10ga Pedersoli SxS help

[mnbearbaiter]

I own this firearm and it's a blast to shoot. Shot some small game and such with it as well as some pheasants and a turkey or two. I dont feel I've ever truly got it to pattern well or at least comparable to what I see on here? I have all the wads, cards, shot, etc and am really gonna try to get it patterning well this spring for turkey season. One bore is a cylinder bore and I was thinking of trying the Skycief load in it? The other has a slight constriction to it. Probably end up having the Skychief load be my farther shot 30yd or so brrl and the choked brrl my close range one? Current load 70gr ffg T7, Nitro card, 1/4" lubed felt wad, 1.75oz of #6 shot, and an os card. Shoots ok, but not awesome at all? I like the less powder more shot theory, but am unsure how much I can push it with T7...only powder I use in all my ml guns. Any help appreciated.

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

The T7 is blowing your pattern. Use real black powder. also increase your powder charge and go with 1 1/2 oz of shot.

 

[64Springer]

The T7 is blowing your pattern. Use real black powder. also increase your powder charge and go with 1 1/2 oz of shot.

Not arguing here.

Please explain why T7 would blow out his pattern.

Thank you.

 

[TScottW99]

I have a Pedersoli 10ga SxS as well, I was told both barrels are full choked, I do know they are tight on wads. Mine seems to like:

90 grains of Swiss FFg
4 overshot cards
1 5/8 ounce of copper coated #6s
1 overshot card
1 lubed wool wad

When I tried over powder wads, it would blow my pattern on every load I tried. No 777 was used, so that wasn’t my problem.

 

[Britsmoothy]

I haven't patterned mine, waste of powder and shot. The day you get your dream pattern the next shot won't look nothing like it! You've still got to put it on the bird how ever it shoots.
Ok, there is the importance of it shooting where you are looking, that is far more important than pattern!
I like 2oz in mine for serious work! With nothing but four over shot cards as a wad. About 90gns of the finest powder I can get.
Don't over think it but do try a little more powder unless t7 is reduced drastically compared to black.

 

[Grenadier1758]

I own this firearm and it's a blast to shoot. Shot some small game and such with it as well as some pheasants and a turkey or two. I dont feel I've ever truly got it to pattern well or at least comparable to what I see on here? I have all the wads, cards, shot, etc and am really gonna try to get it patterning well this spring for turkey season. One bore is a cylinder bore and I was thinking of trying the Skycief load in it? The other has a slight constriction to it. Probably end up having the Skychief load be my farther shot 30yd or so brrl and the choked brrl my close range one? Current load 70gr ffg T7, Nitro card, 1/4" lubed felt wad, 1.75oz of #6 shot, and an os card. Shoots ok, but not awesome at all? I like the less powder more shot theory, but am unsure how much I can push it with T7...only powder I use in all my ml guns. Any help appreciated.

Is your powder charge measured by weight or volume? T7 should be measured by volume as it is more energetic than black powder and less dense. This means that if you are weighing the T7, that is way too much powder

 

[pacanis]

A question:
Why are over shot used over the powder instead of those hard 1/8" thick Nitro cards?
That's what I was told to use over the powder, Nitro cards, but admit I was getting lousy patterns. But there are so many other factors.

So are over shot cards used because they work better or because that's what you have and you can have them pull double duty as over powder and over shot?

 

[mnbearbaiter]

I volume measure my T7 always. Supposed to be a 15% reduction to real np. I will say the heavier shot load I went to while reducing powder made a world of difference. My patterns at 20yds with the cylinder brrl are clean and there's no holes, but it's a huge pattern...prly 3'? The other "choked" brrl is prly 2' or so and looks the same, just with more pellets in smaller diameter. Has anyone ever played around with a felt wad instead of the 1/2" fiber wad oil soaked or split a fiber wad? Just spit balling to see how finicky a smoothhore can really be? I know out to 30yds #6 shot is plenty, but i do have a Crown Royal bag with a couple pounds of #4-#7.5 shot mix..worth trying?

 

[TScottW99]

A question:
Why are over shot used over the powder instead of those hard 1/8" thick Nitro cards?
That's what I was told to use over the powder, Nitro cards, but admit I was getting lousy patterns. But there are so many other factors.

So are over shot cards used because they work better or because that's what you have and you can have them pull double duty as over powder and over shot?

The nitro cards blew my pattern up, overshot cards did not.

 

[Britsmoothy]

A question:
Why are over shot used over the powder instead of those hard 1/8" thick Nitro cards?
That's what I was told to use over the powder, Nitro cards, but admit I was getting lousy patterns. But there are so many other factors.

So are over shot cards used because they work better or because that's what you have and you can have them pull double duty as over powder and over shot?

Nitro cards and conventual wads of today have nothing to do with shotgun performance and have everything to do with filling a standardised cartridge case that originated using bulky black!

Why carry different components?
The heavy wads or cards get kicked into the shot column by the huge volume of heavy gas at the muzzle . It is far more prolific and turbulent than nitro.
Thin cards are so light they stop almost immediately at the muzzle.

Another method is to just use an inert powder between powder and shot.
A YouTube channel called capandball has a video about this made recently, probably six months ago.

If you only currently have a few over shot cards but want to shoot try some thin paper. Say 2x2" squares, scrunch them up and roll into balls. Ram them down on the powder. They stop quickly at the muzzle usually by opening up BUT, they can become nitrated with BP and smoulder. So watch out for fire risk!

Reducing the powder to get a good pattern is like treating the symptom.
By the time the velocity gets low enough to produce a regular nice pattern it'll struggle to kill anything!
It's like only driving the car slow because over 50 the wheels wobble! Get the wheels fixed and then you can go fast.

 

[stikshooter]

I volume measure my T7 always. Supposed to be a 15% reduction to real np. I will say the heavier shot load I went to while reducing powder made a world of difference. My patterns at 20yds with the cylinder brrl are clean and there's no holes, but it's a huge pattern...prly 3'? The other "choked" brrl is prly 2' or so and looks the same, just with more pellets in smaller diameter. Has anyone ever played around with a felt wad instead of the 1/2" fiber wad oil soaked or split a fiber wad? Just spit balling to see how finicky a smoothhore can really be? I know out to 30yds #6 shot is plenty, but i do have a Crown Royal bag with a couple pounds of #4-#7.5 shot mix..worth trying?

I do use Dura felt wads and it works great an my Pedersoli has screw in chokes , so cards are a pain where as the felt wads slip right thru /Ed

 

[Britsmoothy]

I do use Dura felt wads and it works great an my Pedersoli has screw in chokes , so cards are a pain where as the felt wads slip right thru /Ed

Again, thin overshot cards go past chokes just fine.
Dump the thick nitro cards....they are a pain even in cylinder bores if you want them tight enough to form a good seal.

Everybody.....grab the nitro cards.....procede to trash can.....open trash can lid......now throw the nitro cards in the trash can!
Alternatively load them in shotgun cartridges but lock them away to help with the temptation to use the abominations in your muzzloader

 

[josie wales]

Do a search here. I reported what worked and didn't work for me. Same 10 gauge Pedersoli w/ chokes. I have shot several New England Turkeys with my loadings. Always been BANG flop. I would never shoot over 30 yards.

 

[pacanis]

The nitro cards blew my pattern up, overshot cards did not.

Thanks. I'm going to give that a try.

 

[French Colonial]

Here is my theory, the nitro cards and heavy wads are both heavy enough to maintain velocity and disrupt the shot pattern after leaving the barrel. Overshot cards are light enough to lose velocity and do not.

Thats my story and I am sticking to it until someone proves me wrong.

 

[jlatz]

i have been using 10 GA. original doubles for a good while. Results are good with 2 3/4 drams of powder and an ounce and 1/8th of shot. I use 777 powder, a thin over powder wad, half a cushion wad, shot, and an over shot wad. Patterns are decent and penetration is good. A two and three quarter dram dipper holds an ounce and 1/8th of shot, a square load. It is a basic 12 ga. load, but works very well in a 10. The thin over powder wad is two overshot wads, on slightly larger than the other from Mike's Wads, a vendor at Friendship. I believe he is at Flintlocks.com on the web.

 

[mnbearbaiter]

Oh boy...opened a can of worms here!!! So no Nitro cards, 777 does work, try any and all combos at range.

 

[mnbearbaiter]

Right side brrl is cylinder and left side brrl is modified...sound correct?

 

[ZUG]

Each gun performs differently so you will have to experiment with different wads, amount of powder and shot size. Use the information given here as a guide. It may take a while to find what works best for you .

 

[Britsmoothy]

I'm sorry if I have come over caustic.
I just wish when folk think about loading a muzzloader shotgun they disassociate it from loading a cartridge gun.