Popular mountain man loads?

[tg]

I think I would much rather have an '06 with five rounds than a 45-70 single shot.

 

[Bountyhunter]

I have one of each,,,,,,,,,,,and I can reload the .45-70 just almost as fast as I can the -06. I'm pushin a 20-1 soft cast 530 grainer at almost 1500fps over FFG. One a these days, I'm gonna go out to the feedyard and talk em out of a dead steer then shoot that sucker full a holes just to see what the terminal performance is.

I would really like to see how a PRB compares to a 400 or 500 gr conical in the actual carcass terminal performance. I would guess that it will tell a different story than the charts do.

Now, who's going to come with me to help cut that stinky old critter up for the post mortem? Might need a witness to document the trajectories.

 

[Zonie]

I guess I have to point out that this topic is about MUZZLELOADERS and Mountain Men.

While I enjoy the old cartridge guns as much as the next guy I think that we should get back on track.

 

[Kentuckywindage]

i'll take the 30-06 and 4 round for the griz and one for me just in case that ol griz gets me :haha:

 

[redwing]

You need only to study the US Army history in the Yellowstone country. This change in arms and the decline of the Grizz. These were young troopers and they were allowed to kill about any thing.

The early history of this and the Allin Conv. was not the effective tool of today. These were not ballistic experts they were GIs. I agree with Zonie and will end it here. :redface:

 

[longcruise]

I havent done any reading on the subject but it came up at work the other day. What were some of the more popular ball and powder loads the mountain men used during the fur trade era of the rockies? Im looking for their every day load for big game and self defense.

I remember reading, but can't remember where , that the mtn men considered 100 grains to be a "service load". There was however, no mention of bore size. .52 caliber seems to have been a popular size back then and during the 1840's those moving west were advised to carry a rifle of at least 36 to the pound.

There could be a clue in what the standard load was for the 1803 Harpers ferry. Not necessarily a rifle of the mtn man period but it would give a clue to the thinking of the time.