Ignorance with bag molds

[Flintlock]

I have to agree that a Bag Mold is just extra weight. For hunting I would want my kit to be as light as possible. Going to a Rendezvous and shooting the Trail Walk, our club sometimes throws in fire starting, Bullitt making events just to add challenges to the event. Replicating what it was like back than . There is no real need to carry a bag mold and "heavy" lead for a days hunting

There is no need to carry a muzzleloader but yet we do it out of love of history and being authentic as possible. I think the bag mold "lived" in ones shooting bag so it was not misplaced and always there if one was called away from home wether on the farm or frontier.

 

[Brokennock]

There is no need to carry a muzzleloader but yet we do it out of love of history and being authentic as possible. I think the bag mold "lived" in ones shooting bag so it was not misplaced and always there if one was called away from home wether on the farm or frontier.

Thank you.

 

[Brokennock]

When did ultralight backpacking infect muzzleloading and living history?

When did we become such a bunch of weight worrying........ never mind

 

[Flintlock]

When did ultralight backpacking infect muzzleloading and living history?

When did we become such a bunch of weight worrying........ never mind

After numerous injuries (and age) I can see where some want to travel light while hunting and not carry anything in their bag BUT that kind of goes against the grain to me historically speaking. The best reason to carry a bag mold now is it's relaxing to cast a few ball.

 

[jdw276]

Remember you do not want to lose what is in your shooting or possibles bag. Your out there and you trip and fall and some of the contents fall out of your bag. Want to find 35 roundball that you just made in the leaves and pinestraw as if your life depended on it? Or find the bar of lead and 5 roundball? Big items are easy to find with your hands unseen in the bag or dark. I am alone so i run from trouble, do not get in a gun fight with 5 others. You shoot twice and run, at least i would if i was younger. If you are in a fort, yea make em all up as you may noyt have time to do it again.

 

[Brokennock]

After numerous injuries (and age) I can see where some want to travel light while hunting and not carry anything in their bag BUT that kind of goes against the grain to me historically speaking. The best reason to carry a bag mold now is it's relaxing to cast a few ball.

Yup. This makes sense. Totally different circumstances. I've got my share of old injuries and ailments making things in the woods tough, especially in the cold.

But for some others to declare absolutely that there is, "no need....." well,,,, don't tell me what I do or do not have a need to carry or not carry.
If I am trying to experience what men did between 1755 and 1775 when hunting or exploring the back country, on a scout, etc. Then, tough or miserable or not, I need to carry what they carried. Part of the experience is the weight, it's wet feet, it's not having convenient items at one's fingertips. Part of appreciating what our founding fathers' generation experienced is, as they would put it, "the sufferings and privations," the hardships they endured, to do what we do with ease and overcome with gear selection and technology.

Not directed at you there Flintlock.
There are some others here who seem to think that of they don't need it no one does, if they do need it, everyone does, and if they say it, it must be universal truth and we all better fall in line.
I can't write here what I would normally say to such people.

 

[Flintlock]

Yup. This makes sense. Totally different circumstances. I've got my share of old injuries and ailments making things in the woods tough, especially in the cold.

But for some others to declare absolutely that there is, "no need....." well,,,, don't tell me what I do or do not have a need to carry or not carry.
If I am trying to experience what men did between 1755 and 1775 when hunting or exploring the back country, on a scout, etc. Then, tough or miserable or not, I need to carry what they carried. Part of the experience is the weight, it's wet feet, it's not having convenient items at one's fingertips. Part of appreciating what our founding fathers' generation experienced is, as they would put it, "the sufferings and privations," the hardships they endured, to do what we do with ease and overcome with gear selection and technology.

Not directed at you there Flintlock.
There are some others here who seem to think that of they don't need it no one does, if they do need it, everyone does, and if they say it, it must be universal truth and we all better fall in line.
I can't write here what I would normally say to such people.

I

 

[Flintlock]

Yup. This makes sense. Totally different circumstances. I've got my share of old injuries and ailments making things in the woods tough, especially in the cold.

But for some others to declare absolutely that there is, "no need....." well,,,, don't tell me what I do or do not have a need to carry or not carry.
If I am trying to experience what men did between 1755 and 1775 when hunting or exploring the back country, on a scout, etc. Then, tough or miserable or not, I need to carry what they carried. Part of the experience is the weight, it's wet feet, it's not having convenient items at one's fingertips. Part of appreciating what our founding fathers' generation experienced is, as they would put it, "the sufferings and privations," the hardships they endured, to do what we do with ease and overcome with gear selection and technology.

Not directed at you there Flintlock.
There are some others here who seem to think that of they don't need it no one does, if they do need it, everyone does, and if they say it, it must be universal truth and we all better fall in line.
I can't write here what I would normally say to such people.

