Posted by: Uncle_Jaque on January 30, 2003 at 22:58:47

This is going to seem really weird to a lot of you in here, I suspect... but here goes; The rage in paintball seems to be in maxium capcity, rate of fire etc. which is all well and good... but as A Civil War Reenactor and a long-time gun-crank it occured to me that it might be fun to sort of combine our hobby/passions by reenacting a Civil War Battle - or at least a skirmish tactical or two - with paintball muskets that would replicate the rate of fire and handling qualities of the muzzle-loading muskets of the time while putting a little more "sport" into the contest. Of course safety gear would significantly compromise our historical authenticity, but this would be more for the participants, rather than a spectator oriented event as most of our Battle Reenactments are. We would still wear our period Union and Confederate uniforms, just adding whatever is needed to be safe. I envision an educational application as well - we already go to schools to demonstrate our weapons, equipment, and tactics as well as to "drill" students according to 1861 tactics. Giving and taking a "volley" between battle-lines about 50 yards apart might give students a whole new appreciation for what Soldiers in the CW faced. Not very PC, for sure, but we have some home-school groups who are not overly concerned about that, and it could be a whole lot more fun for the kids than a normal History Class! If this works out, other Reenactors might want to get in on it; how about bolt-action paintball Mausers and Springfields for WW-I; Arisakas and M-1 Garands for WW-II reenactment? "The Invasion of Normandy - coming soon to a beach near you!" I have several designs on the table for a .69 cal. hand-pumped pneumatic single-shot smoothbore muzzle-loading musket. The more promising of these uses a bicycle pump under the barrel so that pumping up the resivoir simulates ramming a charge with a ram-rod. I figure about 70psi ought to do it. The air-tank is located beneath the barrel, and could be countoured to simulate the fore-stock or concealed under a false forestock. It could also be placed in the butt stock. The air release / firing valve will be hammer-actuated, similar to the original percussion-cap system. It seems that I'm essentially building a miniturized pneumatic potato-gun here, so that it looks (sort of) like a real weapon used during a crucial event in American History. A trained Infantryman in the CW could get off about 3 fairly well-aimed shots a minute with his Springfield or Enfield muzzleloading rifle-musket using paper cartidges; this PB system, I think, would approximate that, simualating the tactical limitations a Soldier would have had to deal with in that period. We would probably have a few of the troops firing blank charges with their real muskets per usual for the noise and sulfurous smoke, which we all love so dearly you know. And we wouldn't have all these silly discussions in the field about "Ya missed me!" / "Did not!". So... have any of you heard of such a simple pump-up pneumatic single-shot marker system? If so, it could save me a lot of work as I might be able to use the action as the basis for this replica. And what do you, as paintball players (I confess, I've never tried it... yet) think about the idea? Any suggestions? Thanks, Guys! "Uncle Jaque" Armorer, Co. "A", 3rd Reg't. Maine Volunteer Infantry http://www.powerlink.net/mcgill/

Follow Ups: Re: Paintball CivilWar Musket Project. chad "_enter_nickname_here_" Kittelmann 14:33:37 05/30/03 (0) Re: Paintball CivilWar Musket Project. -rocketboy 11:30:37 02/15/03 (0) Re: Paintball CivilWar Musket Project. PigTech 21:12:18 02/04/03 (0) Re: Paintball CivilWar Musket Project. PigTech 21:06:56 02/04/03 (0) Re: Paintball CivilWar Musket Project. Silvester 12:38:24 02/03/03 (0) Hey---same project here! Jason Nixon 12:53:30 02/01/03 (0) Hey, I've played that way, sorta! Ben "Pump Scout" Kohnen 21:15:40 01/31/03 (0) Hehe... I was talking about this two days ago... LettuceHead 16:27:11 01/31/03 (0) Re: Paintball CivilWar Musket Project. FoxWalk 23:40:08 01/30/03 (0) Post a Followup Show your name as: DefaultRealnameBothNickname E-Mail address (eg: joeschmoe@aol.com): Show your e-mail address? DefaultYesNo Your Password: Don't have a password? CLICK HERE - Forgot your password? CLICK HERE Subject: Subject:Message: : This is going to seem really weird to a lot of you in here, I suspect... but here goes; : The rage in paintball seems to be in maxium capcity, rate of fire etc. which is all well and good... but as A Civil War Reenactor and a long-time gun-crank it occured to me that it might be fun to sort of combine our hobby/passions by reenacting a Civil War Battle - or at least a skirmish tactical or two - with paintball muskets that would replicate the rate of fire and handling qualities of the muzzle-loading muskets of the time while putting a little more "sport" into the contest. : Of course safety gear would significantly compromise our historical authenticity, but this would be more for the participants, rather than a spectator oriented event as most of our Battle Reenactments are. We would still wear our period Union and Confederate uniforms, just adding whatever is needed to be safe. : I envision an educational application as well - we already go to schools to demonstrate our weapons, equipment, and tactics as well as to "drill" students according to 1861 tactics. : Giving and taking a "volley" between battle-lines about 50 yards apart might give students a whole new appreciation for what Soldiers in the CW faced. Not very PC, for sure, but we have some home-school groups who are not overly concerned about that, and it could be a whole lot more fun for the kids than a normal History Class! : If this works out, other Reenactors might want to get in on it; how about bolt-action paintball Mausers and Springfields for WW-I; Arisakas and M-1 Garands for WW-II reenactment? : "The Invasion of Normandy - coming soon to a beach near you!" : I have several designs on the table for a .69 cal. hand-pumped pneumatic single-shot smoothbore muzzle-loading musket. The more promising of these uses a bicycle pump under the barrel so that pumping up the resivoir simulates ramming a charge with a ram-rod. I figure about 70psi ought to do it. : The air-tank is located beneath the barrel, and could be countoured to simulate the fore-stock or concealed under a false forestock. It could also be placed in the butt stock. The air release / firing valve will be hammer-actuated, similar to the original percussion-cap system. : It seems that I'm essentially building a miniturized pneumatic potato-gun here, so that it looks (sort of) like a real weapon used during a crucial event in American History. : A trained Infantryman in the CW could get off about 3 fairly well-aimed shots a minute with his Springfield or Enfield muzzleloading rifle-musket using paper cartidges; this PB system, I think, would approximate that, simualating the tactical limitations a Soldier would have had to deal with in that period. : We would probably have a few of the troops firing blank charges with their real muskets per usual for the noise and sulfurous smoke, which we all love so dearly you know. : And we wouldn't have all these silly discussions in the field about "Ya missed me!" / "Did not!". : So... have any of you heard of such a simple pump-up pneumatic single-shot marker system? : If so, it could save me a lot of work as I might be able to use the action as the basis for this replica. : And what do you, as paintball players (I confess, I've never tried it... yet) think about the idea? : Any suggestions? : Thanks, Guys! : "Uncle Jaque" : Armorer, Co. "A", 3rd Reg't. Maine Volunteer Infantry : http://www.powerlink.net/mcgill/ [ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ WARPIG Tech Talk - Stock/Pump ]