How to Train Your Muzzleloader

It was a warm October afternoon in central Pennsylvania. The sun had just dipped behind the hillside adjacent to one of my favorite hunting spots. The breeze created a light rustling among the corn stalks in the field my tree stand overlooked. It was the perfect kind of day to just sit and use my beloved time in the woods to ponder issues of interest, but little importance. I may have meditated myself to sleep if not for the sharp snap in the underbrush that signified the approach of a critter for my freezer.

I had planned everything out and situated my tree stand so the trail passed by at an angle giving me a perfect shot on my left side. Naturally, the patch of brown I saw coming through the brush had left the trail and was approaching from my right side. Not only was I Not in a good shot position but the excess movement to switch angles would have easily alerted the little deer of my presence. I had but one choice, which was to make my shot left handed.

As the doe turned her head to look off into the underbrush I presented my rifle and took aim. With the snap of the hammer a bloom of smoke belched from the muzzle. Those seconds feel like an eternity while any muzzleloader hunter waits for the smoke to clear. But sure enough, when the smoke cleared I saw the doe laying right where I had made my shot. She had expired quickly and I thanked God for another quick, humane kill.

Whenever I reflect on this hunt I am always glad I decided to invest time in muzzleloader hunting. At one point I had a flintlock that I had not used from years, but it was love when I finally did. I then went on to purchase an inline muzzleloader, which turned out to be equally as enjoyable to use. However, being a novice in the world of muzzleloading my rifle didn’t fare well as I didn’t know how to properly take care of it.

So, when I realized there was more to it than hunting with a regular rifle I set out to improve my skill. I was convinced you could use one of these style rifles for anything. Though they are only a single shot, an inline muzzleloader has a wide range of ammunition available. After you select a different size or style of sabot it is a simple matter of adjusting your powder measure to accommodate the hunting you are doing. A heavy powder charge can be used for larger game, such as elk and bear, while smaller charges are good for short distance deer hunting.

When shopping for a bullet to fire from your inline you should consider the terrain you are planning to hunt. At the time I hunted a lot of corn and grass fields, so inline muzzleloaders were perfect for punching a bullet through thick cover. For this reason I always elected for cheaper, more flat nosed sabots. Still, I know of other fellows who use higher end, more conical shaped bullets and get fantastic accuracy beyond the two-hundred yard range.

Your powder and primers are pretty basic. If you intend to go crazy and spend some big money on your new found hobby then you’ll get better performance from more expensive products. But for the skinflint’s purpose cheaper and efficient win the race. Any inline muzzleloader will offer enough kinetic knockdown power that even a moderately well placed shot will yield positive results. But, caution is still needed. Often, the powders you will use will leave a corrosive residue in your barrel that will quickly turn to rust if not cleaned in a timely manner.

                   Not only does this residue draw moisture, but the powder itself will also get damp if a hunter is not cognizant of the conditions. It is the voice of experience that will tell you one of the most sickening feelings you will have is to have a deer in your sights and only get a snap from your rifle rather than the report of a muzzle blast. This can obviously happen if the powder is exposed directly to moisture, but it can also happen as a result of condensation.

The best practice to avoid this is to store your powder in water tight containers and store your rifle at the temperature in which you intend to hunt. So, for those in colder climates you wouldn’t want to take your rifle in the house after a day in the zero degree woods. The resulting condensation would render your powder useless. It is best to make sure your rifle is secure from theft or accidental discharge and leave it in the weather it will be used to hunt in.

There are a few extra safety concerns about muzzleloaders, while I’m on the topic of accidental discharges. By most state’s laws a muzzleloader is technically unloaded when the primer is removed or the flashpan is clear and the frizzen is open (See my article on flintlocks). However, you still have to remember that metal on metal can produce a spark and you have a projectile and propellant in the rifle. As far as I am concerned, no muzzleloader is ever unloaded, ever.

You also need to remember that after each shot there can be smoldering embers in the barrel so when you attempt to add more powder there is a chance of a flare up. I will often blow down the barrel from a safe angle to help burns these out quicker. If you’re shooting from a bench you can eliminate this danger, and greatly improve your accuracy, by running a mop through the barrel between each shot.

If you happen across a muzzleloader used, which I recently have, you may notice it is not in the greatest of shape. The combination of many companies not making the best product and most owners not spending the most time will often leave barrels pitted or finishes rusted. That’s not to say you should walk away from a rifle that just needs a little tender loving care. Plus, you’ll be able to make a cheap gun buy that your significant other won’t have a litter of kittens over.

Regarding the bore, most used inlines that haven’t had the best care will be slightly darker. They’ll still work fine for a brush gun and may still offer some accuracy at a distance, just not as great of a distance. To clean up the bore you can use your regular gun cleaning kit, a power drill, gun solvent, and some steel wool. For a .50 caliber muzzleloader I affix the shotgun cleaning rods with the twenty gauge brush to the power drill. Wrap the brush with some steel wool and saturate it with gun cleaning solvent, I use Hoppes 9.

From there it’s just like going out on a nice romantic date. You need to start slow and pick up speed from there. After you have made a few passes through the barrel with the drill operating at a slower speed you can begin to pick up pace. Desaturate the brush as needed since you want a lot of solvent in the barrel at this point to carry away the rust and dirt. After a number of passes with the drill running at full throttle you can mop out the barrel and check. Then you can repeat the process as many times as you like until you bring some luster back to the bore of the rifle.

Now you can turn your attention to the finish of the rifle itself. Many economy priced inline muzzleloaders do not have a great finish and will often rust if they receive anything less than ultra-supreme care. Even if you’re going for cheap you still want something to look good and be effective.

You could re-blue the rifle, but since it’s a cheaper gun why not have a little fun? It’s always neat to have a piece of equipment that is unique to you. Okay, so I’ll never have anything as cool as my Grandfather’s ivory inlaid 6mm, but a swirl-painted inline muzzleloader is a good enough of a start for my simple little self. That’s right, I said swirl painted. It’s an easy process and the finish will keep rust at bay for a good long time. It allows you to customize your gun and stand out among your hunting buddies.

The internet is literally filled with videos on how to swirl-paint anything you can think of. I’m pretty sure you could even learn how to swirl-paint your first born if you looked hard enough. The process for a muzzleloader is relatively simple. With the gun disassemble, tape off all the parts on the receiver you don’t want painted. Use some wooden rods to plug the breach and muzzle ends of the barrel.

Fill a large tub with water and select several colors you’d want to swirl on the finish. Spray the paint in stages directly on the top of the water. Use a stick to swirl the paint around a bit. Dip the parts in the tub of water with one fluid motion, clear the paint away from the surface by blowing it away and remove the parts from the water. Allow the freshly painted parts to dry before adding a thin coat of lacquer, which will add another layer of shine and surface protection. Viola, you now have a uniquely customized rifle.

Reassemble it and sight it in. The beautiful thing about inlines is most of what you’ll need is on the internet. YouTube is loaded with videos which can show you how to do an excellent swirl-painting job. Most companies which produce inlines will have their owners manuals posted online in PDF format for you to download. This way you’ll be able to have the exact powder tables so you’ll know just how to load your new toy. It’s all right there, and nothing needs to be complicated.

The best thing about inline muzzleloader hunting is it gives you another opportunity to be in the woods. I once talked to a “person” who claimed it was better for kids to be on drugs rather than be in the woods killing animals. I’m still not sure what planet this chick was from but why wouldn’t you want another chance to get in the woods. The time of year is usually comfortable and the game hasn’t been pressured too hard, so there’s a lot of opportunities to make a kill or just sit back and take some nice close-up pictures of the animals that happen by.

Muzzleloading seems to be complicated, as I’ve been told, which often causes people to steer clear of trying this form of rifle hunting. But I am here to say the benefits far outweigh the expenses. The first time you have a deer in your sights, only to lose all visibility when you pull the trigger is a moment of sheer anxiety. The moment that smoke clears and you see your harvest is like no other in the hunting world. So, take the chance the next time you have an occasion to pick up a muzzleloader. Whether it be new or used it will almost certainly change your life as an outdoorsman.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

I am not a lucky person. Usually when things go right for me I start keeping my eye on the skies. Not as a means to praise god for my good fortune, but more to lookout for falling planes that will be landing on me. So when I actually woke up only mildly late for the first day of deer season I had expected the usual rush to the woods. Being a working fellow all my life I regularly had to pull the late shift before embarking on an adventure. This day was turning out to be no exception, and I cursed my boss as I tried to put myself together as I drove to the area I was hoping to hunt.

The first week of December in central Pennsylvania can be a fairly cold time to be in the woods. Yet this was the year of the rainstorms. The heavy rain slamming my windshield made the early morning drive that much more precarious. It was the kind of morning on which most normal people would’ve rolled over and went back to sleep. I can honestly say there have been very few times I was ever accused of being normal. Unlucky, yes. Normal, no.

Parking my jeep in the usual secluded spot I began to get the last of my gear. It was here I realized I had not thought to get any of my rain gear. “Way to go you moron” was roughly what was going through my head. But I was committed. I was determine to go hunting come hell or high water. The high water part was starting to look like the more likely prospect. Rifle, shells, knife, drag rope, hot seat, hat, and snickers bar all locked and ready to travel, I set out for my favorite hunting spot.

I slogged my way through the drenched trails and managed to make it to my spot about forty five minutes before the sun came up. I was soaked to my waist and to the bone before the sun even came up but I still managed to go to sleep within minutes of getting in my stand. The rain had stopped by this point, but it was still cold and now damp to brighten my sleep deprive spirit. But any worry was already washed away, almost literally. I was hunting and nothing was going to bring me down.

