How many shots did they carry with them in the 1700's for a hunting trip?

[scattershot]

WOW! 1 1/8” barrel, 39”, in .32 caliber. Sounds like a crew served weapon. Most of the antique rifles I have seen were heavy like that. Musta been some tough guys back in the day.

[KCSO]

Check out Madison Grants book for many old original powder horns and their use and documentation.

As to how good horns are to store powder. In the 2019 flood a lot of the town of Verdigre was under water, my partner had his bag and horn on the Office and it was under water for over 24 hours before being rescued. The powder was still dry and shootable with no damage or clumping. That's good enough for me. I have carried and used a horn for onto 60 years now and have several old documented horns that are dated.

[Brassduck]

Joe James, I have a horn that looks just like that, grandpa used it to call his dogs in when hunting.

[Eddie Southgate]

If all of the rifles in the east were of such small caliber (.40 or less ) why is it that most of the old (pre 1830) Pennsylvania , Ohio , Virginia and Carolina rifles I have seen down through the years seem to be of calibers over .40 and most a good bit over ?

[megasupermagnum]

If all of the rifles in the east were of such small caliber (.40 or less ) why is it that most of the old (pre 1830) Pennsylvania , Ohio , Virginia and Carolina rifles I have seen down through the years seem to be of calibers over .40 and most a good bit over ?

Likely for the same reason people love the long rifle. Yet just like the long rifle, they were not all that common. From what I can tell, smooth bores were more common, and in large calibers.

[Stephen Cohen]

In the book Undaunted Courage (Lewis and Clark) they have the provisions list for their trip. Granted this was a much larger scale trip but it might give you some idea. One cool tidbit was that the powder was purchased in lead barrels. The lead barrel being of sufficient weight to provide enough shots for the quantity of powder.
Now that’s some crafty thinking.

That is one of the finest books I have ever read and one I will never lend. The hardships that Lewis and Clark, and the men they lead would make anyone proud to be an American. Sadly they never really got the recognition or monetary gain they so rightly deserved. Regards Stephen

[M-Tecs]

If all of the rifles in the east were of such small caliber (.40 or less ) why is it that most of the old (pre 1830) Pennsylvania , Ohio , Virginia and Carolina rifles I have seen down through the years seem to be of calibers over .40 and most a good bit over ?

I have read that it was very common to refresh the bores so they may have started as a smaller caliber???

[1hole]

If all of the rifles in the east were of such small caliber (.40 or less ) why is it that most of the old (pre 1830) Pennsylvania , Ohio , Virginia and Carolina rifles I have seen down through the years seem to be of calibers over .40 and most a good bit over ?

Well, no one has made me an expert on the old days but we know rifles were expensive and so was lead and powder; few people would have had a locked gun safe full of special purpose rifles. It makes sense that most men would want something that would shoot economically but flexible enough to work against small both game and large, including, when necessary, against two legged goblins. I suspect a .40 to .45 cal round ball would do it all, nicely.

--------------------------

As a side issue, the 2nds "well regulated militia" didn't mean a group bound up by today's thick books of government rules. History is so poorly taught that anti-gun "liberals" can't grasp that common regulations of the time required the militia to bring their own firearms and ammo when needed. Thus, the 2nd's "well regulated militia" simply means that common "regulations" for a citizen militia - not the state's uniformed National Guard - had to bring their own arms, ammo and a few days rations when called. Our founders knew that free men have a God given right to self defense and knew it was important for the defense of the country from all enemies, foreign or domestic (including Democrats), that the citizen militia could never (rightly) be disarmed by our government.

Modern "liberals", with their political lusting for total life and death regulatory power over "deplorable little people" like us, really don't like such Constitutional limitations!

[gunther]

As most of the replies suggest, "it all depends...". For a day's hunt, a small pocket horn and a dozen balls would get the job done. Boone left home for months at a time and most likely made sure he was well supplied. The engraved horns from the French and Indian war period held a pound or more. They were called war horns for a reason. The Revolutionary War also spawned large horns to carry the powder to match 50 to 100 balls militia men (and occasionally , their wives or sweethearts) were required to carry. Lewis & Clark used 54 caliber Harpers Ferry rifles that couldn't handle enough powder to handle a grizzly. The Hawken brothers settled on 52 caliber, 12-15 pound slow twist rifles that could handle 200 grains of powder . Enough to take grizzly, buffalo, and elk.

[hondo1892]

A guy named Meshach Browning hunted in western Maryland and started his career in the late 18th century. One of his rifles used a one once ball that is not a small caliber rifle! He market hunted bear and deer and sold the meat in towns. Rebecca Boone once killed something like 27 deer from one stand to feed her family while old Dan was out west in Kaintuck. Read the account about Rebecca Boone from some of the Draper papers. If horns weren't used in real life why is Tom Tobin and other old mountain men shown wearing them while holding their percussion rifles. No you pour powder from the horn into the barrel of a gun like hollywood shows. They had powder measures they filled then poured down the barrel. Plenty of old measures out there too.

[LawrenceA]

I have read that most hunters would take considerably more powder than they carried lead for as they would recover lead from their kills. That was the story anyway.
I believe Benjamin Franklin was the one who came up with lead lined containers for Powder as it was often lost to moisture.

[Wayne Smith]

Realize that market hunting was so common that, in the Southern Colonies at least, a buckskin was literally currency. 27 deer skinned and tanned was 27 bucks.

[rfd]

since the OP was specific about the 18th century, i do believe the colonial long gun of choice for the average man/farmer was the fowler/musket for its hunting versatility and military speed of loading. rifles were not the norm, nor were wanted for military use. so how many "shots" were taken during hunting? in terms of shot or balls, as little or as many as was preferred for the quarry hunted ... and maybe a few more if they were on the hostile "frontier".

[Wayne Smith]

Look at the New England Militia pattern musket - Men in New England were required to have one and ammunition. I think rifles were much more common the further west you went - into Pennsylvania and western Virginia and western North Carolina. Indians mostly preferred smoothbores because of their versatility.

[Conditor22]

http://www.westernexplorers.us/Powde..._and_Clark.pdf