Aiming for the Past : People who shoot muzzle-loader weapons share an interest in the costumes and culture of early America.

Last year, my son’s fifth-grade teacher breathed life into Early American history by conducting weeks of simulations. Students formed settlements and avidly monitored their territories and supplies with wall maps and graphs. The drama of survival fired the imaginations of these latter-day colonists, trappers and traders. And the metaphor for that era in the nascent nation was the black-powder rifle.

Loading and shooting such “muzzle-loader weapons” requires patience and skill. First, carefully measured gunpowder is poured down the barrel. A cloth patch is cut to hold the “round ball,” then this “wad” is pushed down into the barrel with various size rods. The flash pan, where a spark causes the weapon to fire, is primed with gunpowder. Next, the striker is closed and the hammer cocked. Finally, the muzzle loader is ready to shoot--once.

Many adults, including Helen Haverly, Caroline Villines, Charles Bates and Frank Dvoracek, are also consumed by an interest in historical detail. And they enjoy the challenge of target shooting with re-created or authentic muzzle-loader weapons.

So two weeks before Halloween they plan to don historical garb and join fellow members of the Ojai Valley Gun Club “Muzzle Loaders” at the club’s 20th Annual Sespe Rendezvous in Rose Valley. Anyone can participate in this five-day camping get-together, which will feature marksmanship competitions, exhibitions, dancing, food and a traders row.

According to Haverly, 52-year-old president of the Ojai Valley Gun Club, about 40 of the 750 members belong to the muzzle-loaders group. And only four to six are women. Club members range in age from 18 to 83. “If any single women want to meet men, this is the place,” she said. The group welcomes newcomers and is glad to teach people to shoot.

Folks who shoot muzzle loaders are interested in the costume and culture of America between the French and Indian Wars to the close of the Civil War in 1865--not in brute firepower. They knock down metal silhouettes and shoot paper targets, not animals.

And most men and women make their own costumes and accouterments or acquire them at traders row. Villines, 51, of Meiners Oaks, owns and shoots a number of muzzle-loader rifles and pistols. But she also creates and sells beaded Indian pouches and jewelry.

Dvoracek, 58, of Oxnard dresses in the white cotton or linen homespun attire of a Revolutionary War militiaman. He shoots a replica of a flintlock New England half-stock rifle. “It’s an oddity because the hammer is underneath the barrel,” he said. “It’s an experimental gun from the mid-1800s.”

Bates, 54, is in charge of this year’s black-powder shoot. The Oxnard resident has several costumes that span the trader and mountain-man eras. “I like the Colonial period. With my costume I wear an authentic 200-year-old pair of steel eyeglass frames from the Revolutionary War period,” said Bates. “I went through about 100 different antique shops with a book on detailed artifacts. And I found the frames in an antique shop in Newhall for $65.”

“It’s fun,” said Bates about his hobby. “But it’s like a disease that keeps growing and growing.”

Seniors and not-so-senior citizens have been invited to join in remembering the “Good Old Days” at the Santa Paula Community Center, 530 W. Main St., on Wednesday from 1 to 3 p.m. This is an opportunity for seniors to tell a favorite story or display a cherished object or photo from the past. Mary Alice Henderson, president of the Santa Paula Historical Society, will speak and display historical photos of Santa Paula and the county. For details, call 933-4272 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Participants are also invited to lunch prior to the festivities. Lunch is served daily at noon through the Ventura County Nutrition Program. Cost is $1.75 per senior. Reservations should be made two days in advance by calling 933-4263 between 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

* FYI

The public has been invited to the Sespe Rendezvous at the Rose Valley range in the Los Padres National Forest. Organizers expect 500 people to be in residence with about 250 participating in events, so they have advised those attending to come early.

Check-in and registration will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 16 to 19. The event continues through Oct. 20. But Oct. 19 offers the fullest day of events with a pancake breakfast from 8 to 10 a.m. There will be a barbecue at 5:30 p.m. for the first 250 people who buy tickets at $6 each. And a dance with a live band will start at 7:30 p.m.

Sites for primitive and modern camping are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Shooter’s fees include camping cost and shooting: $15 per adult, $25 per adult couple and $10 for juniors. Camping cost for non-participants is $15 per tent or recreational vehicle.

* GETTING THERE

From the Ventura Freeway, take California 33 north to the California 150 intersection near Ojai. Continue north on State 33, proceed about 14 miles to Rose Valley. Turn right on Rose Valley Road. Go four miles to lake and sheriff’s work camp on left. Farther down the road, enter Ojai Valley Gun Club gate on left. Camping and event areas are marked. For additional information, call (805) 485-8917 or (805) 984-1547.