I opened my eyes as the light was just perfect that I could safely shoot. I’m not sure how but I so often have a way of doing that. I had my snickers bar, which as far as I am concerned it’s the true breakfast of champions, and did my best to clear the fog in my head in anticipation of my firt sighting of the season. Not having a lot of luck at anything I really didn’t expect to see anything any time real soon. Because of this fact it was a mere matter of moments before my attention began to falter and I slipped into a overworked-human-zombie-like-state.

It was sometime about eight that morning when the sharp snap of a branch brought me back to the soggy, half-frozen world of the living. Without thought I automatically went into full predator mode and focused on the nice sized ten pointer traveling the trail towards my stand. To this day I don’t know what he was after but this deer was a man on a mission. He put his head down to the trail and I had my rifle up and trained on him in the most silent of blinks of an eye. He kept on his path and I rhythmically settled my scope on him and followed his every move, waiting patiently for the best position for a humane kill.

The cold was gone. The lack of sleep was a distant memory. The discomfort of being soaked to the bone was less than a minor inconvenience. All that existed in the whole world was me and this lone animal. He continued down the trail and made the turn I had been hoping for. With a smooth, almost spitritual, squeeze of the trigger I made my shot, and watched in quiet confidence as the buck went down in a nearby brush pile. The report of the rifle barely registered in my ears. Time had shifted as the thirty to forty seconds this whole process took felt like twenty minutes. The recoil of the rifle went unnoticed as I watched my prey fall. It was a perfect day, even by my standards.

While on a fishing trip with my brother-from-another-mother some years later, having nothing particularly better to talk about, we had discussed why people react so differently when hunting versus shooting their rifles at the range. Both Scott and I had been safety range officers and were no strangers to firearms. Scott, being educated in law enforcement and an absolute warrior with his Glock, was able to give me a little insight into this question. Me, ever being the obsessive-compulsive nerd, had to dig deeper.  

So, here’s the basic nuts and bolts of how it works. Essentially, the adrenal gland comes in a set of two and they are situated on top of each kidney. These are hormone producing glands that serve a wide array of purposes. But I’m not going to go into all that. We’re looking at stress. The adrenal glands are designed to handle stress on a short term basis. This is why job stress can have such profound effects on your health. Simply stated, we are not designed or wired to handle that kind of maltreatment. We are fight or flight kind of animals.

It’s the limbic system I am referring to when I say we operate on a fight or flight basis. The limbic system is a part of the brain that took about forty-thousand years to develop in humans. When a human is placed in an escalated situation, such as an approaching animal, the hypothalamus kicks in and tells the adrenal glands to start production of adrenalin. This sudden, and elevated, production of adrenalin is where we get the adrenalin rush from and it is the body’s way of preparing for action.

When the adrenal glands receive the message to get to work, they automatically produce adrenalin by converting the amino acid in tyrosine into dopamine. The resulting dopamine is then oxygenated and becomes noradrenaline which is then synthesized into adrenaline. The fresh adrenaline then moves through the body via the circulatory system and binds to receptors on the heart, arteries, pancreas, liver, muscles and fatty tissues. The adrenaline then limits the production of insulin and causes the body to metabolize sugars and fats which can be used as fuel in a fight or flight situation. This burst of freshly metabolized fuel is also part of the rush.  At this point you can consider yourself adrenaline rushed.

This is the part where your pupils dilate, your sense of time seems to change due to the general elevation of everything in your body, and the blood in your body will begin to shift from non-essential areas to more vital areas. The blood is the important factor for the purposes of the question we set out to ask. Your body will naturally try to protect its vital functions, which is why it pulls all your blood to the core. That also means the blood has drained away from everything in your ears.

The ear is another amazing feature to the human body. Many folks I’ve talked to think it doesn’t do a lot more than provide audio reception for the brain. However, the ear plays a much larger role in our ability to function. It is connected to the throat and nose, and helps provide balance and assists in other aspects of a person’s ability to orientate themselves. When in fight or flight mode there is a subtle change in the ear that causes it to be less receptive to noise. While the blood isn’t completely drained away, there is enough change to make the ear function differently. At this stage the ear isn’t necessarily functioning less efficiently, it’s just functioning differently.

So, there you are. You’re rifle is at the ready, you’re focused on your prey, it’s the moment of truth. All of a sudden you’re nice and warm because your heart rate has been elevated and you’re moving more blood. Your vision is sharpened and time seems to pass differently because of the activity in your brain. You make your shot and the rifle sounds dulled because all the extra blood is pulled to your core as your body makes preparations for action. You barely feel the recoil of your rifle because your muscles are energized. It’s the perfect rush being delivered during the perfect storm of physiological activity.

Everything else is the result of your body making every effort to reorient itself to your normal operating levels. After the vital moment, when you’ve successfully stopped your prey’s vitals, the euphoria and shakiness is partially a result of various chemicals produced in your body to counter the extreme impact of the adrenaline. How quick the rush passes is purely determined by the individual. Whether it be a successful hunt, dirt bike ride, wild sex, a rock concert, firearms training, or anything else exciting the prospect of an adrenaline rush is too tantalizing for anyone to resist once they’re hooked.

Despite the exhilaration of it all there is that sad, dark, serious side that has to be considered. It always seems whenever we are having fun there is always someone who comes along and reminds us its time to get serious. But when it comes to safety the only true dark side when it is disregarded and something unfortunate happens. All the heightened senses and rush from the adrenaline can make people forget themselves. I can’t caution people enough about this.

When the adrenaline is introduced in the blood stream and crazy things start happening in the body is usually the moment where all rational thought goes out the window and splatters on the street below. This is when we see bad car wrecks, hunters shot in the woods, sunken boats, accidental pregnancies, and thrill seekers falling off of balconies. This is when not driving faster than your guardian angel can fly, checking your target, looking for rocks in the water, using protection, staying away from the edge all become mere afterthoughts. Unfortunately, there is no amount of pacing, practice, rhythm, observation, or caution that can be more valuable than good, old fashioned using your head. The only thing worse than a dude with beer muscles is an adrenaline junkie looking for a fix.

Safety is the best investment you can make when you go out of your house. Always clear the shells out of your rifle or shotgun. Wear a hat, glasses, and ear protection when shooting. Buckle your seat belt and don’t text and drive. Wear your orange vests, life vests, and bullet proof vests. Don’t drink and drive, drink and shoot, drink and boat, or drink and hunt. Check your target and never put your finger on the trigger until you are ready to make your shot. Store weapons away from children and never store a loaded weapon. The list goes on and on. It’s best for you and your family to be safe at all times.

Anything can happen to anyone. If you or someone you know shrugs off safety advice, no matter how many times it’s been said before, then that that person is too comfortable and is a danger. We’ve seen how adrenaline works and many of us have felt that rush, the important part is to protect yourself and your family by being proactive with your safety precautions before your next trip seeking an adrenaline rush. Be cheap, have fun, and be safe, folks.

Raked Across the Coals

Throughout human history man has consumed meat.  Not only do we consume meat, we love to consume meat. Humans have consumed meat for a very long time. Archaeologists have found animal bones all over the world with striations on them that indicate some pre-historic, carnivorous, chest-beating, free-ranging, life-loving caveman chowed down on some juicy steak from whatever animal he managed to catch, kill, and eat. The circle of life has been turning round and round for millennia. The bones don’t lie, and who are we to try to re-write history?

Some time ago, having few matters of significant importance and no other suitable diversion to entertain myself, I elected to embark on a journey that theoretically wouldn’t land me in an institution. At least that was the theory and it’s worked out so far. Being a student of culinary wonders and ever curious about the workings of the humans around me I endeavored to combine the two interests and come up with the answer to a question that vexed me. I wanted to know how humans cooked their food before they had grills and other such utensils. My purpose in this narrative is to discuss some of the techniques I have tried to answer these questions.

I need to start with a disclaimer. I had a vegan friend who affirmed and attested men didn’t eat meat and were never meant to. She was adamant that was a modern thing and our systems weren’t meant to be able to digest such sources of protein. Ergo, the first part of my disclaimer is that she, along with most other vegans, are wrong. Look at the archaeological evidence, case closed. Part two is that I really don’t know if anyone can be right about when humans started consuming and cooking meat.

So now that the disclaimer is out of the way I can begin by asking a question. Have you ever tried to cook something without a frying pan? How about a rack or grill? Have you ever tried to do a roast in your oven only to have it turn out somewhat resembling shoe leather? If we can’t get consistent, positive results the how did primitive humans manage to cook their food with no oven, or any other utensils for that matter? The answer to this question is not easy at all and there are a few possibilities I would like to address.

I’ve looked high and low and burnt holes in google. I’ve read a lot of really good theories, and some that were hell and gone past ridiculous. Ironically, half of the most ridiculous ones were seemingly written by vegans. So, for all intents and purposes, this is simply going to be some theories that I can’t lay any professional credentials behind. I did a bunch of research, learned a bunch of facts, and did some really cool experimental cooking, that’s it. Aside from proclaiming the vegans as being wrong, I make no promises otherwise.

The first common theory I encountered in my research is that early humans only ate raw meat. I can’t bring myself to subscribe to this theory because it is too broad in spectrum. We have to remember that not all humans, or any of their predecessors, were living under the same conditions at any given time in Earth’s history. Different conditions and environments would mean people were doing different things according to the resources available to them.

That being said, I would have to speculate there was definitely a lot of raw meat consumed by the ancient skinflints of planet Earth. Yes, ancient people were skinflints too. They had to get the most amount of calories out of their food while expending the least amount of calories to get their food. This maximum return-on-investment methodology dictates the best way to sustain yourself with animal protein is to feed a tribe rather than a single hunter. With primitive weapons and tactics a single hunter could easily spend more calories catching dinner than could be replenished by eating said dinner. A pack of hunters bringing down a large animal could easily turn those tables.

