my first ml shotgun

[Bob J]

i paied 400 for mine but I am the first person to have shot it

:thumbsup: That sounds like a good buy - new they are probably twice that, or very near. Enjoy!

 

[hornetk4]

I forgot to ask if your's is choked or is it cylinder bored ? Mine is cylinder bored but it is crome lined which is a good feature if I want to shoot steel shot although at this time I don't have any plan to use steel , I'm having so much fun using lead although I would like to try slugs . Anyway be careful and enjoy your gun .

 

[ian45662]

there is no chrome in the barrel that i know of but one of the barrels is choked

 

[caplock28g]

Just wanted to jump in here & say that I've had a great time shooting my 12 ga Pedersoli (non Cabelas). Mine is choked .008 & .013. It is all that I ever use on Blue Grouse here in the Mountains. As w/ some of you I've done sxtensive stock work on mine to get things to line-up.
My load for Pheasants & Blues goes something like this, 74gr ff, one .030in (thin) card, 2 wonderwads, 1 1/16 oz #5 with a brown paper bag shot column & top it off with one more wonderwad. Works for me, but I'm always trying new things & thats the greatest part about these guns.
Have a great time w/your new gun
caplock

PS-- they're as deadly as any cartridge gun if set-up properly

 

[ian45662]

What did you have to do to the stock to get it to line up?

 

[paulvallandigham]

Since the position your face takes on the rear stock aligns or does not align your eye with the front bead, how your face fits that stock goes a long way to determining where the shot pattern will impact, on target. On break open actions, the stock can be bent right or left. If the stock is bent to the right it is called " Cast off ". If to the left, its called " cast on ". Cast off puts the stock away from the face, allowing a fuller face to rest next ot the comb of the stock so that the eye is lined up down the center of the barrel. With an unloaded gun, the gun maker will stand in front of the shooter and have the shooter mount the gun to his shoulder and face, and point the gun at his dominant eye. The maker will look back down and over the center of the barrel to see how well the eye is positioned with the centerline of the gun. Sometimes, all that is needed is a little wood filed or sanded off the comb to allow the shooter to center his eye. That is often found done on older guns, too.

I hope that explains what is done with a stock to get the eye centered with the bore, so that the gun patterns close to Point of Aim.

 

[caplock28g]

I had to take 1/4" off the comb (tapering to nothing at the butt),and about 3/16" off the left side at the point where my jaw bone touches the stock tapering nicely out into the rest of the stock. That got things to line up pretty well. I also took about 1/8" off the rt side just for looks. These things have a lot of wood in the butt making them a good candidate for a little stock fitting. I also added about 7oz of led to the butt to get a better balance. Experiment by taping led to the butt. Fun stuff.
As mentioned, bending by a good gunmaker would be another option.

keep us posted
caplock

 

[Twice boom]

I have a question for the gentlemen.

The problem is My 1847 John Manton blows donut holes in to the pattern. I helped it out a bit by using one over shot card over the felt wad and doubled up on the over the shot cards.Still the pattern is not as well as it should be in my opinion.
Have any ideas....
My hunting load is 1 to 1 ratio of 1 1/8 oz shot to ff powder.
Same load out of a different gun shoots some nice patterns....

 

It may not be period correct but I have a shooting buddy that uses a 10 ga. that was blowing donut holes also. He went to a plastic : shot cup and it filled in all the holes.
Mark

 

[Rebel]

Try loading a bit less powder(70 grs) and then 4 thin overshot cards your shot and 2 overshot cards and see if that helps.

 

[Twice boom]

I might be tempted to try it if I thought the inside of the bores would not crust over..That is if you are saying to omit the prelubed felt wad......
I like the shot cup idea ,but who will clean the plastic out of the guns bores.:>) That stuff comes out of the end of the barrel looking like Spaghetti.

 

[Rebel]

If i am going to do a bunch of shooting i put a little grease between the overshot wads to lube the bore. For just a few shots i don't need it though.

