MountainMan's Black Powder Beattie Collection

[MountainMan]

FEEL FREE TO POST AND DISCUSS ANYTHING BLACK POWDER - OR THE MEN OF OLD (MOUNTAIN MEN AND ETC.) WHO USED THOSE GUNS ON THIS THREAD



Carl Beattie was my wife Nancy's father who passed in 1992.  He was handicapped and a self taught black powder gun maker.  Carl belonged to a club, The Pennsylvania Long Rifles, where there were members with specialties that helped each other.  Their meetings were held in a log cabin from the 1700s that they took apart and rebuilt on their site.

Guns hand made down to the screws.

I have 13 of Carl Beattie's hand made black powder guns.  I'll post them on this thread every once in a while starting with the traditional styles first.

One of Carl's pistols he made for a friend won a national competition.

Number 1 of 13 (he gave it to me as a gift after I married his daughter)

Carl made the case, gun (.40 caliber), knife, horns, balls.

















Lock was hand made by a mountain hermite named Sutter.

[theirishguard]

Dave, that gun is great, you must be proud to own it and others.
Tom

[Michigunner]

Very beautiful.  Thank you, Dave.

[R9SCarry]

[size=24]OMG!!![/size]

Dave - what can I say!   Such exquisite craftsmanship - it is breathtaking.  Thx so much for sharing these.  I came to the thread thinking - ''oh well - post a few of my pics'' but hey - my stuff is tawdry and relatively modern stuff by comparison.

That lockwork is pure drooling delight!

I will indulge just a tad - my old Parker Hale repro 2 band musketoon - .577 cal, for which I cast and shoot Minnie's.  Well over an ounce of lead!  It can use from 2 1/2 drams to 3 1/2 drams of powder but - rarely have I exceeded 2 1/2 and that still tends to smack my cheek!




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Out of interest too - let me post pics of the Minnie.  The original (a Lyman mould) had an insert which gave rather a solid skirt - and tho it meant lightening the bullet - I made a new mould insert which leaves a deeper hole and thinner skirt - better obturation and accuracy is improved.  It is possible to see tho that the thinner skirt is a bit vulnerable and can get a small dint - tho not a problem if care taken.

I made a wooden box actually (pic somewhere but can't find) which holds the Minnie's separate from each other for carrying to the range.

[CaptBW]

Absolutely gorgeous!

[MountainMan]

Thanks guys - think RJ makes a pocket holster for this pistol?

A Sutter lock now days, if found, can go for the price of a new R9 - I think he passed many years ago.

It will be a little while before I post the next Beattie black powder gun.

Feel free to post and talk about any black powder items on this thread - including days of old when black powder has king.

[Richard S]

Dave:

That work is literally awe inspiring!  What a treasure!  Thank you for posting the photograph.  I'm looking forward to seeing the others.

[sslater]

Mountainman, you have real treasures there.  Museum pieces, I'd say.  

The craftsmanship is incredible!!  I couldn't hope to make even the box.  People who do that kind of work have my utmost respect.

Reminds me of the first time I went thru the Jaguar plant at Browns Lane in England.  I'd been in lots of vehicle assembly plants, but never an automotive wood shop.  They start with big slabs of American walnut burl (& other species) and make all that interior trim on-site.  Great smell.  Unforgettable.  I guess that plant has closed and the craftsmen are now scattered.

[Rocnerd]

That reminds me of the presentation black powder Kentucky? rifles given at the NRA conventions.  I forget the name of the gentleman who does them, but both his and yours are absolutely gorgeous.  I hope he had an apprentice that he past all that knowledge to.  Thanks for sharing.

[MountainMan]

 I hope he had an apprentice that he past all that knowledge to.  Thanks for sharing.

No the skill was not passed down.  He wanted to teach me but  I didn't have the patience or the calling.  Carl Beattie was handicapped by fireworks when he was ten and in some degree of pain for the rest of his life.  So he had to find a hobby were he could stay in one spot - thus making black powder guns started.

I have several traditional rifles and several that are completely non-traditional.  Example - Olympic style competition but all blackpowder, either flint lock or percussion.
Will post them sometime on this thread.
Dave

[bigyimmy]

Wow is that sweet!  Bravo Zulu!

[Richard S]

Chris:

My wife's great-grandfather was wounded in the Civil War (age 17) and carried one of those Minnie's in his chest, living with the pain, until his death years later.  (It makes me shudder just to contemplate it.)

[rtw]

Marvelous workmanship! Thanks.

[R9SCarry]

Richard - I cannot imagine taking a Minnie to the chest and still surviving!  Horrors.

I am always reminded tho when I look at those, and my 50 cal equivalents, of the total carnage wreaked thru the civil war.  So many young lives squandered.

I forget whether I ever posted it here, probably not - I have a copy of a post made 18 months ago following my wife and I biking to Gettysburg - quite a few interesting pics.

If you wish, and some others too - I'll post a thread on it.

[Richard S]

Chris:

Please do.