Laying foundations

Welcome!

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Joey and I have a passion for dressing "old-timey" and shooting weird old guns. Some call people like me reenactors, some people prefer the term living historians. Whatever the case, we all have in common an interest in history and (hopefully) the accurate presentation of it to the public in the form of reenactments, living history encampments, museum displays, and other such activities. For the few of us who end up on TV in PBS or History Channel specials, well that's just gravy.

I personally have "kits" several time periods, spanning the early 16th century to the late 18th century. My favorite time period is the late 16th century to the late 17th century because of all the neat firearms of the time. The title of the blog, Slow Match and Pyrite, refers to some of the popular firing mechanisms of the time, matchlocks and wheellocks. In the Spring of 2010, I finished building my first black powder firearm (a replica of a 17th/18th century Spanish Miquelet Blunderbuss) and I became absolutely hooked. It was an ordeal. I ran in to so many problems and pulled a lot of hair trying to find solutions, but I finished it into a nice looking gun and learned a lot in the process. I've decided that, if at all possible, I am going to build all my new firearms.

I've created this blog for a several reasons. The first is to showcase my new creations, showing how something progresses from a sheet of metal and a block of wood into an authentic replica firearm. Perhaps someone looking for a gun builder will see my work and commission a piece. The second is to document my "impressions" and the reenactments that I participate in. Thirdly, I want to periodically post new information I find pertaining to historical topics or reenacting. Hopefully, I will get some input from the community and we can have some sort of meaningful discussion here as well.

- Joey