Nessmuk?

[Nessmuck56]

I like Nessmuc.....got one of his knives too..

 

[ugly old guy]

That is not a swivel breech rifle. The upper barrel uses a side hammer back action lock. The lower barrel is fired by an underhammer on a nipple directly on the barrel. I have a reprint of his book, and believe the full picture shows one barrel is a rifle and the other is a shotgun. Not clear from this clip. Always wondered if he used this gun for an extended period in his life.

I only see one trigger. What you describe would require two triggers.
He may have had more than one arm?

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Not necessarily. Billinghursts were quite intricate guns. So it could've had a sliding selector, which would move a metal portion attached to the trigger mechanism, which would engage the seer of either the upper hammer or the lower. OR it might be as simple as the seer was made so that whichever hammer was engaged, the lever bar as thus below the non-cocked seer, and the trigger would engage and fire the cocked hammer. It was likely a .42/12 gauge.

LD

 

[tenngun]

Just looking up the Ned Roberts story I referred to above. Like Sears rifle, Ned Roberts uncles double rifle is a Billinbhurst in .45

 

[Jacobeen]

Col.B, No doubt in that era it was radical. I think he even mentions one with a weight of 9 3/4 pounds. I know he made his canoe builder famous after the publication of his magazine articles and his book. I believe the canoe was of Nessmuk's own design. And it took some time to get his canoe builder to accept his ideas. I don't remember the length but I do remember him standing in it to fly fish, so it must have been stable. I know with a canoe that fragile one would need to be very careful entering and exiting it.

Sitting here, mouth open, nodding at Col. Batguano's comment. That canoe builder was legend. Photos of one of these canoes (called Sairy Gamp) are available from the the Smithsonian who bought it and held for viewing at the Adirondack Museum, in Blue Mountain Lake, NY. Not only firearm makers have craft and trade skills! 10 foot long, 24 inches wide and it only weighed 10 lbs

 

[OldRust]

I've seen precisely one photo of Nessmuk (George Washington Sears, 1821 - 1890) in which he is "posing" with his rifle.

It is a percussion muzzleloader, and appears to be an over-under with rotating barrels, (thus not an "inexpensive" arm, even in his day.) equipped with a single trigger. (the single hammer and trigger inducate to me, that it is not a shotgun)
Caliber and maker are not identified in the photo, nor that I can find in any of his books.

I have found nothing to indicate that he ever "upgraded" (note quotes) to a Winchester/Henry lever action repeating rifle, nor to a single shot centerfire or big bore rimfire cartridge rifle.

I've not found anything suggesting he ever used a flintlock when he was a young man. (or that he learned to be proficient with bow and arrow, during his time with the indian tribe that gave him the name "Nessmuk".)

Does anyone have additional information on the gun or guns Mr. Sears used?

One of my favorite writers In his book Woodcraft George Sears "Nessmuck" stated:

My rifle was a neat ,hair triggered Billinghurst, carrying 60 round balls to the pound, a muzzle-loader of course, and a nail driver. <end of quote>

60 round balls to the pound would put the caliber between a 40 to 45 caliber correct ?

 

[Walkingeagle]

One of my favorite writers In his book Woodcraft George Sears "Nessmuck" stated:

My rifle was a neat ,hair triggered Billinghurst, carrying 60 round balls to the pound, a muzzle-loader of course, and a nail driver. <end of quote>

60 round balls to the pound would put the caliber between a 40 to 45 caliber correct ?

60 to the pound is a 116.67gr round ball by weight.

 

[Brokennock]

For some reason this no longer comes up as a chart so it's hard to follow, but such questions can be looked up here,
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/guage-caliber-balls-per-pound.22297/

 

[OldRust]

I can not imagine a canoe weighing only 12 pounds. Even with today's space age carbon fiber / kevlar construction techniques a single-man pack canoe is going to weigh in the mid 20's.

In his book Woodcraft Nessmuck states that the first canoe that he was happy with known as the Nessmuck by the locals and it was 17 lbs 13 3/4 oz. He logged a 550 mile trip down the Susquehanna river in that one.

I believe Rushton made a later canoe for him the Sairy Gamp below. Somewhere in his writings I recall he stated that he only needed enough canoe to drown a man.

View attachment 21236 View attachment 21237

 

[Loyalist Dave]

60 to the pound is a 116.67gr round ball by weight.

That would likely be between .410 and .420 ball. So we'd call it a .42 BUT we don't know how thick a patch he was using and if he used leather, the bore might measure out to what we'd call a .44. So he's getting more punch on impact than what we get in what we call a .40 today, but a bit faster and flatter trajectory than what we'd get when shooting a .440 round ball. With fine sights, a long sight plain, and good vision, it probably was every bit the "nail driver".

LD

 

[smo]

Wow! What a coincidence, a Fried of mine just turned me onto this yesterday.... Free eBooks - Project Glutenburg

Author George Washington Sears.... Nessmuk.

Some great reading material.

 

[smo]

Bakers are well documented by the second quarter of the 19th century. When an event cut off date is 1790...THEN you get the problem. And it's not a shape problem....it's a sewing problem. I've seen folks construct "Baker" type tents with two long pieces of canvas...but the they are at most, tied together, not sewn.

LD

I think he mentioned the use of tacks as well too secure the canvas.

 

[Mad Michael]

LD, thanks for this info. It has saved me hours of searching for his book. Thanks again.

It shows pretty clearly he shot a round ball muzzleloader. At the end of the book Woodcraft he says :
"Not that I am so very old. The youngsters are still not anxious to buck against the muzzleloader in off-hand shooting." He was in his 60's when he made that statement.

Another Important quote can be found in the introduction to Forest Runes "“The absence of small game is remarkable; and the larger animals, deer, bears, and panthers, are scarce and shy. In such a forest I have myself hunted faithfully from Monday morning till Saturday night, from daylight until dark each day, and at the end of the last day brought the old double-barreled muzzle loader into camp with the same bullets in the gun that I drove home on the first morning”

 

[William Sublette]

For some reason this no longer comes up as a chart so it's hard to follow, but such questions can be looked up here,
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/guage-caliber-balls-per-pound.22297/

Pure Lead Ball Weight
.310 = 45 grains
.315 = 47 grains
.321 = 50 grains
.350 = 65 grains
.360 = 71 grains
.375 = 80 grains
.395 = 92 grains
.400 = 96 grains
.433 = 122 grains
.437 = 127 grains
.440 = 128 grains
.443 = 131 grains
.445 = 133 grains
.451 = 138 grains
.454 = 141 grains
.457 = 144 grains
.490 = 177 grains
.498 = 180 grains
.520 = 212 grains
.530 = 224 grains
.535 = 231 grains
.543 = 241 grains
.550 = 251 grains
.560 = 260 grains
.562 = 276 grains
.570 = 279 grains
.575 = 286 grains
.595 = 317 grains
.600 = 325 grains
.610 = 342 grains
.648 = 410 grains
.662 = 437 grains
.678 = 469 grains
.680 = 473 grains
.690 = 495 grains
.715 = 550 grains
.730 = 586 grains
.735 = 598 grains
.760 = 661 grains
.775 = 700 grains
.835 = 875 grains
.919 = 1167 grains
1.052 = 1750 grains

 

[tenngun]

Sixty to a pound? Absolutely? A .42 or .43 wouldn’t surprise me, but fifty eight to a pound or fifty nine might count as a sixty. It doesn’t add that much to the size but when you got a hand full of ball fifty five to sixty five might all count as sixty.