Bullet board

[FishDFly]

Thanks Fish. Comes from the super curly maple used in my first personal build in 2013-2014. A friend has used some of it for knives he is making, and it really is an unusual standout. I’ll make some in different calibers as gifts and fundraiser donations. Future boards won’t be squared, but rather rounded or pointed so they don’t snag inside the bag, and I’ll add a lanyard hole. Gotta say, the idea of moving through the woods with this heavy bullet board swinging around is not too appealing. A more secure place is inside the possibles bag.

I have made them in heart shape to give to the young lady's in 4H.

They fit fine in bags or pockets. I do not like danglers hanging from anything..

 

[pamtnman]

I do not like danglers hanging from anything..

I don't either. It is an unfortunate aspect of getting old....

 

[pamtnman]

That looks great, @pamtnman ! Nice looking board, made from an outstanding piece of wood.

I have saved a few photos of old hunting gear that I've found online. I think these have both been used in other posts on this forum, but here they are again!

This is the pouch and accoutrements carried by a professional hunter from Pennsylvania named David Cooke (died in 1842). His bullet board is right in the center of the picture:

View attachment 126528

Apparently, all of that gear was carried in the pouch. He probably stayed in the woods for extended periods of time. His flintlock rifle was with the outfit, too. It appears to me that his bullet board holds twelve balls for his .45 caliber rifle. There is more about all of this and Mr. Cooke on the Contemporary Makers Blogspot: Rifle and Hunting Pouch Carried by David Cooke

This image shows the gear carried by J. Nosworthy, who was a mid-19th century professional hunter. That oval (egg-shaped) device is his bullet board:

View attachment 126529

That page was from a post by the late Chuck Burrows on another forum. He said it was from "an old gun magazine," but I've been unable to track it down. It looks like it might have come from either Guns magazine or The Gun Report, maybe from the fifties or early sixties. The caption indicates the rifle was .46 caliber, although another reference I found states it is a .50 caliber. Either way, it was considered adequate for buffalo in its day.

I would like to point out that Mr. Nosworthy carried some pretty fancy kit. In reading the memoirs of professional hunters of his time, I've discovered that they actually made a pretty good living. James R. Mead, a professional hunter in Kansas from the late 1850's in to the 1870's, said he had saved up over $10,000 by the time he was in his mid twenties. This was an enormous sum of money for that time, but James Henry Cook, who hunted in the mountains of Wyoming in the 1870's, said the same thing.

Anyway, your bullet board looks great. If the old timers considered bullet boards worthwhile, they ought to work for muzzleloading hunters today, as well.

Notchy Bob

Awesome material here, Bob, thank you. Your Cooke kit I recall when it was put up for auction, and I rediscovered it here when you posted it a couple years ago. Nosworthy is new to me. A buffalo gun with that massive barrel could not possibly be .46 caliber. Probably helps every traditionalist to look at these photos every six months or so. Glad you post them.

 

[pamtnman]

That looks great, @pamtnman ! Nice looking board, made from an outstanding piece of wood.

I have saved a few photos of old hunting gear that I've found online. I think these have both been used in other posts on this forum, but here they are again!

This is the pouch and accoutrements carried by a professional hunter from Pennsylvania named David Cooke (died in 1842). His bullet board is right in the center of the picture:

View attachment 126528

Apparently, all of that gear was carried in the pouch. He probably stayed in the woods for extended periods of time. His flintlock rifle was with the outfit, too. It appears to me that his bullet board holds twelve balls for his .45 caliber rifle. There is more about all of this and Mr. Cooke on the Contemporary Makers Blogspot: Rifle and Hunting Pouch Carried by David Cooke

This image shows the gear carried by J. Nosworthy, who was a mid-19th century professional hunter. That oval (egg-shaped) device is his bullet board:

View attachment 126529

That page was from a post by the late Chuck Burrows on another forum. He said it was from "an old gun magazine," but I've been unable to track it down. It looks like it might have come from either Guns magazine or The Gun Report, maybe from the fifties or early sixties. The caption indicates the rifle was .46 caliber, although another reference I found states it is a .50 caliber. Either way, it was considered adequate for buffalo in its day.

I would like to point out that Mr. Nosworthy carried some pretty fancy kit. In reading the memoirs of professional hunters of his time, I've discovered that they actually made a pretty good living. James R. Mead, a professional hunter in Kansas from the late 1850's in to the 1870's, said he had saved up over $10,000 by the time he was in his mid twenties. This was an enormous sum of money for that time, but James Henry Cook, who hunted in the mountains of Wyoming in the 1870's, said the same thing.

