Does a 12 g BP shotgun exist that will shoot a pattern with no holes at 35 yards?

[Sudsy]

My club (Central Jersey) has 5 trap and skeet fields that I can use whenever I want, so of course now I want a BP scatter gun to take advantage of that.

I'd like to keep the cost under $1K

Digging around it seems that the majority are cylinder choked and are only effective to 20 to 25 yards,
I would think I need a modified choke with a 30 to 32" barrel to get to 35 yards without holes in the pattern (am I right in this assumption or would a 28" be enough)

I'm fine with removable chokes and want a chromed barrel.
I have a few thousand lbs of extra hard 7 1/2 shot, thus the desire for a chromed barrel

Would love a flintlock but that seems to not be an option (I'd love to be wrong)

I've been driving myself nuts trying to figure out who makes, or made, a gun that fits these requirements

 

[Sam squanch]

The only guaranteed one to do so is a knight inline- but they are not allowed here, so forget I mentioned it. You will have to get choke tubes installed in your favorite gun.

 

[Sudsy]

Nope not a fan of those thing of which we cannot speak

And I don't have a favorite gun because i don't have any smoothbore's (yet) Thus this thread

 

[Sam squanch]

You can try the sky chief load. It works fine for me. There is info on this forum about it.

 

[smoothshooter]

My club (Central Jersey) has 5 trap and skeet fields that I can use whenever I want, so of course now I want a BP scatter gun to take advantage of that.

I'd like to keep the cost under $1K

Digging around it seems that the majority are cylinder choked and are only effective to 20 to 25 yards,
I would think I need a modified choke with a 30 to 32" barrel to get to 35 yards without holes in the pattern (am I right in this assumption or would a 28" be enough)

I'm fine with removable chokes and want a chromed barrel.
I have a few thousand lbs of extra hard 7 1/2 shot, thus the desire for a chromed barrel

Would love a flintlock but that seems to not be an option (I'd love to be wrong)

I've been driving myself nuts trying to figure out who makes, or made, a gun that fits these requirements

Don’t get too wrapped up about the chrome bores or choke tubes.
Jug choking is the way to go, I hear.
Most of the guys that do jug chokes refuse to do chromed bores because the chrome plays heck with their cutters, but someone at Briley’s in Kansas told me a few months ago they jug-choked chromed bores.

 

[Sudsy]

Briley’s in Kansas

I searched and could only find a Briley's in Houston, and could only find standard chokes there (same Briley's?)

 

[Ponderosaman]

I paid around 1K for my Pedersoli 12 gauge side by side in January. It seems like with the gun shortages, that prices are climbing quickly. One barrel is improved cylinder and the other is modified. When I patterned the shotgun at 25 yards with 1 oz. loads the spread was very even. More so than my modern shotguns in my opinion. I had trouble getting what I needed for clay shooting though. The range doesn’t allow copper plated and when I ordered some Rotometals #7 1/2 on Amazon for 4 times the price, they sent me #6. When I finally did get my #7 1/2, the weather here had become hotter than hades. I am quite certain though that this gun will kill clay like nobody’s business.

 

[Sudsy]

Is any SS gun made modified / full ?

And Rotometals is nuts ! $83+ for 25lbs of shot (+tax +shipping) !!

 

[NorthFork]

SkyChiefs load is the answer you seek. Really.

 

[leadhoarder]

The answer is surely yes. The question is how many of them do you want to go through and how much time do you want to spend working on load development.

 

[Sudsy]

SkyChiefs load is the answer you seek. Really.

Did a search on it. Every post that mentions yardage is in the 25 yards range

I'm sure it's great for short yardage but no way does a cylinder choke (no choke) give you a good pattern with 7 1/2 shot at 35 to 40 yards no matter what wad system you use.

 

[NorthFork]

25 yards??? Look I pattern my 19 and both my 12's at the standard 40 yards for shotguns when using the SkyChief load. If I wish to get a wider pattern at 20-25 yards I use a different load recipe for that. The SkyChief load for me is for 25-45 yards.

