Protecting your flintlock on longer Treks

[Rasch Chronicles]

Fellows,

I was wondering how you protect your rifles on longer treks, if at all?

Best Regards,
Albert A Rasch
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles™
We Build a Pirogue!

[mario]

Protect from what?

Mario

[Rasch Chronicles]

Mario,

As my trekking usually involved body armor, a pretty much weather proof rifle, and an eighty pound ruck, I am a little out of tune with Period Trekking.

If I was exploring the Ohio valley, or pushing into frontier Tennessee, how would I have kept my flintlock rifle from harm? Did they have oilcloth rifle socks? Was there a methodology that was common in those days, like bear fat?

Thanks!
Best regards,
Albert “The Afghan” Rasch
Real Men Hunt

[rickevans]

To be honest...you'd be totin' that riflegun in your hands. Maybe a cows knee over the lock if it was raining or snowing...some kind of oil for the lock.

[mario]

Yup. What Rick said.

I use bear oil for the lock and barrel.

In the areas you describe you have a fair chance of stumbling on the local tribes who do not want you poaching on their land. So you'd need that firelock to be easy to bring into action, just in case.

Mario

[Rasch Chronicles]

Ok, that's what I had in mind. I just didn't know.

Having read That Dark and Bloody River recently I assumed that whilst on the move it was always in hand, just like here for that matter. I suppose that the mental difference is that now-a-days you're probably carrying what amounts to a custom gun, vrs back then when it was a tool for survival.

I am going to have to study far more into the era in order to determine what constituted a "working man's" rifle. I really like the Tennessee rifle's simplicity and flowing lines, and I could see building one in 45- 50 as a meat gun.

Thanks again fellows!

Best Regards,
Albert A Rasch
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles™
Lions in the Yard!
?O??? ????!

[mario]

I am going to have to study far more into the era in order to determine what constituted a "working man's" rifle. I really like the Tennessee rifle's simplicity and flowing lines, and I could see building one in 45- 50 as a meat gun.

I like the TN/Southern rifles as well. But they are too late (1790s +) for what I do (pre-1783).

What era are you looking into?

Mario

[Loyalist Dave]

You might want to look at a Cabin Creek Pennsylvania Mountain Rifle..., ill named, but avvery simple, a working man's gun.  Very accurate too.  

LD

[mario]

...a pretty much weather proof rifle,

They issuing AKs these days?  

Mario
Kalashnikov devotee...

[Rasch Chronicles]

Fellows,

First, let me thank you guys for taking the time to "converse" with me!

To be honest, I am more of a firearms buff, and only now am I delving into the different "periods."

I am fascinated by the F&I war era, but the western expansion through and over the Appalachia is fascinating too! I lean more towards the latter as exploration is far more interesting to me. (I guess I am tired of warfare, historic or otherwise.)

Having said that, I am slowly but surely acquiring parts and tools for a broad range of traditional firearms. I have my Chambers NE Fowler which will be fitted for a bayonet, something that a frontier militia man might have owned in the 1760s. Then I would like a Virginia rifle as a representative firearm of the American Revolution. Moving forward in time I have a real like and appreciation for the Tennessee style rifle. I could see myself making several in different calibers. To round out the time frame, I have to have a Lewis and Clark 1792/1803 rifle!

But one thing at a time! I tend to get too far ahead of myself, and I need to get outta here before I can travel “there”!

In thinking about this now, and talking with you alll, I think I will study the 1770s through 1790s and see where that leads.

Thanks again fellows, I really appreciate you time!

Best regards,
Albert “The Afghan” Rasch
Real Men Hunt
?O??? ????!

[Captchee]

I do a lot of hunting with my flintlocks  here in Idaho . As such in the fall we can have  days that start out cold and then  by afternoon be  in the 90”s .
 Or it can start out hot then turn to blowing snow and rain .
 Years ago I stopped using a cows knee . Total PITA when you need to take a shot  quick .
 Here is what I found that works well for me .
After loading I  thumb in a little grease  along the  top edge of the pan where it meets the  barrel .
 While hunting  I carry the gun so that the lock is  under my arm  and protected . I also check my prime often .
  When it seriously starts to rain  in turn the gun over can carry it upside down  but still tucked close in  so as to protect the lock
 For bore protection , frankly I don’t concern myself with that unless im loaded with a conical and the weather is bad  . In which case I practice muzzle awareness  by keeping the muzzle level or slightly down in the carry even though  the conical is a tight fit .

 The real problem is late  fall when we get a lot of fog  and snow  with very low temperatures and im deer or elk hunting .
 This time of year  the elk and deer have been pushed down . But  this also means that the mountain lions are following the herds .
 I have had days where  I have cut the tracks of 5 different cats  within a morning hunt .
 They like the fog and  you better have a gun  at the ready  for  most times your going  or they are going to be real close before you  see them .
 In those case I carry my rifle just as I described  above with the lock tucked under my arm . I also check the prime even more  and replace it every time I check it  regardless of how it looks

[Buzzard]

RC; I carry no protection for the rifle at all! Suppose i could wrap my frock around it i had too. I agree with Captchee about the cow's knee, largely worthless. His manner of carry is correct also. I have more trouble with snow getting in my lock than rain. When it's raining, i pay more attention to where my rifle is in my hand. I get lackadaisical in woods in the snow and forget to watch out. In either case, when i remember, i simply wrap my bandana around the lock area and tie with a simple overhand knot that i can pull away quickly and smoothly! Never tried the grease around the pan trick. Guess i'm to fumble fingered for that, besides, if i can't keep my gun in firing order, i deserve to starve! Mother Nature deserves to win some to yaknow!

[Loyalist Dave]

my Chambers NE Fowler which will be fitted for a bayonet, something that a frontier militia man might have owned in the 1760s.

 

Hey Pardner,
..., then it wouldn't have been fitted for a bayonet.  

Bayonets were property of the crown and sometimes sold to colonial governments, not readily available to civilians, and were stockpiled in Military armories, if the colonies had them at all.  One of the problems Washington had when the AWI started is the militia folks who arrived without muskets (most didn't), didn't have bayonets or even arms to mount them, and thus could not deal with British Regulars with King's muskets, who did.  Bunker Hill (Breed's Hill) was a loss though the Continentals held the high ground, and they repulsed two of three assaults..., because the ammo ran short, and they had no bayonets, so had to withdraw.  

And a wooden rammer and a bayonet doesn't mix well..., a huge design flaw in the original King's musket, which was quickly upgraded to a metal rammer.  Too easy to break off the wooden rammer without the wooden stock to help support it when stored beneath the barrel, and you must remove the wood to allow for the socket of the bayonet.  

So I'd save your money, and the lines of the gun, and carry a proper tomahawk, instead of a bayonet.

LD

[Rasch Chronicles]

Loyalists...

Always ruining the party...

LOL! That makes alot of sense. I am repeatedly embarassing myself here with my lack of knowledge.

Now what to do... Make up a story of how I obtained a King's bayonet before The American Revolution, get a French one instead from a Frenchman who dropped his rifle when overrun, claim ignorance and run around while people snicker behind my back at my lack of HC...

Choices, choices.

Best regards,
Albert “Afghanus” Rasch
Charged! Hog Hunting at its Best!
?O??? ????!

[rickevans]

"...a proper tomahawk..."  is a fine solution!