While home over the holidays I was able to shoot a muzzle loading rifle and pistol for the first time. Research for some Civil War stuff I’m pondering. It was quite the experience. I never realized that black powder is completely different than the powder used in modern weapons and fireworks. It reeks of rotten eggs when fired. You’d think with all of the historical accounts and novels I’ve read that someone would have mentioned that at least once. The photo shows a .45 caliber ball flattened by the impact on the metal target support (just shot at some paper, no animals, don’t get yourselves in a lather), and another ball in unfired condition. No photos or video of the actual firings, it was too cold.

Something else that got smushed recently was the stern of the USS Weehawken model. Due to some dumb ass overloading a shelf above my computer (dumb ass=me) the shelf supports gave way and tumbled earthward, taking the shelf below it along for the ride. Fortunately, the literal pile of books cascaded over my computer and nothing expensive was broken, but had I been at my desk when it happened then I’d be typing this from the hospital. So there’s that silver lining. The Weehawken took some collateral damage. First shot shows the worst of it, the second shot shows the same area after a repair of Aves Apoxie Sculpt, lots of Mr. Surfacer, and ample swearing.