These notions can be validated by any modern hunter who has gone afield only to return with one or two squirrels. We can contrast this to any pack animal who takes down a larger beast to feed a group, such as we see with lions and wolves. When we consider the intensity of the hunt we can see ancient man, modern man, lions, and wolves all burning a lot of calories. If every meal was cooked by ancient man we would also have to factor in the massive amount of calories expended to build a fire with no modern means. Studied closely, the likelihood of raw protein consumption seems reasonable at some point in history.

Going to back to the consumption of raw protein, it stands to reason it was done quite often. Nevertheless, the notion of raw meat consumption continues to this very day, and is a wonderful part of the culinary tradition of the world as a whole. Steak Tartare is a fantastic example of this manner of preparation. There are many variations and peoples who claim this iconic meat dish. One theory is the Mongols would place pieces of meat under their saddles to tenderize as they rode. Many dispel this theory, but it makes perfect sense. The salt in the horse sweat and the constant abuse would cure and tenderize the meat during the duration of their trip. This would yield a source of protein that could provide calories for nourishment while not requiring many calories to prepare.

We would be hard-pressed to talk about raw applications without taking a brief moment to discuss parasites and other nastiness that would make a raw piece of meat on the ancient hunting scene. Even with our modern refrigeration it is most wise to make sure you implicitly trust your butcher. As far as ancient meat consumption, we all know the infant mortality rate was higher and the average life expectancy was lower. There’s not a lot else that can be said for the matter. It was a part of life and nobody left any evidence on a cave wall indicating there was a problem with it. Ancient hominids had to have something of a tolerance established or we would’ve died out long before we had the opportunity to even invent the wheel.

The raw part of this crazy little string of theories is pretty simple. Hunter sees beast, hunter tracks beast. Hunter is hungry and needs to feed his pack of man-beasts so hunter kills beast. Stone knives and hatchets are then employed to eviscerate and prepare the newly acquired protein. The knives will easily cut the meat and the blunt edge of the hatchets could’ve been used to pound out and tenderize the meat. That could conceivably be very similar to a modern meat mallet. We can also theorize that every part of the animal would’ve been utilized and we can further determine that the danger of pathogens and parasites would be reduced as the resulting protein was probably consumed on the spot so there would be less need to defend it from other predators.

Moving right along, we see man begin to use fire. Again, there is no shortage of scholars and peoples who claim to know where this began, somewhere on the African continent seems to be the most agreed upon assumption. More importantly, we can now see man cooking his protein. It does make sense that early hominids would’ve made this advancement. We have evidence that shows there was some very basic knowledge of germs as far back as ancient Egyptian time. So it is fair to say that rather than intending to cook their protein ancient man may have been trying to dry their meats for storage or to avoid spoilage. However, the idea of cooking large pieces of meat has led a few authors to conclude that early people simply skipped the cooking because it would be too intensive to cook the meat through.

This would be accurate by our modern ideas associated with cooking larger pieces of meat, such as you would find in a bar-b-q setting where the protein is cooked low and slow and requires a large amount of fuel. But it isn’t so unreasonable when we go primitive. Certain pockets of humanity have been noted to bury whole animals wrapped in large leaves for as much as two days to cook it through, which is partially where we got some of modern practices for making bar-b-q. But that’s a topic for another time.  Still other primitive practices could’ve include cutting off cooked sections so the raw protein beneath can get more direct heat. Using these forms of primitive cookery will allow a tribe, group, village, or family to cook larger quantities of meat with less fuel.

There is also archaeological evidence that smaller animals were packed in clay and roasted on the fire. In these cases the animal was packed in clay, fur, viscera, and all. The cooking process would render out all the fat and fluids from the viscera and other areas of the animal which would in turn flavor the meat and help the cooking process. After the clay vessel was done cooking it could be broken off, during which process the hide would lift off the animal, leaving only the editable portion for consumption. The key factor in when different pockets of humanity began using fire to cook their meat depends greatly on the availability of wood to make the fires necessary for cooking.

Then we get to one of my favorite applications. In the absence of a pan or over there needs to be a way to cook meat. You see chefs do this still today and the process works perfectly. You simply cut the appropriate piece of protein and lay it directly on the coals. This is probably the simplest means of cooking meat in ancient times. It requires very little fuel, it eliminates the issue of bacterial conjugation on the surface of the meat, and it is fabulously tasty.

The modern chefs I have seen do this begin with a generous application of salt to the surface of the meat. This draws moisture out of the meat and dissolves the salt, creating an environment that is most inhospitable to many strands of bacteria. I lay the protein flat on a plat, elevated by a few bamboo skewers so that room temperature air can move all around the meat. Let this rest art room temperature for sixty to ninety minutes while you get a fire ready.

The fire is crucial to any cooking. Any tree, such as evergreens, that have a sap can give a very off flavor to food so you’ll want a hard-wood variety. Not only will you avoid the sap but it will burn slower and hotter, eliminating the need for a huge pile of wood to chop. When you get the fire going you’ll need to fan it so you can have a bed of super-heated coals. The idea behind this method is to sear your protein at temperatures in excess of a thousand degrees. These high temperatures will cook the meat adequately and eliminate any and all bacteria on the surface of the meat.  

