Zebulon Vitruvius Pike
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vitruviuspike.bsky.social
Zebulon Vitruvius Pike
@vitruviuspike.bsky.social
310 followers 490 following 730 posts
Gentleman adventurer, mercenary explorer, dime novel hero, and itinerant warrior in Meiji-era America.

https://dime-novel-hero.dreamwidth.org

#steampunk #19thC #victorian #airships #shootingsports #firearms #cowboyaction #spaghettiwestern #cosplay
Posts Replies Media Videos
vitruviuspike.bsky.social
Come one, come all. Free and equal.

#19thc #thanksgiving
“Uncle Sam’s Thanksgiving Dinner” by Thomas Nast, Harper’s Weekly, 1869. https://www.nyhistory.org/blogs/uncle-sams-thanksgiving-dinner-thomas-nasts-powerful
November 27, 2025 at 12:00 PM
vitruviuspike.bsky.social
The advice is to buy optics for the 80% that you shoot. However, the 1x prism isn't good enough for my eyes to do the other 20% at range so I added a 3x magnifier. Not sure I'm liking the setup. Will need to take it to the range to evaluate.
#firearms #bullpup #sarb15 #shootingsports
The top rail of my SARB-15 bullpup platform with two optics. The first is a Vortex Optics Spitfire 1x Prism Scope. After that is a Monstrum Ghost G3 3X Micro Magnifier with Flip-to-Side Mount. The guidance is to have the magnifier first but this terribly distorted the reticle so I put the magnifier after the prism. In this way, the illuminated circle and dot will remain the same size whether magnified or not. I am concerned that having the magnifier after might add some distortion that affects accuracy at range. I will need to take it to the range and re-zero it and test. The alternative becomes getting a single 3x prism. How will that work for me when I'm doing CQB at close range? I'll have to test that at the range, too.
November 26, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Reposted by Zebulon Vitruvius Pike
jgeekstudies.bsky.social
We have a new article! 🎉
Steampunk dinosaurs and Victorian-era palaeontology ⚙️🦖

@krakenscholar.bsky.social and @babimt.bsky.social discuss Iguanodon, from its discovery to modern-day interpretations.
#GeekStudies #ScienceHistory #GeekCulture #anime #PrincessPrincipal

👉 Read it here:
Steampunk dinosaurs and Victorian-era palaeontology
Rodrigo B. Salvador1 & Barbara M. Tomotani1,2 1Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. 2Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, UiT – The Arctic Universit…
jgeekstudies.org
November 25, 2025 at 9:43 AM
Reposted by Zebulon Vitruvius Pike
inrange.tv
www.wired.com/story/the-ha...
The Hard-Left Shooters Leading a Gun Culture Revolution
Earlier this year, I attended a shooting competition for queer, often trans, very online misfits. Then Charlie Kirk was killed.
www.wired.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Reposted by Zebulon Vitruvius Pike
19thcenturyph.bsky.social
𝑂𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑖𝑛 1859, Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species, arguably the most important book of the century and the foundation of the field of evolutionary biology.
November 24, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Reposted by Zebulon Vitruvius Pike
thewaroncars.bsky.social
We talked about "bicycle face" and other things people thought cycling did to women in the late 1800s during our conversation with @jessicavalenti.bsky.social on episode 69:

thewaroncars.org/2021/09/21/t...
November 22, 2025 at 9:24 PM
vitruviuspike.bsky.social
Looks like @inrange.tv won't be having CQB-East this year. There's pretty much no way I'm hitting anything at 100 yards with a pistol. I have trouble enough at short ranges. Do I accept skipping targets I'll never hit and suck up the penalty or abandon the entire project? I do have a new bullpup.
"GENERAL INFORMATION STAGES • Expect 5 stages combining physical challenges, target identification, and marksmanship under pressure. • Par times are now 6 minutes. Proficient shooters should expect to use 50-66% of that time to complete the stages. • Maximum Required Rifle Range is 300 yards. • Bonus Rifle Targets to 500 yards • Maximum Pistol Range is 100 yards • Most pistol targets will be at 10-40 yards."
November 22, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Reposted by Zebulon Vitruvius Pike
davidlambertart.bsky.social
Here's a🧵about the San Francisco Egg Wars of the 1800s. It has bloody gunfights, marauding pirates, a bunch of (literally) batshit deaths & some nasty looking eggs...
November 22, 2025 at 2:18 AM
Reposted by Zebulon Vitruvius Pike
fezmonger.bsky.social
Nothing to says "here come the holidays" like a screaming horse skull! Our Mari Lwyd design is available now at Fez-o-rama.com. Support a small business by buying handmade wearable art.
#FezORama #Fez #MariLwyd #holidayArt #christmasArt
November 21, 2025 at 8:12 PM
vitruviuspike.bsky.social
I have ridden several scenic railroads (notably the Western Md Scenic Railroad) and should I ever have to travel across the country, there is a good chance I will choose to travel by train.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcmr...
#19thc #railroad #steampunk
The Horrors of Victorian Train Travel
YouTube video by Kaz Rowe
www.youtube.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Reposted by Zebulon Vitruvius Pike
publicdomainrev.bsky.social
Albert Alberg's Frost Flowers on the Window (1899) communicates a “new, truly great discovery”, that frost is able to make “ice photographs”, expressing the form of objects near it — https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/frost-flowers

(Image: ca. 1905 photograph of frost by Wilson Bentley)
November 20, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Reposted by Zebulon Vitruvius Pike
fezmonger.bsky.social
Our 8th edition Krampus Fez returns for a limited time and with it comes a NEW low-profile option as well as a double-sided double-horned chapeau! PLUS we have a very limited run on green velvet
Available until Dec 13th @ Fez-o-rama.com
#FezORama #fez #Krampus #Holiday #krampusnaucht
Brimless brown velvet tasseled hats featuring an original Krampus embroidery or embroidered Krampus horns Brimless green velvet tasseled hats featuring an original Krampus embroidery or embroidered Krampus horns
November 20, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Reposted by Zebulon Vitruvius Pike
hcrichardson.bsky.social
November 18, 2025
November 18, 2025
For three hot days, from July 1 to July 3, 1863, more than 150,000 soldiers from the armies of the United States of America and the Confederate States of America slashed at each other in the hills and...
heathercoxrichardson.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:34 AM
Reposted by Zebulon Vitruvius Pike
publicdomainrev.bsky.social
Solar Eclipse, 1880.

Supposedly of the January 11, 1880, solar eclipse from California's Mount Santa Lucia. Although attributed by @GettyMuseum to Carleton Watkins, some scholars doubt this to be the case.
⠀
Available as a print from our shop here: publicdomainreview.org/product/s...
November 16, 2025 at 8:46 PM
vitruviuspike.bsky.social
Second range day with my #SARB-15. I used the green reticle instead of the red, used a black bull's eye target instead of the red diamond, and had a much better sandbag setup. Consistently made my groups half their previous size compared to last week.
#firearms #shootingsports #bullpup
A bullpup rifle sitting on some sandbags. The problem I had previously was that the front grip loop was sitting on top of a sandbag. In this instance, the sandbag is more wedged between the front forgrip and the trigger guard, making for a more stable platform. I also have the buttstock, in addition to being pulled into my shoulder, is also resting on a sandbag. Again, this makes it more stable. #sarb-15 https://www.sru-precision.com/sarb-15 #firearm #shootingsport #bullpup #cyberpunk
November 15, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Reposted by Zebulon Vitruvius Pike
mysticbuilds.bsky.social
My old Martian Fighting Machine moc from six years ago. Based on the design from the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comics.
November 14, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Reposted by Zebulon Vitruvius Pike
steampunk-explorer.com
This week in #steampunk: Steampunks in California’s Gold Country; New steampunk TV series from France; News from your humble editor; Steampunk November returns as the SPN Festival; Steampunks gather in Boston; Kickstarter updates. steampunk-explorer.com/digest/steam...
Steampunk Digest - November 14, 2025
Steampunks in California’s Gold Country; New steampunk TV series from France; News from your humble editor; Steampunk November returns as the SPN Festival; Steampunks gather in Boston; Kickstarter upd...
steampunk-explorer.com
November 14, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Reposted by Zebulon Vitruvius Pike
publicdomainrev.bsky.social
More than a century before the Eurostar and LeShuttle, a group of engineers and statesmen dreamed (and fretted) about connecting Britain to France with an underwater tunnel. @PM_Keeling drills into the early history of the Channel Tunnel — publicdomainreview.org/essay/t...
November 14, 2025 at 5:48 PM
vitruviuspike.bsky.social
I have posted about the punk in steampunk before but my esteemed colleague Captain Quaestor has chimed in because it bears repeating.

chicagolandsteampunk.com/bringing-bac...
Bringing Back the “PUNK!” in Steampunk
What Is Punk? At its core, punk is a cultural movement built on the pillars of rebellion, authenticity, and self-determination. Born in the 1970s as a response
chicagolandsteampunk.com
November 11, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Reposted by Zebulon Vitruvius Pike
victorianlondon.bsky.social
forgotten fortifying beef drinks of the 1890s ...
November 10, 2025 at 4:38 PM
vitruviuspike.bsky.social
Bullpup range day over the weekend and I am half way through breaking in my new rifle.

Details at my blog dime-novel-hero.dreamwidth.org/2025/11/10/

#firearms #shootingsports #bullpup #SARB15
November 10, 2025 at 4:40 PM
vitruviuspike.bsky.social
Pittsburgh 1878-1888.
Captioned "The oldest known photograph of Pittsburgh circa 1878-1888. Pittsburgh's Photo Antiquities Museum. Colorized by OddPittsburgh (https://www.facebook.com/OddPittsburgh). It is a view from Mt Washington across the Monongahela River towards the point. The Union Bridge (https://www.brooklineconnection.com/history/Facts/UnionBridge.html) is to the left and the first Point Bridge (https://www.brooklineconnection.com/history/Facts/PointBridge.html) is to the right.
November 10, 2025 at 1:31 PM
vitruviuspike.bsky.social
Range day breaking in the new SARB-15. Unexpected that the Winchester 223 Remington 55gr FMJ smells differently than the Winchester 5.56 NATO 55gr FMJ. More details later.
#firearms #shootingsports #bullpup
November 8, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Reposted by Zebulon Vitruvius Pike
steampunk-explorer.com
This week in #steampunk: Scenes from Whitby Goth Weekend; Steampunk Streaming Guide; New Abney Park, FnP videos; Velvet Jeanie revisits 2023 video; The Steampunk Librarian returns; Paul Eccentric book launch; Watch City, Key City open for applications. steampunk-explorer.com/digest/steam...
Steampunk Digest - The week’s top stories from The Steampunk Explorer. With photos of costumed attendees at Whitby Steampunk Weekend. Photos by Craig Jenkins.
November 7, 2025 at 7:34 PM
vitruviuspike.bsky.social
Clearly I need to do more wandering around my neighborhood. People are giving away free firearms.
Two Bluesky postings from ‪Pittsburgh Scanner‬ ‪@pgh-scanner.com‬ 1h · "Mt. Oliver. Borough Way. If you dropped your leather holster and your pistol, the cops found it in the middle of the road way." 22h · "Esplen. Saginaw Street. If you misplaced your fully loaded AK-47 somewhere outside, the cops found it in someone's yard."
November 7, 2025 at 3:20 PM