Buck and Ball - More Issued to US Troops

than single ball loads.
: Has anyone tried these?
: Has anyone made up ctgs. for them?
: If so, how'd they shoot?
: The typical buck and ball load, had 3, 000 buck on top of the single ball. This was a favoured load for the .69 muskets as it greatly increased to 'wounding' range of the musket on Indians. Due to the uselessnes of the buckshot in game hunting, cartidges with single ball seemed to be preferred for hunting buffalo and other plains game.
: Triple Ought, or Spl.SG as called here, in Canada, used to be .36cal. but it appears that dia. has been reduced of late to .35cal. by Hornady with their swaged buckshot.
Daryl

 

[riarcher]

Daryl-
(comparing apples to oranges again maybe) Back in the early 70's as a younger ladd, several friends and I would use the "financially conservative" 16 ga. (very close to a .69 cal.). At the time 16.ga was loosing favor as a good all arounder and folks traded for more specialized 20's and 12's
As a shotgun load, 16's (and 12's) were terrible on deer at anything much over 20 yds with 00 & 000 buck. Rifled slugs were the way to go (even in a sXs). Just too much spread even in a choked barrel. Shot cups helped, but no ways near enough. On game and fowl the 16 ga. (in my mind) ruled supreem as the all perfect gun except on geese and fly over ducks. Okay over decoys (sorta - thain't no 12 ga,).
Now I see the 16 staging a comeback. :shocking: Hard to figure sometimes.

 

Right-on- the 16 always was a good one, but with the price of shells, it was out of the picture for me. I always preferred the 20 bore. Never did like the 12, but always had one. It worked well with .684 balls in cloth patches for choked guns.(patched balls loaded in shotshells usually shot 3 to 5" at 50yds from shotguns & 8-9" at 100yds.
; AT .66 cal. the 16 bore is right at the size ball used in the .69 Muskets (.662-lyman mould for modern .69's)). I used .684 balls (Itialian mould) in the .69 English gun with it's 12 thou rifing.
: I agree that buckshot is poor for deer. It might work, close up, with smallish deer, but the big muley's up here or 300 lb. White Tails of the prairies are harder to knock down. A few .32cal balls don't penetrate well enough. They won't even get past the skin. fat, and ribs of a grizzley & anything past 15 yds., on a black bear is asking for trouble. Parks Canada found that out in Jasper & Banff national parks. They also found Federal 1 1/4ounce slugs much better & worked every time, first time. Too bad they didn't try handloads with .715 balls sitting on shot-cup bases, inverted to hold the ball centered. They work quite well from a .727 bore, or a modified tube, but in back-bored shotguns, with .735 bores, a shotgun will shoot .735 RBs quite well if not choked, like a riot gun.
: I would think a 16 bore with no choke, should handle .662 balls OK if pure lead. Load for a 1oz. load or 1 1/8 oz. for first try. A tengent cut-off Lyman mould I have in .662 casts a 440 gr. ball in pure lead. Because the sprue is a flat spot, very large on the surface of the ball, I have to buy a new mould for the new .69 musket.
Daryl

 

[musketman]

What you need for griz is a 2 inch punt gun using a 1.970 round ball with three .75 calibers round balls on top of that and 700 grains (1/10th pound) of Fg powder...

How's that for a buck and ball load... :winking: ::

p.s. we can get Zonie to pull the trigger first...

 

Unfortunately, shotguns/ punt-guns & small cannon aren't legal for hunting Griz or moose in this Province, only for black bear and deer & wolf. I've not found the punt-gun to be necessary for THESE animals as the little .69 is all that's REALLY needed.
Daryl