No screw in chokes, jug chokes. Only cylinder bores.

 

[Sudsy]

So as of right now with chromed barrels and a modified choke there's the Pedersoli flint SxS in 20 gauge
The Pedersoli Mortimer is cylinder bore so that's out as is the Indian Trade

Any other makers ?

 

[Sudsy]

25 yards??? Look I pattern my 19 and both my 12's at the standard 40 yards for shotguns when using the SkyChief load. If I wish to get a wider pattern at 20-25 yards I use a different load recipe for that. The SkyChief load for me is for 25-45 yards.

No screw in chokes, jug chokes. Only cylinder bores.

You have my attention !!
How long a barrel, what size shot ? How wide is the pattern ?

 

[Grenadier1758]

@Sudsy, you may be able to find some used Pedersoli SxS shotguns with screw in chokes. Any chole much more than improved cylinder makes for a very difficult muzzle loading shotgun. The screw in chokes could be removed for loading, but fouling will make removal and installation progressively difficult. As you have seen in your searches the Pedersoli SxS no longer are offered with removable chokes. The best choice is to jug chole the barrel to get choke and ease of loading.

 

[Sudsy]

@Sudsy, Any choke much more than improved cylinder makes for a very difficult muzzle loading shotgun. The screw in chokes could be removed for loading, but fouling will make removal and installation progressively difficult.
The best choice is to jug choke the barrel to get choke and ease of loading.

Makes sense, hadn't thought abut that
So the Pedrosoli Mortimer or Indian Trade gun could work, just have to do the Jug choking

Is the Indian trade chromed ?

 

[Old Hawkeye]

The clay targets on a skeet range cross in the center at 21 yards. The longer ranges that trap can present are beyond the practical applications of a BP shotgun. Go shoot skeet & have fun instead of fretting over chokes & what not. Just my two cents.

 

[3Setters]

You dont need a chromed lined barrel for hard shot. Chrome lining only helps with cleaning and rust in the barrel. I use hard shot in my Pedersoli shotgun

If you can get a good dense pattern at 20 yards, you'll be able to hit trap targets at 30-35 yards. I shoot my unmentionable 20 gauge for trap, with 7/8 ounce load out of an I/C choke and have no problems breaking targets. I'd like to use my gun for trap, but there would be too much complaining. I'm now using it for 5 stand breaking targets at 25 yards. A little choke goes a long way with good hard shot.

 

[Ponderosaman]

I love Skeet and Trap, but have shot way more trap. Sure a full choke is necessary to be competitive in trap at the back fence, but from the front line, modified is plenty if not preferred and for those who shoot fast cylinder is fine. In my opinion improved cylinder, cylinder or skeet choke is plenty for all of the Skeet presentations. I do believe there are Pedersoli side by sides that have modified/full chokes, but as mentioned it makes a muzzleloader tough to load. I’m not certain of that and I think Pedersoli discontinued those models. Another interesting benefit of muzzleloader is that you are not limited to the length of a shotshell. Our resident muzzleloader shotgun fanatic @Britsmoothy says you can put as big a load as you want in, though I’m not sure of the safety or effectiveness of that myself.

 

[NorthFork]

19 gauge is 36", one 12 is 36" and the other is 46" in length. At 40 yards I average 60-65% +/- of shot in a 30" circle. That is basically an improved modified choke tube performance. BUT ONLY WHEN USING THE SKYCHIEF LOAD. No other loading method even remotely patterns as well at distances beyond 25 or so yards. This is with bismuth 2, 4 and 6. Magnum (chilled) lead 4, 5, 6, 7.5 and 8. 19 gauge uses 1.125 oz and the 'short' 12 uses 1.25 or 1.375 oz. The 'long' 12 uses 1.375 to 1.75 oz. For short distance shooting I use the same weight loads but with folded paper wadding and tow. If you choose to try the SkyChief load, DO NOT VARY any component or order of loading. If you do it just doesn't work right.