Anyone still post over at Johns Nitro express forums?

I returned there after many years, to post about articles I was looking at doing. Have tracked down Sir Samuel white Bakers "baby" elephant gun in a UK museum and had been corresponding with the Bakers descendant about an article on it . Currently have photos and measurements on its bore diametre( actually an inch, closer to 4 bore ). Initially looking for an Australian site to generate some interest, hence Nitro express, as I also intend to submit the article to one of the gun periodicals here. If I can't get them interested I'll just do a post here.

Well we had a few words John and I to put it lightly
John got upset on a bigbore thread I started, of all things over the location I listed being 'various' or 'global hotspots'. Which I had used for maybe 10 years previously(!), being I worked through the Middle East, Africa and the South Pacific a lot of that period. I'd also listed my bio as not giving a damn about bios ," "who GAF about bios"( wrote that probably 17 years ago).

For whatever reason this became a concern to him upon my return to his forums, quoting real locations for legal or site policies, right in the middle of a bigbore dicussion. I said I'd rather not provide them due to the countries I work in, also as other members used frivolous or abstract locations on his site, I didnt see that it was a very solid policy, though he could feel free to change it himself to something that suits. He changed my bio to a capitalised warning about respecting mods( again the bio had been in place for over 15 years) and I noticed my location was changed to a made up location that was a little sensitive in todays environment, or possibly a dig at soldiers in general, so I changed it to "South Pacific", which is accurate and I thought would keep us both happy.


Here is Johns last post to me, before banning my account (He also accuses me of being in Victoria for the last 15 years... though I have only set foot in that state 3 times in my life. I am currently in the tropics, over 2000 miles closer to the equator, and was while I was posting to him )

"Loc South Pacific And as for the breach of terms and conditions the troll Karl refers to, it is a requirement to display a proper location. I asked the troll Karl to put a correct location in. He refused. Twice I correct it, by adding troll Karl's location in. Three times now the smart arse has changed it to something else, he thinks was funny ... troublemaker. We have the IP addresses of each post and his have been consistently Victoria, as they were 15 years ago. As for the "interesting guns" he mentions, interesting he never mentioned any of these since he "returned". No doubt he will poach some images from somewhere to BS about elsewhere. Gone. Banned. Fifteen years ago was a "friend of a troll". A month ago I mentioned the name of that troll and "Karl" appears ... We don't have many rules and it is pretty much easy going here in a constructive and gentlemanly manner. We don't tolerate trolls and purposeful troublemakers one bit however." "Loc South Pacific


John, if you are reading this: I am glad, honestly, you finally had the balls to ban me.
While I never trolled you, and always tried to treat you with respect on your forums, it is true we had some major technical and political arguments here on AR over 10 years ago. The 'other troll' you allude to I assume is Mike375( a separate person I can assure you) though you didn't fair very well in discussions with him either

Obviously what occurred almost 15 years ago has been causing you some ongoing grief, so I am glad, that by whatever means necessary, you have finally done what is needed to come to terms with it. Good luck with whatever is going on in your life

I used to be on it and was a moderator. Met John and he stayed with me in the NT. I asked him to remove me as a mod as I didn't think much of the AR/Saeed bashing that would go on. As a normal member I stayed on for a couple of weeks then logged out and haven't logged in for 8-10 years now. I think he was jealous of the success of AR over his site and he was just a whinny childish bitch He thought he was a bit of a player in the international hunting scene and loved a scandal. Meh..... he's not for me.

yea bakes. I felt he used to meltdown in debates here too. At least then, he didn't allow it to affect his moderation on his own site. There could be a war going on here on a subject, but the same members could be talking congenially on NE, or vice versa. I think he was following Don and Saeeds example back then...

Again I hadnt posted there much in 10 years either. Bizarrely the issues he refers to about Mike375 and I were debates that are from 2003-2005. And we had all been posting congenially since. Obviously the culture of the site changed since.

Aanyway onto more interesting subjects. I also edited the thread title. Regards Sam Bakers gun, which started this all off. I basically got sick of correcting the Wikipedia article calling it a 2 Bore Most the members here have been aware its not, but it still has a following in general hunting circles online believing it is. Alf had posted here years ago with a photo and seriel number for it. I tracked it down to a UK Museum and also contacted Bakers living descendants, who are still the owners of it, one who is a fellow of the Royal society.

The seriel checks out with H&H's records, as does the weight from bakers books. Its really 'Baby'.

If anyone knows of a blackpowder expert in the UK, I'd be interested in touching base with him. I can't get to the Uk for the near future but should be able to get permission from the museum librarian and Bakers descendants for someone to inspect it. Would add some substance to an article to have an expert check it out first hand, or even provide interesting information on these forums. Anyone interested feel free to PM.

Sounds, Karl, like something The Double Gun Journal would publish assuming you get some good illustations of the rifle and a copy of H&H gun book notes to go along.

Regards, Tim

Bakes

Good to see an honest Aussie call a spade a spade and not get sucked into the "Good bloke" culture of backing your "mates" irrespective of values.

What a pity that the hunting and DR community has lost the opportunity of a major source of positive publicity for a historical rifle and its legacy.

quote:

Originally posted by Bakes:
I used to be on it and was a moderator. Met John and he stayed with me in the NT. I asked him to remove me as a mod as I didn't think much of the AR/Saeed bashing that would go on. As a normal member I stayed on for a couple of weeks then logged out and haven't logged in for 8-10 years now. I think he was jealous of the success of AR over his site and he was just a whinny childish bitch He thought he was a bit of a player in the international hunting scene and loved a scandal. Meh..... he's not for me.

Nakihunter, sadly the threads I started on his bigbores forum before this were getting the most replies.

I am assuming NitroX's tantrums have a lot to do with the reduced traffic on that site these days. Very strange guy.

quote:

Originally posted by Tim Carney:
Sounds, Karl, like something The Double Gun Journal would publish assuming you get some good illustations of the rifle and a copy of H&H gun book notes to go along.

Regards, Tim

Thanks Tim that's aiming high indeed. If I can't line up a BP guy to check it out, I'll make some effort to get over and check it out myself. Currently contacting H&H for info at their end. What I'd like to do also is find more information on Professor Forsyth, the explosive projectile guy of the day. I believe he worked with H&H and Baker on that half pound explosive shell. None of these remain intact of course. Would be interesting to find some more references to it, or even a diagram.

Btw does 'ALF' still post here these days? I am out of date with who is posting about what these days, but I recall he had a fair bit of info in the 2000's on BP peices of this era.

Karl, ALF posts here still. He is the closest we have to an expert on many subjects, chiefly involving colonial era firearms.

If you will let us know where and when you publish your article on Sir Samuel Baker's Baby, I can assure you that many of us who call AR our African hunting home will eagerly read it.

Sounds truly interesting.

BTW, ALF should find time to write an entire book. He surely has the sources, the knowledge, the experience and the ability to get the job done right!

Karl, not trying to be a suck-up here, but your post once again reinforces my belief that Saeed is one in a million when it comes to forum owners/administrators. He seems to be unflappable. Many other forums have suffered or whithered because the owners insist their petty opinions and personal whims be glorified and otherwise obeyed.
Not here, that I can tell.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Karl, not trying to be a suck-up here, but your post once again reinforces my belief that Saeed is one in a million when it comes to forum owners/administrators. He seems to be unflappable. Many other forums have suffered or whithered because the owners insist their petty opinions and personal whims be glorified and otherwise obeyed.
Not here, that I can tell.

Correct. AR is unlike any other forum. And the guys from the other forums know it. Royalty has is privileges, and sometimes it’s nice to experience the privilege by proxy... ;-)

I use to lurk on both sites. If one was slow the other would have some action.

But then Nitro got very anti lurker were he was being paid by advertising per member. I tried to join Nitro, but the system/process was very difficult and simply did not work. It was like the information was not being processed.

I do not know why, maybe it was the periodic locking out lurkers to the best forums, I stopped going over there.

In this day and age, I see nothing wrong with members not advertising their exact location. See mine below.

On Baker’s Guns, how did the explosive round mange to detonate, but still be construed solid enough to do so in the chest cavity, and not simply a horrible surface wound on elephant?

I have read about such projectiles being used on whales.

quote:

Originally posted by LHeym500:
I use to lurk on both sites. If one was slow the other would have some action.

Same with me.

Was "friends" with John on FaceBook as well. He posted something about wind farms on his FB page and I made a simple comment that I drive by several wind farms on my way to work out in West Texas on a regular basis and that IMO they've transformed beautiful bluffs and plateaus into a blight on the landscape. Really nothing more than that and close to word for word. His reaction was to scold me about how he wasn't going to allow debate on his FB page and "defriended" me. I just wrote him off a s psycho at that point. Haven't been back to his forum since.

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:

quote:

Originally posted by LHeym500:
I use to lurk on both sites. If one was slow the other would have some action.

Same with me.

Was "friends" with John on FaceBook as well. He posted something about wind farms on his FB page and I made a simple comment that I drive by several wind farms on my way to work out in West Texas on a regular basis and that IMO they've transformed beautiful bluffs and plateaus into a blight on the landscape. Really nothing more than that and close to word for word. His reaction was to scold me about how he wasn't going to allow debate on his FB page and "defriended" me. I just wrote him off a s psycho at that point. Haven't been back to his forum since.

An interesting article on NPR recently about wind turbine blade waste. Not all that’s green is gold. If you get my drift.

Why am I reading this?.....

Ski+3
Whitefish, Mt

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Robinson:
Karl, ALF posts here still. He is the closest we have to an expert on many subjects, chiefly involving colonial era firearms.

If you will let us know where and when you publish your article on Sir Samuel Baker's Baby, I can assure you that many of us who call AR our African hunting home will eagerly read it.

Sounds truly interesting.

BTW, ALF should find time to write an entire book. He surely has the sources, the knowledge, the experience and the ability to get the job done right!

Michael thanks, I will search for him. He was the first guy on the forums with the picture of Bakers gun and seriel number in about 2003.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Karl, not trying to be a suck-up here, but your post once again reinforces my belief that Saeed is one in a million when it comes to forum owners/administrators. He seems to be unflappable. Many other forums have suffered or whithered because the owners insist their petty opinions and personal whims be glorified and otherwise obeyed.
Not here, that I can tell.

Yes Saeed is a diplomat, and he selected his mods well

quote:

Originally posted by LHeym500:
On Baker’s Guns, how did the explosive round mange to detonate, but still be construed solid enough to do so in the chest cavity, and not simply a horrible surface wound on elephant?

I have read about such projectiles being used on whales.

Good question. I used to have some literature on Forsythes exploding muzzleloading projectiles. They are mentioned in Bakers books as well. Off the top of my head I would assume the firing creates a delayed detonation, much like a normal grenade. A compound is given time to burn through or dissolve into another chamber setting off the main charge. I recall Baker using both fine black powder and also mentioning fulminates( like primer compound) as the explosive charge. Time to drag all my copies out and go through them again. Explosive Whaling harpoons also used black powder at first, then higher energy explosives like penthrite

I'm not aware of anything being a problem with John, on his website with myself. I suppose his rules were made for reasons known only to him. It really surprises me that Bakes had any either so I can't make an opinion either way. Sorry you found him dislikable, to the extent you were banned from the forums on NE.
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quote:

Originally posted by Karl:

quote:

Originally posted by LHeym500:
On Baker’s Guns, how did the explosive round mange to detonate, but still be construed solid enough to do so in the chest cavity, and not simply a horrible surface wound on elephant?

I have read about such projectiles being used on whales.

Good question. I used to have some literature on Forsythes exploding muzzleloading projectiles. They are mentioned in Bakers books as well. Off the top of my head I would assume the firing creates a delayed detonation, much like a normal grenade. A compound is given time to burn through or dissolve into another chamber setting off the main charge. I recall Baker using both fine black powder and also mentioning fulminates( like primer compound) as the explosive charge. Time to drag all my copies out and go through them again. Explosive Whaling harpoons also used black powder at first, then higher energy explosives like penthrite

Thank you.

quote:

Originally posted by MacD37:
I'm not aware of anything being a problem with John, on his website with myself. I suppose his rules were made for reasons known only to him. It really surprises me that Bakes had any either so I can't make an opinion either way. Sorry you found him dislikable, to the extent you were banned from the forums on NE.
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Your post is way off Mac. If I'd found him dislikable to any extent, I wouldn't have chosen his site to kick off these articles. I'd been on his site for over 15 years, posting again after an absence abroad.

bizarre