Smoothbore for shot

[62flint]

I am thinking of getting a new smoothbore for hunting. What should I get?another 20ga or should I go bigger. I am looking for good shot patterns for turkeys,ducks,squirrels and whatever else I can eat.
Thanks

 

[roundball]

For a lot of flexibility, you'd probably want to invest in something larger than a 20ga...and if you're certain about the ducks, a .10ga SXS would be my choice...if not ducks, then I'd think a .12ga would do

 

[flinttim]

12 bore is hard to be for all around hunting.I have a NorthWest type gun I built a couple years back made from the barrel of an 870 Remington (full choke). Brings those grays out of the tops of the tallest red oaks, good for ducks and if yoo lead 'em out a tad works on pheasant and chukar too.For double the fun I also have an 11ga. Pedersoli SxS cylinder bore. Good all around gun too.

 

[musketman]

I have good results with my brown Bess, I can control the shot pattern using different powder charges and wad combinations...

 

Yes- by all means go for the largest bore size you can handle or obtain. A 10 would work fine for geese, but even a 12 will work OK, given the flexibility of muzzleloading guns for loads and shot protectors that can be made.

 

I use a 20 for all of the above and have never had a problem. Working up a load for each type of bird though is a must.
I am building a 12 gage percussion SXS with Damascus twist barrels at the moment. almost done with the inletting and will be posting a write up in the builders forum in the next month or so.

 

I personally use a 20 gauge for everything, but I am building a 16 gauge just for the heck of it. My wife has a 10 gauge Sea Service Bess, but she only shoots trap. The reasons that I prefer a 20 are that 1: it's easy to get stuff. A lot of people shoot 20's, therefore the shot wads and round balls and molds are easy to obtain. Also, when I am at a trade gun shot, if I have a brain-lock and forget something major--round balls, for instance--I can usually find .600's with little difficulty. #2: I like the ballistics of a 20 over larger balls, and while a smaller bore, say a 24 or even 28 gives better ballistics yet, the 20 is better for shot than a 24 or 28, from personal experience.

HAVING SAID ALL OF THAT, I am thinking about building a 10 or 12 gauge for fowling and turkey hunting next year. Higher volume of shot, higher velocity without interferring with my patterns. BUT, I still think that the 20 gauge is still the most versatile of all the smoothie calibers, from my own experience.

But that's just me!
:imo:

 

[62flint]

I have a 20 ga and I do like it. I was just wondering if a 10 ga gives that much improved patterns over the 20 with no choke?

 

I have a 20 ga and I do like it. I was just wondering if a 10 ga gives that much improved patterns over the 20 with no choke?

The SIZE of the pattern at any given distance is the same between the two. The difference is in the number of pellets within the pattern. If you are getting a 30" pattern @ 20 yards with a 20g you will get a 30" pattern @ 20 yards with a 10g. The 10g will just give you a denser patten because you are putting say 1.5oz of shot in the circle as opposed to a 20g putting 7/8oz of shot in the same circle.

 

[flinttim]

You can beef up the shot charges in the smaller guages to "even" the playing ground some.(modern steel barrels)but the real advantage of the bigger bores is the shorter shot column. ie: more of the shot pellets get to the target at the same time. With the smaller guages the column is longer and therefore some of the pellets are lagging behind the front of the column. More important for wing shooting rather than say, squirrels , but still an issue. I have a 28 ga Northwest Trade Gun that I routinely "double dip " the shot charge on when shooting clays. Much denser pattern as you might expect. Again, a heavy barrel made from modern steels.
Although finding muzzle guns with choke is hard to do, if you can find them , it sure helps. Of course you can't shoot ball from a choked barrel but if it's for hunting only with shot, it sure is nice. One NW gun I have is made from a Rem 870 barrel in full choke. I bit harder to load but the pattern is phenomenal. It'll drop a pheasant at 30 yds easy and I usually let them get out a bit farther if I can.

 

but the real advantage of the bigger bores is the shorter shot column. ie: more of the shot pellets get to the target at the same time. With the smaller guages the column is longer and therefore some of the pellets are lagging behind the front of the column.

That's a good point but wouldn't a longer shot column be advantages in wing shooting? I would have thought that a longer string would be far more forgiving when it comes to lead. With a short column, you would have to have just the right amount of lead or you would shoot ahead or behind :hmm:

 

[flinttim]

Not when the shot is behind the bird And that is the reason for a short column. It gets the most to where you wanted it to go..

 

[KyFlintlock]

Guys,

I have a pedersoli Mortimer 12ga flinter ("cylinder bore, .712" diameter, 36" long tapered octagon to round 1" at breech to .890" at muzzle") that I have used for 4 years (rabbit, birds, turkey, etc). I have to get turkeys 20yards or closer or the game is over. That is fun no doubt, but if I can shoot to 30yards it sure would improve my confidence of shooting at 25! Does anyone shoot a Mortimer 12ga (or similiar smoothbore) that has a really good, tight pattern to 30 yards?

If so, can you share your load with me? If there is another post that has already discussed this and I have overlooked, just "show me the money".

Thanks for your guidance.

 

[flinttim]

Here's something I dinked around with several yrs ago. In a 14 ga perc double I had with cyl bore, I tried some 1fg that someone gave me. It improved the pattern a lot !1fg is getting hard to find. They still make it, just hard to find someone stocking it. It generates lower pressures, hence tighter pattern. Just a thought.Or try making some shot cups. Let me know if that idea interests you and I'll try to give some details on making them.

 

[Rat]

Shot cups would be a start, or paper shot cartridges...and for sure experiment with different weights of both powder and shot...different granulations of powder, etc. What size shot are you using?? For a turkey load you can load duplex and triplex loads for some extra killing power...a layer of #2 shot on the bottom, charge of #4 and then some smaller shot on top of that. Something like that works best with a pre-made paper shot cartridge of course.

Check out the thread on buffering buck-shot loads for a wild, but "traditional" idea/method on tightening up shot patterns...per my post there.

Good luck.

Per the original post: for ducks, turks and such I'd be looking at the bigger bores. Less PRESSURE for shooting equal and bigger volumes and weights of shot.

Rat

 

[Musketeer]

What should I get?another 20ga or should I go bigger.

I assume from this statement that you already have at least one 20 ga., so I would suggest going with something a bit larger just for the heck of it. I agree with Daryl in that I think a good 10ga. would be great, especially for turkeys, geese, etc. I use a 20 ga. right now myself, but I mostly hunt rabbit, quail and the like. The largest thing I've shot with it was a coyote using
a patched RB. I believe that a good 20ga. could be used on almost anything that walks on the ground up to deer size with good effect; however, If you're gonna be shooting at flying game like geese, or larger elk or moose size game, I'd go with a 12 or 10 ga. A Bess in 11 or 10ga. would be a strong consideration, as they make great shotguns! :thumbsup:

 

[Ohio Rusty]

Next weekend I'll be trying my 12 gauge Tulle for pheasants. Never used it for flying game, as I think the swing of the long barrel will be more cumbersome than my 12 SxS. We'll have a pointer so that should help with getting the hammer back and feet planted for the shot. The planned load is 85 Gr. of 2F with a strong 1 1/4 oz. of number 6's.
If I do well I'll be able to relate a good time, if I don't get anything it will be a good time anyway. I feel really handicapped with just a single shot, and a flinter to boot!
If It's raining next weekend, I'll probably have to resort to using the SxS cap smacker ....
Ohio Rusty

 

[KyFlintlock]

Rat/FlintTim - Thanks, I'll try to find some 1F powder... PM me the details on the other when you have time.

Thanks again!
Wess

 

[flinttim]

No secret really, as most may have heard it before. I cannot address plastic shot cups as I have not tried them. This is what an old trap shooter from Friendship used to do.(Earl Wildey- now dead, but was a master at long range bird shooting).
Drill a hole in a block of wood (2x4 works fine, but to last longer maybe oak not pine or at least poplar-whatever)the same size as the bore of your gun.Cut circles of waxed paper milk carton material to the proper size. This would have to be determined by bore size + enough to hold the shot load you use and so that a card wad fits down on top of it with no gap. Now you need a dowel the bore size in diameter less the thickness X 2 of the paper. Chamfer the hole so the paper can "ease" into it w/o tearing. Push the milk carton paper thru the hole with the dowel. You got yourself a "shot cup". You can push it into the bore with ramrod, drop the shot and then the card wad.
I think why it works better than a plastic one is that it has no splits in it so it keeps the shot together longer.Worth a try.

 

[KyFlintlock]

Flinttim - Thanks a bunch. I'll give her a try.