Smoothbore Shot Patterns

[crgabel]

Hey Roundball,
70grns Goex 3F
Two Oxyokes Wonderwads
1+1/8oz #6's
Circle Fly overshot card

Great load! Got my first Tree rat from 30yds on your load What a hoot hunting with the smoothie. Last year i used my 40 cal Yorktowne.
I'll be trying #5 shot in a few days. Maybe a #5 #6 mixture.
:thanks:

Craig

 

[roundball]

Hey Roundball,
70grns Goex 3F
Two Oxyokes Wonderwads
1+1/8oz #6's
Circle Fly overshot card

Great load! Got my first Tree rat from 30yds on your load What a hoot hunting with the smoothie. Last year i used my 40 cal Yorktowne.
I'll be trying #5 shot in a few days. Maybe a #5 #6 mixture.
:thanks:
Craig

That's great...I didn't see a single squirrel this morning.
What caliber smoothbore were you using...also a .54?

 

[crgabel]

Yes a 54. Grandson and myself saw a dear, a fox, a groundhog, and 2 treerats. Only got a shot of at the one. Had a great time with the young hunter.
Craig

 

[roundball]

Grandson and myself saw a dear, a fox, a groundhog, and 2 treerats.

Had a great time with the young hunter.
Craig

Now that's a hunting trip...good memories!
:front:

 

[AZ-Robert]

What kind of shot loads are you guys using on rabbits? Or do you go to PRB for them?

 

[Rebel]

I use 90 grs Pyrodex RS and 1 1/4 oz of #5 lead shot.

 

[roundball]

What kind of shot loads are you guys using on rabbits? Or do you go to PRB for them?

I'm only just scratching the surface starting back into a little small game hunting with muzzleloaders...haven't actually done any rabbit hunting, but I'd use the same .54cal(.28ga) / .62cal(.20ga) small game load I built for squirrels, on rabbits:

70grns Goex 3F (or 80grns 2F)
Two Oxyokes Wonderwads (.54 or .62)
1+1/8oz #6's (or 5's, 4's)
Circle Fly over shot cards

 

[AZ-Robert]

About the same size shot as used with smokeless powder -- seems simple enough!

Oh, and I had my .40 and PRB in mind... certainly wouldn't be using that .62 cannon on him with a PRB! :shocking:

 

[Stumpkiller]

FYI...In my new GM .54cal Flint smoothbore barrel, the following gives me a perfect 2 foot pattern at 25yds, several pellets in a coke can, etc:

70grns Goex 3F
Two Oxyokes Wonderwads
1+1/8oz #6's
Circle Fly overshot card

:haha: You ain't loosin much there! I use 75 gr FFg and 1-1/4 oz shot in my .73 cal smoothie (12 gauge). Used the same load in my 16 bore (0.66 cal). You must have a three inch shot column in the barrel, not counting powder & wads. :haha:

You gots a wildcat 12 gauge "necked-down" to 30 gauge. :crackup:

 

[roundball]

FYI...In my new GM .54cal Flint smoothbore barrel, the following gives me a perfect 2 foot pattern at 25yds, several pellets in a coke can, etc:

70grns Goex 3F
Two Oxyokes Wonderwads
1+1/8oz #6's
Circle Fly overshot card

:haha: You ain't loosin much there! I use 75 gr FFg and 1-1/4 oz shot in my .73 cal smoothie (12 gauge). Used the same load in my 16 bore (0.66 cal). You must have a three inch shot column in the barrel, not counting powder & wads. :haha:

You gots a wildcat 12 gauge "necked-down" to 30 gauge. :crackup:

I did notice the ramrod accessory adapter stopped just above the muzzle!
:crackup:

Heck, they're just powder-puff loads in that heavy octagon barrel...can't wait to get a squirrel in my sights...concerned about the apparent lack of acorns...didn't see a single squirrel Saturday where I normally see several.

PS: The shot loads in those big old bores you're shooting are already as wide as they are long...you got your pattern set before it exits the muzzle! :crackup:

 

[Stumpkiller]

A friend and I went bunny hunting. He was using a 24 ga. trade gun. He swung on and shot at a squirrel running along the ground ahead of us. I swear, it looked like the old war movies where the machine gunner or zero pilot "walks" the bullets across a soldier running along the beach. :crackup: Killed the squirrel, but there must have been five feet of kicked-up leaves where he sprayed side-to-side.

What matters is that the squirrel was rolled.

Watch out for the guys that show up for grouse or trap with a 28 ga double. They generally get enough pellets right where they want 'em that it don't matter how much extra they didn't have for misses. :winking:

We haven't had as many squirrels around the house. I did spot the largest grey squirrel I've seen in my life on a piece of land for sale nearby. HUGE. A fellow who lived nearby said he was known (in their bird feeders) and the locals are calling him "Fat Albert". I also found two ticks on me when I got back to the car. In 46 years these are the first two ticks I've EVER found on me locally. We had the driest summer ever, which probably is all related.

Had 10 turkeys under my rear car-port scrounding sunflower seed. Things must be double tough to bring wild turkeys between the house and the dog run!

The deer cleaned us out of the second planting of Swiss chard and the lima beans (last rows in the garden). I'm sure they'll have something to offer in return in a month or so.

 

[scott fellows]

sir henry and i just did some patterning this sunday with my .62 smoothie. i have a 42" barrel on mine. with a patched rb followed by 8 .30 buckshot pellets then an over shot card. the ball hit fairly well centered and all 8 pellets were within 12 inches of the ball. we tried it with the buck under the ball as well and that didn't seem to work as well. it looks like we are going to be using that buck and ball load during deer season as most of our shots will be under 40 yrds. experiment with it and see what works best for you. buck and ball is an awesome round.
pieman

 

[crgabel]

Aint nothing like watchen a squirrel go rolling thru the leaves :crackup: