loading a muzzle loader

[mark esterly]

i have at times had to run like my life depended on it.  your idea of running is not mine.

[jrb]

I don't believe Wetzel or anyone else could outrun someone while loading a rifle. Romantic writing or story telling.

[hanshi]

The purportedly "common" method of measuring powder by pouring powder into the palm and over a ball has always been difficult for me to accept.  No doubt it happened from time to time but, rather than a way to load quickly/on-the-run/etc, it would seem to be a way to load when given plenty of time or in a leisurely manner.  For one thing it would be dang easy to spill it even if one wasn't running.  Considering how powder sticks to my hand, I'd wonder how much would actually make it into the bore.  Even direct pouring from the horn could be managed more easily and accurately.   It's not possible, in general, to load and shoot fast in any modern sense especially in stressful encounters.  

[thimble rig]

Thanks for the video it was good.We will never know for sure how they actually did some things back then .The only way is to build a time machine.

[yardhunter]

Regarding running & reloading….
Here's a video example I enjoyed putting together last summer ( running/reloading starts at 5:29 )
of what those frontiersmen would have done for survival in hostile situations.

Hope you enjoy it:

Did I here you in the video say that you could walk from Philadelphia to the Kentucky forts in two weeks? At roughly 675 miles from Philadelphia to the general vicinity of the few settlements in central Kentucky, that would be 45 miles a day, every day over rough terrain. Now that's some serious hoofin.

You are correct.

I wanted to say 2 months on the video to walk & canoe to the Ky settlements.  I didn't catch that till the video was complete & uploaded to youtube. In fact,  someone else mentioned that would be an amazing feat last summer.  Hope you at least enjoyed it for what it is.

Thanks for your comments.………see ya mark.

[wildthing]

That was a good video. Thanks for sharing, maybe running and reloading is not the real question but loading while on the move. You know moving through the woods dodging between trees , always on the move till you get a shot then moving again . Not really running but always on the move. Who ever is chasing must also reload,unless they can load on the move.  There are lots of opinions on this subject , keep thinking.   John

[Natureboy]

  Here's a description of a Meti buffalo hunt from "Caesars of the Wilderness" by Peter C. Newman:
"The riders, their mouths filled with bullets, plunged into the melee of disoriented animals. Guiding their horses with their knees, the Metis kept their hands free to reach the loose gunpowder in the pockets of their buckskin jackets.  After each shot, a palmful of powder was quickly poured down the barrel of the muzzle-loader and shaken home by hitting the butt against the saddle.  Once he was riding alongside his chosen prey the hunter would spit a bullet into the muzzle, the saliva making it adhere to the powder during the split second needed to depress the  barrel, aim it just below and behind the buffalo's shaggy left shoulder, and puncture the animal's heart.  Experienced hunters reloaded and fired fast enough to down three animals in the space of an acre's gallop."
  History books are often written from anecdotal accounts, so leave some room for the exaggeration of time.