I was touring Colonial Williamsburg today and saw in the Governor's Palace that the pistols were displayed without locks. I asked the docent why the locks had been removed (the locks were all present on the muskets) and she replied that was the way that they were described in the governor's inventory of the period.
My own family has an heirloom rifle that lost its lock over the generations. The story goes that it was known to be loaded and the lock was removed to keep one of the children from getting hurt. My father had a lock made for it and the gunsmith told him that it was in fact loaded and that he pulled the charge and then fired the rifle several times with the new lock.
I asked two of the docents if arms were ever kept loaded and they both (separate conversations) scoffed as if that was the silliest thing they had ever heard. The guide at the palace said that no shot or powder was kept in the house and that it was all at the magazine. The docent at the magazine said that arms were never kept loaded since the powder would degrade and "eat" the metal or, at best, misfire.
I know you have to clean them immediately (I've been shooting BP for over 20 years) but I've never heard that about leaving them loaded. More importantly, does anyone have an idea about the locks on the pistols?
My own family has an heirloom rifle that lost its lock over the generations. The story goes that it was known to be loaded and the lock was removed to keep one of the children from getting hurt. My father had a lock made for it and the gunsmith told him that it was in fact loaded and that he pulled the charge and then fired the rifle several times with the new lock.
I asked two of the docents if arms were ever kept loaded and they both (separate conversations) scoffed as if that was the silliest thing they had ever heard. The guide at the palace said that no shot or powder was kept in the house and that it was all at the magazine. The docent at the magazine said that arms were never kept loaded since the powder would degrade and "eat" the metal or, at best, misfire.
I know you have to clean them immediately (I've been shooting BP for over 20 years) but I've never heard that about leaving them loaded. More importantly, does anyone have an idea about the locks on the pistols?