Shot Pouch Question

[jon math]

I ran across something at the range the other day that had me scratching my head. A handful of gents shooting smoke poles that I had not met before. They all had shooting bags with powder horns on independent straps, not that odd except these guys looked like they walked through a gun shop with glue smeared all over them and all the inventory in the place stuck to them.

They had knives, short starters, powder measures, picks, brushes, hunks of patching cloth, bottles of lube and one guy even had a mallet hanging off his bag on a mixture of straps and chains. The bags looked more like lady’s handbags as well, huge things, with a multitude of pockets and clasps and buckles.

To each their own naturally; I’m really happy to see others out and enjoying our hobby. I don’t run across other BP shooters and I was wondering if this type of shot bag is the norm? I kind of felt naked with my tiny pouch and horn. My bag is about 7” square with a thin strap and nothing hanging outside of it. My horn hangs off the same strap, with only my powder measure hanging from it.

Thanks
Jon

 

[Claude Mathis]

I assume you mean a "shooting bag", not a bag that contains shot?

Many shooters are gadget oriented and/or not interested in being historically accurate. They just want to shoot and have fun. Companies know this, so there's a variety of gear for them/us/whoever. :wink:

 

[jon math]

Sorry, yes I call them shot pouches. I’m a minimalist usually only carrying the balls, patches, a cleaning jag, a spare flint (or tin of caps depending on the rifle) and a screw worm in mine. Shooting bag/pouch is a better term; these bags looked big enough to carry camping equipment (including a tent) in :wink:


So that type of bag and it’s configuration are not from a later era?

 

[George]

Sorry, yes I call them shot pouches.

Nothing to be sorry about. Shot pouch and shot bag are the only terms I've ever seen used for that item in all the old literature I've read. All other terms are modern, IMHO.

Spence

 

[Flintlock]

I've always called them a shot pouch too, I thought it was the 18th-early 19th century name for a small shooting bag. Anyway, I usually carry a bag in between the ones you mentioned. I'm thinking just what you would need for maybe a month or two of shooting-hunting. No short starters though, don't think they were common till people started shooting bench guns, I prefer to cast balls a little undersized or use a much thinner patch. Rifles should load smoothly and easily. On the other hand, more than half the fun of this sport is making all the shooting gear you can dream up.

 

[jon math]

I’ve developed arthritis in my hands over the last few years and I now find it very painful to start balls with my thumb so I’ve started using a short starter this year. At least on the range; I don’t plan to bring it when I’m hunting.

I also have a starter like tool I use with one of my shotguns to get the cards and wads past the tight chokes and square to the bore for ramming.

 

[Black Hand]

Simple is always better. All that crap hanging may look cool, but your can't actually move through the woods without sounding like a percussion ensemble.

I don't use a starter, but when my hands are cold, I get the ball started by giving it a whack with the butt of my knife handle. Gets the ball started without a starter, and it is one less unnecessary item to carry.

 

[smo]

My bag/pouch is about 7" wide and 9" deep . It has one buckle its on the strap in the back. I do have a "patch"knife In a sheath that is laced to the front side of the strap. A vent pick and brush hangs from a leather thong which attaches the sheath to the strap. At times there will be a strip of pillow ticking hanging from the strap as well. This is usually only during a woods walk or just when I'm plinking. In the bag I carry a small tool roll. It contains a worm ,spare flint, turn screw and a jag.. It sounds like I'm missing some bling somewhere . :haha: Sorry for not using paragraphs I'm computer stupid and I'm on my smarter than I am phone. :redface:

 

[BrownBear]

...but your can't actually move through the woods without sounding like a percussion ensemble....

In the brush all those straps and dangly stuff will snare you like some kind of devious Vietcong trap.

I'm a minimalist too. Early on it was cuzz the brush was grabbing all the danglies and snapping them off! :rotf:

 

[Artificer]

"Danglies?" Are you coining a new word? :haha:

To Jon Math,

18th century Soldiers and many Militia Men on some kind of military expedition, affixed a whisk and pick to their pouch straps, but they were not really concerned with woods running.

Powder horns were normally carried on a separate strap until the early 19th century. (Please note I am not suggesting ALL of them were that way, but most of them were from original drawings, paintings, etc. and the tiny number of original pouches.) This made it easier to turn in just your horn for filling when on any kind of military duty, but was also the usual way for civilian hunters.

It was more common for the horn to be attached to the pouch in the early 19th century.

Patch knives were not very common in the 18th century, either. They normally used their belt knife or a folding knife stored in the pouch.

