i have a .54 smoothbore and i am new to this, what would be a good load for grouse? and how would #4 buckshot group for ducks or geese and would that also be big enough for use as actual buckshot? also could someone please tell me how to properly load a smoothbore, like what kind of wads to use. it is frustrateing to have no-one to shoot with and learn from. how much powder do i load?
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.54 smoothbore info
- Thread starter beartrap
- Start date
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First load a measured charge of powder...
The over powder card (nitro card) is a hard cardboard card, it is loaded un-lubed and directly on top of the powder...
Then the 1/2 inch fiber wad, these can be lubed, I lube the side of mine, load the fiber wad on top of the nitro card...
Drop a measured amount of shot down on top of the fiber wad...
Top off with a thin over-shot card and the tube is loaded...
Tricks of the trade:
1. Make a small cut or depressionon the edge of the over-shot card, this allowes the air to escape when ramming it down...
2. Fiber wads can be split down to make over shot cards if need be...
3. A good starting point is a 1:1 ratio of powder/shot, I use the same measurer for both in my Bess...
And by the way, lead Buckshot is not legal for hunting ducks and geese.
Yea, the Feds banned it years ago. Have to use Steel, Bismuth, or one of the other Non toxic pellets.
Like glass, rock salt and year old M&M's...
Steel shot will rust and give the ducks and gooses lockjaw, we need stainless steel shot, right?
Load up wheet seeds and shoot with them, if you miss, you'll be helping to plant crops...
I would suggest you start off around 50-55 grain of FFg and equill amount of shot...
POWDER MEASURE SETTINGS TO THROW OUNCES OF SHOT:
- 50 grain setting = 3/4 ounce of shot
- 50 grain setting = 3/4 ounce of shot
- 60 grain setting = 7/8 ounce of shot
- 70 grain setting = 1 ounce of shot
- 80 grain setting = 1 1/8 ounce of shot
- 90 grain setting = 1 1/4 ounce of shot
- 100 grain setting = 1 3/8 ounce of shot
- 110 grain setting = 1 1/2 ounce of shot
- 120 grain setting = 1 5/8 ounce of shot
Nah, you can have the shot in Canada, they just don't allow you to own the gun to shoot it. ::
Guest
Ouch!!
:cry:
:cry:
Rebel, I think you have been misslead about our laws up here.
Firelocks are not concidered firearms(YET) but weapons like a bow no licence required.
I have heard horror stories of your eastern brothers having a hard time crossing state lines to celebrate (re-enact)the first battles that lead to the very freedoms ,rights to bare arms.
It seams to me that we both are feeling the hand that controls.ff:
Firelocks are not concidered firearms(YET) but weapons like a bow no licence required.
I have heard horror stories of your eastern brothers having a hard time crossing state lines to celebrate (re-enact)the first battles that lead to the very freedoms ,rights to bare arms.
It seams to me that we both are feeling the hand that controls.
ff:
Hawk2 I was just joking, to an extent. I know we have some states with stupid laws too, but Canada is a lot worse. I do know that flintlocks are not considered firearms YET.
WV_Hillbilly
45 Cal.
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2005
- Messages
- 707
- Reaction score
- 3
I know you already got "some" answers. But it seems to me that a few specifics of your question's answers were vague and some of the replies went on tangents or digressed greatly.
ANY/ALL of the various buckshot sizes would be kind of large to use in the "small" bore of a .54 cal barrel. That would calculate out to be about a 30 gauge shotgun. A .56 smoothbore T/C Renegade is "basically" a BP version of a 28 gauge shotgun.
#4 is about .24 caliber and on the small side to use as "buckshot" IF you are referring to using it on Whitetail Deer. #2 shot would be about the biggest size that you would want to load in a 28 gauge gun. As was stated, lead shot is not legal for large migratory waterfowl (ducks, geese). I don't hunt ducks and geese, so that's not a problem here.
T/C .56 caliber Renegade Smoothbore:
For grouse and similar shooting/hunting, I use 2 dram loads and # 8 shot (use the same volumetric measure for powder AND shot) with Ox-Yoke Brand overpowder wads, lube impregnated cushion shot wads, and overshot wads. That 2 dram load gives me about 55gr of FFg powder. The weight for # 8 shot is approximately 355gr, that would be 3/4oz. I use the LEE powder dippers and that would be the[url] 3.7cc[/url] volume measure.
AND... IF you prefer, or have, to use metric measurements: The powder charge weight is 3.56 gms and the shot weight is 23gms.
I haven't chronographed the load, but I think a factory equivalent 28 gauge load is about 1050 fps out of my 27" barrel.
I do not have the problem with air compression and do not notch my wads, at least on my .56cal/28 gauge smoothbore. That is probably more specific to different guns and how tightly the wad fits the bore.
IF I were just independently wealthy... I think it would be great to be able to travel to where users have to shoot alone who would want a shooting buddy or someone to help get them started with a new procedure (like loading shotgun)... you know help out fellow shooters & hunters. Maybe if I hit the lottery, I would be able to do that someday...
Anwyay, feel free to ask questions... hopefully you will get enough of the information you need to help get you going.
Shoot Safely, my "Northern Shooting & Hunting Brother",
WV_Hillbilly
:front:
Last edited by a moderator:
arcticap
54 Cal.
I have had a true .28 guage (approx. .55) for a handful of years now. It's a lightweight Spanish gun that may have come from Dixie Gun Works a few decades ago. I had fun experimenting with it when I first got it. I didn't have the right fiber wads so I tried cotton balls and lightly wadded newspaper as a replacement. I patterned the gun with heavy charges of 6 and 8(?) shot I think, about equal volumes of powder and shot, maybe just a little more shot than powder, 100 - 110 grains. (I also used a rubber slip on butt pad). The gun didn't pattern all that well for having a modified choke until I tried using the modern plastic .28 guage shotshell wads. The pattern improved significantly enough that I was satisfied that I could use it to hunt small game with the #6 shot, or even a mixture of shot. It's not easy to keep all of 1.25 ozs. or more of shot in that little plastic shotcup, but it's not necessary that it all be contained in it if you use some kind of wadding over the powder. I would also use some wadding over the shot packed lightly to keep the shot in place. Where the gun really shines is in the roundball department. I found that the bore is significantly narrower than the muzzle, and that .52 ball with .015 patch was the most accurate and still needed a light mallet to hammer past the muzzle. With light 40 grain powder charges of Pyrodex P the group is like a rifle's at .25 yards, although it opens up erratically at .50. Note that I use .52 ball and not .53, it just won't load or shoot as well. The bore is too narrow in there, so it's not a true .55 caliber. I hope this helps. I don't remember if I ever tried using .54 caliber wonder wads between the powder and shot or not. ::
Smokin6Gun
40 Cal.
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Now I'm totally confused you had to say metric...LoL! I want to know the steel ball diameter length and guage of surgical tubing that the drunk was dropped with. And would recomend only using it in a drive-by in case the guy is sober and packs a pair of .45 autos as I do.
ff: But I thought it was funny!
ff: But I thought it was funny!
