I think he's the real deal, minus the lock and barrel thing. I tuned in expecting him to hammer weld a barrel from scratch and whittle a lock from a bar of steel but such was not the case. Bear in mind though that throughout the Golden Age of gun building, most of those guys bought their locks (from "warranted" makers in Britain, Europe, and Philadelphia), and by the end of that period a lot of them were buying barrels or barrel blanks which they reamed/rifled themselves. I get the impression he strives to replicate arms produced on the frontier that weren't as finely made as those made by master gunsmiths in the "big cities". That's ok.
As for shooting without eye/ear protection, well, that's a matter of choice. Having survived 20 years of living history/re-ennacting while firing an ungodly number of shots without protection, I say it's not a big deal. I never sustained an injury (except the time I laid the palm of my hand open via the sharp flint in the lock of my Brown Bess- but glasses and muffs wouldn't have mattered much then). Don't get me wrong- protection is always a good idea, and I do so in all my shooting, but an occasional shot without it won't kill you (and it makes for good TV).