Any steak can be used for this method, but I have found flank steak to be the best. It’s a more durable cut and cooks perfectly. When the fire is ready and the meat has rested at room temp it’s time to get cooking. Take your steaks and simply lay them on the hot coals. Leave them there for as much time as you determine you’ll need based on the thickness of the cut. When you flip the meat you will have a few coals that stick to the meat. This isn’t a problem, simply use your tongs and knock them off.

After you flip your steak you can have your landing zone ready. For us modern humans that translates into a large piece of commercial grade aluminum foil. For ancient epicureans it may have meant a piece of banana leaves, corn husks, wet animal hide, or anything that will allow the now cooked steak to rest so residual heat can do its magic and finish the cooking. I tend to leave mine rest for fifteen minutes.  

The final part I considered when using primitive means to cook protein is the cut. Ancient peoples weren’t the naive cavemen we so often think they will be. Even then they knew that the cut of the meat was what made the meat chewable and by extension, properly digestible. A stone knife, blunt instrument, or hatchet could’ve then be used to further break down the portions for consumption. So long as the cut ran against the grain of the meat it will be tender enough to chew properly. This is important because digestion actually begins when the food is chewed. More dense foods that aren’t chewed as well will not yield as many calories.

Calories are the name of the game. In a world where so many of our children are obese we seldom think that humanity went through a time where nothing was wasted or taken for granted. This point is relevant because we so often think the gourmet applications we see on the cooking shows are new ideas for our enjoyment. After some careful research we begin to see many modern techniques are adapted from ancient practices designed to provide as many calories to one of nature’s animals, more so than palatable enjoyment.

At the end of the day, humans cooked their food because it is more satisfying and allows for better digestion. Better digestion allows for more calories to be introduced to the body. We often think this is important for building muscle but we also have to provide energy for the human brain. The human brain is one of the most impressive things biology has ever produced, but takes a lot to run like all great machines. We could spend weeks talking about the power of brains, man controlling fire, and caloric synthesis, but who really wants to? Let’s keep it simple and save all that for another day.

Now we can think about some of our theories. If you’re still reading there must be something you found interesting. I need to reiterate, the only fact here is the vegans are wrong. Everything else is a theory. If you love to hunt and cook then hopefully there is some ideas here for you to go out and do some experimental archaeology of your own. Make sure you trust your butcher. Be careful consuming raw or undercooked meat. Be careful playing with fire, especially if you’re going to get your youngsters involved with a crazy little project like this.

Do some extra research and see what really interests you. Tartare and steak on the coals are my favorites, but we can’t forget sushi, poke, yookhwe, carpaccio, and any in the number of different ideas. Don’t forget to check out the alternative means of grilling that may stray far from the standard culinary path. I also encourage you to look into the variety of raw and curiously cooked seafood options I didn’t even begin to touch. Consider this your skinflint crash-course to a different world of cooking and eating. Be cheap and enjoy.

To Blue Or Not To Blue

To blue or not to blue? This is a question that will inevitably cross every gun collectors mind at some point in time. Should you make a gun look pretty because it is yours or should you leave it as is so you don’t depreciate the value? Does it make good fiscal sense to refinish a firearm? Question after grueling question will haunt many a man’s dreams. Allow me to give my unsolicited, unprofessional, low budget, ghetto-hillbilly opinion of best practices regarding firearm restoration.

The first thing to consider is why you bought the gun in the first place. Simply stated, we can buy it for investment reasons or we can buy them because they’re just something we want for no good reason. You may have a hundred other guns in your collection, but you can always use at least one more. The investment collector has it fairly easy. If a restoration will diminish the value of the gun then you leave it as is. The folks who own a gun because they want to for no good reason have to consider some other points.

Whenever you buy a gun you have to be prepared to either keep it forever and ever more or have a solid plan for selling it. Acquiring the gun for the right price is only half the battle, especially if you intend to spend between one hundred and four hundred of your hard earned bucks to have it professionally reconditioned. That additional cost could completely make a decent investment turn into a bad deal. You can refinish it yourself for a fraction of the cost, but that is a risky gamble if you don’t get everything absolutely right.

So what is there to get wrong? That is exactly the question an unscrupulous gun dealer is hoping you’d need to ask. If you know your gun guy and are sure he wouldn’t rake you over the coals then you’re already in a good place. If you don’t know him so well you could end up literally giving away an expensive rifle for pennies on the dollar. If you don’t have a go-to gun appraisal resource that you absolutely, unconditionally, implicitly, totally, and completely trust then you must do lots of homework before making any transactions or alterations to a piece.

