Paper Shot Cup Alternatives

[roundball]

Thought occurred to me to try something...the little paper "catsup cups" at all the fast food restaurants that you can fill up with catsup to take to the table...they're fairly firm and have some 'body' to them.

They're too wide in their present design, but I'm going to see what will happen if I sit one on the work bench, hold a bore size dowel firmly in the center, then pull the excess paper up around the dowel...as I recall they have folds / pleats pressed flat around them... :hmm:

 

[DanChamberlain]

I suppose they'd work...but cleaning off the barrel when the catsup runs down might be a deal breaker.

Dan

 

[roundball]

I suppose they'd work...but cleaning off the barrel when the catsup runs down might be a deal breaker.

Dan

:grin:
(Note to self: Remove catsup first)

 

[Keppy]

OH no. Now there will be signs up at the fast food places ( Please only one Thanks ) :rotf: :rotf:
Now are you going to use it for a shotcup? I tried a piece of paper rolled one time with a 1/8 inch wad at the bottom with the paper folded under with a small piece of masking tape. I measured out my shot and cut the paper off even where the shot was. I made a couple to try. I would put my powder in, one thin shot card OP. I then put my make shift cup in, then fill with shot to the top, and add a another thin card. I also lightly coated the sides of the paper with olive oil. It shot ok but, not any better to justify the extra work. If I could make some up and put them, say in 35mm case, so all I had to do was take one out and cut the top off could be a speed loader. :wink: I found the cups about the same distance as you would a patch. I have tried other things to but I won't tell anybody about them. :redface:
P.S. 12ga TC New Englander

 

[Wes/Tex]

I just see it now. Roundball is in Burgedoodle standing near the catsup cup pile and yells, "Hey, look, it's Elvis!"...everybody looks lutside and he grabs up about 50 dozen and runs for the Hemi! :rotf:

 

[gmww]

Your idea gave me another thought. How about paper mache'? You could take a bore sized rod and wrap it with some paper mache'. I would try one thin piece of paper and diluted glue. Anyways just a thought.

 

[roundball]

Your idea gave me another thought. How about paper mache'? You could take a bore sized rod and wrap it with some paper mache'. I would try one thin piece of paper and diluted glue. Anyways just a thought.

Classic brainstorming...look at all the ideas being spawned... :thumbsup:...a formed paper tupe made an eyelash under bore size that could then simply be custom cut in length would be the real deal...how long before you think you'll be ready for distribution...I need some with a finished OD of .520" :grin:

And something keeps nagging at me in the back of my mind that there's some sort of commercially prepared paper tube out there similar to the large plastic straw...I swear I've seen something like that made out of paper that's used for some other purpose but just can't drag it up...too bad they don't make jumbo sized paper straws.

Now, don't anybody flinch when I ask this next question, and I don't expect too many on this forum to know the answer of the top of their head...but I wonder how thick the walls are on a tampon tube?

 

[tom deinek]

Oh Yechkkk!

How about toilet paper tubes for LARGE bores?

 

[Geraldo]

Now, don't anybody flinch

Thanks. I had just cured my flinter flinch and you had to ask that. :wink:

 

[Britsmoothy]

I don't think they are too thick but I don't know what gauges petiete, medium, super and super max are :rotf: :shake:

 

[roundball]

I don't think they are too thick but I don't know what gauges petiete, medium, super and super max are :rotf: :shake:

I can see it now...a guy pays for a box of tampons at the checkout and asks to borrow the trash can, opens them all up and throws them away, keeps the tubes and walks out.

 

[fw707]

How about the paper coin rolls.
Might have been mentioned already, but I missed it if it was.

 

[Rebel]

The dime size fits in a .12 ga but the rest are all too big.

 

[paulvallandigham]

YOu are probably going to have to roll your own. Use a piece of dowel rod the correct diameter for the work. If you consult the " Drill Bit Chart " for making ball blocks, you can find a drill bit size for most of the shot gun gauges. A .550 barrel is 28 gauge, so use a .50 caliber rod, and a half inc dowel, or the shank on a 1/2 inch drill bit to serve as your mandrill to roll the cups.

A 20 gauge is .615, so drop down to .58, or 24 gauge for wads, and find a drill bit that will cut that diameter hole. A 37/64" bit should do the job.

For a 16, ga, drop down to 20 gauge for the wads, and use a 5/8" diameter drill, for the mandrill.

For the 12 gauge, use a 14 gauge wad, and a .68", or 11/16" diameter drill for your mandrill. The Dime coin wrappers are very close in size to this requirement, and you might save yourself time by using them instead. I have not tried to see what size wad they will take down them, so check that out before buying many of them. They are available from Stationary supply stores.

I have tried Index card stock, newsprint, grocery sack, and 3M Post-It note paper, and I found the most convenient paper was the Post-It note paper. The good news is that it comes with a self adhesive strip on one edge, saving you the messing around with glue. I tried one circle of the paper, and created instant confetti. I tried three wraps around the mandrill and created a shotgun slug. Th en I settle on the compromise- 2 wraps-- and that seems to be working well. No holes showing that the shot pellets are rubbing through, as you some times see with modern plastic shotcups. As long as I don't let any of the paper fold over the top-- I use an OS Card to hold the shot in the barrel --- I don't get the " slug effect". I am now trying to see if I can affect my patterns to any measurable extent by cutting slits in the top of the cup, to form " petals" just like those that appear in modern shotcups, but by varying the depth of the slits,( and therefore the length of the petals) I hope to control when the shot is released from the cup in mid flight, and improve patterns down range.

 

[ssettle]

I use the dime size coin rappers in my Dixie 10 gage double. They work fine on paper targets. I get good patterns out to 25 yards with an open and improved cylinder bore. Turkey hunted with it last spring. Settle

 

[JackAubrey]

I roll paper cartridges for my C.W rifled musket and for my Brown Bess,why do likewise and preload shot cartridges?

 

[Wes/Tex]

I roll paper cartridges for my C.W rifled musket and for my Brown Bess,why do likewise and preload shot cartridges?

One of the earliest black powder fowler hunters I knew did just that. The only difference was he glued a fiber wad in the middle of the paper cartridge roll. The shot went in the top and got a rolled up tip. The powder went in the bottom and was folded up like a regulare military cartridge. When he loaded, the bottom was unfolded, the powder poured in and the paper cartridge pushed in until just the paper pigtail at the top was visible. The pigtail was pulled up slightly and cut off and an overe-shot card pushed down on top of the cartridge. The whole was pushed down the bore. Worked for his goose hunting.

 

[roundball]

"...e glued a fiber wad in the middle of the paper cartridge roll. The shot went in the top and got a rolled up tip. The powder went in the bottom and was folded up like a regulare military cartridge. When he loaded, the bottom was unfolded, the powder poured in and the paper cartridge pushed in until just the paper pigtail at the top was visible. The pigtail was pulled up slightly and cut off and an overe-shot card pushed down on top of the cartridge. The whole was pushed down the bore.

That sounds like pretty good...another interesting thing to experiment with...at a minimum it sounds like a convenient way to carry reloads

 

[Wes/Tex]

It was a pretty good system at the time. The only wads available then were the ones with plastic and fiber together that were made for reloading smokeless shotgun shells. He used 16 ga. in 12 bores, 12 ga. in 10 bores, etc. His guns were real British antiques...Besses, Baker Rifles and fowlers. He took black bears, moose, geese, deer, you name it. Pretty cool.