English Shot Flasks
- Thread starter Feltwad
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A very nice collection, Sir.
tac
tac
Most of these shot belts are from the middle of the percussion period and date from 1840 onwards .You will find that a large majority of them have the Irish measure some are a double belt and would have been used by loaders for shooters of driven game{pheasant, partridge},You also find that the loaders used them when the shooter were shooting red grouse over dogs {pointers, setters}
Feltwad
Feltwad
Thanks. Interesting information about their being used by loaders. Logical.
Americans also manufactured almost identical flasks in mid to late 19th century. I have one made in the 1860s by American Flask and Cap Co., New York. It has the English valve and is marked for 3 pounds of shot.
Spence
Americans also manufactured almost identical flasks in mid to late 19th century. I have one made in the 1860s by American Flask and Cap Co., New York. It has the English valve and is marked for 3 pounds of shot.
Spence
I'm a sucker for powder/shot flasks with puppies on them. I have a repro "Remington(?)" style powder flask made by Pedersoli and I wanted it because of the puppy on it, not ashamed to say that either.
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Thank you very much for posting the English and Irish shot measures, flasks and shot snakes from your collection. I am enjoying this thread thoroughly.
Your comment that the shot snakes with the ability to hold rather large amounts of shot having been carried by loaders or gamekeepers sure hit home with me. :wink:
Back in the 70's, I was competing with a repro Brown Bess "Carbine" in the Northwest Trade Gun Aggregate where we shot both ball and shot. I came up with the rather grandiose plan to make a shot snake for use in that type of match. Back in those days, it was not difficult to find either an original British or Irish style shot measure (usually American made, but not always) that was separate from a leather flask or snake. Quite often, one would find one with part of the leather still attached.
After looking at the Irish style that often threw a specific weight of shot, I decided to use the English style measure as I could more easily use that with another measure for the best patterns in my Bess. It did not take long to find one that had only a little original/dilapidated leather attached to it. I removed the old leather and made my shot snake with that measure.
However, I did not realize I had made mine with WAY too much room for shot. When almost full, I joked that I could barely walk with it. With that snake, I probably could have provided two or three gentlemen with a full day's worth of shot and even for extended shooting done in the British countryside. :rotf:
Well, it did not take me long to add a couple lines of stitching to close off part of the open space reduce the amount of shot I could carry in that snake.
Gus
Your comment that the shot snakes with the ability to hold rather large amounts of shot having been carried by loaders or gamekeepers sure hit home with me. :wink:
Back in the 70's, I was competing with a repro Brown Bess "Carbine" in the Northwest Trade Gun Aggregate where we shot both ball and shot. I came up with the rather grandiose plan to make a shot snake for use in that type of match. Back in those days, it was not difficult to find either an original British or Irish style shot measure (usually American made, but not always) that was separate from a leather flask or snake. Quite often, one would find one with part of the leather still attached.
After looking at the Irish style that often threw a specific weight of shot, I decided to use the English style measure as I could more easily use that with another measure for the best patterns in my Bess. It did not take long to find one that had only a little original/dilapidated leather attached to it. I removed the old leather and made my shot snake with that measure.
However, I did not realize I had made mine with WAY too much room for shot. When almost full, I joked that I could barely walk with it. With that snake, I probably could have provided two or three gentlemen with a full day's worth of shot and even for extended shooting done in the British countryside. :rotf:
Well, it did not take me long to add a couple lines of stitching to close off part of the open space reduce the amount of shot I could carry in that snake.
Gus
