How do you load your smoothbore for shot?

[Britsmoothy]

Sometimes I carry a home made leather flask and measure. Sometimes I carry pre measured .measures of shot. Rarely do I use store bought wads. Mostly thin cards,leather or felt.
I am a sucker for sticking with tradition when it comes to dropping the powder in first! I think it's best to put the powder in first always.

 

[Keb]

My standard loading combo for all my smoothbore shooting since I 1st started using them is a measure of powder, 2 damp nitro cards, same measure of shot & an over shot card. The amounts vary with bore size. I use 80 2F in a 20 ga. & 65 3F in a 28 ga. I had a 11 ga. that liked 100 2F, too. I've always had good success with this load formula.

 

[andy52]

Here's my set up for smoothbore shooting. This is a shot load not round ball.
Powder flask set to 60 grs FF, shot flask set to 1 1/4 oz #6 shot and a wad tube that I made holds 10 rds of wads in loading order. The tube makes loading much easier then fumbling around in a bag looking for wads.

 

[MSW]

Andy52, i like your tube gadget!

 

[user 49399]

W

Wasper nest? Now that's country. We call them that too
You play a banjer too?

Yep.

 

[andy52]

Andy52, i like your tube gadget!

It's pretty handy and you could make one to hold as many wads as you like. I have two smoothbores both are 12 ga so 3/4 copper pipe worked just right. I let it hang outside the bag so it's easy to get to.

 

[TreeMan]

I have recently started experimenting with shot in my fowler. I did manage to shoot a few squirrels, and a rabbit on my Grandma's farm, but the loads were rudimentary, even random at best. I am kind of confused by how everyone loads their shot. Can someone break it down for me (slowly lol). What wads and cards go where? What sizes?

If you’re getting game in your bag then you are doing good. I was obsessed on getting the best shot patterns in my smoothbore. Once I hit the woods and starting busting squirrels most of that all went out the window. When those tree rats start jumping from tree to tree I’m digging in my bag for anything to put over the powder and anything to put over the shot. I wasn’t digging for two cards and three wads in a certain order. I was grabbing a handful of whatever and shoving it down the barrel. I’ve killed as many squirrels with the on the move/in a hurry load as I have the tried and true sky chief type load. Now for turkey hunting you normally only get one shot. In this case I have my tested load ready to go. If I get a second shot on a wounded bird there is liable to be leaves and a little Debbie wrapper shoved down the bore between powder and shot.

 

[Magungo1066]

If you’re getting game in your bag then you are doing good. I was obsessed on getting the best shot patterns in my smoothbore. Once I hit the woods and starting busting squirrels most of that all went out the window. When those tree rats start jumping from tree to tree I’m digging in my bag for anything to put over the powder and anything to put over the shot. I wasn’t digging for two cards and three wads in a certain order. I was grabbing a handful of whatever and shoving it down the barrel. I’ve killed as many squirrels with the on the move/in a hurry load as I have the tried and true sky chief type load. Now for turkey hunting you normally only get one shot. In this case I have my tested load ready to go. If I get a second shot on a wounded bird there is liable to be leaves and a little Debbie wrapper shoved down the bore between powder and shot.

My kind of guy hahaha

 

[Kid Shelleen]

Here's my set up for smoothbore shooting. This is a shot load not round ball.
Powder flask set to 60 grs FF, shot flask set to 1 1/4 oz #6 shot and a wad tube that I made holds 10 rds of wads in loading order. The tube makes loading much easier then fumbling around in a bag looking for wads.

Andy, am I correct to assume that you are shooting only 60g of FF in your 12 gauge? If so, could you expand on how you load, your results, & what you hunt. Thank you.

 

[andy52]

I have two double barrel caplocks that setup is for a original from 1858 with Damascus barrels so I don't load it very hot and use mainly for rabbits. The other is a modern made Pedersoli that one I use 90 grs in it and have a different load tube for the powder flask.
The Pedersoli shoots much better but is a bear to load because of the screw in chokes, it's a pain in the A trying to get the wads past a full choke.
I use the same loading technique for both powder, thick carboard over powder, fiber wad, shot and thin over shot wad.
Results vary the older gun if it ever had chokes they're long since worn out so game has to be pretty close to be effective. The newer one is about as effective as a 2 3/4 shotshell.
Short story on hunting with a muzzleloader shogun. I took the newer one duck hunting once just for grins. The guys I hunt with told me I had to shoot last and for good reason, on a cold breezeless morning the smoke from my gun would just hang in the air for minutes making ducks hard to see.

