Get the Lead Out

[jon math]

Shot and balls have been carried in all kinds of containers. Leather bags with turned spouts were popular, as were bottles, shot snakes, bags, gourds etc. This style container was shown in a book called Getting the Lead out. It was attributed to New England from the 1800’s. The original has a poured pewter ring around the neck, and was painted barn red.

Constructed like a duck decoy in two pieces that are hollowed out fastened together and the outside shape carved; starting life as a 5/8 inch thick pine board. A simple peg stopper was carved from a different wood, to appear like the original was lost and a replacement made. I also aged the container with washes of paint and stain, and motor oil. It was made yesterday, but looks a 100 years old.

It holds a good number of 36 caliber round balls for my squirrel rifle, or pound of shot for my shotgun.

 

[omarick1948]

Looks like in will work for what it is intended for, but seems that it might be a bit noisy for hunting situations. Ok for range use though!

Rick

 

[jon math]

Yes, I worried that I might be making an overgrown baby rattle before I started; but even when you shake the bottle it is more or less silent.

 

[BrownBear]

I'm betting it's lots quieter than the rigid leather shot flasks I've used. With larger shot those things could be used in a band!

 

[jon math]

I have always wondered about those, they look nice but I figured they could be noise makers. I have a shot snake that I like; except it has a complicated valve/measuring device that can be hard to run with cold fingers. I like just pulling a plug and pouring the shot into a measure; it’s a lot less complicated and faster for me at least.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Neat. Except, IMHO, you over did the aging process. I would have left plain to git dirty naturally with handling.