Possibles Bag and Powder Horn Proper Carry Position?

I wear my shooting bag on the left side and my powder horn on the right. Right now my shooting bag has about one hundred or so balls in it. I really need to go lighten that load.

my shooting bag has about 20 balls in it. Patches, short starter and my little flint/tool wallet. That’s it.

Banjoman said:

I wear my shooting bag on the left side and my powder horn on the right. Right now my shooting bag has about one hundred or so balls in it. I really need to go lighten that load.

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I carry my rb in a ball bag, I have various ones for different calibers. I toss 8 or 9 in my shooting bag and set the ball bag down for refill (this is at the Range).
Out hunting perhaps 10 would be all you need in the bag, if others wanted carry in a ball bag in different pouch or back pack.

100 balls in the shooting bag will just stress out the stitching and soon you will 'loose all your marbles'!

Nah,,,,the round balls won’t be in there long enough for that!

And I done lost my marbles a long time ago!

I am left eye dominate and ambidextrous. I prefer to naturally shoot a rifle left handed but a pistol right. What I have found works best for me to reload and such is my powder horn is on my left side near elbow level. My hunting pouch is to the right but slung a little lower which makes it easier to reach in with my right hand and grab what I need by feel. It doesn't swing around or bounce much at a walk or jog. I have long liked the idea of attaching the horn to the bag as it has a nice and clean appearance to it but it just wouldn't work for me unfortunately. I've never thought there is any real correct way to carry any of this other than what you prefer and works well for you. Great thread topic as I think a lot of folks can get some great information from posts like yours.

Capt. Jas. said:

Unless following a historical military protocol there is absolutely no rule. When using a shoulder bag and horn I usually have both on the right and the buckle on the bag in front. I am right handed.

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May I ask why you prefer the buckle in front?

I'm interested as I have a tendency to think the buckle should be on the rear strap, where it will not get in the way. However, my own favorite pouch has two buckles, one on each strap and so copying a military cartridge pouch.

Gus

If I were hunting deer would not carry a horn.. Maybe 3 extra rounds premeasured in pill bottles. Compass. Phone. And not much else in a small belt pouch.
Small game is entirely different. A bag to hold powder flask, measure, ball bag, shot pouch, patch material along with compass and phone. Eye disease has me shooting LH so I wear the bag cross body on my right.
No bag for the range. A range box with contents adjusted for the weapon at hand.
Not mentioned is water. If you do not KNOW there is potable water where you are going you had best bring some. Hunting with dogs will increase what you need to carry.
And always, on a hunt, the topo map sheet of the area you will hunt, unless you are very familiar with it.

I made my favorite shot pouch as a "somewhat similar/Militia take off" from a British Cartouche Pouch. I even included an adjustment buckle on both front and back straps, to further copy the FIW styling. That way I could put a removable cartridge block inside when reenacting and hold my regular shooting accessories when not.

I found I preferred to put it on my right hand side, as I'm right handed. I somewhat accidentally hit on putting my waist belt over the straps, just above the top of the pouch. Thus the pouch doesn't flop around even under the most extreme exertion. Oh, if I'm shooting a match on a range, I sometimes held the pouch flap up and buckled my waist belt around it, to keep it open.

I had no idea for a few decades that I was actually copying what British Soldiers did when their Regimental Coats were buttoned up, most likely for foul weather, as shown in the original David Morier painting below.




Oh, I also hang my powder horn on a separate strap and hang it on the right side as well, but the strap is not underneath my waist belt.

Gus

Artificer said:

May I ask why you prefer the buckle in front?

I'm interested as I have a tendency to think the buckle should be on the rear strap, where it will not get in the way. However, my own favorite pouch has two buckles, one on each strap and so copying a military cartridge pouch.

Gus

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Gus, just a personal preference. I can lean back against a tree and I don't have a buckle digging in my back. I have never felt it to be in my way nor have I had problems snagging my gun when I cradle it. I have also found it handy to wrap over a length of cloth when I was target shooting and cutting from the muzzle. I also like a nice buckle and i can't see it when its on my back : ) Lastly I have seen it done that way in many 18th century images.

My pouch has no buckle, it's laced on the back strap. Adjustable if need be but I have it the right length so that's how it stays. My belt has a buckle but that's about it for metal stuff on me other than lead and a little vent pick on my powder horn strap. And a knife of course.

