Corp of Discovery 2.0

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Do you mean procuring or making your own ammunition or bringing it from the future?
Oh....I thought you would be bringing your ammo with you from present day. However, @Elkins45 idea of .45-70 that could be fed with bp if he brought primers and dies....struck me as an outstanding idea. I am always interested in versatility.
My thought was that it would be easy to just say that you would choose a .50bmg and 20k rounds...but the truth is those guys carried their supplies on their backs part of the journey.
The Corps lead (pb) powder kegs were an ingenious way of carrying ammo. The truth is that it was very well suited for what they were doing at the time.
@Shanghai McCoy was right....flintlocks worked pretty well the first time.

My idea was that you can choose whatever rifles you want as long as you were willing to carry the ammo on portages and overland.

Those guys spent 2½ years in an unknown world, living off the land. We now know what challenges they faced. Knowing now what they didn't know then, what would you choose if you were their primary hunter/scout/trusted lieutenant.
 
D.B. Cooper
Why the mini hatchet? Why not the Small Forest Axe? Seems it would make processing firewood asier as well as the felling of trees for shelter construction.

Personal preference. I just like the size and balance of the shorter hatchet. Besides I'm the primary hunter for the expedition. While I'm out hunting, someone else is chopping down the trees for firewood and shelter construction.

One of my hatchets:
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So we get instruction in Mesmerizing the rest of the party to overlook our anachronistic gear, right?

I am intimidated by the thought of humping irreplaceable and largely irreparable modern rifle and ammo for two years, so I would take a reproduction fusil that would use period powder, ball, and flint but of "modern materials" proofed for heavy loads at need. It would weigh less than a rifle and do anything that needed doing to man or beast for say 50 yards. The only dedicated accessories I would need are a bullet mold and a buckshot mold.

Then a Ruger Old Army for issue powder and lead, including a bullet mold and plenty of caps. "Hey, guys, would you each carry a tin of these little things for me so I don't lose them all at once."

I think I could get perfectly satisfactory hunting knife and hatchet on the 19th century economy, so for modern cutlery I would take my Gerber combination tool, and a stout "tactical" folder likely superior to period clasp knives.
 
The is why I selected for the Win 44-40. It can be reloaded with BP and extant powder.
The 22 was ore about collecting small game and retaining some hearing.
The multiplier was to have a suitable "toolkit" of things that would not be available out in the field.
The short combo hatchet was to provide cutting tools also not available at the time.
This presumes that the perfectly adequate local tools--axes, skinning knives, etc. will be available, of course.
 
I would bring a12ga 870 and a very good 30 06 bolt gun. Enough shot and bullets powder and primers for both say 500rds for each. Also I would carry a lee loader for both firearms. I would carry the best sheath knife I could get and a very good ax with sharpening tools for both. I would also ask Sacagewea if she had a sister to help keep me warm!!! (Hows that for survival imagination Armored Farmer!!!???)

Bull
 
I would bring a12ga 870 and a very good 30 06 bolt gun. Enough shot and bullets powder and primers for both say 500rds for each. Also I would carry a lee loader for both firearms. I would carry the best sheath knife I could get and a very good ax with sharpening tools for both. I would also ask Sacagewea if she had a sister to help keep me warm!!! (Hows that for survival imagination Armored Farmer!!!???)

Bull
Maybe she can carry your AR10 also.?
 
Weapons: Stainless Ruger Blackhawk .45 Long Colt, 6" barrel.
Stainless .45-70 Marlin 1895 lever gun.
two pounds of powder for the handgun and two pounds of powder for the long gun. 2000 pistol primers, 2000 long gun primers. Lee Loader and bullet molds for the handgun and the lever gun. Enough lead to contribute to the overall store of lead heading West and then back East.
Cutlery: Bark River Aurora II in 3V
Gransfors Bruk Small Forest Axe

Fun thread!

Edit: I'd also like to bring along enough Ferro rods to give every man on the trip three of them. They are that good.
 
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I’d take a bolt action .30-06. Fighting wasn’t in the cards for the Corps but that was hardly a given when they set out for the unknown, and a bolt action’s rate of fire would be devastating, if not downright magic, to enemies equipped primarily with spears and bows. Also plenty good for any big game hunting between St. Louis and the Pacific. I’d take a couple crates of ammo because they had good sized boats and pack animals, so it’s not as if that would be an undue burden.

For the pot I’d take a Winchester model 12, with a dial-a-choke. Ugly, but very versatile and nigh on unbreakable, according to lore.

In terms of cutlery I’d probably take a birchbark-handled Finnish puukko. I wouldn’t bother with my own axe because I’m sure a few were packed already by my comrades, and an axe of that time would be every bit as good, or better, than what’s readily commercially available today.
 
Interesting question.

For my handgun I choose a Ruger Mark 4 .22 LR with 5 or 6 magazines and 8 bricks (4000 rounds) of Federal Game Shok ammo. I can shoot for the pot efficiently with this .22. I can discourage attacks from Indians or outlaws with the fast repeating firepower.

My long gun will be an AR in .223, with 3000 rounds in cases in the boat and 4 magazines in my pack. One-shot kills at long range are a luxury and secondary when considering surviving against overwhelming odds presented by opponents. The fact that Lewis and Clark did not encounter such numbers does not diminish the wisdom of preparing for such an event.

My blade will be my annual companion in the deer woods; my Randall hunting kniffe:


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An interesting thing about this question is, I do not own a Ruger Mark 4 (mine is a Mark 1), and I do not own an AR. Don’t like’em much.

I guess that means I am not a candidate for the Corps of Discovery. But thanks for the mental exercise!

:thumbup:
 
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As much as I love this Randall - and it would serve admirably on a trip from St. Louis to the mouth of the Columbia and back - my late experience with a 3V Bark River knife - blade steel, blade design, size, blade profile and the handle material - explain my choice of the 3V Aurora II.

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And about the Gransfors Small Forest Axe. I wouldn't care if there were thirty other axes on the trip, I'd still want this one on my person. A totally versatile tool, including self defense if pressed. For sure a helpful tool in breaking down large carcasses, sheltering, fires, etc. As the main hunter and a camp defender, I'd expect most of those needs to come into play.

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Having to carry it part of the time without a pack animal complicates things, I just can’t see carrying two long guns in addition to all the other gear required
I’d choose a mossy pump with some different chokes the ammo weight would be the killer esp since I’m responsible for feeding everybody- that said they can help carry it if they want to eat I’d take a mix of slugs, and birdshot perhaps 20 rounds of buckshot for SD-
My sidearm would be a Blackhawk in 45LC prob a 7.5 inch barrel that I could use for large game and SD maybe take 100rds
For cutlery a good hatchet and my buck vanguard (bc I like it) I’d prob pick up a backup knife when I get there
 
A lever action 45-70 stainless steel guide gun, with both metallic and shotshell reloading supplies would cover both large game and small game. Add a lever action 22 LR, like the Henry, and you have a lot of bases covered.

A small felling ax, and a folding knife suitable for carving meat and opening FedEx packages.
 
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