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Historical Coach Gun Loads

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Walkabout

40 Cal
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Apr 12, 2022
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How were coach guns of the mid 19th century loaded? What types of wads, charges, and ammo was typically used in these guns? Thanks
 
Just exactly what is a coach gun? Blunderbuss, double barrel fowler, regular fowler, a brace of pistols?
Something like this. original_ec8faec8-6b34-451f-b511-a6163a394f1d_20240314_161622~2.jpg
 
The correct answer is whatever they had to fit down the barrel. But historically it was buckshot type shot. Was what I read in the past was they used pre-rolled undersized paper cartridges rip one end, dump powder, rest goes in on top of it shove down and the rolled paper holds shot in place - prime and fire. The author stated it was close range firefights with a moving coach being guarded from horse mounted outlaws. It was not so much about accuracy as most shots were close it was about rate of fire, and getting a quick spread with lead to make up for accuracy. This was why many coach guns had shorter or cutoff barrels. They were easier to faster to load on the move, easier and faster to shoot, and shot spread quicker. Hope this helps. If I run across the book I'll share details with ya. But I been out of the cowboy shooting stuff for a while now.
 
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Not a coach gun but ive had a lot of fun blowing stuff up with my 10ga. with 15 #1 buck and 80gr 2f.
 
While I won’t be cutting down my Pedersoli Classic 12 gauge (she’s a lovely, old, wispy thing, and light as a feather) I will some day own a 10 gauge and carefully cut the barrels down for a percussion street sweeper. I’ll wait for a beat up copy.
 

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