I’m in the planning stages for building a fowler. I have a 16 gauge Rayl barrel, a Chambers colonial lock, and plenty of wide, thick black walnut planks. What do I do first? Always one to get the cart before the horse, I made a shot flask.
I thought about a shot snake, and may still make one, but since my primary use will be turkey and small game, I just wanted something to hold a dozen or so loads of shot in a small bag (also, yet to be made). I looked at some on Tracks website, but to my mind they were a bit large.
For starters, I turned a “bottleneck” and plug out of maple. Then using the circumference of the neck, I worked out a paper pattern, and cut two sides out of a piece of veg tanned belly (it’s fairly heavy leather, probably 7-8 ounce).
Next the edges are beveled, stitches laid out, punched, and saddle stitched together. The neck is a nice snug fit!
Then, the flask body was soaked in water, and packed with dry sand to stretch it into shape, and allowed to dry for a couple days. Then the sand was emptied, and the neck (stained and finished in the meantime) was glued in place with some Tite Bond II.
Finally, I melted a couple ounces of beeswax and painted it on the flask body, and melted it into the leather with a heat gun. I did two coats, then buffed it with an old towel when it cooled off. Finished!
Greg
