Best way to carry shot?

[tamara]

I'm new to muzzleloading, and I have a double 12ga. I've seen the "shot snake" things that are like a long leather pouch with a spout on the end. Can't find them locally here, though. I'd like to see how it fits and works before I buy, since they are sort of expensive.

I would like to carry a couple pounds of shot in a way that is easy and quick to access, and doesn't make me walk lopsided.

Is there anything on the market (or plans for making) something like a snake that holds the shot and that I can easily get the shot out of, without having to buy one of those expensive funnels? (Holy run-on sentence, Batman!) I have leather and at least marginal leather working skills. :hmm:

Or any other ways of carry shot that you can suggest?

 

[No Deer]

I have a shot snake, and a shot pouch. Both work fine. I have the Irish spout on both, I prefer it to the English spout. I think that I like the shot snake better, it is a little more comfortable to carry, although it is one more strap over your shoulder. I use a rawhide thong and tie the shot pouch to my belt if I use that one.

Check out Track of the Wolf, they have a nice selection of shot pouches:
[url] http://www.trackofthewolf.com/categories/partList.aspx?catID=1&subID=17&styleID=77[/url]

 

[Dave K]

This is one of them debates that really has no answer except, what works best for you. I prefer the English head. I have a couple of snakes but I much prefer the pouch. I find the snake gets in my way and if I am not careful, it will scratch the gun and it seems to want to rotate under it's on weight around my shoulder. Just my experience, yours may vary. I use a shooting vest with a shot pouch in one side and the powder flask in the other side. I stay balanced that way and I have no straps to get in the way.

 

[tamara]

Can you please describe the difference between the Irish style and the English style heads?

 

[Rebel]

Tamara, the English style has an adjustable head that is not removeable. The Irish style has a scoopp that is adjustable and comes out of the flask. With the English style you have to upend the entire flask over the muzzle. With the Irish Style you just pour the shot out of the removeable scoop. The only drawback with the Irish is that it is possible to loose the scoop if you don't get it back in tight. I prefer the Irish style myself.

 

[AZ-Robert]

For me, a second draw back with the Irish model is that it requires two hands to use - one to manage the scoop and one to hold the container. If that container is a snake instead of a pouch, that is probably not an issue since it can just hang where it is and still be functional.

The English model is a one-hander with no loose parts to get lost.

Both heads can be a little problematic in the way the shut-off valve doesn't always shut off just right because it gets stuck on a piece of shot, giving you more or less shot than you wanted. With the Irish model, you can see just how much shot you got before you pour it down the barrel and adjust as needed. If you stick the English model right on the end of the gun and then work the valve, you don't see it. A good forceful mashing of the operating lever gets the best results.

I have the English model on a flask. If I were using a snake, I'd put an Irish head on it.

Good pics of the two different heads right here:
[url] http://www.trackofthewolf.com/categories/partList.aspx?catID=1&subID=17&styleID=74[/url]

 

[tamara]

Thank you for the info, guys. It sounds like I would prefer the Irish style. Since I'm new to this, I like the idea of always seeing exactly what I put down the barrel.

Thanks for the links too. With that explanation, I understand the pictures better. :v

 

[Deadeye]

I made a shot horn (like a powder horn)but with an
Irish head. Carry it on my left side and my shooting bag on my right. I also attached the measure part of the Irish head with a thong so it doesn't get lost.

 

[Black Hand]

I make single-dose loads of shot rolled in newspaper, tied on each end with linen thread, and dipped in lube. They are the right diameter to slip into the bore of my 20ga Trade Gun and are loaded whole. I carry 15-20 loads in a small split-belly pouch on my belt that also contains a small tin containing my over-powder/over-shot cards. I tried the pouch/flask options and found them all too cumbersome or annoying. No fumbling with funnels/plugs/measures and re-loading takes minimal time.
Black Hand

 

[tamara]

Ahh, thank you for the reminder about the paper shot loads, Blackhand. A while ago I found a very good thread on this. I should go back and review it.

Do the paper loads "stay together" in your pouch well? I'm afraid if they were bumping around in my bag, that they would all come apart. What kind of lube do you use? Is the linen thread like very thin thread that you would sew with? How many layers of newspapers? (I have a trunk load of newspapers for which I've been trying to find a recycle bin for a week!) Do you use some sort of cushion wad over the overpowder card?

 

Being Diabetic, I have a lot of those test strip bottles that just happen to hold a nice 80 grain charge of shot. I also use the Irish shot pouch as well at the range. Bill

 

[Black Hand]

I have a piece of brass tubing that I use as a mandrel that is under bore size. I wrap the newspaper around it and it ends up being 3-4 layers thick. I twist up the end, tie it with thin waxed linen thread and dump my measured load of shot into the tube. I then retract the brass tube and twist and tie the other end. I clip the ends off short and dip the whole thing in melted lube and let the whole thing cool. Just think "Tootsie Roll" with short tails.

