We love going to Colonial Williamsburg. Whenever we go there we step back in time and any worries or stress just fade as we wander the streets and gaze at the buildings or visit the shops. They have the standard ghost tours and carriage rides which are great… But you can find those at most places.
What you can’t normally find is the option to fire an actual flintlock musket!
I’ve been eyeing this excursion for quite some time. I’ve shot most guns in my life, even black powder guns, but never one with an actual flint.
https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/events/fire-a-flintlock-musket/
Not sure why, but I just assumed it would be near the grounds. I’ve never heard any muskets being fired any of my times visiting so not exactly sure why I believe that, but I did. Instead it was at a private range of theirs a mile down the road.
We all met at the Williamsburg Lodge and jumped in a van. Maximum of 6 people per shooting so everyone gets plenty of time and plenty of attention by the Certified NRA instructors. The instructors also do most of the handling and reloading of the muskets. Each person shoots six shots. I know that doesn’t sound like much but between the two of us, instructions, asking questions, listening and taking photos of each other this took an entire hour. We neither felt rushed nor did the experience feel lethargic.
The range had all the targets preset for us. A large paper target of colonial glass bottles placed 75 to 100 feet down range. I’m unsure of the actual distance, I neglected to ask this question, but it seemed appropriate for what we were doing.
Once the range went hot (live/active) the fun times commenced!
The first three shots were from the British Brown Bess musket, with the last three shots being from the Colonists’ Long Rifle (pictured above) which was more suited for hunting. When a British Brown Bess could be obtained, the gun was preferred and used over the hunting rifle as it was heavier, better built, and suited for warfare.
At the end we got to head down range and see how we did
Overall highly recommend this excursion/adventure. It may not be something we will do again right away, but we are really glad we did do it.