 

[Twice boom]

For sure I will give your suggestion a whirl to see if it will improve the pattern . My everage (good guess) shots taken on a days hunt is somewhere between 18-20 . It will be little messy out in the field if I have to mess with greased overshot cards.
But it might be a good starting point for the cure..The funny thing is I get the same results from both barrels.....

I'm thinking it has to do something with the ignition timing, too fast or too slow,rather than the load and or the wads.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Twice B........

 

[paulvallandigham]

Teh fact that you get the same problem with both barrels is a pretty good indication that you are using too much powder. Try the reduced load. It should help fill the patterns.

 

[Twice boom]

Teh fact that you get the same problem with both barrels is a pretty good indication that you are using too much powder. Try the reduced load. It should help fill the patterns.

That's a though.
As I recall back when pattering the gun I was also trying to reach velocities in 1150-1200 fps range with a 1 1/8 oz load. I don't remember that I did...More like 1100 fps.....
I'll keep that in mind next time i get out the pattering sheets and chrono.
Thanks a bunch guys.
Twice B.

 

[paulvallandigham]

To chronograph shot loads, make a thick shot cup sleeve, closing both ends over the shot. This will make a " slug " out of any charge of shot you want to shoot, allowing it to pass over the screens as one projectile, and give you accurate velocity readings. It also keeps you from damaging the Chronograph.

The secret to using black powder and shot is to start the shot out under 1100 fps. That eliminates the sound barrier as a disrupter or your pattern. In an open cylinder bore gun, that leaves only the shape of the pellets when they leave the barrel that affects the pattern size, and number of pellets in the pattern down range.

To deliver more energy on your target, use a heavier pellet size than what you are used to using out of a choked gun using cartridges, and smokeless powder. Take advantage of the fact that BP does not created the pressure, nor does it slam the base of the shot load like smokeless powder does. Now all you have to figure out is how to get the shot out the barrel without rubbing the outer pellets against the walls of the barrel, so that flats are put on all those pellets, and you have a pretty dense column of shot headed down range.

 

[Twice boom]

I had an old timer at Friendship tell me my problem could be the shot embedding in to the cushion wad when I ram the over shot card home, and suggested to place an over shot card over the cushion wad. As I said it did help some but still the pattern is not ideal. Now that you guys have me thinking muzzleloaders :hmm: again I have to admit that all the patterns I shot were with # 9's since that's the only shot I believe is legal at the skeet range there. There might be an outside chance the gun might handle # 5 or #6 my favorite for the birds I hunt... :hmm:
You guys are good,in more ways than one and I have to say thanks to my Friend Keith Hickam for turning me on to you guys...... :hatsoff:

Thanks again.
Twice B.

P.S. By the way,if there are any members that shoot Skeet at Friendship I am better known as the Greek, thanks to my Friend Jim and Gerald. :haha:

 

[paulvallandigham]

OH, if you are shooting skeet, you can definitely back that powder charge down to 70 or even down to 2 drams( 55 grains) at the bottom end. As long as you use a good Overpowder wad( or 4 OS wads, since they won't follow the shot and donut your patterns) you should get much better and denser patterns. Your longest shot will be 22 yards from the muzzle, so pattern your loads at 20 and 25 yads. when working up the loads. At Friendship, I think you can use #8 shot, shooting skeet, and 1 oz. of that is more than enough shot to break targets at those ranges.

 

[Twice boom]

My primary intent is hunting. Skeet is something I got started with at Friendship, about seven years ago.

I like the idea of down loading .....Most shots I will take will be in 30 yards or less .So I agree that by going to a bigger shot size with little less powder might be what I'm looking for.
Thanks again.....

 

[Runner]

My gun puts a load of sixes into a pattern you can almost cover with both hands at 20 yards. That is with 60 grains of RS, a thick nitro card, and whatever the medium setting on my shot snake throws. At that range the number sixes will be buried flush in a good piece of plywood. For squirrels and such, I have to pull off at close range and catch them with the edge of the pattern. If you need lube, run a lubed mop or patch after you are loaded maybe. A cushion wad does help with small shot in my gun, but I very seldom shoot that small of shot.