require a permit to purchase, registration, or a firearms licence. But you are not legally allowed to fire an antique gun.

·      Replica muzzle-loading guns are exactly the same as antique muzzle-loading guns, exactly the same in all respects. The loading procedure, the firing procedure, & the ignition method. All are the same. Replica muzzle-loaders are just that, they are replicated copies of originals. Not breach loaders, not smokeless gunpowder, not fast loading, not high powered. But still they require registration, permit to purchase, & a firearms licence. In the case of a flintlock, matchlock, tinderlock or wheel lock pistol, they require a Pistol Licence, & to get a pistol licence you have to join a pistol club, & to maintain membership you have to attend regular meetings, & the membership is expensive. On top of this you are not allowed to use this muzzle-loading pistol anywhere except on an approved firing range.

Anyone wanting to make a crude muzzle-loading gun can do so in about 30 minutes using a piece of gas pipe. It would be illegal to do so, but it could easily be done. Yet the above restrictions on these primitive guns are supposed to be keeping the public safe from harm. If it were not so serious, if it did not seriously affect people’s rights to recreation through Living History & Historical Re-enacting, it would be laughable. The legislators who pen these laws may well be looked on as a joke, but the restrictions they place on law abiding citizens is no joke.

I respect other people’s points of view, I understand why some people are frightened by guns. I understand & respect their wish not to own or use a gun, even in the defence of their loved ones & themselves. But I simply can not understand why they are unable to look at the situation & understand that law abiding citizens are not the enemy, we are not a part of the problem, and we are not criminals. Treating us as such is unforgivable & an offence against human rights.

Disagreeing with someone is a human right, but spreading misinformation & lies is something else. The Greens, the government & other anti-gun lobby groups are guilty of spreading misinformation, lies & fear mongering in order to achieve further restrictions on firearms & ammunition just to satisfy their own need to control people, to gain some sort of power. It makes them feel good. What then does this say for these sorts of people?

We, the law abiding gun owner are not totally blameless in the restrictions that we suffer. Self-serving organisations such as the S.S.A.A. (Sporting Shooters Association Of Australia) could be doing a lot more for Australian gun owners, but instead it seems to me that they are more interested in not rocking the boat & at the same time lining their own pockets. Individuals are divided, muzzle-loading shooters have always readily backed modern gun shooters, but modern firearms owners are often guilty of hanging us black powder enthusiasts out to dry! I don’t see that anyone is dividing us, we seem to have divided ourselves. When we finally have so many restrictions & possibly even confiscations, then we will have no one to blame but ourselves.
Keith H. Burgess.

New Gunpowder Legislation/Laws In West Australia.

Firearms Lawyer

In WA gun powder storage laws have just been changed.

You may have no more than 2 kg of gun powder in any one container.
On the outside of the container there must be a clearly visible sign saying “Explosives”.
The container must be made of, or lined with, a material other than a ferrous metal. 
You have to be able to close and lock it.
When closed, it must protect the explosive from the weather and contamination and sources of ignition; and not allow the powder to escape or leak from it.
When locked, the container must prevent removal of or access to the powder by unauthorised people.
The container must be kept closed and locked except when it needs to be opened to deal with the powder in it. Only someone with a firearms licence is to have access to the means of unlocking the container.
You may store at a place no more than 15kg “net explosive quantity” of any ammunition propellant (excluding any ammunition propellant in ammunition) but not more than 4 kg of black powder at that place.
These rules are set out in the Dangerous Goods Safety (Explosives) Regulations 2007.

Visit www.firearmslawyer.net.au
Add Hunter Law as a friend
Add my number to your phone: Ross Williamson 0407 426 796
I defend all types of criminal charges, not just firearms.

Firearms Legislation. What Do We Need?

Firearms Legislation.

What Do We Need?

By any type of firearms legislation, what is the main goal? What do we want to achieve? Firstly I think we need to achieve a reasonable level of safety for Australian citizens, without impeding the freedom & rights of Australian gun owners. Note I said “reasonable level of safety”. I say that because there will always be a criminal element in our society that will ALWAYS have access to illegal firearms, no matter what our government may legislate. You simply can not expect criminals to obey the law; that is why we call them criminals!

At present in New South Wales, a person wanting to own a firearm must pass a written & practicle exam before they can obtain a firearms licence. When they want to purchase a firearm, they must apply for a “permit to purchase”. This permit must show the exact firearm that the licensed person wants to acquire, & this is done by recording the serial number of the firearm that is for sale. If that firearm is sold by the time the permit is issued, then the licensed person must start all over again, finding another gun, & applying for another permit to purchase.

Once the gun is purchased & in the charge of the licensed gun owner, it must be at all times, other than when in use or being cleaned, lock in a secure firearms safe that meets all legislation requirements. Next this firearm must be registered with the New South Wales Firearms Registry. Only two of these requirements do anything to partially secure the safety of the Australian public, & that is the licensing of the would-be gun owner, & the requirement that the firearm be secured in a gun safe. Permit to purchase & firearms registration does nothing except add more cost for the gun owner & the Australian tax payer, & of course more work & cost for the NSW Firearms Registry which is a part of the NSW Police Service.

