Post by spence on Apr 28, 2020 21:49:18 GMT -7
One of the things I enjoy most about the hobby is making little projects, some simple item of personal gear to use when shooting, trekking or hunting. One prime, successful example is the simple cow’s knee I whipped up for my flintlocks a very long time ago. Keeping a flintlock in working order in rainy weather is one challenge I’ve worked on over the years, a skill the old boys must surely have had. Most lock covers I’ve seen or seen plans for seem too large, stiff and awkward to use and carry, so I tried to solve all those shortcomings with something which might have been thought of by some early old settler on the frontier.
I started with just a simple irregularly shaped piece of deerskin, barely large enough, and tried to think how to make it peaked over the cock. My solution was to simply fold the leather along one side, make a lapped pleat and sew it down, no cuts made.
I added some straps cut from the same skin, so that the knee could be draped over the lock, the straps wrapped around the barrel and stock, folded double near the ends and tucked under themselves. In use, a simple tug on the protruding end of the strap loosened everything so the knee could be slipped of quickly, quietly, with little motion, and without having to look.
I rubbed some of my patch lube of lard and beeswax into the entire piece, making sure the stitching punctures were filled, then heated it all so the lube was absorbed. Folded up when off the gun, it is small and compact, fits into my shot pouch easily, and is not at all in the way, so that it can stay there for use whenever needed.
After carrying it for forty years I’ve never had to treat it again. It has kept my prime dry on many a fun hunt on rainy days, one of my favorite outings, and has never failed. Here is how I used it on one successful rainy turkey hunt.
home.insightbb.com/~bspen/RainyDayTom.html
Spence
I started with just a simple irregularly shaped piece of deerskin, barely large enough, and tried to think how to make it peaked over the cock. My solution was to simply fold the leather along one side, make a lapped pleat and sew it down, no cuts made.
I added some straps cut from the same skin, so that the knee could be draped over the lock, the straps wrapped around the barrel and stock, folded double near the ends and tucked under themselves. In use, a simple tug on the protruding end of the strap loosened everything so the knee could be slipped of quickly, quietly, with little motion, and without having to look.
I rubbed some of my patch lube of lard and beeswax into the entire piece, making sure the stitching punctures were filled, then heated it all so the lube was absorbed. Folded up when off the gun, it is small and compact, fits into my shot pouch easily, and is not at all in the way, so that it can stay there for use whenever needed.
After carrying it for forty years I’ve never had to treat it again. It has kept my prime dry on many a fun hunt on rainy days, one of my favorite outings, and has never failed. Here is how I used it on one successful rainy turkey hunt.
home.insightbb.com/~bspen/RainyDayTom.html
Spence
