Does anyone punch out there own shot cards? An if so what do you use for card material. The price that you can buy shot cards for it seems punching them out means more work. But it is fun to make your own stuff. Just a thought. Thanks
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shot cards
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They are too cheap to buy to really mess with but you can use cereal boxes macaroni and cheese boxes, any cardboard like that.
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i heard some people people using milk carton material and using an aproperate size punch to cut the cards.
Hi there Hacksaw; The over shot card is very important as it can change your partern a great deal. It should not be too thick as that would disrupt the patern too. I like to use glossy HEAVY paper (or very light glossy card). Also don't make it too tight a fit, all it has to do is keep the shoot pressed up against the wad colume. Happy shooting.
Many Klatch
69 Cal.
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I have found that the heavy cardboard on the covers of 3-ring binders works for overpowder wads. The cushion wads can be made from a 1/2" celotex wood fiber wall board. The overshot wads can be made from card stock.
Yeah, I'll make things like cleaning patches from old t-shirts, flannel PJs, etc...and I make my own lubing patches using some of those patches with NL1000 melted into them...but for me personally, 1000 top quality Circle Fly OS cards for a few bucks is too good a deal to pass up :grin:Rebel said:
I have a 32 gauge for which Circle-Fly doesn't make wads so I punch overpowder wads from heavy leather scraps and overshot cards from styrofoam meat packages. If you can buy wads it is not worth making them but for this odd-ball 32 gauge it only takes a few minutes to punch out two or three dozen wads from material that otherwise goes to the dump. :thumbsup:
Rebel and to all of you thanks. I got some OPW and SC at the local shop here. Package deal. Good price too. But lead shot was $39.99. I waited to long to decide on getting a shotgun. Gander Mountain said it was $34.99 a month ago. I guess what bother me is, I'm sure its old stock I bought. Oh well 25lbs will last me a long time. I will try making smoke next week.
Say Coyoti Joe,
what kind of perfomance do you get with that 32 with shot and ball?
I make my own cutters and just use overshot cards for the lot now since reading on here and testing this spring, no middle guy and always in cards :wink:
what kind of perfomance do you get with that 32 with shot and ball?
I make my own cutters and just use overshot cards for the lot now since reading on here and testing this spring, no middle guy and always in cards :wink:
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While that is true, it would seem he is making considerable extra profit off of the on hand item. He is still going to mark up the price for new stock as it comes in and make his regular profit.
His store, his decision.
Of course, as consumers we can purchase from said individual, or not.
Just an opinion. No offense intended.
Best Wishes
His store, his decision.
Of course, as consumers we can purchase from said individual, or not.
Just an opinion. No offense intended.
Best Wishes
I shoot 3/4 ounce of shot with a 1/8" thick leather wad over 45 grains 3fg. That gives me effective 30 yard small game patterns, fully equal to a modern .410. I haven't tried balls from the smoothbore since that is one barrel of an over/under gun, the other being a .45 rifle. A .490 round ball with heavy patch fits the .530" smoothbore just fine but why bother when you have a rifle available by just cocking the left hammer and pulling the rear trigger?
I built this gun to be my notion of an all-round foraging gun, good for anything one might encounter in the eastern woodlands. Photos and more information will be appearing in an up-comming edition of "Backwoodsman Magazine". I wrote it up in response to the anger directed at that magazine for printing an article by Toby Bridges. Needless to say, my gun is not an inline, although inline strikers would have been much simpler to design and fit into a slim gun.
I built this gun to be my notion of an all-round foraging gun, good for anything one might encounter in the eastern woodlands. Photos and more information will be appearing in an up-comming edition of "Backwoodsman Magazine". I wrote it up in response to the anger directed at that magazine for printing an article by Toby Bridges. Needless to say, my gun is not an inline, although inline strikers would have been much simpler to design and fit into a slim gun.
Were do You find a proper size punch for cards If I may ask? I have a 56 cal. T/C smoothbore and 28 ga. over the powder cards seem to work OK but those thin over the shot cards are not quite tight enough. If I point the barrel down it moves a little causing a gap. A over the powder card seem to hold though but I havent tested enough to see if it will effect the pattern. THANKS for any info. ADC Trapper
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when abouts would your piece be in the BW magizene?
paulvallandigham
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Trapper: You might try using 2 OS cards to hold the shot in. I suspect that your barrel is larger than a 28 gauge smoothbore. 28 gauge is nominal .550" in diameter. If you have a true " 56 " caliber gun, then it should be .560" in diameter. Those 28 ga. cards will be too small in diameter to hold.
