Daniel Boone

[sprucefly]

Anyone know what type and caliber Boone used? I heard one was a .66 rifle (or musket?).

 

I have seen two guns attributed to Boone. One is a rifle in the museum at the Cumberland Gap National park. If my memory serves me correctly it is a big bore gun, over .50 caliber. The other gun is in the TN State Museum. It is a typical English pattern fowler. Huge gun, extremely long barrel, 10 bore, musket size rock crusher lock, dark wood appears to be walnut.
Boone was partial to large caliber smoothbores. One source I read said he was carrying a 10 ga. at the Battle of Blue Lick.
We must remember that Boone considered his guns working tools for a rough life. You couldn't have too many of them on hand and you didn't get attached to them. He had to give up several guns when captured by Indians. Frontiersmen often had to throw down their guns and run for their lives as Kenton did early in his carrier.

 

[sse]

ghost - Been doing some reading, bunch of the Eckert books. Anyway, the way he describes the use of the guns is as you say, meaning they were getting used, abused, dropped, picked up, lost, broke, traded, stolen, you name it. Far cry from how we cherish the thangs now.

Regards, sse