A period correct rabbit trap and correct load for a 66 calib

[Newburghboy]

Hi to all,

I am happily daydreaming on this Thanksgiving day about the numerous rabbits that I see on my property lately. I have two questions. Can somebody suggest a type of rabbit snare that is documented for the 16/17 or 18th. century, also I have just acquired a Loyalist Arms Officer's Fusil (scaled down Bess) in .66 caliber. I was wondering if anybody is hunting with any of these guns, and if so can they suggest a shot or ball load configuration for this gun? Thanks very much...Mike L

[Loyalist Dave]

As for the snare..., there are lots of places on the internet including videos, but basically you want a collapsing loop like a lariat, and the spring action of a bent branch or the pulling acting of a decending weight like a rock or a log. The animal runs along a game path, and encounters the loop, that gets snagged as the animal's head goes through the opening, but can't get past the shoulders, so it tightens around the neck..., as it is doing so the movement causes the branch to release and pull upward, turning the loop into a noose, and asphyxiating the animal.

Make sure it's considered a "legal" trapping method in your state..., in the People's Republic of Maryland most if not all snares are not allowed. The problem is if the animal gets beyond its shoulders when it trips the snare, so gets merely hung up, and many Natural Resources departments view that as inhumane so the snares are not approved.

As for the new gun, I like in mine, 70 grains of 2Fg, and the same volume of 7½ shot, or a .600 ball (mine is .62 not 66) with a thin linen patch.

LD

_________________
It's not what you think you know; It's what you can prove

[Newburghboy]

LD I thank you for that. I am looking at the snare you described in an old US Army survival manual...I also once saw a snare that looked like a spanish windlass (essentially a rope acting as a spring) and had a spike in it to impail the animal. Ever see anything like that?

Thanks for the information on powder and ball for the fusil...I cant wait to try mine....Mike

[Loyalist Dave]

Nope, never saw one with a spike, though I've seen some meant for people that had them :o ! Does it say to use the spike to impale the animal, or is it only an illustration? I ask for if it's just an illustration you might be looking at the trigger pin and not a spike. I wonder about a spike as a noose snare has advantages over a leg hold trap for the hunter/trapper. If the spring branch or a weight is used and stops high enough it lifts the quarry off the ground away from scavengers..., and noose snares don't break the skin if they work right..., no blood scent on the wind to draw foxes and such. Just curious. Also, the simpler the better, for one thing the books always leave out..., you need several to get a single rabbit or squirrel. :D

LD

_________________
It's not what you think you know; It's what you can prove

[Newburghboy]

I had to go examine the illustration again..you were right..its not a spike but some sort component of the trigger....

And yes thats an awfully good thought, a snare that (1) lifs the animal above predators (though predators jump pretty good as a rule) and (2) doesnt break the skin causing a blood scent. Rather an improvement on deafall type traps, resulting in a squashed squirrel..mmmmmm good.

I cant remember where I read the article, but it was fascinating, about a native American woman (modern) who knows all sorts of ways to trap animals..by putting a boulder in the path of a rutting moose, the moose will get so annoyed it will ram the rock and break its neck..of putting an empty toilet paper roll in the path of a chipmonk..chipmonk gets stuck in the cardboard trying to get a grain of rice..the article was funny but very thought provoking....she must be good at it, she gets arrested for poaching alot...Mike

[bigdeutscher]

go to u tube
put in {how to snare a Rabbit}
Nothing has chaged for 500 years
except material used
Deutsch

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If God Wanted Men to Shoot Caps ....He would of spread the over the Earth like Flint

[Scott Allen]

Only certain counties in Maryland prohibit snares "Snare Traps
It is illegal to use, sell, possess, set, place or maintain a snare trap in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Cecil, Harford, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties." Some states are really touchy about them because, like a body gripping trap, once an animal is caught, it's usually dead. Check those regulations well and thoroughly! I use them on squirrels that raid my English Walnut trees. I set several up a pole, lean it against a tree and they will use it for a runway once!

_________________
Scott Allen

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter, and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
~Abraham Lincoln

[Belleville]

Michael,

I have a .66 smooth barrel that will hopefully turn into a fusil someday. I too have been thinking about loads. I have a .65 mold and the balls will just fit with a thin patch, but am concerned that there should be more clearance with a heavier patch [hate the thought of buying another smaller mold, but do not want the stick the ball after gun has had a couple of shots thru it either]. Am also working on a .56 cal. smoothbore and a .535 ball with a pillow ticking patch is a good match.

16 ga. M/L shot wads are size for size for .66 cal., so am a little concerned 16 ga. wads may be too small? I use 14 ga. wads in a .68, so 14 ga. wads may be too big for .66.

Still in the early stages of building the fusil and thinking about the loads. When you get your loads worked up, please post the results here!

[mtmike]

I use to use a box trap that was rigged to fall over Mr. Bunny then I just reached under a brought it out an dispersed. Until that time that skunk from over the mountain wound up in there,not pretty nor fragrant. Graduated to a snare after that.

[Belleville]

Purchased an antique 18 ga. mold [which should cast a .64 cal. ball] for the 16 ga. [.66 cal.] barrel. Will have to make a few balls the next time I am casting to see if it works out.