FIREARMS LICENCE CATEGORIES

LICENCE CATEGORY A:
air rifles
rimfire rifles(other than self-loading)
shotguns (other than pump action or self-loading)
shotgun/rimfire rifle combinations.
LICENCE CATEGORY B:
muzzle-loading firearms (other than pistols)
centre fire rifles (other than self-loading)
shotgun/centre fire rifle combinations.
LICENCE CATEGORY C: (prohibited except for occupational purposes)
self-loading rimfire rifles with magazine capacity of no more than 10 rounds
self-loading shotguns with magazine capacity of no more than 5 rounds
pump action shotguns with magazine capacity of no more than 5 rounds.
LICENCE CATEGORY D: (prohibited except for official purposes)
self-loading centre fire rifles
self-loading rimfire rifles with a magazine capacity of more than 10 rounds
self-loading shotguns with a magazine capacity of more than 5 rounds
pump action shotguns with a magazine capacity of more than 5 rounds
any firearm to which a category C licence applies.
LICENCE CATEGORY H:
pistols (including blank fire pistols and air pistols).
Special licensing requirements apply for Licence Category H. They are not addressed in the Handbook. For information on pistol licences contact the NSW Police Firearms Registry.
In all Licence Categories, the licensee is authorised to possess or use registered firearm(s) of the kind to which the licence applies, but only for the purpose established by the licensee as being the genuine reason(s) for possessing or using the firearm(s).

Please note that certain classes of firearms are restricted; every would-be gun owner MUST give a good reason for owning any firearms. This of course only applies to law abiding citizens; criminals have no restrictions placed on them at all.

Also note that Muzzle-Loading firearms other than pistols require a B Class licence, the same as centerfire firearms.

Shotguns require an A Class licence. But some Muzzle-Loading guns are also shotguns, but they are on a B Class licence.

Firearms made before 1901 are classed as antiques, & providing modern ammunition can not be purchased over the counter for these guns. These antiques require no licence, permit to purchase, or registration. It is interesting to note here, that modern made Muzzle-Loading firearms are no different in design or operation than an antique Muzzle-Loading gun, yet the modern replica requires a licence, registration & permit to purchase.

Let me give you a quick run down on how a Flintlock Muzzle-Loading gun works. Gunpowder must be loaded loose, down the barrel from the muzzle using a powder measure. The shotgun is then loaded with two wads down the barrel, then loose shot also with a measure, then another wad is loaded on top. Each wad load must be pushed down the barrel with a ramrod or wiping stick. Then you have to prime the pan with more loose gunpowder. Ignition is supplied by a piece of rock, yes rock as in stone. This rock is held in the jaws of a cock. When the trigger is pulled, the cock flies forward & the piece of rock strikes the hammer. This causes sparks to fall into the priming pan igniting the priming powder which flashes through a vent into the breech of the barrel & ignites the main charge in the barrel & the gun fires.
Now I am sure, even if you are a firearms novice, that you will see that not just anyone will know how to make this gun work properly. It is NOT the choice of criminals, it is NOT the choice of people wishing to commit suicide, & it is NOT the choice of mentally ill people wishing to slaughter their family or anyone else. This gun is the choice of Living Historians, Historical Reenactors & Muzzle-Loading enthusiast, & yet the same restrictions are placed on this primitive tool as is placed on centerfire breech loading cartridge firing firearms.

PROPOSALS:

1.        I propose that the registering of all firearms be abolished. I see no reason for registration. It does allow the government to keep track of who owns what so they can be confiscated at any time, but this does not add to the well being of the general public.

2.       I propose that the Permit To Purchase be abolished. This too serves no purpose that I can see, other than to make it harder for a law abiding citizens to acquire a firearm.

3.       I propose that permit to purchase & registration be abolished for the ownership of all reproduction Flintlock, Wheellock, Matchlock, & Tinderlock firearms, including; pistols, shotguns, rifles, fusils, muskets, swivel guns, wall guns, palisade guns, & blunderbuss. Compared to the array of modern firearms available on the black market, this type of gun poses no threat to the general public what so ever, & to suggest that it does is simply not sensible or practicle & shows total ignorance on the part of the law makers.
4. I propose that all muzzle-loading guns other than percussion locks & cap & ball revolvers require only a Category A licence.
5. I propose that percussion lock muzzle-loading guns & cap & ball revolvers require only a Category B licence.
6. I propose that the requirement for all muzzle-loading pistols & cap & ball revolvers be for Hunting  & that pistol club membership not be mandatory. These primitive arms have been used for a back-up for hunting for centuries, as the muzzle-loading long arm is usually only a single shot. Carrying a muzzle-loading pistol is a humane way of dispatching game if it is wounded, & carrying one when hunting wild boar is a safety measure for the hunter.

