Rendezvous Jargon

*BCBPA: The British Columbia Black Powder Association; the Governing Body for official Black Powder compition shooting in British Columbia.

*Buckpaw Rules: The set of rules put out by the BCBPA that all Rendezvous Compitions in British Columbia are governed by unless otherwised stated. You can find a digital copy here ->

*Company Man - A trapper who works for one of the major companies exclusivly, looked down on by the Free Traders.

*Dry Ball - The term used when a trapper forgets to load a charge of black powder under their projectile. As muzzleloaders are loaded from the front, getting a "Dry Ball" out can be a tricky process unless you can trickle enough fine powder through the touch hole or nipple. 

*Trade Gun - A Firelock for comptition at a BCBPA Rendevous is considered a "Trade Gun" if it meets the following characteristics: Is .58 Caliber or Larger, A smoothbore barrel, flintlock fired and has only a front sight. Trade guns were primarily used to trade with the local indigionous populations as they were concitered to be less of a threat than a rifled firelock.