I have been experimenting with loads,wad combo's and powder charges. I seem to have a good group at 20 yrds to use on turkery's ( 55gr of fffg, two over shot cards on the powder charge and 1 3/8 oz of chilled #6 shot)but it is about 4-6 inches low to the center of the pattern. I have already bent the barrel so that it shoots a 16 gauge round ball 4 inches high at 25 yrds. My question is this: How can I change point of impact with loading components and not bending the barrel anymore? I know that if you up the powder charge the round ball shoots lower. Will more powder change the shot pattern height or blow the pattern out.Wow, so many questions in my mind. Has anyone experimented with this?
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Changing point of impact
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Instead of bending the barrel any more i would just compensate for the shot shooting low by aiming a little high.
Sounds like you need a bit more powder behind that amount of shot. 55grs of FFFg pushing 1 3/8 oz of shot sounds weak to me, bump it up to 70grs and see if it'll help. OR lower the amound of shot to 1 oz and give that a try. Generally, I use an equal volume of shot to powder, I know some have said that a bit more shot works better in flintlocks but I still like to hold that that old rule of thumb of using the same measure to meter out both shot and powder. Good luck. :thumbsup:
Most smoothies do their best with equal volumes of shot and powder. First, try using the same 'dipper' for each, then try slightly more shot than powder till you hit the best patterning. You might also try FFg instead of FFFg to see if the higher pressure of the finer grade of powder is affecting your pattern.
Capt. Jas.
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If you cant get what you want from shot/powder charge variations, just raise the comb (leather, moleskin or cardboard and electrical tape) til it shoots where you look. This will allow you to always be looking at your target and keep you from having to "aim" high.
Thanks for all the help.I took the 16 ga. smoothie to the range today. So far it seems to like 80 gr FFG, 2 overshot cards and 1 1/2 oz. #6 shot. Twenty five pellets in a turkey head target at 25 yards. I'm going to keep experimenting but I think that I can hunt with this load in the upcoming season. Tree Rat season starts on Friday, HAZZAH! Look out Limb Bacon!!!
Yep, it only takes a few shot to bring down most small critters. I took my first rabbit with a single shot 12ga shotgun and only recovered one pellet form the neck of the rabbit. As long as you don't have any overly large holes in the pattern I'd just shoot it and have fun. :hmm:Java Man said:
