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Booshway
posted
I'm glad powder measures are so easy to make.

Last year I lost a special one. I had made it from the tip of a pronghorn's horn. It was a memento from a long ago Wyoming hunt. I carried it for almost 20 years, until last year when apparently the throng became untied and it slipped off and was dropped somewhere unknown to me. I searched long and diligently for it, but never found it.

This season I lost another one. The same way when the leather throng came untied. That one I had made from a deer antler, but I didn't consider it anything special, and so its loss didn't bother me.

I quickly made another, this one from a deer's leg bone. So far, it is still with me.

I carry my powder measure tied to the strap of my shooting bag. I go through plenty of thick brush and briars that sometimes catch on the throng and eventually loosen the knot. Now, I double knot it, and also check it often.

I do keep a spare powder measure, a commercial brass one, in my shooting bag.


Know what you believe in. Fight for your beliefs. Never compromise away your rights.
 
Posts: 1296 | Location: Cherokee Land, Tenasi | Registered: 06 January 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Booshway
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I see a pattern developing here !!
 
Posts: 1839 | Registered: 11 February 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Booshway
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Try putting a couple drops of super glue on the knot, it won't come untied then!
 
Posts: 429 | Location: Delmarva | Registered: 22 December 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Booshway
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I like that super glue idea. I'll try it.


Know what you believe in. Fight for your beliefs. Never compromise away your rights.
 
Posts: 1296 | Location: Cherokee Land, Tenasi | Registered: 06 January 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Factor
Picture of Hanshi
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I do what Osprey recommended; I use super glue to make sure knots won't come loose. I also put them on a leather cord attached to the bag strap. But then I put the measure in the bag for insurance.


*Young guys should hang out with old guys; old guys know stuff.*
 
Posts: 3560 | Location: Maine (by way of Georgia then Va.) | Registered: 26 January 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Greenhorn
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I keep min in a pocket made inside the bag, haven't lost it yet. Peashooterjoe


Keep your Watch and Powder dry..
 
Posts: 36 | Location: Lower Alabama | Registered: 11 July 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Booshway
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Actually, it is 'thong'. But wats an extra 'r'? Wink
I find leather often does not hold a knot well. Have had similar problems. My current favorite for thongs, lacing, braiding, sewing, etc. is hemp. Used to have to buy it from shops that had pics of funny plants in the window. But, now it is available many places. Even Hobby Lobby.
 
Posts: 1487 | Location: Mountain Home, Arkansas | Registered: 08 October 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Factor
Picture of Hanshi
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Trust me; you don't EVER want to see me wearing a "thong".


*Young guys should hang out with old guys; old guys know stuff.*
 
Posts: 3560 | Location: Maine (by way of Georgia then Va.) | Registered: 26 January 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Booshway
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Thanks for the warning Hanshi Big Grin
 
Posts: 353 | Location: Pocono Mts. in PA | Registered: 12 June 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Factor
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LOLOLOL...!!


Beer is proof that God loves us,and wants us to be happy-B. Franklin
 
Posts: 2014 | Location: Oreegun Territory | Registered: 24 March 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Factor
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Wings come in three parts...the tip which one pretty much doesn't eat, then the section with two bones, then the section that sometimes looks like a miniature "leg". So I use the third portion, out of which to fashion my powder chargers. I cut off the ends, remove the marrow, and then let them dry. Then I plug one end, pin that into place, and use an adjustable powder measure, to load the new charge up with my preferred load...then adjust the length of the charger to throw that load when filled.

LD


It's not what you know, it's what you can prove
 
Posts: 3843 | Location: People's Republic of Maryland | Registered: 10 November 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Booshway
Picture of Notchy Bob
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Old timers sometimes ran the thong for the powder measure through an undersized hole in the strap of the hunting pouch. Pull on the back end of the thong to draw the measure up snug against the strap, so it won't flop around. Pull on the measure to bring it back out and into play. The friction of the undersized hole on the thong holds the measure in place.

There is an old pouch and horn set from San Ildefonso Pueblo in the American Museum of Natural History which has a single leather "loop," like a loop on a cartridge belt, sewn to the front strap of the pouch. The measure itself is within the loop and is hard to see, but it is retained on what appears to be a brass chain, and I'm guessing the powder measure itself is likely a cylinder of metal. Possibly an old cartridge case, as from a .50-70 or Spencer. Muzzle loaders were still in common use in many areas even after early breechloaders were becoming available, so spent cartridge cases could be made into powder measures.

I'm sorry you lost your pronghorn measure. I understand pronghorns shed their horns annually, as deer shed their antlers. Maybe one of the campfire brothers out west could send you a shed horn to make another powder measure.


Notchy Bob


"Should have kept the old ways just as much as I could, and the tradition that guarded us. Should have rode horses. Kept dogs."

from The Antelope Wife
 
Posts: 333 | Location: Florida | Registered: 24 May 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Booshway
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It is my understanding that pronghorns don't actually shed their horns like deer shed their antlers, but rather a sheath-like covering on the pronghorn horn is shed annually. It sounds more like taking off a glove.
That is the difference between horn and antler. Horn is permanent. Antlers are shed. Also, horn is made of the same stuff as our fingernails, whereas antler is bone.

But, my pronghorn measure was special to me because I shot the pronghorn.

No matter. I now have one that I made from a deer's leg bone. It works just fine.

I like the idea of the pull out thong/throng. Mine is tied to the buckle on my bag strap. I now make sure to tuck the loose hanging measure inside my shirt.


Know what you believe in. Fight for your beliefs. Never compromise away your rights.
 
Posts: 1296 | Location: Cherokee Land, Tenasi | Registered: 06 January 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Booshway
Picture of Notchy Bob
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Rancocas, you are right. Pronghorns shed their horn sheaths, but not the bone core. Thanks for clarifying. These are the only horned animals I know of that do that. And, a shed horn would not have the same significance as one from a critter you shot for yourself. I'm glad you found an acceptable substitute.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob


"Should have kept the old ways just as much as I could, and the tradition that guarded us. Should have rode horses. Kept dogs."

from The Antelope Wife
 
Posts: 333 | Location: Florida | Registered: 24 May 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Factor
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I make mine from the larger bones of a Turkey wing. Sometimes from the large single bone that looks like a small drumstick...sometimes from the larger of the pair of bones that work together in the wing (the smaller of those two is used for turkey-calls).

I like to have a spare sitting someplace in my bag in case of a lanyard failure and I'm without the measure.

LD


It's not what you know, it's what you can prove
 
Posts: 3843 | Location: People's Republic of Maryland | Registered: 10 November 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Greenhorn
Picture of JackAubrey
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That super glue is a great idea. If you want to stay "historically correct," maybe you could use melted pine pitch. I collect the pitch from wounded pine trees in a small tin, then heat it in a small fire. It melts and turns into a substance that resembles honey. I've used it to secure flint arrow heads. Bet it would work on that knot too.
 
Posts: 36 | Location: Texas,USA | Registered: 14 January 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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