Beginner question

[7thhorsesoldier]

Hey all! I'm a complete newbie to muzzleloading. Just got one of those starter kits a few weeks ago. Have yet to fire it. But I was wondering if I can ram some buckshot down the barrel for pheasant hunting?

 

[Swtodd]

Welcome, is your starter kit a smooth bore, or a rifle?

steve

 

7th,
Like Toots asked, is it rifled or smooth bore? If it is rifled you can certainly shoot shot loads without hurting anything but you are likley not going to hurt the pheasants either. The rifling will scatter the shot load like a fan. If it is a smooth bore obviously it will shoot like a shotgun with an appropriate choke.
Mark

 

[necchi]

Not really. The "Rifling" of the bore will spin the shot and in a very short range(like 5-10 yards short range)the shot charge opens wide like a doughnut.
Instead of a nice collum of shot like a smoothbore spreading out for that pattern we're used too, ya git a big circle going out with nothing in the middle. :wink:

That, and the shot will very quickly fowl the rifling with lead and affect the accuracy of other projectiles ment for the rifle.

So it's rifle for rifle stuff and smoothbore for smoothbore stuff.

Welcome to Traditional muzzle loading and the Forum, you found the right place,, :thumbsup:

 

[troutabout]

You should contact the kit maker for price of a second barrel so you could just swap out for whichever game you're going after.

 

[crockett]

No, the rifling will screw up any decent pattern. If you are just starting out- do it by the book for a while.
In Florida it was legal until this year to hunt turkeys with a muzzle loading rifle but that is now gone. Sort of too bad because it was a heritage thing- remember Sargent York. Shoot a turkey in the head at 25 paces, etc.
I reckon times are a-changing- but how come the change is always something I don't like.

 

[ohio ramrod]

A smoothbore will handle birdshot nicely, rifles will not. I think you ment birdshot not buckshot! :surrender: