• Friends, our 2nd Amendment rights are always under attack and the NRA has been a constant for decades in helping fight that fight.

    We have partnered with the NRA to offer you a discount on membership and Muzzleloading Forum gets a small percentage too of each membership, so you are supporting both the NRA and us.

    Use this link to sign up please; https://membership.nra.org/recruiters/join/XR045103

40 gauge

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

turkeytalker

32 Cal.
Joined
Jan 31, 2008
Messages
14
Reaction score
0
So i've had an older double that I've always called a 410 (in fact I asked about this gun about 7-8 years ago on this exact forum) and I never really got serious about shooting until recently. Of course I order wads never really bothering to measure the bores until they arrive and were way too small.

Bores measure around .488 and .495 (left and right respectively). So through some searching it seems that 40 gauge is the best I can come up with.

Is there any information on that gauge and possible lighter loads?
Also I could come up with a source for wads or do I have to cut bigger wads with a custom punch?

Thanks for any information you can offer!
 
http://myflintlock.com/

These folks can provide you with trial packs of wads to determine what size works best for your gun before investing in large quantities.
I believe those small bore shotguns were called 'collector' guns. Artists and scientists used them so specimen birds would not be torn up and could be painted or studied.
As for loads, Squire Robin, are you there? He can help, fer sure.
 
The .410 is not a gauge nor a bore size for a gun....this is why there is a decimal in front of the numerals. A .410 is a forty-one caliber shotgun, and is an exception to the "gauge" terminology rules. A .410 is really about a 67 gauge gun. The shells for modern .410 shotguns are slightly larger than .45 caliber, which is why two modern revolvers and several different "derringer" pistols, can chamber both .45 Colt and .410 shells.

What you have is actually...a 40 gauge gun. Congratulations. :)grin: I like it when folks resurrect the odd stuff from the past.) There is a 40 gauge listed in Wikipedia on it's Gauge Table at the bottom. You will note on the chart it is .488 So this was an actual gauge, manufactured at some time, and you apparently have a gun made in that gauge.

You may find that .50 caliber dry felt wads (available from Track of The Wolf) should work IF you can't find something suitable in the link in the previous reply.

LD
 
Can't help you on loads or components, but I have to pipe up to say I sure admire the gun you're describing and what you want to do with it.

In modern guns I have almost 50 years of serious experience with both 410 and 28 gauge guns. For me a 20 gauge is "big."

If I could find a sleek, lightweight double in 50 cal..... er, 40 gauge.... or smaller, I'd be all over it like flies on poop.

Yeah, yeah, I know. In the eyes of many 410 is only a poacher's gun and a 28 gauge is for experts only. Or so the typists and theorists say. But I'm neither. I'm a serious small game and upland hunter, and at the ranges I shoot the little guns are absolutely ideal. Heck, I most often shoot 1/2-ounce loads in my big 20!
 
In the eyes of many 410 is only a poacher's gun

My personal bias against the (modern) .410 shotgun goes back to my early days in the 40's and 50's in Illinois. I was given a .410 double by a relative. Beautiful little thing with engraving, etc. But, I recall shooting rabbits with it, seeing blood on their fur and they just ran off. Squirrels in trees just looked at me sorta annoyed. As far as using for pheasants, fuggitit. I just gave it away. I relied on my J.C. Higgins, Sears Roebuck 12 ga. double for that hunting. Sorry for the modern gun reference, but that is what it is, a reference.
 
This is what I've been considering. I'll probably be able to punch out some cereal box for over shot card but will have to track down something appropriate for compression and overpowder wads.

I spent some time online and haven't found anything but the Wikipedia page. I was thinking something in the 1/2 to possibly 3/4 oz for loads. I don't know where to start with a powder charge...I'll have to contact Mr Squire Robin since he was mentioned.

This would be purely a small game hunter (rabbits mostly) in "weapons restricted" areas...a guy's gotta stay busy in the winter.
 
I agree that 50 cal. wads should be about right. A 1/2 inch punch will cut them. If that is too loose then 32 gauge wads can be found at TOTW.

I would start with 50 grains of powder and 3/4 ounce of shot. Use the same measure for each.
 
Thanks for the info.

If punching out 50cal fiber wads proves to be a pain can I punch out 1/2" cork sheets for loading?
 
BrownBear said:
Can't help you on loads or components, but I have to pipe up to say I sure admire the gun you're describing and what you want to do with it.

In modern guns I have almost 50 years of serious experience with both 410 and 28 gauge guns. For me a 20 gauge is "big."

If I could find a sleek, lightweight double in 50 cal..... er, 40 gauge.... or smaller, I'd be all over it like flies on poop.

Yeah, yeah, I know. In the eyes of many 410 is only a poacher's gun and a 28 gauge is for experts only. Or so the typists and theorists say. But I'm neither. I'm a serious small game and upland hunter, and at the ranges I shoot the little guns are absolutely ideal. Heck, I most often shoot 1/2-ounce loads in my big 20!

my favorites are 410, I even shoot skeet with one.
 
There is a rumour, may be true, that fourten is what you get if you rebore the British Army .303 rifle as a shotgun.

The Muzzle loading equivalent rifle, so Claude doesn't punish me for apostasy, would be the .577 Minie which usually gets measured for proof as a 25 gauge. Lord only knows what it smooths out to :idunno:
 
Try punching wads out of thick stiff leather...
I love .410 shotguns and the like ...If you have an old plastic covered 3 ring binder notebook, the covers are made out of a very thick dense cardboard....I use them for nitro wads also just remove the plastic covering. Cereal, and cracker boxes.....even regular cardboard make nice overshot wads.....

Tow or something similar is always an option....
 
MThuntr said:
So i've had an older double that I've always called a 410 (in fact I asked about this gun about 7-8 years ago on this exact forum) and I never really got serious about shooting until recently. Of course I order wads never really bothering to measure the bores until they arrive and were way too small.

Bores measure around .488 and .495 (left and right respectively). So through some searching it seems that 40 gauge is the best I can come up with.

Is there any information on that gauge and possible lighter loads?
Also I could come up with a source for wads or do I have to cut bigger wads with a custom punch?

Thanks for any information you can offer!

If yall get eggs in those pressed paper cartons you might try attacking them with a 1/5" gasket punch. The pressed paper is pretty thin so it will conform to the bore but you can pile them on in a layer.
 



This is one of the few pics I do have of this little gun. I should take a few better ones. It is a Belgium made gun by Armaf Liegeoise.
 
TOTW sells the Ox-Yoke Wonder Wads in .50cal. They are a wool felt wad that come dry or lubricated. They are for revolvers and cartridges so the diameter may be just right for your gun. They are felt so they may squeeze down a little if need be.
 
Rifleman1776 said:
In the eyes of many 410 is only a poacher's gun

My personal bias against the (modern) .410 shotgun goes back to my early days in the 40's and 50's in Illinois. I was given a .410 double by a relative. Beautiful little thing with engraving, etc. But, I recall shooting rabbits with it, seeing blood on their fur and they just ran off. Squirrels in trees just looked at me sorta annoyed. As far as using for pheasants, fuggitit. I just gave it away. I relied on my J.C. Higgins, Sears Roebuck 12 ga. double for that hunting. Sorry for the modern gun reference, but that is what it is, a reference.

Oh dear.

 
Sorry for my absence...ice fishing has absorbed a lot of my free time but today I got out and shot my little gun. It is a fun little gun to shoot. I opted to make wads using a 0.50" punch and cereal box for over shot card. I thought I had 12ga nitro cards to punch out and use as overpowder wads but turns out that I didn't so those are on order and will try again with something that has a little backbone. My current load is 45 grains of FFg Goex and an equal volumetric measurement of shot. All I have is #5 shot so the math works out to right at 9/16 oz by weight. My load method is powder, thin card, felt wad, shot, thin card. Within 15 yards this little gun shoots a beautiful group but by 20 yards it shows some holes but should be good enough to still kill. I chose not to shoot any farther as I feel 20 is the max ethical killing distance. I plan on getting some #7.5 shot for and trying again in a few weeks

Here's a poor quality pic of a 15 yard pattern but would be a great rabbit load...
 
Back
Top