.20ga. Virginia Smooth bore

[Protrucker]

So what's with the #4 shot atop the #6? If you actually needed the increased penetration of #4 you don't have near enough of them to be of any use. Mixed shot size makes no sense. Yes, I know Remington loads shotshells with mixed sizes but that still don't make it a resonable thing to do. If you need the penetration of #4 then the #6 count for nothing and if you need the pattern density of #6 then the #4's only detract from that.

I use the #4's for a little extra distance..when the #6's loose their effectiveness the #4 reach out a little further..it only takes one to the head in the right spot. The load patterns better in my gun than the same amount of #6's. The only time I used it on a gobbler it killed him dead.

You might try what I use. I bought a bag of #5 magnum shot. Magnum is harder than regular shot & you get more pellets per load than #4's yet it will carry better than the #6's. No messing with mixed loads that way either. I load 100gr. volume of shot & 100gr. volume or FFg Goex using 2 wonder wads over the powder & 1 wonder wad over the shot in my 12 ga. I've used this load on turkeys for several years without any problems. Of course you'll need to reduce your load for the 20 ga.
:m2c:

 

[Hoyt]

OK..I got some of that magnum shot around here and will give it a try. I want to try some of that corn meal muffin mix buffer that Caywood says to use for turkey loads..also..anybody tried that stuff? Also what patch type and thickness would ya'll recommend for .62cal. smooth bore using .610 roundballs?

 

[Rebel]

I can't get a .610 to work in my TOW N.W. Tradegun. I have to use a .600 and a .015 patch. I use an over powder wad with a cushion wad glued to it, and then lubed, under the patch and ball. The wads keep the bore clean so i can shoot all day without swabbing.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

I think you are worrying too much about how close the flint is to frizzen at half cock. So long as top of jaw doesn't hit the frizzen, set the flint all the way back against the screw.

You do not want the flint to batter the frizzen head on, a downward arc is what we are after. Many flintlocks work best when the flint strikes lower on the frizzen, not higher. When the flint strikes lower more of a scraping action takes place and more sparks are directed into the pan rather than just flying all over the place.

Try it and let us know how it worked.

 

[2172]

I use a Dremel tool with cutting wheel to put some extra grooves on both the top and bottom jaws of the cock..it gives me a better grip whether I use a flattened lead ball or piece of leather. Recently tried glueing leather to a badly humped flint...haven't used it yet, but it looks like it might work...might help here, too. Hank

 

[TANSTAAFL]

I can't get a .610 to work in my TOW N.W. Tradegun. I have to use a .600 and a .015 patch. I use an over powder wad with a cushion wad glued to it, and then lubed, under the patch and ball. The wads keep the bore clean so i can shoot all day without swabbing.

I now use Bob Spencer's method (see link) of bare balling it in my .62 fusil de chasse. maybe I am not that good of a shot, but I cannot tell the difference between patched or bare. I shoot a .600 cast wheel weight ball, so maybe a .610 or .615 might help when shooting unpatched, but for me, I doubt it.

http://members.aye.net/~bspen/SmoothboreLoads.html

 

[TANSTAAFL]

OK..I got some of that magnum shot around here and will give it a try. I want to try some of that corn meal muffin mix buffer that Caywood says to use for turkey loads..also..anybody tried that stuff? Also what patch type and thickness would ya'll recommend for .62cal. smooth bore using .610 roundballs?

Is it legal there to bait feed the turkeys with cornbread?? :crackup: :crackup: :crackup:

 

[roundball]

I use a Dremel tool with cutting wheel to put some extra grooves on both the top and bottom jaws of the cock..it gives me a better grip whether I use a flattened lead ball or piece of leather. Recently tried glueing leather to a badly humped flint...haven't used it yet, but it looks like it might work...might help here, too. Hank

Hank, FWIW, I've used the "glued leather" approach on several large hump backs and it worked fine for me...still have a dozen left which I'll use at the range...I've gone through the rest on my hump backs with one of those mizzy wheels and put big flat spots on them

 

[Rebel]

I've tried that too with my double barrel .12 ga. Haven't tried it with the Tradegun yet. Wasn't a whole lot of difference. Just used the overpowder and cushion wads started just below the muzzle. Then set the ball on sprue up and placed an overshot card on top and rammed it all down at once.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I haven't tried them set back with the large gap. All I read is to put them almost touching the frizzen so that's what I've strived for.

It doesn't matter where the flint nose is at half cock. What matters is where the flint ends up and how much of the frizzen it drags along during the shot process.

With the hammer down, the flint should "ideally" be pointing into the center of the pan. With the flint touching the jaw screw, if you hit above the middle of the frizzen when slowly guiding the hammer down with your thumb, you should make out better than trying to grip the flint with just the rear slope in the jaws. That's just doomed to slip. Adding a spacer made out of a length of brass rod with a slit for the rear flint edge might help, but it would have to be thinner than the flint.

The best bet would be to have a gunsmith alter the hammer (or fashon a new one with the square hole in a better position for available flint sizes).

 

[blksmth52]

Hoyt,
Try flattening out a .62 cal. round ball, and use that to hold your flint instead of the leather. It seems to work better in the larger locks. :imo: