Pillow Ticking "Shot Cups"

[Flintlock58]

Very informative thread and a nice tool you have come up with. Thanks!

 

[luieb45]

I think I might try this in my .56 smoothbore this summer :thumbsup:. How thick of pillow ticking did you use? The stuff I usually have around is .013 or .014. Cotton drill around here runs a little thicker usually at .016 or .017.

 

[Mike Brooks]

Pretty nifty. :thumbsup: Have you tried lubing the patch cup? Also, will it shoot consistant patterns 10 or 12 times in a row? That was the problem I always had with any kind of shot cup....worked fine for maybe as long as a half dozen shots then the pattern may blow out for a shot or two.
The only consistant shotgun patterns I have ever shot was with a properly cut jug choke and no shotcups. It would be great if your invention was 100% consistantas I'd be all over it.

 

[roundball]

Same here on the pattern testing...I fold sheets of flip chart (24"x30") paper in half twice so the fold lines make visible quadrants when its hanging on the pattern board...1" aim point sticker in the middle, take the shot, walk up and stop a few feet from the paper, and can see at a glance what the pattern is doing...

I miss my old pattern "paper" from the testing days. It was a 4'x4' sheet of plate steel, spray painted white.

We have one of those steel panels at our trap & skeet range...I actually prefer the paper as I always save a few of particular interest for future reference...good & bad...and with the pre-printed labels I stick on them I know everything I need to know about that test...ie: date/weather/gun/gauge/distance/powder/wad/shot/card configurations, etc...

 

[Twice boom]

Yea if he can show us something at different ranges I too would be all over it.

Twice.

 

[texcl]

What a great set up, and so simple. I'll have to try her out.

 

[hunts4deer]

In your photo of the whole setup, what is the wooden item in the upper left side?

 

[BrownBear]

I think I might try this in my .56 smoothbore this summer :thumbsup:. How thick of pillow ticking did you use? The stuff I usually have around is .013 or .014. Cotton drill around here runs a little thicker usually at .016 or .017.

The ticking I've got right now mikes .017, Luie. I'm interested in trying other fabrics, and hope to pick some up in Anchorage when I fly there in the next few days.

 

[BrownBear]

Pretty nifty. :thumbsup: Have you tried lubing the patch cup? Also, will it shoot consistant patterns 10 or 12 times in a row? That was the problem I always had with any kind of shot cup....worked fine for maybe as long as a half dozen shots then the pattern may blow out for a shot or two.
The only consistant shotgun patterns I have ever shot was with a properly cut jug choke and no shotcups. It would be great if your invention was 100% consistantas I'd be all over it.

I'm lubing those with 1:7, beeswaxlive oil. They're over-lubed for my taste, with lots of excess skweegied off when I seat the patch. I think next time I lube a batch (microwave), I'll do it in two phases. Lube all in one batch, then separate them and restack with 2 dry patches between each, and renuke.

I haven't run a string of 10 or 12 with it yet, Mike. My instinct is that it will be fine based on the smoothness I'm seeing in all I've tried, compared to results with no ticking, or in the past with plastic wads. But that's a pure SWAG. It will have to warm up, then dry up lots before I can stand to spend a full day at the range. Call it May or June up here. I'd love to hear about it if you get a chance before I do! :thumbsup:

I also don't have any choked guns on hand, jug or otherwise. Shooting with those would be real useful info too, I think, especially if they eased loading in modern chokes. I'm getting a "choke" effect from the patches, but so far my guess has been that it's a result of improved "treatment" of the shot on firing and more uniform shot, limiting fliers due to bore wear, etc. Use of chokes would help confirm or deny.

 

[BrownBear]

Same here on the pattern testing...I fold sheets of flip chart (24"x30") paper in half twice so the fold lines make visible quadrants when its hanging on the pattern board...1" aim point sticker in the middle, take the shot, walk up and stop a few feet from the paper, and can see at a glance what the pattern is doing...

I miss my old pattern "paper" from the testing days. It was a 4'x4' sheet of plate steel, spray painted white.

We have one of those steel panels at our trap & skeet range...I actually prefer the paper as I always save a few of particular interest for future reference...good & bad...and with the pre-printed labels I stick on them I know everything I need to know about that test...ie: date/weather/gun/gauge/distance/powder/wad/shot/card configurations, etc...

I'm figuring to use the camera to "save" any pattern tests, as we did in the days of yore. But if I don't get the steel (and I'm not willing to spend much), I'm likely to use end-rolls of newsprint from the local newspaper.

