Shooting shot out of a rifle? Steel shot?

[hawkeye2]

Because you are looking for sabots, try looking for shop cups to reload shotshells. A .410 shot cup should work in a .45 rifle.

 

[Britsmoothy]

When I tried lead shot in a 45 rifle it was good to 15yds, but I don't rememberthe load. I reasoned that aiming to the side of an intended target meant the doughnut hole in the pattern was to the side of the target!

 

[Sidney Smith]

the powder is a mild lung irritant, solvents can be toxic but most aren't these days, and the projectiles I use are either full copper or jacketed sabot bullets. Lead is a carcinogenic neurotoxin, and a potent one at that.

Oh give me a break. If you ingest lead, then yes there are risks, however merely handling lead will not do harm as long as you do as I mentioned. Breathing lead fumes when casting is an issue but done in a well ventilated area the risk is minimal. You've got a bigger risk for cancer eating junk food.

 

[megasupermagnum]

I'm just going to leave this guy be, and I suggest others do as well. Clearly anyone who is this willing to shoot bb gun BB's in a rifled barrel muzzleloader knows so much more about health than us. He especially knows more about the dangers of lead than a bullet caster.

P.S. You should definitely see a doctor about that brain fog. I'm not joking, I've lost family to "sensitivity" that turned out to be a warning for a stroke.

 

[Snydly]

Have any of you tried shooting shot out of your rifles using a plastic shot cup? I know it's not traditional, but could avoid the rifling deforming the shot, although it would still rotate the cup. I don't know whether commercially available cups would fit standard muzzle loader calibers.

Back in the 70s there was a plastic wad made in Dubois Wy. Cupped on both ends and was intended to hold a round ball without a patch. I tried it in my 50 cal Hawken style rifle using shot. It seemed to be good to about 10-12 yards... no more than that. Got a pheasant with it that flushed almost at my feet. Hit him point blank. Never came close to another one after that. I got that out of my system very quickly. Smooth bores for me ever since.

 

[sheriff john]

Anything rifled produces doughnut patterns with loose shot - rifles or pistols unless the rifling has no twist. Years ago, there were some inexpensive foreign unmentionable single-shot pistols chambered to allow either an unmentionable "Colt" cartridge or a 2 1/2" unmentionable shotshell. The bore was rifled, but had no rotation to avoid the federal law against short-barrelled shotguns.

We acquired one at the Sheriff's office somehow and played with it. Pistol cartridge results sucked. Shotshells also less than optimum as the barrel was maybe 10" at best. Made noise, that was about all.

 

[SOLANCO]

As a young child my close friend was a little neighbor girl. Her father was a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. I remember him teaching us to carve reverse images of coins in wooden planks. We would watch him melt lead scraps over a fire in their yard. He would fill our molds with molten lead and, after cooling, present us with our coins. If it did either of us any damage I don't see it.

I agree that lead is a toxin. It certainly does not belong in your diet. If memory serves, lead became a bete noire of the media and chattering classes when it was found to be damaging poor children who ate flaking lead based paint. Why they would do so and why their parents did not stop them were never discussed. Again, I agree lead is a toxin, but plead for common sense. It does not require the handling respect that arsenic or radium do.

I think it was likely a good move to ban lead shot for waterfowl. Not because of the effect on the meat of the game, but because there was concern about lead shot being consumed by wildlife.

 

[flconch53]

If your rifle is slow twist you need to shoot lead projectiles out of it

 

[morehops52]

1. Rifled barrels spin shot into a doughtnut. Accept that please.
2. Toxicity? IMO You are over thinking this and not considering the total of what is involved in ML'g. If the lead alone scares you that much I think you have the wrong sport. However, if you enjoy shooting that much then just do it and try and get past your concerns. If Lead issues were a major problem in muzzloading there wouldn't be enough shooters to keep this forum going.

 

[user 49399]

I have fired lead shot out of a Traditions Kentucky rifle, a Thompson Center Hawken rifle and a CVA Kentucky pistol with all types of wadding, shot cups, etc. Patterns in each were very poor and hard to even hit a pop can at 15 feet (not yards). I now only shoot shot from a smooth bore, the way it’s supposed to be.

 

[Col. Batguano]

Bad idea.

 

[burlesontom]

The OP hasn't been here for about a year so will probably never see this but here is a Dave Canterbury video of him using shot in a rifled barrel and it works better than most here have said. I wonder how many have actually ever really tried it? It looks to me it would work if you except the limited range. Of course any steel shot is not to be used. It will ruin the barrel. If the OP is worried about lead exposure he needs to find a new hobby.