MtMan-List: New member

["Munroe Crutchley" <rocrutch@cdsnet.net>]

I am a new subscriber to the list and am also very interested in the fur
trade era. I haven't gotten into buckskinning yet, but I can feel the bug
starting to bite. 

I work as an inspector for Public Works in the county where I live, and I
work part time as a math tutor at the local community college.

I was a muzzleloader over 20 years ago back east, I live in Oregon now and
am getting back into the sport. I spent the past year building a rifle
(Hawken replica) from scratch. I was surprised by how much I remembered
from my youth about building rifles! I learned it all from Ron Griffie in
Maryland; some of you may have heard of him. Anyway, the Hawken turned out
just the way I had hoped and shoots fine (now, if I can meet up with an
elk...).

I'd like to toss out a question: When I think about those boys whose life
depended on their rifle going off whenever they pulled the trigger, I
wonder how long they would carry a load in the barrel. It seems like with
dampness and all they would want to empty her out every now and then just
so they could put in a fresh load. I reckon we could all speculate about
this (please do), but does anyone know of any old writings that discussed
such things?


Munroe Crutchley
Grants Pass, OR
rocrutch@cdsnet.net