VERY cool project. I like it A Lot!
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ODT Gun Show & Swap Meet - May 4, 2024! - Click here for info
Gunstock war club (update)
- Thread starter HERMET
- Start date
I actually started out making a ball head war club but as I was working on the wood I started really digging the look and feel of the natural look and decided to make a short staff/walking stick instead. I'll have to find another candidate for that war club.
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What kind of wood have ya got there big boy! 
I am Chanichcook last of the Mohicans.
Crepe myrtle. I cut it last summer and hung it to dry in the shed with a boat anchor attached to keep it straight.What kind of wood have ya got there big boy!
I actually had a few pieces but most of them split beyond use in the drying process. It really is a very good looking piece of wood.
I really thought there was a blade style implement on the inside in the angle cut.
That will dish out a decent wood shampoo!
Some do have it. There are all kinds variations. Bladed, multiple knife points, all kinds of stuff. The only real constant is the gunstock shape. Pinterest has got a lot of different styles that people have made.
They also varied from tribe to tribe depending on what the available materials were. Some used steel or iron while others used flint, bone or antler.
Yeah, I've made quite a few over the years and still do. Don't get too caught up on "actual" dimensions. Us NA's do and did make war clubs out of anything suitable to smack an opponent with intent. My research indicates the gunstock war club did not become popular out west - plains and beyond until the Ohio Wars came to a close. As the Shawnee and others were driven off their Ohio River basin homelands and out into the grass ocean they brought their tools and weapons with them. The indigenous plains dwellers found the shape of the GSWC effective and pleasing to the eye and incorporated into their arsenal.
The one on Last of the Mohicans was pretty much oversized by the movie industry for effect. Most originals found in museums across the country are about 1/3 smaller. Pine and other softer woods were more prevalent, but many that have survived are of various hardwoods as well. No "incorrect" material as far as I have seen/studied. I've been fortunate to have handled more than a hundred specimens over the years. Some had "blades", some spikes of iron or antler, and some had none at all. Depended on the maker for sure.
They were predominately used first as a "coup" weapon to show power by knocking an adversary down (or off his horse) without killing him. The "coup de gras" blow came later if the victim refused to acknowledge who's boss.
I will have a few on my table at the Blade Show. Here are some I've made in the past.
The one on Last of the Mohicans was pretty much oversized by the movie industry for effect. Most originals found in museums across the country are about 1/3 smaller. Pine and other softer woods were more prevalent, but many that have survived are of various hardwoods as well. No "incorrect" material as far as I have seen/studied. I've been fortunate to have handled more than a hundred specimens over the years. Some had "blades", some spikes of iron or antler, and some had none at all. Depended on the maker for sure.
They were predominately used first as a "coup" weapon to show power by knocking an adversary down (or off his horse) without killing him. The "coup de gras" blow came later if the victim refused to acknowledge who's boss.
I will have a few on my table at the Blade Show. Here are some I've made in the past.
