personal

FIRELOCKS:
James River/Early Virginia Style Flintlock Rifle:.(This is "Meg" my rifle's name and my sweet, little girl). My rifle is.54 caliber, has a nice, curly maple stock, sliding wood patchbox, brass furniture, large Siler lock, Davis double set triggers, a swamped, 44" Colerain barrel and a coned muzzle. The patchbox holds: several, whittled "toothpicks," one emergency flint, a handforged tow worm, length of hemp twine and small hank of tow). I tie a hank of tow to the twine and use my rod to keep tension on it while cleaning my barrel. The "toothpicks" are placed in the vent at night, (cock forward) to let other hunters know that it's loaded, and it helps keep the main charge dry. Also, I use them to plug the vent when I clean the barrel with water. ("Meg" is sighted in at 50 yds, shoots a .530" ball, with a scrap fabric patch, and uses 80 grs of FFF black powder).

CLOTHES "cap-a-pie":
-Headgear: I don't like headgear, but in cool/cold weather consists of a wool cap, a black felt blank, folded up into a cocked hat (Tricorn is a later term), or worn "fantail" style {back edge folded up}. When needed, I temporarily pin sides up with bone skewers or turkey feathers. (I use the same skewers for blanket pins too).
-Neckerchief: 36"square antique linen (dyed in walnut hulls-Yes, I'm a platinum member of the "Walnut Brigade." Also, I carry a black silk head scarf for possible headwear or for myriad of other possible uses.
-Shirts: 3 total- all or one, based on projected weather-flax linen, fustian, linsey-woolsey (my first handsewn)
-Weskit: Long F&I era style, pockets, bone buttons, grey wool lined with fustian. (cold weather).
-Frock: (rough country or cool weather- 12oz hemp linen).
-Half Cloak: (cold weather) (Homespun, wool blanket (seamed down center}, 48" square, secured with bone skewer).
-Sash: (fingerwoven linen and wool, doubled around me and tied in back)
-Breech clout or Breeches: (I only wear my French-fly type breeches in cold weather).
-Leggins: Except winter: brain-tanned, dyed in walnut hulls and they reach up to mid-thigh, Winter: blue wool.
-Garters: (dark wool- edges beaded with pound beads, braintan ends and ties and with twin tinkling cones of bear fur tufts)
-Footwear: Mocs (brain-tanned elk, double-soled, actually center-seam "Ligonier" style shoe packs) or straight-last shoes (great protection on rough/rocky trails, and added Roy Najecki's hobnails).

ACCOUTREMENTS:
-Ball block: I use a single row 5 shot I made from maple. All my patches are of linen and lubed with a mixture of bear fat, or beef tallow and olive oil/"sweet oil". Sweet oil is best as bear fat mix gums the barrel after 5/6 shots. Good old spit is still the best!
-Powder horn: 15" minimum on outside curve and holds over a pound of 3F powder. My horn's strap is of woven of linen and wool with fringed ends. As was fairly common with Colonial powder horns, I have heart-shaped leather mounts are sewn on with leather thongs coming from these to secure the horn.
-Powder measure: I carved this from a cow horn tip; it's faceted and holds an 80 grain charge of 3F powder.
-Scalper: Sports a nine inch, handforged blade, pewter bolster and antler stick ending in a crown. I keep this tucked into my sash in an "ugly" sheath I made from a molded piece of rawhide covered with a piece of braintan.
-Belt axe: Nice and light, handforged by Ohio Amish blacksmith- Crist Burkholder. Oil tan leather scabbard with a fingerwoven strap that was a gift from a friend of mine, Col. John F. Baker, of the Texas Army.
-Canteen: I carry either my "Mary Rose" style leather canteen (lined with brewer's pitch, and holds 1quart), or a F&I era, kidney shaped canteen. This one is made of copper (documented), has round ferrules, and holds 1 ½ quarts.
SHOT POUCH:
-vent pick and whisk (attached 2" up strap from bag, and tucked into pouch when not in use)
- extra flints in small braintan pouch- spyglass (if hunting) -20 (.530) balls in a ball bag-small hemp canvas sack with tools
-{whetting stone, main spring vise, linen patching, greased tow (in smaller pouch), and forged turnkey}.
-small vial of bear oil (or olive oil as both are period) for oiling rifle parts.
-small tin of bear fat, beef tallow and sweet oil. (Use this to seal pan, and seam between stock and barrel).
-turkey calls {One wingbone, or one slate/friction call made from slate in belly plate of a turtle's shell, with a cherrywood striker with worn corncob handle ) (Carried when turkey hunting only).
-fishing kit in pouch {5 handforged hooks, 5 split buckshot sinkers, 30 ft of waxed 20lb test hemp line, catgut line for leaders, and a cork bobber}. (Just made a long, horsehair leader and look forward to testing it out!)
-folding knife & have patch knife in a sheath sewn to back of shooting bag.-sundial/compass (hinged walnut case with cord gnomen).
-small flat diamond file for dressing dull flints ("Sharp=Spark")
-10' ft hank of 16 gauge copper/brass snare wire. *On longer treks, I'll also bring along my bullet mould, small lead ladle head, and 2-3 Hudson Bay "C" Bars of lead (5 ½ " long, 7 ozs each).

My Old Shot Bag Contents

My Rifle, "Meg"

Click Any Picture for a Closer Look!

(At right: My Knife & Belt Axe)

Sliding Wood Patchbox and Contents

Tulle Armoury/ Fusil-de-Chasse Smoothbore: I got this in-the-white from Early Rustic Arms. After gathering dust for a number of months, my good intentions were set aside and I had fellow CA CoHT member, Paul Hildebrandt, finish it for me. Paul did a great job. It is a 1729-34 styled piece, stocked in walnut and is .62 caliber/20 gauge. The barrel is 42" and runs octagonal to round. Like many of the originals, the tapered octagon section runs 12" with the last 4" having each octagonal edge faceted. There's a double wedding band transition to round followed up with another wedding band 3" down. Mounted in period iron fittings, it has a nice L&R early trade era flintlock. I haven't been able to buy and original ball mould, so I bought a nice Rapine repro. I use it to cast the .595" roundballs I use. For deer, my load is 80 grains of FFg black powder. For shot, I'll use either #7 lead shot or "rupert shot" (pre-1769 version of "drip shot"- and later called "swan shot.") I mainly use natural materials for wadding (ie- leaves and grass). Not period, but I get a better pattern with fiber wad and cornmeal buffer. Hornet's nest worked, but too messy.

Shot pouch I made in 2002. Thick, barktan deerskin, heavy, waxed linen thread, hemp strap, walnut dyed and rubbed inside and out with a good coat of bear grease! Unlined, with one pocket. It measures 8 1/2" by 7" wide.

Blunderbuss: I got this from the same Indian company that Loyalist Arms uses. It is nothing short of absolutely "schweeeet!" To quote some website info I found: "In the early 1700s the blunderbuss (or blunderbess) started to become popular as a weapon for close quarters because of its ability to deliver a blast of shot or buck and ball. ... Its zenith seems to have been in the mid-1700s when it was used both by soldiers, sailors, and civilians as a means of defence in close quarters. At one point, George Washington viewed the blunderbuss as an alternative to the carbine for the Continental Dragoons." The caliber is .69, the brass barrel is only 14" long and the hardwood stock has a nice checkered wrist.

My Blunderbuss, "Skunk"