Smooth bore birdshot effectiveness

[Alden]

Another good video, thanks...

He describes his wads as being made of brown paper "rubbed soft". In trying to work out his method, I used brown grocery sack paper. Before cutting the strips I crushed, twisted and straightened it out repeatedly, and that softened it nicely. That makes it much easier to bend the folded paper around the end of your ramrod and get it started...

Spence

Once upon a time I used paper bags for wadding. To make it pliable I would simply cut out sheets of it, go to a big table with a relatively sharp edge (top vs. sides), grab the two diagonally opposing corners, and run it over the edge at as acute an angle as possible, first one way, then back again. I would repeat that from the other two opposing corners. Flip the paper over, and repeat. The paper became quite more pliant but still maintained its integrity.

Can't remember the last time I saw a paper bag from a grocery though.

 

[Darkgael]

I much liked that video. I was struck, though, at what I thought was a great difference between the patterns at 30 yards and the pattern at 40.
Seems like a large loss of shot in that last ten yards. Did you repeat the 40 yard shot?
Pete

 

[azmntman]

Can't remember the last time I saw a paper bag from a grocery though.

Gotta go to a hippie store that frowns on anything like plastic as its bad for Mother Earth. O you can ask, a few stores here have em tucked away outta site.

 

[bgeipel]

Every grocery store I go to still has paper bags and not all of them are hippy stores.

 

[George]

Here's how one old hippy does it for his 20 gauge. Once the hippy brown paper is "rubbed soft" it is cut into 1" x 2" pieces, then folded double, 1" x 1" before loading.



It's large enough and soft enough to be easily draped over the muzzle and held with one hand.



I simply place it on the muzzle and ram it, no fiddling required, and it goes down easily.



I stopped this one just inside the muzzle to show how the sides fold up to form what Page described as "closed against the sides of the barrel like a half cartridge."



Thinking that it is less likely to get catawampus in the barrel and form a poor seal if it stays just like that with the wings up, I never tamp it down on the powder, just press it firmly once and withdraw the rammer. Doing it that way, keeping it straight is no problem.

Those early hippies knew a thing or two.

Spence

 

[Skychief]

:v :thumbsup: :haha: