The ‘Pickens Pistols’, a ladies only gun club, learn black powder shooting

by John White &
Meredith Durrett, founder of Pickens Pistols

On Saturday, November 4th, the Pickens Pistols invited the Talking Rock Black Powder Shooters to the Pickens County Sportsman Club for an education and demonstration on historical firearms. The Pickens Pistols is a group of ladies established in 2022 to educate, practice and empower women in the safe handling of firearms. Pickens Pistols was founded and led by women; it is open to any woman interested in learning about firearms, not just club members. The Talking Rock Black Powder Shooters are a group of individuals, both ladies and gentlemen, who enjoy a slower pace of shooting with firearms that helped create our country. Several members have even built their own firearms used today in the demonstration.

The ladies from the Pickens Pistols learned about not only when black powder was invented, but also the components that constitute black powder. Black powder, as it is known as today, was the only propellent for over 1,300 years and in that time, it was known simply as “Powder.” The ladies learned about the development of the flintlock from a matchlock to a percussion lock to finally the cartridge today. “I loved seeing the expression on the ladies faces when they shot a Black Powder weapon for the first time!” said John White, President of the Talking Rock Black Powder Shooters.

The Pickens Pistols loaded and shot a 1770 Lancaster County Pennsylvania Longrifle that would have been carried by Timothy Duick, a Revolutionary War militiaman from the Pickens county area who walked and fought at Kings Mountain in North Carolina. They were able to experience the British manual of arms loading a 1763 British Brown Bess musket that was taller than several of the shooters and had to be loaded three rounds a minute by a soldier.

As part of the presentation they learned about Brigadier General Andrew Pickens, a Pickens County namesake, who fought against these rifles at Kettle Creek Ga, Cowpens at Camden Courthouse North Carolina made famous in the movie “The Patriot” and many other battles over 30 years. They shot an 1863 Enfield, used in the Civil War, an 1873 lever action Winchester, used at Little Big Horn, and an 1884 Trapdoor Springfield, used at the Battle of San Juan Hill. All these firearms used the same black powder that they learned about earlier in the day.

Meredith Durrett, founder of Pickens Pistols, commented: “It was such a fun and educational day! I have a whole new respect for what our service men went through during the Revolutionary and Civil wars. We hope we will encourage other women in the Pickens and Gilmer County areas that are interested in learning about firearms and firearm safety to join Pickens Pistols.” Memories were made while everyone learned a little about the evolution/use of firearms in a safe way and about how Pickens County was established.

Enjoy the brief video below: