Today I got to do one of my favorite programs - the flintlock talk. It really is a lot of fun. I discuss the guns that Lewis and Clark brought with them and also talk about how they work. I also tell a story about Lewis' encounter with a bear when he had neglected to reload his rifle. The best part, of course, is shooting the 1795 Springfield musket. We don't use a lead ball, but rather a spit-wad. The result is still a nice cloud of smoke, but because the spit wad doesn't provide much back pressure, you really don't get as big a bang as you would like. In this photo you can see the shower of sparks going out the tube. Of course, with no lead ball, there really isn't any recoil. But that doesn't dampen the excitement of the visitors who really like seeing the musket fired.