Dropped into Jamestown, VA in 1607...

[Lester Polfus]

Oh, that's an interesting point about the Lee Loader. Hmmmm. Savage did make a 24 in .357/ 20 Gauge. The .357 out of a rifle length barrel is still a contender out to 100 yards, and lighter than .30-30 to boot. 20 gauge ammo is lighter too. As GJM recently pointed out, the Brennke 20 Gauge slug has a higher sectional density than the 12 Gauge. You'd give up some effectiveness from the buckshot though....

Also with a Lee Loader, you could use locally procured black powder too....

Edited to add: I also see that Lee makes a Lee Loader for .30-30. That and a bullet mold, and some primers might be a good thing to have.

[TheRoland]

Bonus points for including stout recommendations on other gear.

Young's Double Chocolate Stout and Left Hand Milk Stout. Not sure how much you could carry, but you can always ditch the less important stuff (tent, sleeping bag, water, blah blah blah) to make room.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Ok, I'll play for real. The biggest problem is carrying enough ammo. 50 rounds of Elk, grizzly killer is heavy - carrying a great deal - nope. You will need quite a bit.

Thus, I suggest a 22 Mag lever action rifle and all the ammo, you can tote. If you want a back up handgun, take one of those long barrel NAA revolver. Avoid monster fauna.

I'd also take antibiotics, fire starter and water purification. Extra footgear and underpants. Knife - do you really need a monster - a couple of quality medium size in case you lose one. Spoken by one who has seen the fancy knife disappear into the night.

[TR675]

Young's Double Chocolate Stout and Left Hand Milk Stout. Not sure how much you could carry, but you can always ditch the less important stuff (tent, sleeping bag, water, blah blah blah) to make room.

Like.

[MDS]

Jo

What it would really take is knowledge and some awesome outdoors skills.

Quoted for truth. With knowledge you'd only really need a decent knife - not as comfortable maybe compared to having a pack full of the latest gear, but then you wouldn't have to lug that stuff around. A good knife and some books may make it a lot harder for the first few months, but it might be the best choice long term - stay put for a while to learn and practice key skills, then head out slowly while the knowledge and skill set grows....

....but that's a different game. I'll play this one.

Knife would be any bomber Bushcraft knife. Since this is the magic whatever you want thread, I'll choose a Turley Green River. I just got a Tom Brown Tracker that could impersonate a whole slew of sharps, but I'm not sure I'm sold on it yet. If I could bring multiple sharps it would be two Turleys, two gb small forest axes, two silky saws, and two sak hikers for unzipping trout and etc.

As for fire power, I think I'd like both guns to shoot the same caliber. So let me do a little math. I need to walk 3000 miles. At my peak I could cover about 25 miles of hilly country in a day with about a 40# load, that's with the right boots and comfy underwear and all that. So let's say I average 10 miles a day. That's a year of walking - not counting waiting for the mountains to open up if things aren't timed perfectly, or time spent in one place to heal, rest, trade, or whatever. I think it's a 2-year journey.

If I shoot all my meat, let's say I bag two bunnies a day, that's 1400 rounds of 22. That's, what, 12 pounds? Poor defensive capability, but then again, from a suppressed 22lr carbine it could be very effective against humans and if I'm allowed spare parts and bear spray this carbine plus a 22 handgun (I'm inclined towards a 617 for chunky reliability) plus 2-3k rounds could really make the most of the weight.

In contrast, 9mm and 223 both weigh about 3.5 times what 22lr does. So screw 9mm, I'll bring a suppressed ar pistol and a quality ar if I don't do 22lr. I can kill bigger game occasionally, might be good to break for a few days to process the meat and rest, then hump from dusk to dawn without stopping to hunt for a few days, then kill a bigger animal and repeat. Wouldn't need as much ammo for meat. Would hit harder for bear defense but it would take a bigger percentage of my ammo if I need to shoot something a lot.

I dunno, it seems to come out in the wash. I'd lean toward the 223 duo and just roll carefully across the continent.

Additional gear would be like 20 ferro rods, tons of good underwear (which is hard to make,) a bunch of tough cloth and a decent sewing kit, a couple/three Source bladders and a couple of small stew pots. It's so nice to think that I don't have to worry about water purification! A well-stocked fishing kit. Some maps and a couple of hardened compasses. A couple of good tarps, some 550 cord. Some tough good glass, say vortex 10x's. A bomber -20 sleeping bag, a few biners. Umm, mechanix gloves. OK, I'm going beyond the spirit of the game now, I'll stop.

Fun!

[Drang]

trading with the French and Caddo would be my focus.

No French.
And at this point, none of the plains tribes as we knew them existed as we knew them (no, that's not redundant), because none of them had stolen horses from the Spanish yet.
In the early 17th Century, your biggest threat is probably going to be the Spanish Inquisition. Or Griz, or buffalo stampedes, or snakes.
Or the weather.

[NerdAlert]

I'm alone, in the wilderness, with only natives, animals, mountains, and a couple big rivers between me and paradise? I'd take a Becker bk2 knife, grizzly custom guns modified 1895 marlin guide gun with a supressor, and a MkIII with a supressor. My reasoning is that the .22 can be used for small and medium game up close, the guide gun should easily handle bison, griz, or any two legged predators. The bk2 is a pretty tough all around knife. For other gear, I'd take a GB short axe, 10x10 tarp, good first aid kit, good boots, cold weather gear, rain gear, water containers, wide brim hat, sunglasses, fishing tackle, wool sweater, a good pair of field shears, and an iPad loaded with every bit if bushcraft, medical, power generation, metal and wood working, and general knowledge books I could fit in it, plus a hand crank charger for it. In any situation outdoors knowledge is power, and I would definitely want as much of that as I could carry, the iPad seems like the best there. With enough knowledge
and the enterprising population that initially pushed out west, I would build a national superpower that would still be around today. Or some Native would kill me and take my stuff.


Sent from my iPhone, I apologize in advance for typos.

[Aray]

The water wouldn't all be good I don't think, Giardiasis would be a concern in most of the east until you got across Appalachia except for the high spots.

[MDS]

The water wouldn't all be good I don't think, Giardiasis would be a concern in most of the east until you got across Appalachia except for the high spots.

Great. I thought giardia was rare until much more recently.

"You have died of dysentery."

[NerdAlert]

I agree that water borne illness would have been an issue, and killed many of the settlers that pushed west. Water purification would be a prudent precaution, thankfully there are light filters and iodine tablets that could handle the task.


Sent from my iPhone, I apologize in advance for typos.