I don't care how long you have been reenacting

It seems like one a month on average, somebody who is new to flintlocks will try to tell me how they work.

Then, when I try to explain the mechanical concepts behind them to him, they will tell me some nonsense about how the Sgt. in their reenacting group has been reenacting for 25 years and he said .

Here's what it boils down to: I don't care what your Sargent said. I don't care how long he has been reenacting. It means nothing to me.

Gun locks are mechanical mechanisms. They work on known principals of operation. Trust me on this.

The fact that someone has been dressing up and pretending he is someone else for decades doesn't mean that he has some special knowledge of how guns work, it just means he likes to play dress-up a lot. Just because he has owned a musket for 20 years doesn't mean he knows how it works or how to fix one.

My wife has been driving since the 1980's. That doesn't mean she knows how to rebuild a carburetor. My earliest recollection of eating Chinese food was when I was 6 years old. That doesn't mean I know how to cook it.

If you want to take the advice of someone in your unit because they have been doing it a long time, fine. Just don't come to me and expect me to fix what they screw up for free.