Results of prb in Pedersoli sxs

[RayJ]

The results of shooting a prb from my Pedersoli sxs were not very good.I tried .690 balls with .020 patches in IC choke.I tried .715 balls with nitro card over powder and overshot card over ball.I tried Triple7 powder and some Goex that I picked up at Bass pro shops last week.The balls were very inconsistent past 20 yards.Alot of the misses were low.I'm not sure if it was me or the gun.I tried aiming down the barrel with the center bead.I also tried aiming down each barrel individually.Both ball combos were about equal in consistency.I think alot of it was me.I wouldn't try to hunt deer with this at all.Hogs,maybe,if I can get them fairly close.I think maybe I need to hold a little higher with the center bead.Maybe,a foot above the aiming point.By the way,the chokes came out fine.I ended up shooting alot of combos with different chokes and shot size and type.Had a good day but disappointed with the balls.May try again soon.Any ideas to improve accuracy would be appreciated.

 

[petew]

I get my best results with a wasp nest wad over the powder, a .690 RB and some more wasp nest over the ball in my Pedersoli . Mine actualy measures closer to a 13 ga, and is Cyl x Cyl

 

[majg1234]

try not to aim it....I know it sounds strange but when I aim my SB they all shoot low when I point them and don't snuggle down so close it works well.I get about a 3" group @ 60yrd with my SB flinter and about 5-6" groups with my TC New Englanders at 60yrds. I get 3-4" groups with my Howdah @30yrds doing it that way too.It is more like instinct shooting with a recurve.

 

[RayJ]

OK.So,you are saying to shoot it as I would a duck for example.I shoot a recurve bow and know about instinctive shooting.When I'm shooting at anything flying,both eyes are open and I'm really pointing,not aiming .If I get you right,I should shoot with both eyes open as I would my recurve?Maybe that will help.I had lots of low shots today.If I got real close,accuracy was ok but I would like 40-50 yard accuracy.I may try that next.I wish I knew if it was me or the gun and ball,wad combo that was to blame for the inconsistency.

 

[Britsmoothy]

How are you lubing everything?

B.

 

[kurts]

shoot the gun off a bench at 25 yd or closer. you need a positive starting point in order to move on.

 

[RayJ]

I am not lubing anything,except with the .690 prb.The .715 ball is over a hard nitro card and powder and under an os card.

 

[RayJ]

I guess a bench would be a good starting point but to be perfectly honest,I've never even shot any kind of a rifle in my entire life.I grew up duck hunting with modern shotguns and kind of gotm out of that while I was in the Navy.I started bowhunting with a compound bow in 1990 and then picked up a recurve in 2000.I got this Pedersoli 12ga about two years ago and have killed a few ducks with it and just thought it might be fun for hogs.Since I've never shot a rifle,this may have something to do with my poor accuracy.I just don't know.A previous poster suggested that I point it as I would a recurve bow,kind of instinctive.I do know most of my misses were low.One more question.Should I aim with the center bead or try to align each barrel over the aiming point?

 

[BrownBear]

I do know most of my misses were low.One more question.

Not saying this is fer sure, but a bench would help sort it out. Could be a flinch; could be heavy triggers and a tendency to pull it down on the trigger break; could be time for a bead change; and, could be that stock is a little short for you.

Not pointing fingers at you, rather at myself. I know that the stock is short on my Pietta, and I have this little devil in the back of my head that can cause me to flinch with RB. No sense to it because there's no more recoil than with the same weight of shot, but that big old ball launching down the bore stirs the flinch devil. My offhand shots were often low, and I was about to start messing with the gun until I benched it. Now I'm messing with my mind and that flinch devil. :wink:

 

[RayJ]

You are the second person to recommend a bench.I have a dumb question.How exactly do you do that?What kind of bench?sitting or standing?I'm very new to this so I need instruction like a preschooler.lol

 

[BrownBear]

My favorite "bench" is kinda informal since I'm not shooting on a formal range. I keep a 6' sheet of 5/8 ply in the bed of my truck along with a saw horse and a folding chair. When I want to bench a gun, I drop the gate, slide the plywood out about 4' and prop the end on the saw horse. Unfold the chair and bingo. Bench rest. Nice to have that tail gate and truck bed handy for all my "accessories."

BTW- Unless I planned ahead, most often my "gun rest" is a rolled up coat. I position it so my hand on the forend rests on the roll.

 

[Britsmoothy]

I am not lubing anything,except with the .690 prb.The .715 ball is over a hard nitro card and powder and under an os card.

Ray, I have never got anywhere with a ball in a smoothbore without lots of lube! I am in no way an expert compared to most here but I do this;
I don't fiddle with nitro cards.
I do soak any fibre wads in olive oil. (Any black powder cartridge rifle shooter will tell you...get the lube quantity wrong or quality and it's game over).
Patches are plastered in a mix of olive oil and some candle wax.

All the above I have found keeps the fouling soft and therefore a consistent ride for the load chain.

Do use the bead but try to remember to NOT try to beat the sight/s! Many of us try to rush the sights feeling pressure to get the shot gone when the sight picture is good.

Just let the gun float just like the end of that arrow does just for a moment before release. You may find that you can start calling the shots...those that were good and those that were not....it will certainly be more relaxed!

I was doing it with a levergun this morning but had to remind my self of the above just the same!

It is quite possible those chokes are messing it up for you, do consider a cylinder choke tube, if only one. My double is used as a combination gun as it only shoots the left tube well and that's fine for me and that is cyl and cyl.

B.

 

[BillinOregon]

Ditto on cylinder choke.
As to benches, Brownie's solution will work fine. However, if you find yourself feeling beat up shooting from a seated position, try rigging a bench or rest so you can shoot from standing. This can be as simple as an 18-inch square of plywood braced with 2X4 and C-clamped to an upright post, such as often helps hold up the roof on a covered shooting range.
The great British rifle houses that build heavy nitro guns for dangerous game often test their heavy recoiling doubles from a standing bench.

 

[BrownBear]

...shoot from standing....a standing bench.

Good suggestion. Once upon a time when I was shooting on formal ranges, I built a standing bench along the lines of the Brit build. Dandy for the hurky stuff I was shooting. Lasted almost a year before someone broke it up for firewood on a cold day. Yahoos..... :barf:

Be a little leery about following in my footsteps on this one, though. A friend shoots across the hood of his truck for a standup- just puts his shooting box on the hood with a rolled coat for a rest. I shot with him and really liked it, so tried it myself a few days later with my own truck.

Things to do before using your own truck:

1. Check your windshield for small chips, especially with a crack.

2. If you have one, make sure it's a good ways behind the muzzle.

3. Read up on what your insurance policy sezz about windshield replacement.

I failed on all three points. One shot, and I had a spider web of cracks going in all directions from in front of the passenger's eyes over to the driver side. Didn't have windshield replacement coverage either. :rotf:

 

[Patocazador]

After doing it one time, I made a rule: Never shoot a shotgun from a bench unless recoil doesn't affect you at all. It just hammers you and will make you develop a flinch.
I would suggest shooting at 25 yards and using the side of a tree to lean your gloved forward hand against to steady the shot. That way your body can move rearward with the recoil and not smash your shoulder and cheekbone.

Shoot it as you shoot ducks and fire when it is shouldered correctly. Ignore the front sight as you do when duck shooting. If the gun fits properly, the shot will be close to the bullseye. You will also see which barrel is more accurate with PRB.

 

[RayJ]

This is in reply to all of the above suggestions.THANKS.I will reread all of them and try what I think may work.I'm open to advice.I can see how the bench rest would help determine whether it's me or the gun with poor accuracy,much like a shooting machine in archery.Also,I will try lubed felt wads instead of the nitro cards.That may help.I may have to order more balls.I had 25 of each size and shot half of those yesterday.

 

[RayJ]

I may check to see if they carry cylinder chokes at Academy.They had most of the other sizes I have.They are only 14.95 compared to over 30.00 for a Pedersoli choke tube.

 

[Wes/Tex]

My ball from double barrel is restricted to the pre-removable choke days. My technique was a patched ball with only a OP card to protect material. What little shooting we did using choked bores proved the open choke to be superior for accuracy. With the shorter barreled lengths of some of the modern copies compared to old originals, have actually tried the old trick used by the Rifle Regiment with their Baker Rifles for a quick muzzle rest. The, now called, Royal Green Jackets pulled their metal ramrods and while holding one end in their left hand, pushed the other into the hip bend of the left leg while kneeling with the right knee on the ground. It creates a quick, easy support but you have to remember to not let the ramrod touch the rifle stock...recoil makes scratches! :wink: Doesn't work too well with a long barrel and matching long ramrod! :haha:

 

[Britsmoothy]

My ball from double barrel is restricted to the pre-removable choke days. My technique was a patched ball with only a OP card to protect material. What little shooting we did using choked bores proved the open choke to be superior for accuracy. With the shorter barreled lengths of some of the modern copies compared to old originals, have actually tried the old trick used by the Rifle Regiment with their Baker Rifles for a quick muzzle rest. The, now called, Royal Green Jackets pulled their metal ramrods and while holding one end in their left hand, pushed the other into the hip bend of the left leg while kneeling with the right knee on the ground. It creates a quick, easy support but you have to remember to not let the ramrod touch the rifle stock...recoil makes scratches! :wink: Doesn't work too well with a long barrel and matching long ramrod! :haha:

good point....might be risky with a wooden rammer!
A second plastic field rammer like I made should be ok.

I never practice rested...nothing I hunt lets me!
B.

 

[paulab]

It will be a miracle if you get both barrels ever shoot to point of aim. They are almost certainly not "regulated". Double rifle or shotgun barrels shoot up and away from each other. Just having them soldered parallel to each other isn't good enough. Your barrels may shoot left high and the right low [or vice versa], they may shoot across each other or away from each other. Even when regulated, it will be for a very specific charge, ball weight and distance. The Brits made a real science of regulating barrels. You have to unsolder, tweak the barrels in the desired direction, resolder, repeat etc. etc. cheers Paul