Original Double Pouched Shooting Bag

[TimberDoodler94]

I came across this shooting bag at an antique shop in Lancaster, PA  this weekend. I asked the lady at the counter if she could open the case so I could look at it and take some photos and measurements of it. Took a little bit of convincing, but fortunately she let me. I've not seen a bag quite like this one. It measures about 6" long and 6.5" in width. It's a double pouch bag that has a leather button to secure the the from flap. There is an interior flap that covers the forward pouch. I'm not quite sure if there's another flap for the rear pouch, because I didn't open the bag too much so I didn't damage it especially since I couldn't afford the price they had on it. The shoulder strap was obviously missing,  but the tabs where the strap was attached to the body of the bag were still there. There's a line of stitching towards the bottom of the bag that I can't figure out what it's for. I took as good of pictures as I could with a ruler for scale in most of the pictures. I was excited to have the opportunity to handle this bag and things like taking an outline sketch, having a scale reference for every photo, and measuring the stitches per inch slipped my mind at the time. I'm assuming this bag is mid to late 18th century, but I don't know enough about original bags to actually know. I enjoy making shooting bags and I thought sharing this bag might help someone who makes them also and hopefully someone who is more proficient than myself can elaborate a little more on a time period for this bag or have comments on its construction.

I've never been able to handle an original bag like this so if anyone has suggestions on what is the best way to document an original shooting bag, I'd love to here what I could do better the next time.

 If someone is interested in seeing or wanting to purchasing this shooting bag, just shoot me a message. I'd be happy to tell them the antique shop in Lancaster PA I found it at.

[Mick C]

What a super cool little bag.  It looks so tiny.  Thanks for sharing.

[frizenspring]

The bag, while interesting, like all leather bags is suffering from extreme deterioration. You can see the formation of mold on the flap and inside the pouch. There are some preservatives ( needs foot oil, Luxol. saddle soap) but its usually a loosing fight. I stopped collecting bags many years ago due to the futility of trying to save them.

Good luck with the project. 

[Jeff Murray]

Always interesting to see the originals.  Thanks for the details.

[JSMOSBY]

I have a hand cut slim-jim holster (likely CSA) that was in worse shape than this pouch.  It was found in a demolition of a pre-Civil War period structure in Baltimore.  The holster was crushed flat, not flexible at all and covered with mold as a result of use, poor storage and abuse.  I gently removed the mold with a soft brush, soaked it in room temperature distilled water until soft and pliable, opened it gently, slipped my original Colt Navy into a plastic bag and carefully placed the gun into the holster.  The original leather stretch/wear areas matched those of the cylinder and muzzle of the pistol perfectly. After allowing to dry slowly I removed the gun.  The holster was stiff again as expected.  Applied minimal leather treatment to soften.  No hard spots, flexible.  Success!  BTW, I try to check my leather yearly to remove mold or verdigris as needed.  I'd give it a try on the pouch.  Suggest using bubble wrap only to expand and dry, etc.  Good luck.

Hopefully, I can post some photos when I dig out a bit here in Colorado.