megasupermagnum
45 Cal.
I am finally. This year I will be hunting ducks and geese primarily with my new to me, original SXS 10 gauge, built in the 1850's. I'm sure I've posted pictures of the shotgun, but I'll do so again. Over the years I've tried a number of different setups for carrying supplies. I think I've really got it down to a good system. The bag is one from October Country, I want to say it was called the freelancer. It's not perfect, but it is big enough for what I want, and does the job. I'll be building my own in the future. Connected to the strap, I have a short string to my Cash capper, tucked in a medium pocket inside, along with a ball/wad puller, a spare nipple, and anything else extra. My powder measure currently is a Lee adjustable shot measure, which I'll get to later, tucked into a small pocket. Laying loosely in the bottom of the main bag is my wads, I only carry one kind of wad. Last but not least, we have a shot bag I constructed last night that fits in this bag perfectly. The plug is the shot measure. The powder horn is one from TOTW, and is the large inexpensive one. I used to tie things off on the strap, including the plug. The system I've come to like is to simply put the plug in my teeth as I pour powder. That's the only way I've found I can't forget to put the plug back in, and not loose it.
Let's talk about the shot bag. In the past I've used a bunch of things to carry shot. Cheap plastic water bottles, toothpaste tubes, socks, even ziplock bags (which is no fun at all). Of those, the only one I will use again is the cheap plastic water bottle, from bottled water. They can be crushed so they don't take up a ton of room if you don't full them fully, they come with a great cap, and the mouth is perfect size. The only problems is they look like trash, and they make noise. So finally out of the blue, last night I decided I'd build my leather shot pouch. It only took me an hour. I used nothing but a sharpened nail as an awl, a couple leather needles, and waxed thread, along with the leather of course. I knew the general shape I wanted, and I made it to fit the bag I had. It works perfectly. I currently have it stuffed with all the B size bismuth shot it will hold, which is just over 2 pounds. That should be a perfect amount for my uses, and it is not noticeable when carrying. I didn't have anything wood the right size, so I searched around looking for a suitable plug. I found a 16 gauge shotgun shell is the exact perfect fit. I wet the leather slightly, and let it form.
Lets jump back to last weekend. I went out goose hunting for the first time this year. I had patterned this gun in the past, and was strangely disappointed. It has been phenomenal with lead shot, and #4 bismuth. For whatever reason the B bismuth pattern was very thin. I decided to use my best load anyway, which was equal measure of shot and powder 100gr. After missing a couple of geese that should have been killed, I upped the shot to 120. The next goose through I killed at around 25 yards. My brother got one about the same distance with his 20 gauge modern shotgun with 7/8oz shot. If you haven't already figured it out, let me explain. For whatever reason my little pea brain is stuck on lead shot. It never occurred to me that the bismuth shot is lighter, and I needed more volume. I put my 100 gr measure of B shot on a scale, and sure enough, it was just over 1 oz of shot. This was both because bismuth is lighter than lead, but mainly because I was using a large size shot in my skinny powder measure. I then trimmed an empty 16 gauge shell to hold 1 5/8 oz of B bismuth, and that is now my plug for my shot bag. My normal powder measure works fantastic for powder, but it's long and skinny, and I could never find a great way to keep it in the shooting bag. That's why I went to the Lee adjustable shot measure. I found with that set on 1 1/2 oz, drops right at 105 gr of powder. That measure fits perfectly in my bag.
One last little tidbit. I had been shooting card wads cut from a .050" thick pallet slip sheet, and they work great. The other day at work I noticed a thicker divider. It measures .100" thick. It is exactly the same material, only twice as thick. This has to be the stuff V.M. Starr was using decades ago. I love the stuff. What I've been doing is loading two of those over the powder, then for over the shot, I'm splitting them in half with my fingernail, which is easy. Since it is a SXS, one card goes for both barrels. This way I don't have to punch out so many. 10 minutes of work goes a lot farther. So now that I have a load that might actually be lethal to a goose out to 40 yards, I am finally ready for hunting season.
Let's talk about the shot bag. In the past I've used a bunch of things to carry shot. Cheap plastic water bottles, toothpaste tubes, socks, even ziplock bags (which is no fun at all). Of those, the only one I will use again is the cheap plastic water bottle, from bottled water. They can be crushed so they don't take up a ton of room if you don't full them fully, they come with a great cap, and the mouth is perfect size. The only problems is they look like trash, and they make noise. So finally out of the blue, last night I decided I'd build my leather shot pouch. It only took me an hour. I used nothing but a sharpened nail as an awl, a couple leather needles, and waxed thread, along with the leather of course. I knew the general shape I wanted, and I made it to fit the bag I had. It works perfectly. I currently have it stuffed with all the B size bismuth shot it will hold, which is just over 2 pounds. That should be a perfect amount for my uses, and it is not noticeable when carrying. I didn't have anything wood the right size, so I searched around looking for a suitable plug. I found a 16 gauge shotgun shell is the exact perfect fit. I wet the leather slightly, and let it form.
Lets jump back to last weekend. I went out goose hunting for the first time this year. I had patterned this gun in the past, and was strangely disappointed. It has been phenomenal with lead shot, and #4 bismuth. For whatever reason the B bismuth pattern was very thin. I decided to use my best load anyway, which was equal measure of shot and powder 100gr. After missing a couple of geese that should have been killed, I upped the shot to 120. The next goose through I killed at around 25 yards. My brother got one about the same distance with his 20 gauge modern shotgun with 7/8oz shot. If you haven't already figured it out, let me explain. For whatever reason my little pea brain is stuck on lead shot. It never occurred to me that the bismuth shot is lighter, and I needed more volume. I put my 100 gr measure of B shot on a scale, and sure enough, it was just over 1 oz of shot. This was both because bismuth is lighter than lead, but mainly because I was using a large size shot in my skinny powder measure. I then trimmed an empty 16 gauge shell to hold 1 5/8 oz of B bismuth, and that is now my plug for my shot bag. My normal powder measure works fantastic for powder, but it's long and skinny, and I could never find a great way to keep it in the shooting bag. That's why I went to the Lee adjustable shot measure. I found with that set on 1 1/2 oz, drops right at 105 gr of powder. That measure fits perfectly in my bag.
One last little tidbit. I had been shooting card wads cut from a .050" thick pallet slip sheet, and they work great. The other day at work I noticed a thicker divider. It measures .100" thick. It is exactly the same material, only twice as thick. This has to be the stuff V.M. Starr was using decades ago. I love the stuff. What I've been doing is loading two of those over the powder, then for over the shot, I'm splitting them in half with my fingernail, which is easy. Since it is a SXS, one card goes for both barrels. This way I don't have to punch out so many. 10 minutes of work goes a lot farther. So now that I have a load that might actually be lethal to a goose out to 40 yards, I am finally ready for hunting season.
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