Anyway, your bullet board looks great. If the old timers considered bullet boards worthwhile, they ought to work for muzzleloading hunters today, as well.

Notchy Bob

So I just spent fifteen minutes trying to figure out who this "T. Warriner" is who authored the write-up of Nosworthy's kit. Thomas Warriner, Tim Warriner...No luck. But a perusal of the masthead of related magazines from 1950s-1960s might reveal him.

 

[mushka]

I made some ball boards for up to 50 cal. I wanted boards for .62 and 575 balls and I bought them online as buying the two drill bits would have almost quadrupled the cost of the boards. Sometimes I'm cheap.

 

[FishDFly]

There is a fine line between cheap and frugal. I am in the frugal camp.

 

[DuncNZ]

Does the wood eventually absorb the patch lube ?, if so how long can a board stay usefully loaded ?

 

[Grimord]

Here are some ball boards I have made. Most were made from left over scraps of wood flooring, mostly oak and hickory. The 50 caliber beaver block has a built in powder measure at the nose and the tail is a leather capper. The light colored .36 and .32 blocks were made from a piece of shed moose antler. Hope you like.

 

[FishDFly]

Does the wood eventually absorb the patch lube ?, if so how long can a board stay usefully loaded ?

If you seal the wood, it cannot absorb the patch lube.

 

[Timber Wolf]

Here are some ball boards I have made. Most were made from left over scraps of wood flooring, mostly oak and hickory. The 50 caliber beaver block has a built in powder measure at the nose and the tail is a leather capper. The light colored .36 and .32 blocks were made from a piece of shed moose antler. Hope you like.View attachment 126609

I think I will “borrow” your beaver idea and make one for my .36. A special rifle ought to have a special bullet board/measure. Dug out (literally, the shed did not want to give it up) my old (old I say) Craftsman bandsaw this past weekend. Dang old rubber tires are no good, but I have some modern urethane ones coming. Gonna turn out some bullet boards sho nuff as soon as my equipment is rehabbed.

 

[FishDFly]

Tom A. Hawk use to sell some really nice beaver boards.

 

[pamtnman]

Grim, you are having waaaayyy too much fun shooting black powder. There's a lot of whimsy in your bullet boards. I like

 

[Grimord]

Grim, you are having waaaayyy too much fun shooting black powder. There's a lot of whimsy in your bullet boards. I like

Covid kept me isolated for a couple of weeks, so I spent the time in my shop and came up with a few ideas for my black powder shooting. I also made a hunting block (for deer hunting) for my .58's. It has 2 patched balls, 2 pre-measured powder tubes, and a short starter built in and a leather sleeve to hole caps, or I can swap out the sleeve to one that holds a touch hole pick & brush. See photo.

 

[pamtnman]

Covid kept me isolated for a couple of weeks, so I spent the time in my shop and came up with a few ideas for my black powder shooting. I also made a hunting block (for deer hunting) for my .58's. It has 2 patched balls, 2 pre-measured powder tubes, and a short starter built in and a leather sleeve to hole caps, or I can swap out the sleeve to one that holds a touch hole pick & brush. See photo.

Yeah, this is very cool. Way to go. What are those orange colored caps fit on to?

 

[Jaeger]

There is a fine line between cheap and frugal. I am in the frugal camp.

Another word you might use is "parsimonious". You can impress your friends and the ladies with your vocabulary....

 

[mushka]

timber Wolf I put new tires on my Skil band saw the other day. It was hard with my arthritic hands and fingers, I don't envy you your up coming task.

 

[oldwood]

I especially liked how the one .62 board was coned for easy access. Will Do one for me just like that........oldwood

 

[pamtnman]

I especially liked how the one .62 board was coned for easy access. Will Do one for me just like that........oldwood

if you are talking about the bullet board I made, the coning or softening of the openings is where the tear-out occurred when the Forstner bit busted through. A rounded file was used to roughly even up the slope, and then two grades of sandpaper smoothed them down. The tear-out pattern happens on two opposite sides of each hole, and when it is all smoothed down, it is amazing how that fits my thumb perfectly when I push down the patched ball into the hole. Incidentally, I did put tung oil inside each hole, to help slow down the absorption of bear grease lubricant.

 

[Grimord]

Yeah, this is very cool. Way to go. What are those orange colored caps fit on to?

The orange caps fit on the end of the plastic powder tubes set into the block. The short starter has recessed holes to accommodate the orange caps.

 

[pamtnman]

The orange caps fit on the end of the plastic powder tubes set into the block. The short starter has recessed holes to accommodate the orange caps.

Cool. Can you show us the plastic powder tubes you are using? I have wanted to make speed loaders for my .62, but cannot locate the right tubing.