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Powder and balls. I think around that timeframe most hunters carried their own bullet molds so they likely procured lead in small ingots but that impression is gleaned from reading somewhat contemporaneous novels, not from any actual research.Quote:
Originally Posted by ray1970
As far as I know. Back then they carried molds and ingot. Too easy to loose a bunch of balls out of your possibles back, but you should notice the thump of a lead ingot falling out. Also many rifles back then were made along with their own mold (kinda one off sort of deals). Different smiths, slight variations in bore size, rifling, etc.
this thread made me smile, until it started getting serious.
I'm pretty sure the original post was meant as a serious question.Quote:
Originally Posted by brutal
Back in the day it was powder and shot. You would have shot bag and a powder horn that you carried. The shoot you usually molded yourself when needed.
The original question, or a close variation, actually wasn't answerable with certainty by the firearms curator and historian of a very large and famous museum. Granted they are a bit more cautious in their answers. It has actually kicked off a bit of research on their part. The variations in ball sizes for a small group of individuals traveling together could be fairly high. The question not only has implications for the frontiersman/trapper of the time but the proprietor of the trading goods store as well. What size of balls would you carry for purchase, did they sell it buy the lb by the count, etc.
The issue is a bit more complex when you consider you may be gone for a year or more before being able to re-provision. If you were going to just be hunting for a few days and return back to the homestead it would be a bit different pack then an extended trek.
I'm looking forward to hearing the results from the curator. And yep they thought it was a "unique", (they didn't say weird out loud), question as well.
Before 1855 but very interesting:
Museum of the Mountain Man:http://museumofthemountainman.com/
the Bent’s Old Fort Historic Association: http://bofha.org/index.html
Bent’s Old Fort NHSwill be host for the2015 Fur Trade Symposium: September 23-2
How They Did It In The Old West? [Archive] - Cast Boolits
castboolits.gunloads.com › ... › Cast Boolits
Mar 25, 2012 - 67 posts - 48 authors
The mountain men would probably go out with ball, mold and ladle. They'd bring the ... they sold. Sheets of lead were easier to transport and took up less room in a York boat than precast bullets. ... lots of black powder was shipped in lead boxes. good idea, it ..... Every store also had by the box prices also.
You can also look up the way lead sheet was used to transport bulk black powder as Lewis and Clark did for their expedition. Lead sheets could be formed into water proof containers for black powder. No zip locks back then.
shit, back then i would have just learned how to use a good bow and arrow. some of the firearms stuff seemed like a huge pain in the ass, and if you didn't have the right stuff or simply lost or damaged some of the components you were screwed.
Even the 'heathen' indians gave up the bow for modern weapons.Quote:
Originally Posted by tmckay2