 

[Britsmoothy]

I have two double barrel caplocks that setup is for a original from 1858 with Damascus barrels so I don't load it very hot and use mainly for rabbits. The other is a modern made Pedersoli that one I use 90 grs in it and have a different load tube for the powder flask.
The Pedersoli shoots much better but is a bear to load because of the screw in chokes, it's a pain in the A trying to get the wads past a full choke.
I use the same loading technique for both powder, thick carboard over powder, fiber wad, shot and thin over shot wad.
Results vary the older gun if it ever had chokes they're long since worn out so game has to be pretty close to be effective. The newer one is about as effective as a 2 3/4 shotshell.
Short story on hunting with a muzzleloader shogun. I took the newer one duck hunting once just for grins. The guys I hunt with told me I had to shoot last and for good reason, on a cold breezeless morning the smoke from my gun would just hang in the air for minutes making ducks hard to see.

Why o why struggle with fibre wads !
I don't get this fascination with wads. Just put a few thin cards on the powder. They curl up to pass the chokes.

 

[Crow-Feather]

This may be horrendous (I don't know) but when I killed those squirrels and the bunny, my load was equal shot to powder, two felt wads over the powder, and one on top of the shot. That may be a ratchet way to do it, but it worked.

In my 10 gauge, I drop in 80 grains powder. I take the card wads that I get from the store and split them in half for the over powder card. Then I split the 10 gauge felt wad in half and load half in each bore. Then equal volume shot. Then a full paper store bought wad over shot. Won the local shotgun shoot with that load a few years ago.

 

[andy52]

Why o why struggle with fibre wads !
I don't get this fascination with wads. Just put a few thin cards on the powder. They curl up to pass the chokes.

The fiber wads really aren't a big deal they're soft enough to compress even with a full choke. The thick over powder wads are the pain in the A.
I've tried using no fiber wads and the issue I have with that is shot deformation. Little flat disks don't fly as well as little round balls.

 

[Eterry]

Why o why struggle with fibre wads !
I don't get this fascination with wads. Just put a few thin cards on the powder. They curl up to pass the chokes.

Because in the 50s before plastic wads someone cut open a paper shotgun shell and said, I need the fiber wads in my muzzleloader if i'm gonna hit anything.

Saw 38 SERIOUS trap and skeet competitors gather for a 3 day shoot from about 5 states. Not ONE of them used fiber wads.

My muzzleloading shotgun mentor, who has won at state level, says fiber wads offer NO improvement over card wads, and doesn't use or recommend them.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Because in the 50s before plastic wads someone cut open a paper shotgun shell and said, I need the fiber wads in my muzzleloader if i'm gonna hit anything.

Saw 38 SERIOUS trap and skeet competitors gather for a 3 day shoot from about 5 states. Not ONE of them used fiber wads.

My muzzleloading shotgun mentor, who has won at state level, says fiber wads offer NO improvement over card wads, and doesn't use or recommend them.

Absolutely

 

[Britsmoothy]

The fiber wads really aren't a big deal they're soft enough to compress even with a full choke. The thick over powder wads are the pain in the A.
I've tried using no fiber wads and the issue I have with that is shot deformation. Little flat disks don't fly as well as little round balls.

Your wrong sorry. Not needed nor the thick hard overpowder cards also known as nitro cards.

 

[user 49399]

Success in squirrel woods today using load I described above.

 

[andy52]

Your wrong sorry. Not needed nor the thick hard overpowder cards also known as nitro cards.

Which part am I wrong about? Nitro card, fiber wad or over shot wad.
I suppose one could go with just a fiber and a over shot but I'm not sure how much that would effect shot velocity.
The way I described it is a bit slower but it works for me.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Which part am I wrong about? Nitro card, fiber wad or over shot wad.
I suppose one could go with just a fiber and a over shot but I'm not sure how much that would effect shot velocity.
The way I described it is a bit slower but it works for me.

You are making it difficult for yourself friend. Forget the nitro card. Forget the fibre wad.
Just use over shot cards on top of the powder x4-5. They will pass through the choke entered diagonally or edge first and the rammer will right them on the way down.
You only need to carry one type of wadding material and patterns could possibly improve.

 

[Eterry]

Using smokeless powder, which operates at a much higher pressure, I can possibly see a fiber wad being used to cushion the shot before the implementation of the plastic wad.
But Black powder operates at much lower pressure, and the fiber and or plastic wads are not needed.
That's my take off the situation.
I'm not an engineer.. but I did stay at a Holiday Inn.