"Silk....... another 40 yards."

This quote gets brought up from time to time and it seems to be agreed to be false and pure Hollywood fiction. Found a video where a guy puts it to the test and raises some good questions about the whole statement.

There is nothing there that demonstrates anything besides the importance of using a solid bench when trying to bench rest a gun too prove a target accuracy.
Don't worry, give me a few minutes,,
I'll find ya a video of the 9 Greatest Mysteries of Antarctica "Solved"!
I even found a few that show's how to peel a banana,, want a link?

I remember this topic coming up about 9 years ago
yeah silk makes a lousy patch, the writer of that line of dialog pulled it from his neither regions.

Fantasy is the wrong word possibly, how about myth?

I'm not sure that was even a fair comparison, I think he said he was using 0.,10 ticking in his regular load. Silk comes in different weights just like other cloth so why not buy some 0.10 silk cloth and not use a scarf which is really thin even folded?

I tested this theory out myself using some of my wife’s silk pajamas. It only gained me a foot….in the behind.

As we all should know, the request for some silk from Cora's petticoats was merely a ruse to get to see her ankles. Very sexy. Now if Cora had been wearing her linen petticoat, then a case could have been made for Bumpo's request. The request was not penned by James Fennimore Cooper. I doubt that Mark Baker, the technical advisor, would have wanted that change to the script either. Oh, and Bumpo (Hawkeye) would not have wanted to use material he was not familiar with for a shot that required such precision.

Grenadier1758 said:

As we all should know, the request for some silk from Cora's petticoats was merely a ruse to get to see her ankles. Very sexy. Now if Cora had been wearing her linen petticoat, then a case could have been made for Bumpo's request. The request was not penned by James Fennimore Cooper. I doubt that Mark Baker, the technical advisor, would have wanted that change to the script either. Oh, and Bumpo (Hawkeye) would not have wanted to use material he was not familiar with for a shot that required such precision.

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I'm currently reading "The Deer Slayer" and will read "The Last of the Mohicans" next.

I was wondering if the line came from the book or the movie. Thanks you've answered that question!

It's sort of like dragging brush behind your horses to hide your tracks!

Hatchet-Jack said:

I'm currently reading "The Deer Slayer" and will read "The Last of the Mohicans" next.

I was wondering if the line came from the book or the movie. Thanks you've answered that question!

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No it’s not in the book.
But then Cora and Alice’s parts are switched. All and all I enjoyed the movie much more than the book. Basically both stories take place around Ft William Henry during the F and I war, but that’s about the end of the similarity

tenngun said:

No it’s not in the book.
But then Cora and Alice’s parts are switched. All and all I enjoyed the movie much more than the book. Basically both stories take place around Ft William Henry during the F and I war, but that’s about the end of the similarity

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Enjoying the book as a youth, I was excited when life brought me from Illinois, and planted me smack dab in the middle of TLOTM setting. I’m really amused at how far off the geography of the book was. You can tell it was written by someone who was only peripherally aware of the locations.

I watched the 11 Bang Bang video yesterday out of curiosity. Curiosity is satisfied. Still a great movie.

The silk thing was just something made up by Michael Mann because he thought it sounded good, and made Hawkeye sound more knowledgeable. Also, he commissioned a much more correct rifle for Hawkeye, then didn't like it, thought the other later design looked better, and replaced it. And when hitting a moving target, in low light, with open sights, and long distances, not doubt the silk helped.

Would not silk melt? Just asking

Fitzhugh Williams said:

The silk thing was just something made up by Michael Mann because he thought it sounded good, and made Hawkeye sound more knowledgeable. Also, he commissioned a much more correct rifle for Hawkeye, then didn't like it, thought the other later design looked better, and replaced it. And when hitting a moving target, in low light, with open sights, and long distances, not doubt the silk helped.

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Sadly, having Hawkeye ask for silk to use as patching did not make Hawkeye sound more knowledgeable to me. It made Michael Mann the director seem dumb for not listening to Mark Baker. After all, Hawkeye was probably wearing a linen shirt and had plenty of linen or a wad of tow from flax wadding to use as patching in his shot bag. Then too, out at Fort Willliam Henry, way far away from refined society, Cora and Alice were probably wearing linen petticoats. James Fennimore Cooper was far too circumspect to tell us what Cora and Alice wore under their dresses.

I never thought anyone would ever waste time testing that because the statement in the movie was so ridiculous.

Repete to self "it's only a movie", "it's only a movie", "it's only a movie", "it's only a movie", "it's only a movie", You may find out "it's only a movie",

He produced Miami Vice. That is his mulligan. Great series . There is an episode with Willie Nelson using black powder C&B revolvers even. To keep in regulations with this forum