Range Report

[Razorx]

Hey Everyone,

I thought I would give you a range report after all the suggestions you guys gave me. I went out tonight to try them. The target I was using was a piece of plywood 24x24 with a 8x11 sheet of green paper on it(I know that this is not the best way to pattern but was what I had at the time. Target at 25yrds. As far as shot I shot #6 steel because I hunt ducks and upland, also I have to to hunt goverment land).

Round #1 and #2
75gr of powder(triple 7)
100gr of #6 steel shot
Plastic shot cup cut flush on the bottom and top cut so the load was flush with the cup

Round #3
75gr of powder
100gr of shot
Plastic shot cup cut flush on the bottom and top cut so the load was flush with the cup with the side cuts legthing to the bottom

Round #4
75gr of powder
75gr of shot
a paper shot cup

Round #5
75gr of powder
75gr of shot
shot cup same one I used in rounds 1 and 2

The pelet count was
Round 1=48
Round 2=46
Round 3=18
Round 4=14
Round 5=50

Round 5 had the best looking spread on it the only problem was I found the shot cup on round 1 and 2 about 15 yrds past the target and on the 5 round the cup hit the very bottom of the target. Any thought you mit have to offer I am all ears.

Nolan

 

[bingo1952]

Have a look at this. It has worked for me for years. PM me if you want to know more.

 

[hawk]

where do you buy your cups?

 

[bingo1952]

Precision Reloading and Ballistics Products. The one shown is an old MEC steel cup. I don't know if that particular one is still available or not.

 

[Dave K]

Glad you said where you got it. I was going to head a pharmacy. :redface:

 

[Joel/Calgary]

...
Round #1 and #2
75gr of powder(triple 7)
100gr of #6 steel shot
...
Round #3
75gr of powder
100gr of shot
...
Round #4
75gr of powder
75gr of shot
...
Round #5
75gr of powder
75gr of shot

Just to be clear, do you mean that you are are using the volume of shot contained in a powder measure set to throw those weights of powder (which is what I think you mean), not that you are using shot charges that weight 75 and 100 grains? Using a 100gr setting on a powder measure would throw (depending measure diameter and shot size) around 1.3/8-1.1/2oz of lead shot, but something like 1-1.1/8oz of steel. A powder measure set to 75gr would throw 1-1.1/8oz of lead shot or something like 3/4-7/8oz of steel.

Assuming an adequate over-powder seal, and depending on which granulation of T-7 you are loading, the traditional (and over-simplified) dram-equivalency tables would suggest the 75/100 load is giving something in the range of 1150-1200fps, and the 75/75 load more toward 1225-1275. I'm curious how the penetration is on body hits with these loads and the #6 steel. I want to work up some steel loads in my 16ga (no chokes), and I'm looking for all the real-world info I can get. Based on everything I've read and heard so far, I'm leaning towards #5s for upland and teal, and #3s for "general" ducks and close-in geese. I still have some #4 bismuth for dedicated goose hunting.

If you can, I recommend that you do some full-size patterning so you can check for consistency. I hand-cut some unslit B-P MultiMetal steel shotcups, and found my patterns were not consistently round although the centers were OK - when I found some of the shotcups, I found some had 1 petal torn off. The 16ga suffers from limited availability of components compared to 10, 12, or 20ga, so I'm sort of stuck with these. I'm going to try Runnball's "tampon shotcup" with them when I can finally get out patterning again.

Good luck,
Joel

p.s. I'm advocating for renaming Runnball's invention to a more period-sounding "cotton-tail drogue shot concentrator".

 

[Britsmoothy]

You can't say "period" and tampon in the same text, dude :shocked2:

Any ways for a lack of 16g components why not use paper cups? 6-7 layers ought to do it and greased. I know 4 layers keep lead of my barrel pretty much.

Britsmoothy. :shake:

 

[bingo1952]

I kinda like the new name (very technical sounding) but since I have a slightly warped sense of humor I like my name too. :blah: :v

 

[bingo1952]

The paper cups do a good job with lead shot but are a little light for steel shot work.

 

[Razorx]

Hey Joel,

Sorry on so long to get back to you. I have gone to using 60gr of T-7 which I use a powder measurer. As far as the shot it is #6 from precission reloading. As to there cart it says that approximately 327BB for a 1 1/8oz. I've got a little case ocd and counted them out. I then use a different powder measurer for it and it was like 100gr. this is how I have been doing my shot. When I did this combo I got 70% coverage @ 25yrds and 50% @ 40yrds. I am going to try the tuna fish can test here in the next few days to see what happens. Taking this load setup with me to hunt pheasents but have not had a chance to try it. As far as shotcups I triied one that were made out of index cards but had some bad results with. took runnballs suggestion and triied the shotcups with the cottonballs and this seem to give me good results. I will keep everyone posted on how things go. However I am always up for suggestions

Nolan

 

[paulvallandigham]

My experience with paper shotcups is that if you simply make a " tube " the shot does not separate, and you get a slug going through the pattern paper at 25 yds! Sometimes, a little bit of the shot separates, depending on the load.

I found that you have to do something to separate the cup from the shot , and I cut slits in the front of the tube, imitating modern plastic shotcups. This makes for an Air Brake Effect, when the petals you create hit the air outside the muzzle. I believe the shorter the petals( cuts) are, the longer it takes for the shot to separate from the cup. The longer the petals( longer cuts) the faster they separate.

As Roundball noted, and have others, if you make too many cuts, you are likely to have torn away petals-at least one. So, try making just two slits in your cups, and keep them about 1/4'-3/8" long.

Of course, keep in mind that the lighter the load of shot used, the faster any given powder charge is going to put that shotcup out of the barrel, and the faster the shot will separate from the cup. The old rule of thumb about using a slower load to get a more dense pattern still applies. That is why we tend to use larger shot with MLers, than we would with a modern shotgun, when hunting. The larger shot retains pellet energy better at lower MVs.

If you are going to shoot any load of shot under 1 oz., consider either shortening those cuts in the mouth of the cup, and/or reducing the powder charge to get a denser pattern.

All this advice assumes that you are shooting these cups out of a cylinder bore gun. Choked barrels add other dimensions- both assets and problems-- to using home-made shotcups. Basically, I believe that if you want to use a choked barrel, you have to use thicker paper "tubes" to withstand that squeeze at the choke. Even modern plastic cups have been known to tear off a petal going through a full choked barrel.

Best of wishes on your successful hunting. :hatsoff: