Help with bag

[Jaybird1488]

I need a quick pick of a revolutionary war shooting bag. Please
I’m wondering about the gussets.
thanks!

 

[Gtrubicon]

I feel your pain, while I’m not trying to buy a bag that fits a period, I’m trying to find my first bag, ther are so many choices. I went to my first BP shoot last weekend and had a ball. I took second place in the woods walk. I wore a pair of shorts with lots of pockets. I had to run back to each prior stage to find what fell out of my pockets. im gonna be patient and find the right bag, and I’m gonna win that woods walk next year.

 

[Jaybird1488]

Sounds like you had a blast… lol.
ya I had some rare time the other day and was going to start a project. I figured one of the fine folks on this forum would toss out a pic or two to point me in the right direction. I love research but with the responsibilities I have right now I needed a quick fix.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

I feel your pain, while I’m not trying to buy a bag that fits a period, I’m trying to find my first bag, ther are so many choices. I went to my first BP shoot last weekend and had a ball. I took second place in the woods walk. I wore a pair of shorts with lots of pockets. I had to run back to each prior stage to find what fell out of my pockets. im gonna be patient and find the right bag, and I’m gonna win that woods walk next year.

Just be lucky you can even find a woods walk that doesn’t make you dress in period correct attire. They’re very strict about that most places around here.

 

[Rancocas]

Many, if not most people of 100 or more years ago were pretty handy at making and fixing things on their own. They usually had to be. They didn't have an instruction book, but they thought things out for themselves, using whatever tools and materials they had on hand.

They had animal hides, and if they didn't have a metal needle they could make one out of bone or even a large locust thorn. Thread could be cedar root if nothing else was available. And so on. They didn't go out and buy a bag. They made their own.

I doubt a farmer of the 1770's signing up for the Continental Army would worry about the style of his shooting pouch. Nothing fancy. Just functional.

I made this bag over 30 years ago. I had zero prior knowledge about such things, but I drew up a plan, cut out a pattern, and sewed it together. It has served me well for over three decades now.

The toggle type button is an antler tip. I made the buckle out of a piece of sheet iron. The powder measure, I made from the femur of a deer. I made the gusset between the front and back sides of the bag to be 2 inches wide. Sew the bag inside out, then turn it right side out before attaching the shoulder strap. The bag measures approximately 6" x 8" x 1 1/2"

For the past several years I have been doing a lot of switching back and forth between a flintlock rifle and a flintlock fowler. I've gotten tired of switching the foofaraw for three guns back and forth in this bag. (I also shoot a purcussion frequently) So, I am currently about to begin construction on another bag that will be solely dedicated to both of my flintlocks. I didn't want to make a separate bag for each gun, so this one will be a double bag with one side for the .50 rifle with the accoutrements needed for it. The other side will be for the .62 fowler with all the wads, cards, and small shot as well as the larger round balls.
This bag, of course, will be larger. I have already drawn up my plan. Overall the bag will be about 7" x 10" x 1 1/2". It will also have a couple of game straps attached to it. Even though it is for both rifle and fowler, I call it a fowler bag.

 

[tenngun]

I need a quick pick of a revolutionary war shooting bag. Please
I’m wondering about the gussets.
thanks!

Bags are a tricky subject. We know of bags that may be old, but fact is they are really hard to date. From paintings and drawings from this time it looks like bags tended to be flat small and without gussets. Many seem to have been the leather sewed on the sides so just making an envelope. Without being turned inside out or expanded in any way.

 

[nchawkeye]

Here are mine, one from the '70s, one from the late '80s and the last from today, for my WoodsRunner....

 

[nchawkeye]

Don't know why if came in so large...Anyway, here is another and how I attach my ball block and powder measure for easy access..

 

[nchawkeye]

 

[nchawkeye]

And, my newest, with a horn I attached...

 

[Mean Gene]

I found a lot of images in Pintrist, just do a search for black powder shooting bags.

 

[French Colonial]

Here is a bag that I would love to have, look at the closure on the top, The painting was by Chardin and was in several of his paintings. The closure from a womans purse from the 30's or 40's might work but I have never found one.

Some Scottish sporrans have a similar closure but are to small.

 

[smo]

A Sporran was my first thought as well…

I remember those latch/ closures on women’s purses..