This little film might be of some interest. I took it a few weeks ago in southern Ontario, one muggy (and buggy!) evening (with the light low enough to get a good flash on ignition). I use a GoPro camera on my forehead to film scuba dives, and for some time have been wondering about trying it out for one of my other main passions, shooting antique firearms - so here's a first effort!
I wanted to make a film to give the viewer an impression of what it's like to load and shoot the pistol, from the point-of-view of the shooter. I opted against a voiceover as that can sound odd and disembodied on a GoPro point-of-view film, and because I find that many of the voiceovers on YouTube shooting videos detract from the films - so instead I've included the essential details for those who might want them (powder load etc) on the attached description on the YouTube site.
The angle of the camera is difficult to get right. When I angled it more down during the loading sequence, to get the butt of the pistol into the frame, it looked as if I was hovering above the pistol. When I experimented during shooting with keeping the camera horizontal, the shooting image was not as realistic - it is a better point-of-view image with the target sloped.
It's an original 1802 pattern British Sea Service pistol, and has always been a lovely gun to shoot - with just the right amount of primer and a clean vent hole it goes off with a very satisfying single bang, as you can hear. I fired twenty rounds that evening without a single hitch or having to change or knapp the flint.
For those of you who might be wondering, there had been a storm that afternoon and the woods were saturated like a rain forest, so no chance of an aberrant spark igniting anything!
Thinking of having a go doing this next with one of my flint American longrifles.
