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Making a Shooting Bag

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Short Arm

40 Cal.
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I'm going to make a new bag.My ? is,What would be a good size.I have Mr. Albert book on bags but they look a little small. What is your thoughts on this. Thanks for your help
 
You didn't say what the purpose of your bag will be. Is it to carry your gear, your gun or what?
 
If the intended contents of the bag are known, I would lay them out on a piece of fabric and do a mock-up.

If the bag is for non-specific items then I would error on the large side.

Hope that helps some.
 
Mr. Albert' s bag look a little small because they are. They are based on originals.IMHO people back in the day folks only carried what was absolute needed to shoot there gun and nothing more. In the Army I was taught the more weight less miles you could hump. Just a th bought.
 
Bill, Caps batches stuff.I took a pattern from Mr. Albert's book and enlarge it 1 1/2 inches.I'll cut one out and see if I need to go larger. Kennyc when I first started shooting BP I had a big bag with everything in it. After eight years my last one was much smaller.You don't need all that stuff Thanks
 
Nope, he just said bag. The word "shooting" did not appear in his question. I know it was in the title but it was not clear from the way he stated the question what kind of bag he wanted. Go back and read the original question.
 
Well, I am in the minority I guess, but I tend to prefer both small and a somewhat large bag, depending on what I am doing with the bag.

It's true that of the few surviving 18th century Shot Pouches, they are small to almost tiny. They sometimes are referred to as "Day Pouches," meaning just large enough to carry the minimal items one needs to shoot their gun in one day's hunt. However, my speculation is that these pouches survived because they were not used on a daily basis and only worn when hunting in the more settled areas.

I personally believe that 18th century frontiersmen who went out for longer hunts used a somewhat larger pouch and did indeed carry "the things we don't normally use." I believe Loyalist Dave put it well in the post linked below: http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showpost.php?post/1433678/

Back in the 70's when I competed in the Northwest Trade Gun competition, we had to bring items like a fire starting kit and other things because starting a fire with flint and steel was part of the competition. Once you "crossed the line," that might have been a real line or rope or imaginary line, you were not allowed to go back and get something you needed and left behind. So we carried more "stuff" in our larger shot pouches than you need on a day hunt.

I agree with the advice that you lay out the items you want to carry and make your shot pouch to that size, along with perhaps trying to sew up a cheap cloth bag to see if it will work before you cut the leather.

Gus
 
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I'd lay out what you plan to carry, then guestimate how much volume you need for it. But I'd also allow room for your hand to get into the bag to root around for stuff. No sense making a bag so small that you have to unload it to get to things at the bottom.

Then it's a question of how you "arrange" that volume. A bag sewn flat or reversed is going to have to be larger than one with a gusset as a matter of course, just cuzz things tend to spread out more and get hung up in the corners of flat or reversed bags.

Also depends on details such as whether you'll be hanging things from the strap or adding a back pocket, rather than going into the bag.

I've kinda tried all the arrangements and sizes and found my own answers, but the bags that came out the end of that shuffle were based on my uses and not some style judge.
 
You are in Idaho? If you are interested in the mountain man era then you'd want to add that into the equation. I might be wrong but from some of the paintings, plus bags shown in Hanson's "The Plains Rifle" I get the notion that the bags carried by mountain men might have been a little larger than the eastern bags. The eastern bags might have been carried by a frontiersman living in a log cabin and out for a few days and therefore, it carried a few days supplies. The mountain men might have carried more in their bags and used larger bags.
I think a lot of original bags were "sewn flat". That's the way it was. Fold over the leather and sew the edge. These sewn flat bags don't seem to provide that much interior space so now folks sew bags inside out or add gussets, etc. On the original bags, if soft brain tan was used (NDN made) there might have been a few where a flat front panel was slightly smaller than the back panel and this created sort of the same effect as the "puckered toe" on a moccasin. I'm not certain how common gussets were on original bags. In any event, the exterior dimensions depend a lot on the design, the "sewn flat" types need to be larger than the inside out or gusset bags.
I always make a proto-type from cheap vinyl until I have what I want and then use the vinyl as a pattern for the leather.
 
Brownbear's advice is good, and I would follow it. I also like the suggestions for a mock- up of some sort, which will give you an idea of what size will best suit your needs (and remember: you're making this bag for you, not make someone else happy)

internal pockets are good: they keep that little important gadget which you need RIGHT NOW from migrating to the bottom of the whole mess and hiding down there where you can't quite reach it.

good luck with your project!
 
Thanks folks for the help.I think by adding that 1 1/2 inches all around Mr. Albert pattern I'll be good to go. Thanks again
 
On the internal pocket thing,as an alternative, if you cut patches from a large section of cloth, you can roll up seldom used items in the extra cloth and put that in the bottom of the bag. It serves sort of like a shelf and then the commonly used items can be placed on top. Well, that's how I do it.
 
Billnpatti said:
Nope, he just said bag. The word "shooting" did not appear in his question. I know it was in the title but it was not clear from the way he stated the question what kind of bag he wanted. Go back and read the original question.
Hmm, I read it too. The title of the post is "Making a Shooting Bag". I can only assume that's what was on his mind. Kind of like the title of a book, alluding to the contents. :wink:
 
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