Wick Ellerbe showed a knife he made with a wood handle that had a slightly curved indent in the wood to press the ball into the muzzle of the rifle. That is one way to just start the ball and not have to worry about a short starter.

I normally use short starters when shooting with a PRB in a rile or musket, but take them out of my pouch when I am doing Living History.

Gus

 

[Many Klatch]

I started out carrying all sorts of dangly things on my shooting pouch. How some ever, I was at a woods walk where I had to low crawl about 30 feet to a log and then load and shoot while laying behind the log. I had a lot of trouble loading because 1/2 my dangling stuff was laying 10 to 15 feet behind me in the dirt.

Simpler is better.

 

[BrownBear]

"Danglies?" Are you coining a new word? :haha:

That's the only socially acceptable word I can come up with! Tangled up in every bush you come to, you'll think of lots more along the lines of #$%#$%$# dangling #$%@@#$%!!!! :haha:

Speaking of "patch knives," I'm on the edge of making a knife that might qualify, but I'm not sure I'd trade it in for my bigger knife in a hunting bag. Just kind of a curiosity.

Guide friend of mine came upon the skeleton of a smaller brown bear and collected the ulna (forearm bone) for me. Looks like the butt end will make a really interesting knife handle. Too small for much more than gutting fish or birds, but dandy. Gotta track down just the right blade now. Kinda fits with my online name in any case! :grin:

 

[Claude Mathis]

Sorry, yes I call them shot pouches.

Nothing to be sorry about. Shot pouch and shot bag are the only terms I've ever seen used for that item in all the old literature I've read. All other terms are modern, IMHO.

I was thinking this is a "shot pouch"? :wink:

If someone asked to borrow my shot pouch, I wouldn't hand them my shooting bag.

(cowboy boots vs. cowboy hat) :grin:

 

[George]

If someone asked to borrow my shot pouch, I wouldn't hand them my shooting bag.

I would, because I don't have a shooting bag, only a shot pouch. :wink:

Spence

 

[coloradoclyde]

I was thinking this is a "shot pouch"? :wink:

:grin:

I thought that was a "shot flask"... :idunno:

 

[jethro224]

I'm with you, Jon. Minimal is best IMHO.

My horn is on a separate strap tho.

My powder measure is attached to the strap of my bag as is a vent pick but the leather strings they hang on are short. The measure's string is just long enough to reach the muzzle and the bottom of the bag. The pick string is even shorter as it stores in two holes in the strap. No other dangly things.

Not much inside the bag either. A few tools and spare flints in a small inside pocket and a hand full of balls in the bottom of the main compartment. Sometimes a small antler-handled short starter and, lately, if I'm on a woodswalk, a priming horn. Trying to use up a can of 4F...

When at the range or on a woodwalk there is a strip of ticking tied to my horn strap. On a hunt I keep a short strip pre-lubed in a small greased buckskin bag in with the balls.

Some folks I shoot with at some of the rendezvous I attend have a setup similar to the other way you described. They are constantly rooting around trying to find something or another that they "need".
For a real good laugh, try shooting a candle shoot in the pitch dark with a few of those guys. :rotf:

 

[Claude Mathis]

I was thinking this is a "shot pouch"? :wink:

I thought that was a "shot flask"... :idunno:

Yep, I guess it depends on who you're talking to. :grin:
http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?products_id=7864&osCsid=8ugbu06bes046e2jioou49ai34
https://www.jackthreads.com/stone-...ducts/148541?gclid=CNqX29e7qc4CFQJufgodSGQKfg

 

[Artificer]

If someone asked to borrow my shot pouch, I wouldn't hand them my shooting bag.

I would, because I don't have a shooting bag, only a shot pouch. :wink:

Spence

Spence,

I VERY much appreciate your efforts to keep 18th century terminology alive and reminding us of period terms.

What terms did they use to describe a bag or pouch that held "small shot" for fowling? Was the term "Shot Snake" in use in the 18th century?

What term/s did they use to describe what we might call a ball bag or ball pouch, with or without a stopper sewn in?

Gus

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Shooting and Golf are very similar in that there are always folks out there inventing a gadget here or a doodad there to separate the shooter from his money. Once in a great while something comes along that really is nifty (imho) and a good addition to a shooter's box or a golfer's bag, but mostly they're just unneeded.

LD

 

[jon math]

The one thing I wish these folks had was either a pair of binoculars or a spotting scope. Every two shots they called for a cease fire so they could all wonder down and discuss their targets. I was spending more time waiting than shooting and finally packed up and left. Just one of the problems of shooting at a public range I guess.