When I'm using a bag, I carry it between my right hip and back to keep the powder flask inside away from everything going on in my front when I'm shooting a revolver or rifle

Capt. Jas. said:

Gus, just a personal preference. I can lean back against a tree and I don't have a buckle digging in my back. I have never felt it to be in my way nor have I had problems snagging my gun when I cradle it. I have also found it handy to wrap over a length of cloth when I was target shooting and cutting from the muzzle. I also like a nice buckle and i can't see it when its on my back : ) Lastly I have seen it done that way in many 18th century images.

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Thank you for the explanation. I do appreciate it.

Gus

I would agree with @Capt. Jas. regarding the buckle on the back, for all the reasons he listed.

I've been researching old pouches in my limited way, basically studying images of antiques found online. The ovewhelming majority of the pouches I've found pictured had no adjustment in the strap at all. Most of the pouches that appear to have been made by professional cordwainers or saddlers have the strap stitched in place (a lot more could be said about that...), while pouches with native provenance have the strap simply tied on the pouch with a tangle of buckskin thongs. This Dakota pouch from the Minnesota Historical Society is pretty typical:



Tied on with thongs that way, the strap could be adjusted by shortening or lengthening the strings, or by punching additional holes in the strap. To our modern eyes, this may not look very secure, but they would not have done it this way if it didn't work. This one is from Milton Von Damm's book about fur trade artifacts:


That strap is a mess, yet the whole rig is still more or less intact. I don't know if this next one is native or not. I found it on the Cowan's auction site:


Again, the strap is just tied on with thongs. Maybe a replacement? Maybe not...?

I think this next pouch is really cool. I believe it was on the iCollector website:


The position of the horn tells us that this pouch was carried on the right side. That would place the buckle in front. However, check out the pouch on the right, in the following photo, from the Poulin Spring 2022 Auction:


That is a pretty fancy pouch, and one of the relatively few originals with a leather tabbed webbing strap, so they did exist. Again, the position of the horn tells us this rig is set up for right-side carry, which would put the buckle on the back. The pouch on the left has a skinny, nonadjustable strap, nor do I see a buckle on the pouch at top center.

Finally, if you are really undecided, there is historical precedent for buckles on both the front and back. This South Carolina rig is in the MESDA collection:



Lots of options...

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

RanchRoper said:

my shooting bag has about 20 balls in it. Patches, short starter and my little flint/tool wallet. That’s it.

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Mine has too many things to list... and I am considering making a new bag that has more room. I had once planned a bag for each gun... but I got too many guns to make that practical. Now I just swap things out depending upon the gun and the "mission".

Is there some practical reason that almost nobody seems to make bags out of deerskin? I know elephant hide is a bit pricey, but deerskin seems more or less affordable.

Dale Allen Raby said:

Is there some practical reason that almost nobody seems to make bags out of deerskin? I know elephant hide is a bit pricey, but deerskin seems more or less affordable.

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Here's one out of bark tanned deer. Killed the deer, tanned the hide and it has my first handmade buckle. The awl used was ground out of a concrete nail. Early 1990s.

Dale Allen Raby said:

Is there some practical reason that almost nobody seems to make bags out of deerskin? I know elephant hide is a bit pricey, but deerskin seems more or less affordable.

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I'm planning a deerskin bag for my French fusil. I'm pondering the level of decoration. I do have the pattern all drawn out. It is based on the pouch illustrated in The Voyager's Sketchbook by James A. Hanson, p. 32.

Bag and horn are under my arm on the right side. Keeps them from flapping around moving thru the woods. And keeps them somewhat dryer in bad weather
The photo are from a trailwalk we ran last year.

Dale Allen Raby said:

Is there some practical reason that almost nobody seems to make bags out of deerskin? I know elephant hide is a bit pricey, but deerskin seems more or less affordable.

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Mine is made of German tanned buckskin with a Groundhog flap.
By using a cloth lining there has been no stretching at all in over five years of use.
The straps are also the same buckskin with with canvas strap reinforcement, again no stretch at all and I even have my horn hung from it.
I modeled mine, somewhat, after the ones in "Receating the 18th Century Hunting Pouch" by T.C. Albertsons and "Recreating the Kentucky Hunting Pouch" (DVD) by Ken Scott.

All the bags I have made, and use are tanned deer skin with material linings they have held up well, I really free-lance when it comes to making equipment especially bags, look at different make bags ang go from there. No set patterns just what I like. The original boys out on the frontier made their stuff they needed, and I figure why shouldn't I.