On one occasion I purchased a rifle on a whim, as I couldn’t fully identify it. When I took it to a dealer he assure me it wasn’t worth any more than the two hundred dollars I shelled out for it. Fortunately, I kept the gun despite his wagging eye brows and later found the same gun at a show selling for just under a thousand. Yes, my dear friends, getting screwed over can happen that quickly. The same can be said if someone grades a firearm you own and tells you it isn’t worth anything. So again, what is there to get wrong? Let’s consider a firearm.

Picture, in your mind, an older firearm you own or have held and looked at. First, is it complete? I don’t just mean are all the parts there. I mean are all the correct parts there? Does anything look modified or out of place, like it was a part from another gun that just happened to fit? Often, a part will be missing or replaced which will impact the value of a firearm. I once had yet another in a chain of shameless dealers try and know a hundred dollars off the price of something I had because the rear sight blade was gone. So I lost a picture of Mr. Franklin over something that was worth about as much as a picture of Mr. Lincoln.

So, you’ve looked the gun over and determined it is complete. No look very close at the finish. You’ll need good light and eyes to see, but after looking for some time you’ll notice a definite pattern in the finish. This is the result of the polishing and carding process while the gun is being blued or otherwise finished. This rule does not apply to every gun as every manufacturer doesn’t put that level of quality into their products.

But if you try to sell a Winchester rifle to a die-hard Winchester collector I can almost guarantee you he or she will be able to tell if the piece has been refinished just by taking a long, hard look at the finish. Here’s a thing that can go wrong if you elect to refinish a piece. If you, or your gunsmith, don’t know or pay attention to the finish of the piece you could wreck the value by doing something wrong, like carding the finish from a different angle. While this may not be a big issue for lower end firearms, it is practically a stoning offense for the most fanatical of collectors.

Use that mind’s eye to look yet closer at the firearm. On most commercially produced firearms there is a stamp somewhere on the barrel. What that stamp may say isn’t as important to my point as the letters themselves. If you look close you’ll see the letters have sharp angles. They’re crisp and clean, having little to no dull edges depending on the age and condition of the piece. This is another tell-tale sign a weapon has not been refinished. An unpracticed gunsmith, either a professional or a do-it-yourselfer, will almost always sand, grind, or card down the edges on a stamp.

Next, open the chamber and look in the barrel. If you do nothing else before buying a gun, you need to check the bore. It can have specks of dirt in it, which simply means it needs cleaned. But otherwise it needs to be nice and shiny. If, however, it has scores, pits, scratches, or anything of the sort you need to get away as fast as you can. Scores and scratches come from foreign debris in the barrel that will actually mar the metal in the bore. Pits show up as a dull bore, and are the sign of using a corrosive gun powder. This is common in firearms that are chambered to use cheaper imported ammunition.

The stock is a pretty straight forward thing to look at. It needs to be complete and tight. Otherwise it is mostly a matter of woodworking. However, you again need to do some homework to make sure you get the right finish. You also want to make sure you or your gunsmith can make any replacement stock fit properly will as little hassle as possible. Aside from cracks, one of the most common things regarding stocks are pieces that have been shortened to accommodate use by a smaller kid. This is fairly easy to spot since the butt-plate usually doesn’t go back on seamlessly.

Those are just a few, and I stress “few,” things that can go askew if you elect to refinish a firearm. The best practice is to have that gun guy in your back pocket to guide you. Regardless if they tell you it’s worth it or not, you’ll at least have a professional opinion to base your decision on. Likewise, you can protect yourself from a less than favorable purchase if you have some knowledge of what to look for in a prospective purchase.

Now, it’s time to ask yourself again, should I restore it. If you’re not following the money and are making a decision based on your personal ideals then there is no wrong answer. When I elected not to refinish my favorite squirrel rifle a friend commended me because I was saving the resale value. I simply stated I didn’t give a metric crap-load about the value as it was my Grandfather’s and I wanted to keep it in the same weathered condition I had used it in for years. In that case the gun is a literal part of my hunting childhood and family heritage, so there is no sticker value that can be attached.

Still other pieces in my collection I restored, not to make them more valuable, but in reality because they weren’t worth a whole lot anyways. They were the perfect guns to practice my gunsmithing on and they look all the better in my collection now. Yet others were restored so I, and my little tribe of future Bambi-killers, may continue to use them effectively for years to come. So, you can again see there is no right or wrong answer about refinishing as long as you’re well educated about the item you want to make all shiny again.

For the firearm collector on a budget, it may be difficult to pay the prices at a professional gunsmith’s shop. Depending on the gun and the work you want done you can get into hundreds of dollars. This isn’t the best thing to do when you may very well end up spending more for the gunsmith than the actual weapon is worth. This compels the skinflint in us all to try to accomplish it his or herself.

The stock is the most exciting part and the dullest part of a restoration. I don’t need to spend a lot of time describing the mind-numbing excitement of hours spent sanding down a piece of wood. I would, however, like to point out that a stock does not need to stay the same once you’ve sanded it down. It’s a simple matter to take an old walnut stock and change it up a bit before you finish the piece. As a do-it-yourselfer who simply wants a nice weapon in his or her collection you can take that stock from brown to blonde very easily. Just make sure you follow the manufacturer’s directions when you pick your finish for the stock. I personally like a blonde, so I’ll leave it at that not waste any more time talking about stocks.

