He was aiming and getting ready to fire, but the fat man pulled a glory hand and pushes his rifle out of the way, so he could be the one to take the shot, likely fucking everyone in that group over.
I’m not sure, but didn’t she have ammunition that reacted to water? Or maybe he just set that alight with his powers? Can’t really tell what’s going on, either.
In the sixth panel looks more like he either chocked or simply taking too long to make the shot, which prompted the other guy to butt in – which is a stupid thing to do, considering the situation they’re in. He should have taken the shot himself if he was dissatisfied, but this way I’m pretty sure he just blew their chances of actually shooting Hunter, because he’ll most likely spot them and disappear again. Not that I expect shooting him will do much good in the first place, considering some of the other injuries he just shrugged off…
I think Miz Black’s fancy ammo is going off on her person because of the mist Hunter called forth. And to me it looks like Flint was just starting to aim and Eli(?) pushed him aside before he had a shot (and possibly signed his own death certificate). I don’t think he had a shot yet because of the way he’s holding his rifle. Guessing that because if I were him and was about to fire, I’d be leaning further into the gun and have the center of the sight closer to my eye, instead of where my mouth is. Also, if I were steadying for recoil, my left hand would be further out and only one eye would be open. Then again, I’m basing this off my own posture when I shoot, so may be totally wrong here.
Yeah, that’s what I’m not sure about – wherever the ammo is detonating because of the mist or wherever Hunter is actively blowing it up with his powers.
Flint is using a Sharps falling block rifle fitted with a ladder sight (http://www.ssfirearms.com/proddetail.asp?prod=W1193) which also has a notch on the very top, for extreme ranges, so maybe Flint is using that, because we don’t know just how far away Hunter is. Sure, his head is a bit high even for that, but then again he has the finger on the trigger, so, unless he has really poor trigger discipline, he must be ready to make the shot.
I’ve never actually fired a Sharps, but I did fire an pretty similar 1868 Remington Rolling Block, along with a lot of other black powder types from the same era- M1867 Russian Krnka, M1870 Russian Berdan II, M1879 Romanian Peabody-Martini-Henry, 1866 Snider-Enfield… (not all of those fitted with ladder sights though, some had leaf sights, and I also shot percussion and flintlock muskets). I don’t know if you ever shot black powder, but I tell you that, besides the uncomfortable position one must take in order to sight one in the absence of proper cheek weld, the recoil is completely unlike that of modern weapons – whereas on a smokeless powder riffle recoil is a consistent -if powerful- push, on a black powder rifle, especially one with a big calibre (most of the above mentioned firearms use calibres from 0.450 to 0.577, the Sharps itself being 0.52) it’s a sudden, sharp kick.
It is indeed the potassium hydroxide, detonating in all the steam, as evidenced by the purple flash.
Also I’d like to point out again that this isn’t the historical American west, and so none of these guns are meant to be real world makes and models, precisely; even so, Flint’s weapon is actually more of a Spencer repeater analog (the carbine, even), making it a tiny, tiny gun with a limited range compared to the Sharps. (Of course without seeing the barrel you’re all excused for mistaking it for the latter — they look samey and I don’t draw guns with that kind of specific precision — which is generally much cooler and pervasive in Westerns.)
Also Annie is right — Flint is not ready to fire in panel 6: he’s hesitating and has lowered the gun, which as js pointed out, is not even cocked. 🙂
Just can’t get enough of admiration for the amount of research You do for most of the strips. It’s really great to see that a lot of things are not simply ‘magic&stuff’, but some real-world references. And this makes a really nice discussion under every strip as a lot of people do their research just to check if they guessed what’s going on 😀 Looking forward for moooore! 😀
Yeah, I knew it didn’t look exactly like a Sharps, but completely forgot about the Spencer, because I was fixated on single shot rather than repeating designs…
And indeed, the Spencer had a pitiful range, simply because it used short stubby cartridges due to the constraints of the repeating mechanism and stock mounted tubular magazine. Both in terms of bullet weight and powder loading, the Sharps’ .50-70 Government (I’m comparing the military calibres of these two guns, because each of them were produced in different calibres as well) with a 450 grain bullet over 70 grains of black powder wins hands down over the Spencer’s .56-56 pitiful 350 grain bullet over 42 grains of black powder, even though the latter has a larger diameter bore…
So yeah, taking that into account, Hunter must be pretty close, no more than 150-200 yards.
I also completely failed to notice the fact that the hammer was down for some reason – for me having your finger inside the trigger guard when you aren’t ready to fire is such a big no-no, I just assumed it’d be the same for him. Of course, now that I think about it, there’s no reason he’d be trained, quite the contrary, I’m sure he’s NEVER had formal training with firearms and simply learned how to shoot “on the go”.
So that’s me getting two gun related things wrong in a row. For shame , where shall I put my face? 😀
On the other hand, thanks for clarifying the ammo explosion thing for us. I thought it was really clever, and your research, as ever, is superb!
Annie, what you say your last name was? Oakley? 😉 And your right about Flint, or should we say Clint? (Needs more beard stubble Erin) My guess is Flint wasn’t really sure to take the shot, we see his Sharps isn’t even cocked. I think those of us who have Eli for an avatar better start looking for another one, he’s about to become toast.
Onymus, actually. 😛 I pay attention to posture ’cause I grew up shooting skeet and hunting. Out of practice with the shotgun, haven’t shot one in years, but I’m still a pretty decent shot with a rifle. Granted, seated, at a range, with a scope. Much too blind these days to shoot without one. Pistols and I aren’t really friends…so yeah, no trick shooting from me.
The Eli avatar reminds me of Prospector from Toy Story 2. And now, thanks to Mschief, I’ve got a lovely mental image of Miz Black and Hunter going at it, Ace Attorney style. Well, Hunter, anyway. I can’t really picture Miz Black as being that flamboyant. (I’m also not sold on them being married to each other, see, e.g., ringless flashback.)
I’d assumed Annie was shorting out from the steam, what with a mechanical spine and all, but I suppose she’s been immersed in water before, so I should have twigged that it was the ammo.
Lawyer, you lost me. Annie is not shooting. It’s Miss Black’s (Vane) specially made ammo having a bad reaction to the steam summoned by Hunter. Well, at least that’s what I think it is. Also Vane does not have a mechanical spine. I believe Hunter has that. 😉
Cause she’s wearing some sort of rain proof cloak, I think. But a cloak’s only good against a downpor from above, while the mist is going through all the openings?
More or less what Annie said — droplets of water falling are easily enough deflected by her serape and her jacket, but a dense cloud of magicked steam is a lot more permeating. Yes, I realize there’s a bit of an unrealistic exaggeration at work here, but it’s hardly NTO’s first! 🙂
Problem: How did Hunter know to use this particular “countermeasure” against Miss Black’s water-detonating bullets? I’m not sure mere observation of the poor boy and dog’s death would have been enough for him to realize she was using potassium hydroxide rounds. However, given their past together, maybe he’d known her to make and use such cartridges.
He also saw an exploding pig, an exploding bath tub, and was winged in the shoulder with one himself? Not to mention bullets don’t generally detonate in a purplish flash on impact.
I can’t make out the first panel. Also, is the gun not firing in the sixth panel? Because of the rain?
Awesome as always! 😀
Thank you!
He was aiming and getting ready to fire, but the fat man pulled a glory hand and pushes his rifle out of the way, so he could be the one to take the shot, likely fucking everyone in that group over.
*Hopefully* fucking everyone in the group over….
I’m not sure, but didn’t she have ammunition that reacted to water? Or maybe he just set that alight with his powers? Can’t really tell what’s going on, either.
In the sixth panel looks more like he either chocked or simply taking too long to make the shot, which prompted the other guy to butt in – which is a stupid thing to do, considering the situation they’re in. He should have taken the shot himself if he was dissatisfied, but this way I’m pretty sure he just blew their chances of actually shooting Hunter, because he’ll most likely spot them and disappear again. Not that I expect shooting him will do much good in the first place, considering some of the other injuries he just shrugged off…
I think you’re right about the exploding ammunition. Had to lookback to remember that she keeps bullets on her belts, though. 😛
Now what the heck’s Diamonds doing? 😯
I think poor Diamond is about to take a bullet.
I think Miz Black’s fancy ammo is going off on her person because of the mist Hunter called forth. And to me it looks like Flint was just starting to aim and Eli(?) pushed him aside before he had a shot (and possibly signed his own death certificate). I don’t think he had a shot yet because of the way he’s holding his rifle. Guessing that because if I were him and was about to fire, I’d be leaning further into the gun and have the center of the sight closer to my eye, instead of where my mouth is. Also, if I were steadying for recoil, my left hand would be further out and only one eye would be open. Then again, I’m basing this off my own posture when I shoot, so may be totally wrong here.
Yeah, that’s what I’m not sure about – wherever the ammo is detonating because of the mist or wherever Hunter is actively blowing it up with his powers.
Flint is using a Sharps falling block rifle fitted with a ladder sight (http://www.ssfirearms.com/proddetail.asp?prod=W1193) which also has a notch on the very top, for extreme ranges, so maybe Flint is using that, because we don’t know just how far away Hunter is. Sure, his head is a bit high even for that, but then again he has the finger on the trigger, so, unless he has really poor trigger discipline, he must be ready to make the shot.
I’ve never actually fired a Sharps, but I did fire an pretty similar 1868 Remington Rolling Block, along with a lot of other black powder types from the same era- M1867 Russian Krnka, M1870 Russian Berdan II, M1879 Romanian Peabody-Martini-Henry, 1866 Snider-Enfield… (not all of those fitted with ladder sights though, some had leaf sights, and I also shot percussion and flintlock muskets). I don’t know if you ever shot black powder, but I tell you that, besides the uncomfortable position one must take in order to sight one in the absence of proper cheek weld, the recoil is completely unlike that of modern weapons – whereas on a smokeless powder riffle recoil is a consistent -if powerful- push, on a black powder rifle, especially one with a big calibre (most of the above mentioned firearms use calibres from 0.450 to 0.577, the Sharps itself being 0.52) it’s a sudden, sharp kick.
It is indeed the potassium hydroxide, detonating in all the steam, as evidenced by the purple flash.
Also I’d like to point out again that this isn’t the historical American west, and so none of these guns are meant to be real world makes and models, precisely; even so, Flint’s weapon is actually more of a Spencer repeater analog (the carbine, even), making it a tiny, tiny gun with a limited range compared to the Sharps. (Of course without seeing the barrel you’re all excused for mistaking it for the latter — they look samey and I don’t draw guns with that kind of specific precision — which is generally much cooler and pervasive in Westerns.)
Also Annie is right — Flint is not ready to fire in panel 6: he’s hesitating and has lowered the gun, which as js pointed out, is not even cocked. 🙂
As always, keen eyes and insights. Thanks, guys!
Just can’t get enough of admiration for the amount of research You do for most of the strips. It’s really great to see that a lot of things are not simply ‘magic&stuff’, but some real-world references. And this makes a really nice discussion under every strip as a lot of people do their research just to check if they guessed what’s going on 😀
Looking forward for moooore! 😀
Spencer, duh! XD
Yeah, I knew it didn’t look exactly like a Sharps, but completely forgot about the Spencer, because I was fixated on single shot rather than repeating designs…
And indeed, the Spencer had a pitiful range, simply because it used short stubby cartridges due to the constraints of the repeating mechanism and stock mounted tubular magazine.
Both in terms of bullet weight and powder loading, the Sharps’ .50-70 Government (I’m comparing the military calibres of these two guns, because each of them were produced in different calibres as well) with a 450 grain bullet over 70 grains of black powder wins hands down over the Spencer’s .56-56 pitiful 350 grain bullet over 42 grains of black powder, even though the latter has a larger diameter bore…
So yeah, taking that into account, Hunter must be pretty close, no more than 150-200 yards.
I also completely failed to notice the fact that the hammer was down for some reason – for me having your finger inside the trigger guard when you aren’t ready to fire is such a big no-no, I just assumed it’d be the same for him. Of course, now that I think about it, there’s no reason he’d be trained, quite the contrary, I’m sure he’s NEVER had formal training with firearms and simply learned how to shoot “on the go”.
So that’s me getting two gun related things wrong in a row. For shame , where shall I put my face? 😀
On the other hand, thanks for clarifying the ammo explosion thing for us. I thought it was really clever, and your research, as ever, is superb!
Ah so Diamond still runs to Hunter when called, huh? That poor pony, caught in the parents’ messy divorce.
Can’t wait for more! Thank you for the beautiful work, as always! 🙂
Thank you so much.
Annie, what you say your last name was? Oakley? 😉 And your right about Flint, or should we say Clint? (Needs more beard stubble Erin) My guess is Flint wasn’t really sure to take the shot, we see his Sharps isn’t even cocked. I think those of us who have Eli for an avatar better start looking for another one, he’s about to become toast.
Onymus, actually. 😛 I pay attention to posture ’cause I grew up shooting skeet and hunting. Out of practice with the shotgun, haven’t shot one in years, but I’m still a pretty decent shot with a rifle. Granted, seated, at a range, with a scope. Much too blind these days to shoot without one. Pistols and I aren’t really friends…so yeah, no trick shooting from me.
The Eli avatar reminds me of Prospector from Toy Story 2. And now, thanks to Mschief, I’ve got a lovely mental image of Miz Black and Hunter going at it, Ace Attorney style. Well, Hunter, anyway. I can’t really picture Miz Black as being that flamboyant. (I’m also not sold on them being married to each other, see, e.g., ringless flashback.)
Good eyes, guys, and thanks for the comments!
Thank you!
You’re welcome! … for what?
Thank you for trying so hard to get the update in on time. 🙂 I (and likely not just I) really appreciate it!
Is it just me, or does our overeager rifleman have a slight tinge of RED in his SHIRT…
Ha!
… and good gracious: love your Author gravatar!
I’d assumed Annie was shorting out from the steam, what with a mechanical spine and all, but I suppose she’s been immersed in water before, so I should have twigged that it was the ammo.
Lawyer, you lost me. Annie is not shooting. It’s Miss Black’s (Vane) specially made ammo having a bad reaction to the steam summoned by Hunter. Well, at least that’s what I think it is. Also Vane does not have a mechanical spine. I believe Hunter has that. 😉
My confusion is – she just rode/walked through the rain without the ammo exploding, why would steam make it go off if the downpour did not?
Cause she’s wearing some sort of rain proof cloak, I think. But a cloak’s only good against a downpor from above, while the mist is going through all the openings?
More or less what Annie said — droplets of water falling are easily enough deflected by her serape and her jacket, but a dense cloud of magicked steam is a lot more permeating. Yes, I realize there’s a bit of an unrealistic exaggeration at work here, but it’s hardly NTO’s first! 🙂
Problem:
How did Hunter know to use this particular “countermeasure” against Miss Black’s water-detonating bullets? I’m not sure mere observation of the poor boy and dog’s death would have been enough for him to realize she was using potassium hydroxide rounds. However, given their past together, maybe he’d known her to make and use such cartridges.
He also saw an exploding pig, an exploding bath tub, and was winged in the shoulder with one himself? Not to mention bullets don’t generally detonate in a purplish flash on impact.
Am I reading that in the last panel properly? Does he say “Wait, let me die first!” ?
They about to learn the whole “exploding bullets” thing?