Shot Turkey loads today.

[wtilenw]

I took a 5/8" dowel and turned it down to .600". Then I cut some printer paper 2 3/4" X 3 3/4", I then rolled the paper over the dowel and glued the edge with a glue stick. This made a paper tube 2 3/4" long with an ID of .600". I then slid the paper tube 1/2" off the end of the dowel and "crimped" the end and glued the crimp with the glue stick. I then inserted a .20 ga. lubed fiber cushion wad into the tube and poured in 1 5/8 oz. of #6 hard magnum lead shot. The excess paper at the top, I folded and glued shut.
I loaded the Fowler with 80 gr. KIK 2f, then an OP card that I rolled beeswax & Ballistol lube on the edges of. I then ran a patch down the bore, lubed with the same beeswax & Ballistol lube, then slid one of the pre-loaded paper shot cup assemblys down the bore until the shot column was flush with the muzzle and trimmed the excess paper flush with the muzzle, pushed it down on top of the powder charge and topped it off with an OS card.
I fired a number of test targets at 20, 30, 35 and 40 yards. The patterns achieved were devastating at 20 yards and satisfactory out to 35 yards. I would like to try some good copper plated shot next time if I can get my hands on some. I would feel really confident on a Tom, out to 30 yards for sure and would not be afraid to take a really good shot at 35 yards.
I fired a test target with only an OP card and OS card too,(no paper shot cup) just to see if the paper shot cups were really contributing to the pattern and MAN! it was obvious they were. Without the paper shot cups, I don't think I would be able to shoot past 15 or 20 yards on a tom. It was a fun day and I learned a lot. (Got to admit, it was FUN just shooting the Flintlock :wink: )

 

[roundball]

Idaho, did you notice what was happening to the paper shot cups...ie: were they tearing apart at muzzle exit from the wind blast and fluttering down fairly close in front of the muzzle...or were they remaining together as a shot cup and landing basically intact out on the ground somewhere?

 

[trent/OH]

1 5/8 ounces of shot? Am I reading that right? That just seems like a pretty stout load, about like 2 RB. In my 11 gauge that'd be about 2.9 ounces of shot.

I think I got this: you make the shot container enclosed so you can transport them intact. Then when you load you cut the top off of it before you ram it home.
I'm still new to this ML shotgunning, so thanks for your patience.

 

[wtilenw]

They were landing out at about the distance you would normally find your patches. (except for the ones that went through the cardboard :shocked2: even out to 40 yards :rotf: before I started cutting the excess paper off at the muzzle).

 

[wtilenw]

1 5/8 ounces of shot? Am I reading that right? That just seems like a pretty stout load, about like 2 RB. In my 11 gauge that'd be about 2.9 ounces of shot.

I think I got this: you make the shot container enclosed so you can transport them intact. Then when you load you cut the top off of it before you ram it home.
I'm still new to this ML shotgunning, so thanks for your patience.

Yep, 1 5/8 oz. of shot. On the shot container; Yes, I slide the whole paper tube, loaded with shot, into the bore but stop when the top of the shot is flush with the muzzle, trim off the excess paper, place an over shot card on top and push it down on top of the powder charge. Be sure that the card goes down all the way (you will feel some resistance from the trapped air) when it gets down all the way, you should hear the air escape and feel the card settle down on top of the shot.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Try putting a hole in the OS card, off center, with an awl, to let the air out. Then use 2 OS cards, with the holes opposite each other, to hold the shot cup and shot in the barrel. There will be no dieseling of the OS cards, and no bending of an edge, to let the air out, which spoils the seal you are trying to get by using the OS cards. :hmm:

 

[roundball]

(except for the ones that went through the cardboard :shocked2: even out to 40 yards

And that is why I finally gave up on paper shot cartridges and got my barrel Jug Choked...no matter how much I tinkered with them, making many trips to the range, every now and then I'd still get a "slug" going through the target.

I finally decided as hard as it is to get a Tom in range, I wasn't going to let Murphy's Law screw me up and got my barrel Jug Choked 'Full'.

And in hind sight, it would have been cheaper in the first place compared to all the money spent with trips to the range...gasoline, powder, shot, wads, etc, etc.

 

[roundball]

1 5/8 ounces of shot?

With blackpowder smoothbores, you can forget about trying to compare a .62cal to a modern .20ga...there's no requirement or correlation to do so...they're just a steel pipe to build loads in.
This is an excellent website I found a few years ago and have used his loads ever since...and in a 'Full' Jug Choked barrel its outstanding for longrange turkeys
http://members.aye.net/~bspen/SmoothboreLoads.html

 

[trent/OH]

1 5/8 ounces of shot?

With blackpowder smoothbores, you can forget about trying to compare a .62cal to a modern .20ga...there's no requirement or correlation to do so...they're just a steel pipe to build loads in.

My wonderment was that two RB for a 20 gauge would weigh about 1 5/8 ounces. As a rifleman, that seems like a proof load. As a novice smoothbore shooter, well, what do I know?

 

[roundball]

1 5/8 ounces of shot?

With blackpowder smoothbores, you can forget about trying to compare a .62cal to a modern .20ga...there's no requirement or correlation to do so...they're just a steel pipe to build loads in.

My wonderment was that two RB for a 20 gauge would weigh about 1 5/8 ounces. As a rifleman, that seems like a proof load. As a novice smoothbore shooter, well, what do I know?

Oh no...proof loads are far more significant than that...I think it was Jackie Brown who stated he uses 4 or 6 powder charges and 4 or 6 PRBs to proof his .62cal "canoe guns".

And it's not uncommon to shoot double ball PRB loads for hunting...heck, TC's owner's manual actually listed double ball loads in data charts for years until they got worried that somebody might end up with space between the two balls and burst a barrel...and I've seen a 900+ grain conical for a .62cal somewhere.
I've probably shot a good 100-150 of Bob Aspen's turkey loads doing pattern testing, normal recoil, etc...no problem at all