Bag and accessories!

[Hawken]

Here's what I think is a good idea for a possilbles bag. The strap is wide enough to hold a couple or more items without having to fumble around in the bag!

http://www.hawkenrifles.com/gallery.shtml

Click on the photos and they will enlarge!

[Bigsmoke]

Sure do like the horn.
It is a little too small to tell, but it is either one I built or possibly one built by Earl Cureton.  I am thinking one of his, as I never put as many nails around the base.
OK, I went back and looked at the photos again.  Positively, it was made by Earl.  The horn was scrimshawed in 1978, so that settles it.  It's Earl's.
John

[rollingb]

Here's what I think is a good idea for a possilbles bag. The strap is wide enough to hold a couple or more items without having to fumble around in the bag!

http://www.hawkenrifles.com/gallery.shtml

Click on the photos and they will enlarge!

I like the shootin' bag,.... 
The horn,.... I'd like it too, if it weren't for the "modern scrim" on it. (JMHO-YMMV )

[Uncle Russ]

Here's what I think is a good idea for a possilbles bag. The strap is wide enough to hold a couple or more items without having to fumble around in the bag!

http://www.hawkenrifles.com/gallery.shtml

Click on the photos and they will enlarge!

I suspect old folks think a bit the same, at least on some things.
After looking at that Possibles Bag, it looks and has a lot of the features of the first bag I ever made back in the early 1970's.
I was wth the 1/2 ACR in Bindlach Germany, whith Border Duty on the Czechoslovakian Border at Camp Gates....on one particular tour I took some leather, just in case we should have some down time, and I got real lucky on that tour as far as time off.

Here is what I came up with:
Powder Measurer and Short starter on the Strap.
A "Flat Horn" tucked neat and tight above the bag flap.
A Knife made from a saw blade for patches, skinning, or slicing "Spam".
Pick, on the strap.



The next picture is the back of the bag....not much, but 100% utility, proved over hundreds of miles of back country, high country, hunting, taking a beating on every trip.
(I don't think that old bag is going to have to worry too much about those "hard" trips anymore, that's a young man's game, and Gold Bless 'em for doing it.)

Sewing was not all that well done, but it was first real experience making a bag.
That bag is now about 35 years old and has served me well.
The best, nicest, most fancy bag I have all my flint lock "stuff" in was given to me by John Shorb (Bigsmoke) about eight or ten years back..now that ones a real beauty...much like John, its got a lot of class...lol


Glad I don't have to make a living as a seamstress, I suspect I'd get pretty hungry.

Uncle Russ...

[amm1851]

That's a great looking bag, Uncle Russ; I also like the one Hawken posted. I have made a few bags in my time, sold some, and I favor the simple pouch like the two you fellows illustrated here. I only wish mine were as well made. 

[Hanshi]

That's a great bag and horn, Russ.  Your stitching is at least as good or better than I can come up with.  Urine is more nicer than mynen.

[Hawken]

Russ

Ain't nothin wrong with that bag!

And you made it yourself!!

[RobD]

for me, a shooting bag can take some time to ponder just what it needs to be, and for what reasons.  i did a smoothbore woods walk with the club this past sunday and once again i've refined the bag to be best suited for that task.

first up is how many shots will be required, at what distances, and will i need to wipe for fouling control?  part of this is knowing yer gun and how it's loaded.  my .62 smoothie, .015 greased patch strips, .595 balls, and 60 grains of swiss 1-1/2f require no fouling control for as many shots as required.  that eliminates taking a small spray bottle of liquid along with cleaning patches.  all shooting was done at 15 to 55 yards, 20 shots in all.

easy access to shot process components is important.  on the bag straps are a patch knife, a turnscrew & gun flint knapper combination tool (made with S7 steel), a fixed powder measure made from a .45-70 brass case (on a string) and a cleaning cloth (on a string). the gun has a vent pick strung to the trigger guard.

inside the bag is a leather pouch with 2 dozen .595 balls, 5 rolled up greased .015 patch 2" wide strips, a pair of extra flints already fitted with leathers, a .62 jag with a loop of paracord attached and a ball worm (these two work together in case i get stupid and dry ball - but i NEVER do that, oh no, not me, not EVER - and yes, i also believe in the tooth fairy  ).

the guns 3/8" ramrod has a glued and pinned brass ferrule at either end, with the muzzle end sporting a .62 jag.  the ferrule end that goes into the stock is also my patched ball ramming end, so the stroke required for loading means the rod comes straight out straight down - no need for the awkward rod flipping around.

sometimes i add in a ball board, on a lanyard around my neck.

a powder horn loaded with swiss 3f completes the setup.  no need for special 4f pan powder, 3f works just fine.

it all works pretty well.  and if i really do need to address barrel fouling, i cut off a piece of patching.