I’ve seen a number of websites, vlogs, blogs, YouTube videos, and magazine articles that demand you remove the barrel from the receiver when you strip your weapon. I personally do not have the tools to properly head-space the barrel during reassembly, so I always elect to keep the barrel and receiver in one piece. This is a controversial point, but I have found it works just as well without the risk of having to go to a gunsmith anyway. However, to what degree you disassemble your firearm is your own discretion.

The most involved part of the restoration is the finish of the metal parts themselves. Begin with some three-thousand grit sandpaper, steel wool, and any form of high revolution buffing device. I actually used the buffer I have for waxing my car. You need to strip all the old finish off the metal parts, without leaving large scores or striations. This will be a long and arduous process, but patience will reward you handsomely. Be sure to get as much of the grease and finish as possible in the cracks and crevasses. Almost everyone in the field uses acetone to do a final cleaning of the firearm.

Now you have a barreled receiver, with a small collection of small parts that has been cleaned and degreased. They are neatly laid out on a clean towel and ready for the bluing solution to be introduced. For the do-it-yourselfer’s purposes this will be a basic cold bluing procedure. The only problem with a cold blue is it isn’t very effective. Generally, a cold blue is a selenium dioxide compound that is supposed to make the metal black, but usually only succeeds in turning it a dark grey. Further, cold bluing doesn’t offer the same protection as hot bluing.

I have found through a lot of internet research that applying an initial series of a browning agent will enhance both the functionality and eye appeal of you do-it-at-home restoration project. Be careful when using browning solutions as they can be very toxic to humans, so you’ll want to work in a well ventilated area. It’s a simple matter of apply a base finish of browning according to the manufacturer’s directions. Once completed you can proceed with applying a series of bluing applications until the desired finish is achieved.

 Before you actually start the finishing process you will want to make some form of wooden or plastic plug to seal off the barrel. You will also want to have a gun cleaning rod with an attached mop in case any of the finish solution gets into the bore. Make sure you have all your tools and materials laid out and ready as when you start applying your finishing products you are basically committed. It will also be beneficial to have some sort or rack which can hold your barrel and receiver. Any uneven spots in the application will show as streaks in the finished surface.

 While applying all these varying layers of finish I gave the barrel a rub down with some clean, degreased steel wool. I then used my car buffer to give the barrel a thorough polishing. Be sure to change pads when you switch from browning to bluing. Also, remember to wear vinyl or rubber exam gloves and degrease every rag or other tool with acetone as you go. The slightest exposure to any kind of oil, grease, or other foreign compound will mar the final product. The last thing you’re going to want it to spend all this nerve-racking time to refinish a firearm, just to have a thumb-print in the finish that you don’t see until two weeks later.

Now, with your piece dried, the bore plugged, and everything stable you can do something I’ve recently discovered that may help further improve the quality of your refinishing job. If you were to watch Larry Potterfield, from Midway USA, you’ll see a video in which he applies a thin coat of lacquer to a barrel her is working on. When I dug deeper I found this is not a commonly heard of thing among armatures, but actually provides one more layer of shine and protection for a barrel. However, when I say one thin coat I mean one thin coat. Not two thin coats, not one heavy coat, not three light coats. I mean one thin coat. It may help to make it even, but in the end it needs to be one thin coat.

When reassembling the firearm you should keep the gloves on as well. If you’ve given all your products enough time to properly cure there should be little to no issues with damage to the new finish, but it never hurts to be a little overcautious. You’ll also want to take you time as to avoid any slips of a screwdriver that will scratch you beautiful blonde stock. Even if you like brunettes, you don’t want to mess up at this point.

So now you’re done with a simple, do-it-yourself, skinflint style restoration job on your firearm. All that is left is to give it a good cleaning, bore sight it, and get ready to take your prize out for a walk. For some final thoughts I will stress homework. Make sure refinishing the piece is the right thing to do. Make sure you are doing the job for the love of your guns and not to benefit anyone else. If you wreck the sticker value, but refinish your Grandfather’s rifle to pristine condition it’s only something that needs to matter to you.

 I will stress patience. Take your time, take your time, take your time. There is no point in trying to restore a firearm for any reason if you are simply going to rush the job and end up with a soppy finished product. Then it’s not worth as much and it looks like hell, which is ne benefit to anyone. I recommend going to YouTube and looking at some of Midway USA’s videos so you can have a solid enough grasp on the project before you start. Once you know what you want and roughly what you’re doing then you really just need to take your time and do it.

Finally, and first, be safe. Make sure to buy, store, clean, refinish, and use your firearms in a safe and responsible manner. Make sure to clear your chambers and keep your weapon pointed in a safe direction. As a final note, which I’ve said a number of times, the best way to get back at the ones who want our guns gone is to be safe and responsible gun owners. Good luck with your restoration project.