Originally Posted by
kyratshooter
I was raised in the area of middle TN and have studied that history for most of my life. We were the area that provided a majority of the recruits for settling the Texas area when Austin began the settlement of the Spanish territory. During those early years all the firearms were flintlock. It was not until around the Texas war for independence that the percussion system was becoming popular. I know that one of the items in Davy Crocket's supply list for his trip to Texas was a supply of 5,000 high quality percussion caps for his new "Betsy", a half stock .50 caliber Derringer rifle presented to him for his service in Congress.
I know that resupply of powder and shot was a primary concern in all the frontier areas. In my area the leaders of the settlements would often make supply runs when powder got low. 600-800 mile round trips through enemy infested wilderness on horseback with a string of pack horses.
These trips involved traveling from middle TN to the KY settlements at Harrodsburg and Boonesboro (a 10 hour drive one way today with interstate all the way) and even those areas often had to risk life and limb to keep a powder supply.
During the Rev-War the KY settlements complained to VA that they were in desperate need of powder and shot, and it being the middle of a war their cries of desperation fell on def ears. No one had any powder or shot!
When you make those kits for your friends and relatives you might want to go to a hardware store and buy some lamp wicking. Lamp wick is pure cotton and is made for soaking up chemicals that burn or smolder well. A piece of lamp wick that has been charred by flame on one end will catch and hold a spark without any other chemical assistance. It works just like charcloth without being completely charred and fragile.
Try dissolving your KN03 using wood alcohol rather than water. I think that is what the cheaters in our contests used to do but it has been 20 years and my memory of that contest, the accusation and the riot that followed are dim. Buckskiners take their fire making contests seriously!