Midwinter calling, day 23

Echo's

It's a cloudy morning without sun and a cold, but light wind without rain, so that's positive. After breakfast we will start the shooting tests down on 'the beach', and every rifle need to be checked and iron sights adjusted. I'm really curious about the hunting rifles accuracy. As usual when it comes to firearms I try to limit what people see, so it will only be me, Olafr, Kari, Ciara, Alith and Bodil.

I try to explain to Olafr what will happen, and that the sejd is in the tiny black grains, the powder in the flint lock and the fire the flintlock sparks give, and what to do if the weapon doesn't fire, there is a malfunction or other problem. I also repeat firearm handling rules for everyone; always assumes a weapon is loaded and the safety is off; never aim the barrel at something you're not okay with dies or gets destroyed; keep the barrel pointing slightly down; always consider what's behind the target before putting your finger on the trigger; keep your finger off the trigger until you are about to shoot; use the safety; firearms are not toys, so don't play with them.

An advantage is that this is single-shot flintlocks, and if the flintlock's hammer isn't cocked, it is safer. The disadvantage is that the only way to make the weapon completely safe is to fire the weapon. It cannot be easily unloaded as with a cartridge. As far as I know, black powder guns can be stored loaded as black powder isn't corrosive as long as it is kept dry, but I have to do some screw or corkscrew solution to try to unload. That is easier in a musket without rifling, especially if shot is loaded, but the bullet is a minie style expanding bullet, which helps. We will probably keep a couple of guns loaded just for home defence, and it doesn't waste black powder. If the guns are loaded after the hunt is over, they will be stored loaded until the next time. We just have to very carefully clean the barrel from any residue.

We shoot to make sure to guns can deal with a double load of black powder, and we use a string to pull the trigger. I use it to have loading lessons with all of them, and we fire 3 aimed shots with the rifle basically attached to the bench with a lot of support on a short range to roughly zero the sight, and use it as part of the handling practice. After Olafr gets over his initial shock, he becomes happy and very pleased with his craft and the magic of the black powder. Just like me, Olafr seems to have never had any interest in hunting, but now he looks forward to it.

After that, I do shoot each hunting rifle six times at 100m to be able to determine the center of impact, and to get some idea of how much wide the dispersion is. One rifle seems to have slightly tighter group, or I just had more luck, but I decide that it will be my primary rifle for now. I'm honestly impressed with how good the groups are. After all six shots I adjust the rear sight with the rifle attached to the table, so the 100m sight line up with the center of the group. I shoot another shot to make sure it's correct, and then make a small mark where the zero on the sight to be able to easier reset if I have to remove it. It's honestly interesting and entertaining enough to just shoot and try to get a nice group, that I'll probably do it quite a lot in the future. I'm not particularly into hunting, but I have a feeling that I can really get bogged down in getting as consistent bullet velocity and as tight as possible group. There is a pretty good chance that there will be better rifles made next summer, just to see how well I can make a rifle, and I'm interested in trying to make different bullets. A solid lead bullet is good for a lot, but for higher penetration, a drawn iron tip will probably be effective, while a hollow point or crossed bullet may be more effective in certain types of hunting. I am simply curious and want to know, and I assume I will have the finances and time for it.

I have Olafr learn to load and shoot both a rifle and a musket from standing and kneeling positions, making 4 shots with each weapon, and trying shotgun pellets in the musket. He actually hits the 100m target with two of the rifle shots even though the hit is more than a meter from the center, but all of us have at least a bit of adrenaline shakes. I remember the first time I shot a real gun; hands shaking with adrenaline as it was a completely different experience than air rifles or Airsoft. The instructor actually complimented me on my handling and accuracy, especially with that much adrenaline, and found it hard to believe I had never shot real guns before. Since Alith badly wants to shoot, I let her fire two shots from both a rifle and musket.

We're heading back to the table after setting new targets at 200m to see penetration, accuracy and bullet drop, when all that stuff is forgotten - Iselin is standing smiling and waiting for me over by the table. Shooting is ignored as we kiss and hug each other. After a couple of minutes, I inform everyone there will be a break until after dinner, and Alith, Kari and Ciara will bring the weapons and so on back with them, while I take Iselin hand and we leave. As soon as we have put a little distance from the others, our pace quickens and we hurry into the mansion, up to my bedroom and close the doors.

Iselin seems to have missed me as much as I've missed her, and after the first half hour we mostly lie and hold each other and talk. Iselin is not happy about how much has happened here while she has been away, and that she missed the speaker construction, shooting and thermometer tests, but above all the radio construction makes her unhappy and she confirms my guess. It soothe and makes her pleased that I have saved some that we will build together, and that we havn't done any real radio tests yet. Iselin will help me upgrade my spark gap transmitter to give it more power and give it a dead spark system, and she definitely wants to learn Norse code. I promise to show her pictures and play recordings from the tests. Iselin has of course also noticed the antenna but didn't understand what it was, and again she becomes a bit depressed by how much has happened while she were away and how much she missed being involved in, but it is what it is, and she looks forward to testing and learning it.

We change the subject and everything has gone well with her parents. It took some time to travel to Storman Eidr, ask about his parents and buy their freedom. It was no problem, and if possible became easier once Storman Eidr understood that Iselin was to become Sejdmann Robert Arnesson's future wife. Eidr attended Jarl Steinnes feast, and he had informed her parents that she had been given to me. My reputation has since spread far beyond Kambsnes, and the previous visit of my ship and the sundial installation has not gone unnoticed.

I'm not surprised that it was an emotional reunion between parents and daughter, more than two years after they last saw each other. So much has happened to Iselin and her life has changed so much. Her parents have gotten many shocks, not least when they realised that her jewellery and clothes were her everyday items - not feast clothes - and the big impressive ship they were travelling with was there just for them, and Iselin had a personal guard and maid. It was the first time such a ship has been anchored in their fjord, and of course it was a great event when they left and friends said goodbye. Iselin avoided Kambsnes and bought better clothes and more for them in Njahamrar.

Iselin has of course talked a lot with her parents during the time they travelled, and told them about me, etc. She has deliberately not told too much, and the mansion and their own small farm with animals will be a surprise. They have had so many surprises already.

Caecilia knocks on the door and tells us that dinner will soon be ready, but we have time to shower. As we pass by the workshop, we plug in the MP3 player and the power bank to charge, since Iselin as expected has used them until they were almost empty. She knows better than to run them completely empty. Iselin is saddened that in the future everything like that will just stop working, but she hopes, just like me, that our technology will last many years into the future, even though the batteries will probably need to be replaced and the MP3 player or mobile phones will no longer be so mobile.

Iselin introduces me to her parents, and they look so much older than me, even though they should only be a couple of years older than me. Dinner becomes a slightly strange experience. They are cautious and they are not used to being in such company or eating in a room like this with forks and so on, so we don't press them with lots of questions and the prepared meal is easy to eat with our hands. We're all just trying to be friendly and let them adjust. They are, after all, two former slaves who have lived their entire lives on the same small and fairly isolated farm in the interior of southwestern Norway, hardly ever leaving it, and never having been further away than Kambsnes.

I have no idea what the biggest shock to them is, but it is a huge adjustment just knowing that their daughter socialise with the Royal couple and Jarls, and the man she marries is a Furst who will make her his Furstess. The King, Queen and Princesses will be at their daughter's wedding and live in the mansion she becomes the ruler of, and the royal couple already love the mansion. Their daughter marries the only known Sejdmann, and Iselin have told them when I arrived here and the Aurora they too saw. It is probably impossible for me to understand them.

Just the journey here and the experiences so far are so much more than they experienced in their entire previous life, not to mention seeing the mansion or that the banging noise that echoed far across the water as the boat arrived were created by something their daughter's future husband did. The man they are just sharing a meal with. The man with such impressive female company, including a Storman as concubine given by the King, who will still marry their daughter Iselin as his first wife.