 

[BrownBear]

In your photo of the whole setup, what is the wooden item in the upper left side?

Oops, sorry. That's just a wooden powder measure, in fact made roughly the same way from a 1" dowel as the starter: Drill the hole, adjust the length for your desired charge, then shape it with a rasp and saw it off the end of the dowel.

If you look close I think you can see a notch or two in the mouth. That's the way I keep track of the capacity of my different measures. This one has 9 notches, so I know it tosses 90 grains of powder or roughly 1 3/8 oz of shot.

BTW-

I've been meaning to post this. I finally smartened up a bit. It occurs to me that I should be able to measure and mark the funnel for different shot charges and pour directly from the flask. I'd like that simplification! :thumbsup:

 

[Grandpa Ron]

Excellent post.

Like the others, when the snow leaves I am going to have to try it.

I hope everyone whose tries it reports back.

Thanks

 

[BrownBear]

I hope everyone whose tries it reports back.

That's what I'm after. I don't see this being much more than a wild hair right now, and a young one at that. I like it for ease of use and pattern smoothing, but that's all I need it for. If it's useful for other things, the folks that need those will probably have to discover them and report back.

I know my attention span for range shooting and testing is real short, cuzz I can usually see ducks from my usual shooting spot, and I have to drive past snowshoe hares to get there. :grin:

 

[Golfswithwolves]

Mr. BrownBear- Thanks for this great idea for forming the shotcups correctly and filling them at the same time! :bow: I have been doing a similar thing by using my brass tube powder measure and filling it with shot, then stretching the ticking material over the measure to hold the shot in before inverting the measure and sliding it into the gun bore. Your method looks better, as it automatically gives the right length for the shot cup. :hatsoff:

 

[rabjr]

Well I just happen to have a small block of Cherry that was left over from my rifle build and I think this is a good project for it. :thumbsup:

 

[BrownBear]

Mr. BrownBear- Thanks for this great idea for forming the shotcups correctly and filling them at the same time! :bow: I have been doing a similar thing by using my brass tube powder measure and filling it with shot, then stretching the ticking material over the measure to hold the shot in before inverting the measure and sliding it into the gun bore. Your method looks better, as it automatically gives the right length for the shot cup. :hatsoff:

Aren't you insightful!!! :applause:

I started about the same way with shot in an old powder flask, but found that even #6 shot tended to hang in the flask and not fill the tube without lots of shaking and cussing. Moving one step up to an open brass measure makes sense.

Glad I didn't think of that too, or I'd have missed out on all the fun of carving this one! :rotf:

 

[BrownBear]

Well I just happen to have a small block of Cherry that was left over from my rifle build and I think this is a good project for it. :thumbsup:

Boy, I bet that turns out a lot nicer than the stained fir (or hem/fir?) dowel I used, and tough, too. I'm figuring mine is a "prototype," and when it almost certainly breaks I'll move onto some scrap maple I've got.

BTW- For you and anyone else making one, beware of the slightest bit of "reverse" taper in the tube. It will grab the patch every time you try to pull it free. I'm sure an absolutely straight tube would be fine, but I'm real happy that mine tapers slightly toward the tip.

Another good reason for using wood.... I went back and sanded out the reverse taper I got when I first made mine. :rotf:

 

[roundball]

Heck at the rate you're going, next thing you know you'll be thinking about inventing something really advanced like...oh, I don't know...maybe cylinder shaped, sealed on one end with brass, containing powder, wad, shot, and crimped on the other end.
:grin:

 

[BrownBear]

Heck at the rate you're going, next thing you know you'll be thinking about inventing something really advanced like...oh, I don't know...maybe cylinder shaped, sealed on one end with brass, containing powder, wad, shot, and crimped on the other end.
:grin:

Ah man, you're right. Put a cap in the brass end and you'd have it all in one package wouldn't ya! I'm wondering if I'd need a false muzzle to line it up for seating though. :grin:

Long as I'm back on, one thing has been "ticking" around in the back of my mind. I'm curious if I could use something like a heavy soak in fabric starch or something to stiffen the ticking and slow it's opening, actually resulting in tighter patterns. Maybe even pre-form them before they dry and stiffen.... On second thought, nah. This is about as complicated as I want to be, even if the door is still open to which fabric will suit me best.

 

[rabjr]

Start saving those rabbit skins....process the hides with hair off and try that for patching.