round ball molds

[Hammerhead]

if a rondezvous was only once a year and that could be the only time a mountain man saw others how did they keep from running out of ammunition you never see them carrying around big blocks of lead and a ton of powder in the movies. is that just hollywood description or did they run out and wait for rondezvous.

 

[necchi]

Ya know that pack horse or mule that follows the horse an rider?
:hmm:
So ya leave the bulk of items at the camp or cabin,,then go about your daily buisness.

 

[Hammerhead]

ok i didnt think bout that thanks

 

[BadHeart]

or you cache it somewhere and come back to it when you run low

 

[poordevil]

I don't think Mt. Men were the hermits they are made out to be. They travled in large (ish) groups and had base camps and such. Maybe not as easy to get you goods as we have now, but more often than once a year.

P

 

[Flint311]

Just a thought, but they weren't always "loaded for bear". Maybe why they waited for the bear to be only a few feet away. If they shot some game, they'd find the lead ball and re-use (re-melt) the lead. Many accounts of them running low on lead balls and waiting to shoot. Would save some powder too.

Part of the reasoning that went into this: In the Foxfire books, there's stories of waiting for the animal to get a tree behind it and then shoot. The 'hawk they brought along would cut the lead ball out of the tree......

Just an idea.

 

[shadowhawk]

another thing that they did(at least in the western areas) was make trips to out lying forts and trade stations.the hudson bay co.,american fur co.,and several others would set up trade posts in vallys on rivers for trading with indians and other trappers.

 

[jrmflintlock]

Also, they did not shoot as much as you might think. we shoot alot for fun. They shot only when they needed to, so a couple of pounds of lead and powder would last most folks a long time especialy when you re-use the balls.. Back when I was getting to rendezvous 5 or 6 times a year i would only use about 3 lbs of powder.. never kept good track of balls but you get the picture.. "keep yer powder dry"