If anyone has any views or suggestions relating to this article & firearms legislation in Australia, I would welcome their comments.

Keith.

The Matchlock gun requires a length of burning match cord to supply ignition.

The Wheellock gun requires a piece of pyrite rock to supply ignition, & a key to wind up the lock.

The Flintlock gun requires a piece of flint rock to supply ignition. If the flint is not sharp, or if the weather is wet, then this gun may not fire.

The swivel gun must be mounted on a post or a wall, it can not be fired freehand. Ignition is supplied by a burning match cord secured in a linstock. The burning match must be placed in the vent by hand to make this gun fire.

17th Century Authenticity In Firing The Matchlock. Video.

The Right To Defend Ourselves In Australia. Please Sign.

Please Sign.

http://www.change.org/p/michael-daley-mp-allow-citizens-the-right-to-defend-themselves-with-guns?recruiter=114570675&utm_campaign=share_facebook_mobile&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition

Flintlock Safety and Tips For Long Term Wilderness use of the Flintlock.

Making The Slow Match. Links.

Velde, Jan Jansz van de (c. 161920 - 1662) Still Life with a Pipe-lighter Date- 1653

Willem Claesz. Heda (Haarlem 1594–1680 Haarlem), Still Life with Glasses and Tobacco, 1633

http://www.metamuseum.com/us/slowmatch/

http://www.musketeer.ch/blackpowder/lunte.html

New Gunpowder Regs In Australia.

As I understand the following information, those of us with the appropriate firearms licence are not affected by these new regulations. If you read it differently, get back to me.

Please click on the image if you wish to enlarge.

For Doc From Alaska. How to use a flintlock with a broken lock.

First of all I must point out that I carry spare springs, a mainspring clamp, & a spare hammer, just in case I need them when far from home. If you do not have any spare parts, this is how you can continue to use your firelock.

This is the lock on my fusil, the pan on a rifle will be a little smaller, but this method will still work. The COCK is what holds the flint shown to the left of the pan & vent hole. The HAMMER is what the flint strikes to create sparks. Shown here with a leather hammer cap on to the right of the pan.

The procedure is to load the gun first, before priming the pan. When you prime the pan it will be seen as above, the hammer back & the pan open. The cock set on half-cock. When the pan is primed, the hammer is pulled toward you to cover the pan. To fire you pull the cock back to full-cock, remove the hammer boot, point or take aim, & pull the trigger.

If the lock will not function because of a broken mainspring, then the cock will not spring forward when you pull the trigger. So to make the cock go forward toward the pan, you will have to pull the trigger & push the cock forward with your thumb.

Remove the flint from the cock & replace it with a piece of tinder, or a fuse made from cotton or linen material, or use some cordage made from coton or linen or plant material. This is your match or match cord, you now have a matchlock.

In practice it is better if you are using a smouldering match, to carry the match cord in your hand & push it into the jaws of the cock just before you are ready to fire. DO NOT load the gun or prime with a smouldering match in the cock!

When you are ready to give fire, push the match into the jaws of the cock at full cock, push the hammer back to open the pan. Take aim, pull the trigger, & push the cock forward so that the smouldering match end makes contact with the powder in the pan.

On a matchlock the part that holds the match is called a Serpentine, the cock on your firelock will be the Serpentine. This lock of course is shown the other way round, but you can still get the idea. The pan cover on your lock is the hammer.

Makeshift, but it will allow you to hunt in a survival situation. I have never broken any part of the lock on my fusil in 20 years. I did have the hammer refuse to spark one time, & I fixed it by heating it to cherry red in the camp fire & quenched it in my cold cup of coffee. Quenching the face of the hammer & then the rest. I did this so as not to make the hammer too hard at the angle. They have been known to break at that point if made too hard. Personally I would think it would take a pretty strong mainspring & hammer spring to break a hammer.

Here you can see what I carry in my knapsack. Ahammer spring on the top left, mainspring to the right. The mainspring clamp in the centre. Bottom left a wad punch, & on the right a spare hammer (the hammer got its name from an earlier model lock where the steel looked more like a hammer. It has been called a hammer or steel ever since. Not to be confused with the hammer on a percussion lock).

My turnscrew & screw I carry in my shot pouch. You need the turnscrew to replace the flint, and to replace lock parts & remove the barrel.

Doc: The CVA I think has a hooked breach so you don't need a turnscrew to remove the barrel except perhaps to push the barrel pin out.

This appears to be a Tinderlock.

The Matchlock Gun.

NEVER prime first and load second, and NEVER stick your head over the muzzle!!!

NSW Firearms Legislation.

http://internationalroutier.wordpress.com/2010/11/06/more-nsw-legislation-changes/

The Matchlock.

Many of these earlier guns were still in use during the 18th century. A good example of this is a true story of survival during the 18th century in a book called "The Matchlock" which is a children's book, and a good read.