Ball and shot bags

[rogerpjr]

I was wanting to try making my own bag for shot and maybe one for balls.  How does one get the leather pouch securely attached around a turned spout?

[wet willy]

I make the stopper to fit the neck after I complete the bag. You can whittle/file/lathe turn a tapered stopper using the "cut-n-try" method: make it too big, then cut it to fit the spout. Be sure you put a taper on it lest you get it stuck in the bag. I've used a light film of beeswax on the stopper portion that fits inside the bag which seems to help keep the stopper in place.

I use my teeth to hold the stopper while pouring shot or shake out a ball, so make it so one can get their teeth around it. I use the same process for powder horns. I don't like to tether the stopper to the bag. It's easy to forget, leaving a tethered stopper "out," and dribble shot (or powder) while in the field. I know of no one that has forgotten to replace a stopper that was clenched in their mouth.

[Tim Crosby]

I was wanting to try making my own bag for shot and maybe one for balls.  How does one get the leather pouch securely attached around a turned spout?

 There is a simple knot to use but right now I cannot think of the name of it. Here are a couple of Pix that may help. First sew you bag and turn it inside out, not as easy as it sounds but you really don't have to. Just depends on how neat you want to be. Put you spout in about 3/4" or so, using a piece of cord fold it in half with one tail much longer than the other, lay that on the two pieces.



Starting at the bottom wrap the long tail around the two pieces 8-10 times, it will take some practice. Once you have covered the space, leave a little Leather showing at the top, run the Long tail through the loop. Now pull Both tails evenly, the loop with the long tail will disappear under the wraps. Trim both tails and your done.
 Clear a Mud I'm sure and someone else will have a better easier way. This has worked for my for many years.

 Tim C.

[Tim Crosby]

 Here is an option:

  http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=30238.0

 Tim C.

[Frank]

These are nice for a ball bag. Haven't tried them with shot yet. Looks like an easy design to copy.

http://www.accu-riser.com/bb-1100-ball-bag/

[Arcturus]

How does one get the leather pouch securely attached around a turned spout?

Karl Smith's book Getting the Lead Out on these pouches has a nice section in the beginning of the book detailing how the spouts were shaped and attached.  Usually there was a groove in the spout below the leather, or the spout was slightly bigger at the bottom and stepped, or flanged, to help hold the bag on.  The "drawstring method", which I often use, entails stitching heavy thread in and out of the leather at the flange or groove in the spout and pulling it tight, tying it off, and then usually wrapping a layer of string on the outside as well to hold the leather bag on.  I highly recommend the book for both ideas on design based on originals, as well as construction techniques.

[Tim Crosby]

 That is a Great book, if you have it.

  Tim C.

[rogerpjr]

Thanks for all the info. I think I can get one made now.  Wish I could afford to buy that book, but $30 + shipping is a lot for a disabled retired veteran on a fixed income. Books are pretty much a luxury.

[Hungry Horse]

I'm not a big fan of soft sided ball, or shot, bags. But, I have made several in the past. The most successful ones were made with an antler nozzle. They were secured with a fine piece of stranded copper ground wire from the hardware store. I filed a groove in the antler nozzle, slipped the neck of the bag up over the nozzle far enough so it can be pulled back down over the wire, creating a collar, then the wire is twisted up tight, and soldered with soft solder, after dampening the leather with a little water.
 Oh, and by the way, I wouldn't pull the stopper of my ball, or shot, bag out with my teeth for love, or money.
 Hungry Horse