I have not had them split open in the pouch, but they don't bang around too much, as the pouch is made of soft leather and it conforms. In a shooting bag, I keep them in a tin to avoid destruction.

The linen I use is either thin sewing thread or split down thick thread and wrapped fairly tightly. I have used Bore Butter Bullet lube and lately deer tallow, as they are both stiff and waxy. I load my powder, 2 thin cards over the powder, the shot load and 1 thin card over the load (this way I only have to carry one type of card). I have not used cushion wads, so I can't speak to their performance. My theory is that when the load is compressed between the cards, it is enough to split open the paper allowing the shot to do its' thing. They also tightened up my pattern considerably.
Black Hand

 

[LRB]

I use coin wrappers stappled, or glued for closure.

 

[TN.Frank]

I use coin wrappers stappled, or glued for closure.

Yep, that's what I used to use back when I had my ML shotgun. I'd use nickel wrapper for shot and penny wrappers for powder. Fold and glue one end shut then fold and staple the other end. All you do is grab the end with the staple, pull it open and pour out the contends into the barrel. You can keep em' and reuse em' quite a few times too.

 

[Homesteader]

I've been using a 12 ga side by side caplock for a while now, and love the double snake with Irish chargers I bought. I generally keep #4 in one, #6 in the other, and 00 in a pouch on my belt. Makes me feel ready for anything I'm likely to stumble across on my land. For what it's worth, I also use a repro "flameproof" H-S powder flask with an adjustable measure spout. I can do just about all my loading one handed with this setup. Every now and then I also make up cartridges with .690 patched roundball. Lotsa fun. Sometimes I can even hit my mark with 'em!

Now I'm ready to begin experimenting with my new (to me) Brown Bess, so I'll probably change everything again!

(I'd listen to these other guys way before me, though.)

Lotsa luck...

 

[Rebel]

No flask is completely flameproof. If a hot ember sets off the powder as you pour it down the barrel your flask becomes a bomb in your hand. It doesn't take that much longer to use a seperate measurer, or carry pre measured powder charges. Better to be safe than hurt or worse.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Long winded dissertation, but.

When birding, I use a snake for both shot and powder. The shot snake is just leather sewn into a tube, seam hot waxed, then inverted inside out with spout attached. For the powder snake, wanted it moisture proof, so utilized a length of light and flexible plastic tubing, sealed shut on one end. Inserted tbg into leather snake, (made same as shot snake) inserted powder spout into tbg and with sinew, lashed leather snake opening tight around the spout/plastic tbg.

These snakes I made up rather crude and hurriedly one day few years back, but they have worked so well, haven't seen fit to make better ones.

With attached straps, carry them crossed over the shoulders, spouts are up front and always at hand, powder on the left, shot on the right.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Have to agree with Rebel about using a separate measure, even with your Irish loader. Always pour the powder and shot into a separate measure, and then from the measure into the barrel. I use the separate measure to make sure I have enough shot out of the snake on one pouch, or the hand made soft leather purse I use for my other gun. If I am short, I add some more shot to the measure so that my loads are consistent. The nice thing about the Irish measure is that you can put the scoop back into the measure and upend the snake and the shot will go back into the snake for later use. That is much harder to do with the English head. I was using a powder flask years ago with just a brass tube screwed into the flask to measure pistol powder charges. I thought I was safe until I decided to clean and oil the mechanism in the flask, because it was becoming stiff. You got it. The stiff was an accumulation of black powder on the cutoff plate in the flask. I tested it out of the flask, with a cigarette lighter, and it was definitely flammable! I cleaned it off, dried it, oiled the joints and moving parts, and put the flask together again. Later I took all the powder out of that flask, and it now holds oatmeal or cream of wheat that I use as a filler in one of my guns.

Please don't cut corners when it comes to your safety. The hand you save may be your own!

 

[hornetk4]

Hi Tamara I tohave a 12 ga sxs but I choose not to limit myself with the shot snake method . I live out in the desert and I never know what I'll run into as far as what size shot I might want to use so I use those little post its papers that you get in the stationary section of the supermarket . They come with a gummed edge making it easy to roll into a tube ,fold one end over and scotch tape closed then add the measured amount of shot fold other end closed . Then write on the side the shot size and quantity , just throw a hanfull in my left hand pocket and do the same with my powder put those in my right hand pocket along with some wads and I'm ready to go for a long walk .The post its cost about a buck thats a lot cheaper than the shot snake . It works for me have fun with that shotgun .

 

[musketman]

If PC is no issue, one of the easiest ways to carry pre-measured shot charges is the 35mm film container...

Each one has a lid and the walls can be squeezed in to make a pouring funnel...