Lady Marilyn and I finally watched the Season 6 finale of Outlander Sunday night. What can I say? It’s been BUSY ’round here!
The season ended with a bang — multiple bangs, actually — as our heroes were caught in a firefight defending hearth and home from a quasi-legal potential lynch mob out to punish Claire for a purported murder. No spoilers — go watch fer yerself. Suffice it to say that much powder was burned. And Marilyn is particularly enamored of Cherokee hostage rescue operations.
As you know, Outlander is a favorite of Clan Cornelius — characters and a story we hold near and dear to our hearts. Mostly, they do a pretty darn good job with material culture of the 18th Century Carolona backcountry, including firearms. But there are certain things that set my teeth on edge. Twice this season, a character referred to muskets as rifles. There is and was a differences, and these characters would know that. And ever since they got to America, I’ve been peeved at Jamie Fraser’s generic (Pedersoli) long rifle. NOT the right rifle for a man of worth in the North Carolina back country. He should be packing a quality, lightly but elegantly carved rifle in the style of makers like JP Beck.
I’m not the only one to say so:
STARZ could do better by Jamie with a Jim Kibler colonial style flintlock long rifle. So say our friends at Rock Island Auction Co. — and they’re right, by the Eternal!
To their credit, STARZ does seem to listen to experts and try to up their game. Seth Isaacson, lead historian with Rock Island says:
We receive confirmation from one of the armorers for the show that the next season will indeed feature Kibler rifles like Brian’s that we discussed in the video.
What video is that? Why, this one:
John M Roberts says
I was similarly peeved during an earlier season when they gave Jamie a cheap Hanwei dirk. Considering they must have spent a fortune on the rest of Jamie’s Highland chieftain’s outfit, they could have sprung a few hundred more for a handsome, custom-made dirk. Hell, I’d have lent them my handmade dirk crafted by Darrell Sweet. They’ll cut costs on the silliest things.
JimC says
I recall that you mentioned that on my first Outlander post. Weird that a show about a warrior culture would say “Meh, good enough” when it comes to arming its characters. Like you say, it’s a silly point to economize on.
Dawn says
Hooray! As an almost obsessive Outlander fan but not one who knows ANYthing about weaponry, I am thrilled that the powers that be actually listen to the more learned. Looking forward to next season and the new rifles!
Nichol says
They’re probably banking on multiple thousands of women watchers like me who don’t know the difference. Thanks for the education (and yep, I found Frontier Partisans through a post of Daina Gabaldon’s a few years back and have enjoyed reading stories here and learning a lot along the way)!
JimC says
Thank you for being here.
Jean says
Good stuff. I grew up with lots of old guns. My dad collected them. They are a lot prettier than the new stuff. Thank for this blog.
Joe says
Great write up and thanks for the shout-out! I do like that the series has been getting people interested in Colonial history and the history of the Cherokee. I admit I didn’t know much about Committee of Safetys before reading the Outlander books and next to nothing about the Regulators and the Battle of Alamance. Hopefully season six continues to get into the Revolution.