Picks?

[Smokey Plainsman]

What did the old timers use to pick their touch holes when dirty etc.?

Did they use a bird’s feather, porcupine’s quill, a sewing needle? Etc.?

Thanks!

-Smokey

[Frank Barker]

Lots of the old timers used a feather to pick the vent on their rifle. The wire loops under the cheek rest of mostly southern rifles were for holding a feather pick. I have also seen holes drilled in the butt stock at an angle for the purpose of holding a feather. I understand that most of the feathers that have been found as an accessory in an old pouch or with a gun were Blue Jay feather's They killed every Blue Jay they could because they sound an alarm any time someone was stalking game or stalking the enemy. When the Blue Jay's started their calling that generally meant someone was present in the woods. Just like today a piece of wire or a forged pick was also used.

Kind Regards
Frank Barker

[Marcruger]

All things considered, a piece of brass or copper wire works nicely today. It won't wallow out the touch hole. 

[Smokey Plainsman]

All things considered, a piece of brass or copper wire works nicely today. It won't wallow out the touch hole.

Yes, but I'm just wondering what was actually used back then, not what we have today. It appears a blue jay's feather is in my future!

[R.I.J.]

Check the laws regarding feathers.....many are illegal to have in your possession due to federal protection.

[David R. Pennington]

Be careful what feathers you use. It could be illegal to pick up a feather from a protected species (ie songbirds). I find lots of dove feathers around the feeder and since they are legal game birds you can’t get in trouble there. Clip the feather and you have a little bristle brush that works great for touch holes.
I’m pretty sure brass wire would have been available long ago also. I know John Wyke listed plates for drawing wire in his tool catalogs. (1770 ish) plus don’t some old rifles have wire inlays?
I also think I remember reading about brass wire being listed in some old trade inventories.
But anyway, feathers  work great and are cheap, easy and PC.

[bob in the woods]

I like partridge tail feathers for use as vent picks. One more reason to hunt the tasty morsels 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Darn! Seems bluejay’s feather are ILLEGAL to possess in this country!! 

But I’ll find a legal and period correct bird for my area and try to obtain some feathers from it! Seems a great idea. Thanks so much, gang!!

[WadePatton]

Check the laws regarding feathers.....many are illegal to have in your possession due to federal protection.

I refuse to read the regs in order to know which feathers I can collect from the forest floor (or the grill of a truck). I might get a ticket someday maybe if a Federal Warden goes through my stuff, but I'm not sweating it.  I figure I'm not selling, and I'm not buying and I'm not killing to get them and will have to deal with the consequences if that becomes a problem. 

I suppose part of this is also driven by the fact that I've never seen a federal game officer in my lifetime, and rarely have interactions with the state folks.  Please delete if this is too risque for the forum.

[Craig Wilcox]

In my work as a biologist, I had permits allowing me to possess such things as feathers, feet (!), etc., of game birds, as well as protected species of tortoises.  I moved over 1,000 tortoises out of the way of developers.
So, I got to looking at them - I last worked at that 11 years ago this coming summer.  NONE of the permits have expiration dates!
Now, where in the world did that rare woodpecker go??!!

[David R. Pennington]

I went on a backpack trek a few years ago with a group. Along the trail I saw a hawk feather on the ground. I picked it up and admired it and stuck it in the bark of a tree beside the trail so the next guy coming up the trail could admire it as well. Some of the group were biologists and others worked for the same department of our state. In camp they demanded to know who picked up that feather! I confessed and was severely reprimanded for breaking the law. During the breif moment I was admiring the feather between my fingers I was legally in possesion of it and now I was a criminal!

[Smokey Plainsman]

I went on a backpack trek a few years ago with a group. Along the trail I saw a hawk feather on the ground. I picked it up and admired it and stuck it in the bark of a tree beside the trail so the next guy coming up the trail could admire it as well. Some of the group were biologists and others worked for the same department of our state. In camp they demanded to know who picked up that feather! I confessed and was severely reprimanded for breaking the law. During the breif moment I was admiring the feather between my fingers I was legally in possesion of it and now I was a criminal!

That’s really awful.

I mean I get it, the birds do need some protection, but I think being in possession of just a few feathers of any bird should NOT constitute grounds for prosecution. For one, you can’t prove that a bird was harmed. Now if you had dozens of them, okay I can see it, but I just wonder how many people have been “criminals” for not knowing you couldn’t pick up a feather on the forest floor!! What a world we live in.

[Tim Crosby]

Yes, but I'm just wondering what was actually used back then, not what we have today.

  Brass and Copper have been in use for a long time. If you want specifics about the use of Brass in America this should do it:

 "In America, one of the first recorded brass founders and fabricators is Joseph Jenks in Lynn, Mass from 1647 to 1679 with brass pins for wool making being a very important product."

 As for Copper:
 "Copper was first used by man over 10,000 years ago. A copper pendant discovered in what is now northern Iraq has been dated about 8700 B.C. For nearly five millennia copper was the only metal known to man."
 
  Tim C.

[Elnathan]

Darn! Seems bluejay’s feather are ILLEGAL to possess in this country!! 

But I’ll find a legal and period correct bird for my area and try to obtain some feathers from it! Seems a great idea. Thanks so much, gang!!

If you want a bit of color, you could use a Budgie feather, and pretend it is from a Carolina Parakeet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_parakeet

[Pukka Bundook]

One other thing to take into account, is that a feather of the right size, can be pushed into the touchhole in wet weather and it will seal it so no wet enters.  You can't do that with a brass pick or whatever.

As for the (to me) foolishness on not even being allowed to pick up a feather, it is just that.    I have a few hawk feathers and such I find on the fields at times.   We have different laws up here though, but you would think common sense would prevail.

[elkhorne]

Man I wish someone would have told my two cats about the Federal regulations prohibiting use or abuse of songbird feathers! Now they are both Federal felons for all those little birdies they have eaten and picked their teeth with their feathers!

[Smokey Plainsman]

Darn! Seems bluejay’s feather are ILLEGAL to possess in this country!! 

But I’ll find a legal and period correct bird for my area and try to obtain some feathers from it! Seems a great idea. Thanks so much, gang!!

If you want a bit of color, you could use a Budgie feather, and pretend it is from a Carolina Parakeet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_parakeet

That is extremely interesting. Who knew a parakeet lived in the Midwest years ago? For my impression, which is 1810-1840, that might be a swell idea!

How do you guys cut the feather to make it useful as a pick? Anyone have a picture handy?

[WadePatton]

As to sizing quills, I just pick up several of what looks close (from place where a bobcat, housecat, coyote, hawk, or other hungry critter snatched up dinner and left a mess.  Throw those in my bag or a pocket. check 'em for size later.  I've got a hole in my stock for the current one.  When they get a little ratty, I leave it on a trail-back like I found it eh?  Found some Meadowlark last fall, very striking colors. Also, were I a bird hunter, I'd save some from my legal harvest and have solid supply of quills.

AS to copper for a pick. Although the Burra Burra mines produced some 15 million tons of copper ore in their heyday, Copper wasn't discovered in TN until 1843, as those lands had be under Cherokee control until 1836.  So there might not have been a lot of copper in TN before that time*.  That is for those into this region and timelines and all.

But I sure do like the copper. Haven't made a pick of it, yet.

How long were birds used in mines for gas detection?  Surely those birds dropped some quills (or died from gases on the job).


*info from Wiki, might not be perfect-any documented corrections welcomed.

[Pukka Bundook]

Smokey,

You can cut the tip off, or use it a sit is.
If you get one thick enough, you can use it to seal the touchhole in wet weather.
Don't cut the pointy end off.  :-)

[rollingb]

Honey locust thorns might work for a pick too (got a lot of'em around here),.... just gotta be careful not to poke yourself with one.

They work great for pinning base plugs in powder horns.

[WadePatton]

Honey locust thorns might work for a pick too (got a lot of'em around here),.... just gotta be careful not to poke yourself with one.

They work great for pinning base plugs in powder horns.

Last time I poked myself with a Honeylocust, I was cutting a bodock. They were in close proximity and I backed into the Honeylocust dodging the bodock thorns.

  Thorn-topia! 

[Marcruger]

Take a look at Bill Ivey’s book on NC guns. Many have wire loop pick holders. Several have what appear to be original formed picks of wire in these holders. I am not sure why the disbelief that metal picks could have existed.
Best wishes, Marc

[Curt Lyles]

A squirrel's back leg as a real thin bone that works real good for a vent pic . Curt

[Smokey Plainsman]

Take a look at Bill Ivey’s book on NC guns. Many have wire loop pick holders. Several have what appear to be original formed picks of wire in these holders. I am not sure why the disbelief that metal picks could have existed.
Best wishes, Marc

I understand but I’ve always heard steel or iron picks are hard on the touchhole. Seems a bird’s feather, if period, would be less harsh to it.

[Tim Crosby]

A squirrel's back leg as a real thin bone that works real good for a vent pic . Curt

 I've see coon "bones" sharpened and used, forgot about that one.

  Tim