I'm with you, I try to experience things the way they would have then, wet mocs and all, keeping as much modern thinking and gear out of it as possible. I understand some do not take things as far as I do but it seems kinda weird to build or purchase a historically correct firearm them load it with plastic wads or sabits and lube and clean them with the latest weirdest hazordous chemical but I'm getting off subject here. lol

 

[tenngun]

When did ultralight backpacking infect muzzleloading and living history?

When did we become such a bunch of weight worrying........ never mind

Cr 1830.
I recall the story of two MM getting ready to travel between forts. Just their shooting stuff and a blanket. One guy had a tin cup, the other guy didn’t, since he could borrow his friends if needed
Joseph Plum Marin writes about a pot issued to his mess. And one man charged each day to carry it. He dropped it in to a gully when it came his turn.
During the late unpleasantness with the north it was said you could follow an army by its trail of discarded gear.

 

[Brokennock]

I understand some do not take things as far as I do

Yup, and it's fine if they don't. But why do they feel the need to tell us, or tell new comers, that we are wrong....

 

[Brokennock]

Cr 1830.
I recall the story of two MM getting ready to travel between forts. Just their shooting stuff and a blanket. One guy had a tin cup, the other guy didn’t, since he could borrow his friends if needed
Joseph Plum Marin writes about a pot issued to his mess. And one man charged each day to carry it. He dropped it in to a gully when it came his turn.
During the late unpleasantness with the north it was said you could follow an army by its trail of discarded gear.

True. But Plumb Martin was headed somewhere where someone would have a pot.
And sharing a cup, or blanket is a one size fits all arrangement, my mold might not make a ball that fits your gun.
Sure folks she'd gear to save weight and hassle, but, looking at barrel profiles and things we know they did carry,,,, they seem to have accepted things for what they were. And, things were heavy. Steel/iron, leather, canvas, wood, lead, are all heavy compared to our aluminum, Cordura, sil-nylon, carbon fiber, polymer, and dehydrated food. If you don't know anything else, you just do it.

 

[tenngun]

Yeah in that case I was answering when the ultralight movement started historically.
Yeah a mold was fit your gun, you needed yours.
I do know there was the time I had About 60 pounds of gear in my pack, now I’ve cut to half or less.
Of course that because of my advanced knowledge of woods wisdom and past master status and had nothing to do with being too old to carry manure

 

[Flintlock]

Yup, and it's fine if they don't. But why do they feel the need to tell us, or tell new comers, that we are wrong....

I often wonder why if people don't want to do things the traditional way then why are they shooting muzzleloaders in the first place but to each their own I guess.

 

[tenngun]

I often wonder why if people don't want to do things the traditional way then why are they shooting muzzleloaders in the first place but to each their own I guess.

We all travel the path as far as we want or can.
We have TC Hawken shooters on this forum, and folks with bench copies of a gun.
I have linen but lots of cotton.
Before I knew better I built my SMR with a Siler lock…. Umph. My favorite gun is my Centermark TFC
I’ve seen spaghetti and chili made at events
I drink a lot more coffee then most would have then.
I like to take English beers to events as they taste good at room temps and I don’t carry an ice chest. Not a lot of bottled beer back in the day.
I’ll cook hasty pudding for breakfast but have been known to have chocolate malt O meal in my tin kettle
At some point all of us say that’s a bridge to far, I’m not crossing that one to HC

 

[Jay Templin]

I'm sure they had other kinds of moulds available than just a "bag mould" back then.

Gang moulds allow you to cast multiple balls at once. When I was a kid, we would run half a dozen .69 calibre balls at a throw in an original 1750s mould. Looking back, I cringe at the thought.
Jay

 

[Marc Schmidt]

Small multiple mold from ebay. About cal. 50. Age and origin are unknown.

 

[Nor'Easter]

There are two kinds of countries…those that use the metric system, and those who put a man on the moon! Just saying there, cousin!

Great thread! I carry a Callahan mould in my possibles bag along with a small folding ladle. Seems like essential gear to keep the gun running. Recovered balls, and captured balls can be melted into useable balls.

I think maybe your on to something. In a time when bore diameters were as numerous a barrel makers, a ladle & mold ensured you would have balls that shot well in your gun. No matter the source of lead! Makes alot of sense. In Maine you were likely to encounter any of the 3+ bore diameters imported by the French, plus the English civilian and military calibres. A mold to fit your gun makes alot of sense. Also explains the popularity of smooth bores. They tend to be alot more flexible in what is stuffed down them, in case you didn't have time to stop and roll your own!

 

[jefair1]

I think that everyone is forgetting one thing:
Mountain men did not hike into the mountains. They rode horses and had pack animals to carry their provisions and traps. A mold weighing less than a pound would not have been a concern.

 

[Surrywoodman]

For me, this has been one great thread, especially learning the history, thanks to all