Ramblin's

[USMA65]

Recently I have had a lot of time on my hands. Reading several forums, and finding myself drawn more and more back thirty years, when I hunted deer with a Seneca, the lure of black powder has me under it's spell. Several guys here also post on a NC forum. As you peruse these boards very quickly you begin to pick up knowledge and insight into personalities. "Roundball" comes to mind as an individual I would like to meet someday. But, enough of my "ramblins", I have some questions. I have read of using a smoothbore for morning squirrel hunts and then using it with a patched round ball in the afternoon. Could you do the same with a rifled barrel? Shot in the morning and PRB in the afternoon with a T/C 45 Hawken? Have any of you heard of "pixie dust", or TSS shot? Seems to be quite a stir on the NC board about tss in a 28 ga shotgun being a turkey terminator. Can you use it in BP guns, smooth or rifled bores? Seems one guy, "Hawglips", is killing turkeys dead with #9 tss shot! You realise where this is headed for me, don't you? A smoothbore BP gun that is going to have to be a flinter !!

 

[BrownBear]

Don't know a thing about pixie dust, but with shot it's kind of an either-or situation or a neither-nor depending on your outlook. Shot doesn't work worth poot from a rifled bore, at least in terms of giving you meaningful squirrel hunting range. But there's a very good alternative- just used reduced charges with RB of for head shooting squirrels, then up the charge for afternoon deer. Of course some states have an upper bore limit on what you can legally use for small game. Dunno about NC.

The other alternative is to hunt squirrels in the AM with shot from a smoothbore in the morning, then swap the load for a round ball for deer in the afternoon. Lotta guys get very good accuracy from RB's from smoothbores, giving you near rifle-loke ranges for deer.

 

[wattlebuster]

A long time ago I tried some shot out of a flintlock rifle just to say I tried it and it threw a terrible pattern. If I were you an wanted to do both with the same gun then Id set my sights on a 62 cal smooth rifle. A tree rat getter with shot an a rack buster with a 600 roundball. It would be a right nice multi purpose flintlock. :hatsoff:

 

[longcruise]

The rifled barrel spins the shot collumn and when it leaves the muzzle it spreads very fast. It woul work at ten feet or less.

 

[SgtSchutzen]

Being able to use a load of shot in a rifle for small game is a concept that interests me also. This thread shows how to make a shot "cartridge" for a .45cal rifle that supposedly works. http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/266436/
Can`t say from personal experience if it does because I haven`t tried it yet myself, but I intend to try it sometime. If it does give usable patterns it would be cool to carry some of the shot cartridges in a shooting bag to use for squirrels if a smoothbore gun isn`t available.

 

[longcruise]

At the risk of seeming overly redundant, I'll repeat that it just does not work well in a rifle. The referenced thread is great and shows in excellent detail how to make the shot cartridges. The cartridge only serves to increase the spin of the entire shot load. If you want to go shot and ball from the same gun, then a smoothbore would be the way to do it. A smoothbore will shoot a round ball far better than a rifle will shoot shot.

 

[ny griz]

I once had the web site for the Co. that made the tss shot.They have a video showing pattern shots out to 70 yds on turkey head targets.It was very expesive,something like $125.00 for 25#.They do not sell it in smaller quanties.Very good target results.If i find their site i'll post it here.Seems to me maybe Ohio.Griz

 

[longcruise]

Yeah, the TSS is great stuff, but it will spread very quickly when shot from a rifled bore. It could probably be used in a smoothie as long as steps were taken to protect the bore as you might do if loading steel.