Brass Tacks?

[Halftail]

You see once in awhile a muzzleloader adorned with Brass Tacks.What's the reason?

 

[blacksmithman64]

Decoration. But my bud Don puts a small one on fer small game and a big one on fer deer.Kinda like cuttin' a notch on yer grip I guess! NDN's were famous fer brass tackin' their guns and anything else,more of a western thing though.

 

[LRB]

For the most part, it was a plains Indian thing, and 19th c. Not many examples of this in the 18th c. Some perhaps, but not much. Not like later times. I don't know about their use in Canada though.

 

You see once in awhile a muzzleloader adorned with Brass Tacks.What's the reason?

As you've already stated - "adornment". No differenet than engraving, carving or inlays. Just for looks.

 

[Halftail]

You see once in awhile a muzzleloader adorned with Brass Tacks.What's the reason?

As you've already stated - "adornment". No differenet than engraving, carving or inlays. Just for looks.

Maybe the Tacks are for guys like me that could not inlay if my life depended on it. :v

 

[Claude Mathis]

You see once in awhile a muzzleloader adorned with Brass Tacks.What's the reason?

As you've already stated - "adornment". No different than engraving, carving or inlays. Just for looks.

Maybe the Tacks are for guys like me that could not inlay if my life depended on it. :v

It's my guess that tacks were started by people (Natives, whoever) in the field, with no equipment, who wanted to decorate "stuff"; be it guns, tomahawks, or anything you could drive a nail into. Kind of like scrimshaw - guys with time on their hands.

 

[Zonie]

I think decorations were (and still are) a way to individualize something and help in recognizing something.

There is some artist in all of us (even if it is just the ability to appreciate art and not to draw it).
By making a shape using whatever is available some of this artistic talent is satisfied.

As for recognizing something, if there are more than one gun, tomahawk, knife... placed close together, a person can always spot their decorated item in an instant even if others around it are also decorated.

zonie

 

[DanChamberlain]

So, did the Natives own upholstery shops...or steal from'em?

Dan

 

[Stumpkiller]

I did it so I could get a better hold on my New Englander when wearing wool mittens and for a little "pizazz" (an early form of "bling"). The groups of three in a row on either side of the forearm escutcheons really help.

The N/E is of no particular historical design, so you can't "hurt" it with a little fun.

 

[RedFeather]

So, did the Natives own upholstery shops...or steal from'em?

Dan

I guess they was fooferaw or whatever they called it. Same as glass trade beads. American Indians did a lot of decorating, not just with tacks. Maybe it was a way of personalizing, as said. I think on some guns it really looks good.

Now, do you just drive the tack in, or do you pre-drill a hole first and maybe glue them in? Guess you need period-correct tacks, too. Unless you've got one of those incorrect Hawkins like a T/C. Then feel free to use something from JoAnn's Fabric (where you buy your pillow ticking.)

 

[Coot]

Based on putting tacks onto a leather covered trunk which is made with softer wood than a gunstock or hawk handle, pre-drilling (undersized & partial depth) holes will give you better control over spacing & location. They may not have had cordless drills back when, but a nail or brad with the head cut off & stuck in the end of a hardwood dowel can be used as an awl to start the holes.

 

[Tinker2]

Some of the old brass tack decoration that I have seen
is with brass garment tacks. Not upholstery tacks.

Not a orignal but garment tacks. Not my work.



Tinker2

 

[hobbles]

Mornin Halftail
I found a good use for one,, Brass Tac
**Warning**
Use at own risk, Your results may vary, If comes loose, may plug up nose, Not responsible for hole in wood,

 

[Halftail]

Hobbles,
You realize when shooting Double loads such as Bear Loads,That that Tack Just might come loose and be inhales up a nostril and lodge in the Brain.I've heard of Heart Attacks but ....Brain Attack? :winking: :grin:

 

[hobbles]

:rotf:

 

[RedFeather]

Remind me never to borrow a gun from you! :nono:

 

[hobbles]

:grin:

 

[RetiredMedic]

Here is one of mine with tacks.. I also inlayed the eagle into it..

 

[Halftail]

Nice! :v