The Shooter's Guide, 1816.

This book is a little late for my period of interest, but the book makes for very interesting reading. Covers various game, game dogs, game laws, the fowling piece itself of course, gunpowder, wadding etc and a pattern in the back for a "Sportsman's Journal". The index takes up two pages.
Once again this is a reprint by the Richmond Publishing Company Ltd, England.

An Essay On Shooting 1789.

An Essay On Shooting 1789, with a new introduction by W.S. Curtis. The copy I have is a reprint by The Richmond Publishing Company England.



It contains a lot of interesting information, and also the lack of, eg there is no mention of priming horns being used, which means that the priming horn is a new invention. This led me to look further than this book, and it seems that the small horns that have been found are now believed to be pistol horns, not priming horns as previously believed.

Gun Slings.

Military firearms often came with a sling for carrying the arm on one shoulder, but civilian arms rarely came with a carry sling. The sling I use on my fusil is simply a long length of leather tie, with the ends tied together. Loops are easily formed at each end which are slipped over the gun stock. The weight of the fusil tightens the sling, but the sling is easily removed to be carried in a pocket or belt pouch.

A Middlesex Village Brown Bess with sling attached.

The sling attached to my fusil.

http://www.middlesexvillagetrading.com/KRB2.shtml

More on Wads & Wadding.

For wadding in the 18th century as you may have read in my earlier post dried grass and tow was often used, but bear in mind that this material can easily catch fire! Therefore I recommend that unless the area is safe from fires spreading; or the weather or ground is wet, that you use wool felt or leather wads.

These are the leather wads I use in my 20 gauge fusil. These have been cut from second hand leather shoulder bags. The same thing can be done using inexpensive second hand wool felt hats.

This is the original 20 gauge wad punch that I use to cut out the wads.

Foraging & Sign. Things to look for.

I was out in the forest this morning, though it was overcast and threatening rain. Here are some images of what I found along the way. I went South on high ground, then down into Butterfly Valley and back North toward home.

Plenty of fallen timber to use as a base for a shelter. Also in wet weather you can cut away the wet outer wood to get at the drier wood inside for fire wood. A tomahawk is a handy tool for this sort of work.

This disused termite mound would make a good shelter once burnt out. A hole top and bottom have already been made, perhaps by an echidna. A mound of this size will burn internally for 3-4 days, in which time you can make a bed close to the lower hole, which you can enlarge, and gain the warmth from the fire within. Once burnt out you can cover the top hole with a piece of bark and move in.

Sign of humans.

Not far away on this rock plateau, I found a rock fire place and a supply of wood.

Another old fire place as I came down into Butterfly Valley, this one much older.

The bark from the Manna Gum makes excellent kindling.

An excellent tree to build a lean-to against.

Lietiporus Portentosus, a bracket fungus. One of the best plants to use as tinder. At this time of year, winter, they tend to soak up any rain water or moisture from snow, and become so heavy that they fall from the tree. This one appeared to have fallen from a large Manna Gum. One of this size would last you for a month or more.

Unpatched Balls in a Smoothbore.

I have suspected for some time that patching was not used in the 18th century for smoothbores, and I have read that even rifles were loaded without patches. Recently a friend, David Schmid, posted the following information on the group forum.

To Shrimpton Hutchinson Esq.

SIR,
You are hereby ordered and directed, to compleat yourself with ARMS and Accoutrements, by the 12th Instant, upon failure thereof, you are liable to a FINE of THREE POUNDS; and for every Sixty Days after, a FINE OF SIX POUNDS, agreable to Law.


Articles of Equipment,
A good Fire-Arm, with a Steel or Iron Ram-Rod, and a Spring to retain the same, a Worm, Priming wire and Brash, and a Bayonet fitted to your GUN, a Scabbard and Belt therefor, and a Cutting Sword, or a Tomahawk or Hatchet, a Poach containing a Cartridge Box, that will hold fifteen Rounds of Cartridges at least, a hundred Buck Shot, a Jack-Knife and Tow for Wadding, six Flints, one pound powder, forty Leaden Balls fitted to your GUN, a Knapsack and Blanket a Canteen or Wooden Bottle sufficient to hold one Quart.



"...it is the General's orders, that none of the men load with cartridges upon their regimental parades but from these powder-horns; and to have wadding above and below the ball, to keep both powder and ball firm in their pieces."

~ John Knox, Point Levi, 1759, (Knox, 295)


"...discharged his piece at him the ball Enterd About an Inch from the middle of his back...the very wad Enterd the wound."

~ John McKay, Rainy Lake, Minnesota, 1793 (J. McKay,17)


"The Yellow Head landed, during the morning, to fire at a deer, which was seen grazing on a meadow, at some distance. He approached cautiously, but was unsuccessful in the shot he fired. What most excited our surprise, was the rapidity with which he reloaded and fired again, before the deer had got without the range of his shot. This was effected without the use of wadding to separate the powder from the ball."

~ Henry Rowe-Schoolcraft, Minnesota, 1832 (Schoolcraft 1834, page 65)

From Diderot.

Another New Plant Tinder I Have Found. Australia, USA, UK, Europe.

The inner pithy core of the sunflower stem. The sunflower is native to the Great Lakes area in the New World, and of course is now grown in many countries.

Double headed sunflowers in my garden.

The larger single flowered sunflower drying out in Autumn.

Part of a sunflower stem split.

A closer look at the pith inside. Scrape it out and char it in the fire, but be careful because it burns hot and fast, and you need to be quick to smother it in your tinderbox.

I suggest you add raw/uncharred pith to the prepared tinder, otherwise it will smoulder away too fast to make fire, but it does work, I have tested it.

You can also use this pith tinder as is with a reading/burning/magnifying glass without charring it first, as you can do with all tinders.