26 gauge is nominal .563" in diameter, and 25 gauge is .571". Its is important to know the EXACT bore diameter of your gun barrel, because sizing does vary. Measure your barrel with a caliper, to get the Exact Diameter. Keep that number handy. If you don't have a caliper and don't want to invest $20.00 to buy one-- I find I use mine all the time now--- stop by any machine shop with the barrel, and ask them if you can borrow a caliper on the premises to measure the barrel, and I bet they will take you out on the floor and ask one of the machinists to measure it for you. Leave a donation for their coffee fund, and you will be a hero.
Then, call the good people at Circle Fly Wads( see member services here) and ask them which size card wads would work best for your bore diameter. You can probably do okay using the 28 gauge OP wads that you now have. But order some of those of the correct diameter. If you are using cushion wads between the powder and shot-- you don't mention them, so I suspect you aren't--- those cushion wads can remain a bit smaller, for easier and quicker loading, so stay with the 28 gauge cushion wads. Many people lube them, or oil them, or soak them in moose milk or some other combination of liquids, and the liquid will make the cushion wad compress, and move outward to leave lube on the barrel's walls. In the case of cushion wads, there, close is close enough!
I hope that helps you find the correct sized OS cards.
26 gauge is nominal .563" in diameter, and 25 gauge is .571". Its is important to know the EXACT bore diameter of your gun barrel, because sizing does vary. Measure your barrel with a caliper, to get the Exact Diameter. Keep that number handy. If you don't have a caliper and don't want to invest $20.00 to buy one-- I find I use mine all the time now--- stop by any machine shop with the barrel, and ask them if you can borrow a caliper on the premises to measure the barrel, and I bet they will take you out on the floor and ask one of the machinists to measure it for you. Leave a donation for their coffee fund, and you will be a hero.
Then, call the good people at Circle Fly Wads( see member services here) and ask them which size card wads would work best for your bore diameter. You can probably do okay using the 28 gauge OP wads that you now have. But order some of those of the correct diameter. If you are using cushion wads between the powder and shot-- you don't mention them, so I suspect you aren't--- those cushion wads can remain a bit smaller, for easier and quicker loading, so stay with the 28 gauge cushion wads. Many people lube them, or oil them, or soak them in moose milk or some other combination of liquids, and the liquid will make the cushion wad compress, and move outward to leave lube on the barrel's walls. In the case of cushion wads, there, close is close enough!
I hope that helps you find the correct sized OS cards.
When? I have no idea. I emailed my article to Charlie Richie who emailed right back "thank you, that is just the kind of article my readers like to see". He extended my subscription for two more years by way of payment. :haha: That was about a month ago.
Paul; THANKS AGAIN for more good info. I have a caliper and Your right it does measure exactly .560. I was not aware that circle fly made a .563 over the shot card. I got the 28 Ga. stuff from TOTW.
Even though I did not mention them I do also use a cusion wad over the powder card. Is the dia. of the over the powder card also .550 . ? and would that 10 thousands make any difference in power of the shot fired. I made a test shot at a piece of 1/2" plywood at 20 yards and No. 6 shot only went in about 1/2 way thru. Made Me wonder about the loads power. By the way I was useing 80 grains of 2Fg and 7/8 oz. #6 shot. Which was T/C 's max recemended load I believe. Many THANKS ADC Trapper
Even though I did not mention them I do also use a cusion wad over the powder card. Is the dia. of the over the powder card also .550 . ? and would that 10 thousands make any difference in power of the shot fired. I made a test shot at a piece of 1/2" plywood at 20 yards and No. 6 shot only went in about 1/2 way thru. Made Me wonder about the loads power. By the way I was useing 80 grains of 2Fg and 7/8 oz. #6 shot. Which was T/C 's max recemended load I believe. Many THANKS ADC Trapper
paulvallandigham
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YOu will have to measure the diameter of each of the wads or cards you buy. Usually, the diameter is a little more than the bore so you have a tight fit. I just measured fiber wads for my .50 cal. rifle and they measured .510", or ten thousandths over bore diameter. These are also from Circle Fly.
As for killing birds, penetration is a function of the weight of the pellet, and not the velocity. Velocity is shed so fast, that if you want more penetration at any given range, you have to use a larger size shot. I use #5 shot, rather than #6, because It penetrates much better at all ranges out to 40 yds.
Killing birds is not the result of putting one pellet in a vital area. Instead, we knock them down and kill them with the shock of being hit with seveal pellets. Birds with heavy thick feathers are difficult to kill with any body hit, so we shoot for the neck and head, hoping to penetrate the neck or head, or at least knock them out. This applies to turkey, canada geese, and some other species of geese. For upland birds, like pheasant, quail, dove, grouse, chukkar, etc. and squirrels your load of #6 shot will do fine, if you stay within 25 yds. 75 feet is a long shot to be taking at most of these birds. I have killed birds at longer distance, even with an open choked gun, but I had the benefit of plastic shotcups, that tend to help close patterns. With a choked shotgun, I have killed birds beyond 40 yds, and see other shooters make even longer ranged kills.
If those pellets went through 1/4" of solid wood, that is a lot of energy to dump on a small bird. I would not worry about whether that load will kill. You might try shooting that load at a vegetable can--- a real steel or tin can, and not an aluminum pop or beer can--- placed at the distance you intend to use as your maximum range. If your pellets can penetrate both sides of the can at that distance, you have an adequate charge.
If you do have access to a chronograph, and want to test the velocity of various wad combinations, simply make a paper tube the size of your bore diameter, or slightly less, crimp and tape the bottom end, pour your shot load in that tube, and turn the top edges over and tape them. You will have made a " shot slug ", but it will be the same weight as your normal shot load, and you can send it safely over your chronograph screens at various ranges to determine your velocities, using those different components. It doesn't have to be pretty, for this use. All it has to do is stay together so you don't shoot up, or kill your chronograph! Do use an adequate backstop for these tests, Please.
As for killing birds, penetration is a function of the weight of the pellet, and not the velocity. Velocity is shed so fast, that if you want more penetration at any given range, you have to use a larger size shot. I use #5 shot, rather than #6, because It penetrates much better at all ranges out to 40 yds.
Killing birds is not the result of putting one pellet in a vital area. Instead, we knock them down and kill them with the shock of being hit with seveal pellets. Birds with heavy thick feathers are difficult to kill with any body hit, so we shoot for the neck and head, hoping to penetrate the neck or head, or at least knock them out. This applies to turkey, canada geese, and some other species of geese. For upland birds, like pheasant, quail, dove, grouse, chukkar, etc. and squirrels your load of #6 shot will do fine, if you stay within 25 yds. 75 feet is a long shot to be taking at most of these birds. I have killed birds at longer distance, even with an open choked gun, but I had the benefit of plastic shotcups, that tend to help close patterns. With a choked shotgun, I have killed birds beyond 40 yds, and see other shooters make even longer ranged kills.
If those pellets went through 1/4" of solid wood, that is a lot of energy to dump on a small bird. I would not worry about whether that load will kill. You might try shooting that load at a vegetable can--- a real steel or tin can, and not an aluminum pop or beer can--- placed at the distance you intend to use as your maximum range. If your pellets can penetrate both sides of the can at that distance, you have an adequate charge.
If you do have access to a chronograph, and want to test the velocity of various wad combinations, simply make a paper tube the size of your bore diameter, or slightly less, crimp and tape the bottom end, pour your shot load in that tube, and turn the top edges over and tape them. You will have made a " shot slug ", but it will be the same weight as your normal shot load, and you can send it safely over your chronograph screens at various ranges to determine your velocities, using those different components. It doesn't have to be pretty, for this use. All it has to do is stay together so you don't shoot up, or kill your chronograph! Do use an adequate backstop for these tests, Please.
Paul; Sounds like sound wisdom. And something I had about decided on My limited testing as far as a Max. range is conserned. I had about a self imposed 20 yard limit for the squirrels I intend to hunt this fall. Thats why I bought the 32 cal. drop in Green Mountain barrel We been talking about in The other forum. So I could lengthen that range some. I guess one of these days I'm gonna have to break down and buy a cronograph. ADC Trapper
