Slamfire: while everyone starts with even volume amounts of both powder and shot, there is no reason to not increase the amount of shot to see if you don't get a better pattern. I like to see the powder/shot combination stay below the speed of sound at the muzzle, so you don't have that disruption going on within a few yards. All that does is blow open the patterns. Using more shot than powder will often back the velocity down to under 1100 fps. and give you better patterns for that reason.
Unlike Roundball, I like the performance of overpowder card wads, 1/8 thick which you can order from TOTW, among others. I don't think those felt wads are stiff enough to seal the bore from gasses. YOu will need to get a wad that is at least your bore diameter or wider, to get good performance. I have a 20 ga. fowler, but the bore is oversized, and I found I had to order 19 ga. wads to get the gun to shoot right.
A one ounce load in a 28 ga. shotgun would be considered a stout load in a cartridge gun. You can obviously add more shot with shooting a muzzle loader. Don't hesitate to raise the weight of the shot charge until you find one that shoots well in your gun. But keep the powder charge at 70 grains and under. Your 70 grain volume measure throws one ounce of shot. 60 grains throws 7/8 oz, and, as you already know, 50 grains throws 3/4 oz. of shot. 55 grains is a 2 dram load( 27.5 grains to a dram) 70 grains is a 2 1/2 dram load. That is also the amount of black powder loaded in a .50-70 casing, which took more buffalo than probably any other cartridge used by hunters in the 19th century. Buffalo Bill Cody used a .50-70 to win a contest and secure his right to use that name, by killing more buffalo in a given period than his competitor. So, 70 grains in a 55 or 56 caliber gun is nothing to sneeze at. He was shooting a 550 grain bullet. Your one ounce load weighs 437.5 grains, and 1 1/8 oz. of shot weighs 492 grains! An ounce and a quarter of shot will weight 446.grains, just about as heavy as that bullet Cody used to kill buffalo stone dead at hundreds of yards. His gun weighs a lot more than yours does, so keep that in mind before trying that much powder and shot in your gun. It won't harm the gun, but it will say " Hello ' to your should big time!
If you insist on shooting it, you might benefit from reading an article I wrote,
[url]
www.chuckhawks.com/controlling_heavy_recoil.htm[/url]
It will teach you how to hold your gun and stand to absorb the heavy recoil of these kinds of loads.
paul
