Blowing Down the Barrel

CLICK HERE FOR LINK to an interesting posts about "blowing down the barrel" in the Muzzleloading Forum, which is a great website for all types of muzzleloading topics and information.  Whether you blow down the barrel or not after shooting your muzzleloader is your business, this information is presented merely to make readers aware of the controversial viewpoints on this subject.  Here's an interesting comment in the first of a series of posts on that subject:

Anonymous said on 09/21/07 02:56 PM - Post#463160
Not to reopen this can of worms, but I re-discovered a quote I had read years ago from Audabon in 1810 that described a loading procedure he took to be common then and it contains several things that some recent folks have thought were "modern". Like blowing down the barrel between shots--he allowed it was to see if the touchhole was clear or if one needed to pick it. Another observation: a narrow strip of linen was hung from the bag--for patching, which was cut at the muzzle! The patching was 'lubed' by rubbing it in grease kept in the patch box. The cutting was done by a knife hung on the bag! I'll have to reread the quote and see if there is anything I missed...but 1810 is a pretty early date for all these things...I have seen us question all of these things--blowing down the barrel, patch knives hung from the bag, cutting at the muzzle....oh, and he said a feather was often placed in the touchhole while loading, and when removed, a few grains of the charge would spill into the pan, showing the hole was open...Audabon is responsible for several period descriptions of loading and hunting--and was an avid hunter as well as artist...

More interesting stories about Slipperyskin

CLICK HERE FOR LINK to another interesting story about Slipperyskin.

CLICK HERE FOR LINK to yet another interesting story where Samuel de Champlain wrote how numerous Indian tribes had told eerie stories of a giant, hairy man-beast that was known to the natives as "the Gougou".

Another story about Slipperyskin

CLICK HERE FOR LINK to another story about Slipperyskin, seen by a man named Duluth, a scout with Roger’s Rangers.

Slipperyskin – Bear, Bigfoot, or Indian?

CLICK HERE FOR LINK to an interesting article at Vermonter.com that says the earliest written report about Slipperyskin came from a scout with Rogers' Rangers, who passed through unsettled country in 1759 returning from the raid on Odanak.

NOTES ON TOMAHAWKS, HATCHETS AND BOAXDING AXES USED BY AMERICANS

CLICK HERE FOR LINK to an informative article by Harold L. Peterson about tomahawks, hatchets, and boarding axes used by Americans.

TRADE AXE & TOMAHAWK COLLECTORS ASSOCIATION.

CLICK HERE FOR LINK to great tomahawk site devoted to the exchange of information about, and images of early trade axes and tomahawks.

And please CLICK HERE FOR LINK to another great tomahawk site mentioned in earlier posts called "Fur Trade Axes and Tomahawks".

The Return of Rogers' Rangers by Michael F. Dilley

CLICK HERE FOR LINK to an informative article "The Return of Rogers' Rangers
by Michael F. Dilley" which discusses Ranger units with which Robert Rogers was affiliated after the conclusion of the French and Indian War.

Short Interesting Video

CLICK HERE FOR LINK to a short interesting video about Rogers' Rangers.  It's not in color, it looks old and is patched together clips from a couple of old movies including Northwest Passage - but it's interesting.

Ghosts of Rogers' Rangers

CLICK HERE FOR LINK to an interesting article by commentator Willem Lange, who likes to row on the Connecticut River, where he reflects often on the ghosts of former Valley dwellers.

Indian Captives & Their Stories

CLICK HERE FOR LINK to great stories about Indian captives.

Muzzleloading Experiments

CLINK HERE FOR LINK to a great web page devoted to black-powder and muzzleloading experiments and topics related to the physics of black powder shooting.

The Guns of 1776 – Musket Replicas from Davide Pedersol

CLICK HERE FOR LINK to an interesting article about the Brown Bess.  We may not agree with everything in the article, but it makes some good points:
1. Brown Bess puts .75 holes in everything it hits.
2. Brown Bess is deadly - delivers twice the lead of a .45 ACP at about the same or more velocity.
3. Brown Bess can shoot a ball through more than one person (historically accurate).
4. Crisco is good lube.  (Note beeswax can also be mixed with Crisco for lubing paper cartridges.)
5. You can "dry ball" .715 balls (i.e. load without patches) after the first couple shots dirties the bore.
6. Cloth or paper patches can catch fire after the shot.  (So be careful in dry leaves or grass.)
7. Buckshot does work great in a Brown Bess, it's devastating at close range.
8. Shotgun brushes with patches wrapped around them works great for cleaning a Brown Bess bore.
9. Best cleaning solvent is standard dish soap in warm water.

Journal of Pvt. Thomas Brown

CLICK HERE FOR LINK to a plain narrative of the uncommon sufferings and remarkable deliverance of Thomas Brown, of Charlestown, in New England who returned to his father's house the beginning of Jan. 1760, after having been absent three years and about eight months: containing an account of the engagement between a party of English, Commanded by Maj. Rogers and a party of French and Indians, in Jan. 1757 ... how he was taken captive by the Indians and carried to Canada, and from thence to the Mississippi; where he lived about a year, and was again sent to Canada ...

Thanks to Dale Ford for bringing this story to the Illinois Ranger's attention.

'Northwest Passage' (Book I -- Rogers' Rangers) Quotes

CLICK HERE FOR LINK to great quotes from the movie Northwest Passage.