Stupid question????

I have an old CVA 50 cal pistol.What do you guys think about loading it with shot?I think it would be a good grouse gun.Or should I just practice with roundballs?The gun has no great sentimental value.

 

[WRTolkas]

Not a stupid question. Many of a colonial soldier would use shot instead of a round ball on patrol. Rogers Rangers used buck and ball. Just aim in the general direction for a quick shot - you'll hit something.

Regards,

WRTolkas

 

This barrel has rifling.Just wondering about how it would work with the rifled barrel.How much shot also. :grin:

 

[Zonie]

I think you might as well just load it with a patched ball.
With the rifleing and short barrel the shot will spread out so fast you'll have to be about 4 feet max from the bird and at that range, a ball would do the job. :grin:

Seriously, several people have tried shot in their rifled pistols and IMO, it isn't good for much beyond 4 or 5 feet.

 

How about a good sized rock :haha: We call grouse fool hens around here cause you can get so close.Thought the pistol would be fun. Thanks for the info.Ill start practicing with the roundballs

 

[shmrck1]

CROWHOP,
I don't know where you hunt your grouse,
but in Ohio the Grouse is the most challengeing
of all birds. Seeing them is one thing and
hitting them is quite another. Here in Ohio you
usually only come accross them in heavily wooded areas.
I will say I have hurt more trees than birds.
I have hunted ringnecks, quail and doves and
nothing matches the grouse. IMHO
snake-eyes :hmm: :hmm:

 

[jtmattison]

CROWHOP might be talking about spruce grouse.
Up in Alaska we would hunt them with anything from rocks to BB guns. They just sit there and let you kill them. I never tried getting one with a stick but I bet you could.

Huntin Dawg

 

We have blue grouse.Pretty dumb birds.My wife watched me chase one around a tree and she almost rolled down the hill cause she was laughing so hard.Never did get that bird either. :haha:

 

[spitfire]

A rifled Barrel normally throws a Donut(TOROID) pattern of shot.A ring of concentrated shot with near nothing in the center at extended range(LIKE A SMOKE RING)This due to twisting of the shot pellets/wad by the rifling.Also because of lack of forcing cone and choke constriction your range from a pistol will be 2 to 4 feet.This plus barrel length may make as much pattern spread as distance!I use shotloads in my centerfire handguns for snakes,but allways at very close range(2' to 4')just out of snakebite range! :winking:

 

[Bolink654]

Yeah, .22lr shotshells have killed many a snake around my place. But always at 4ft or so. I actually did get one at 10ft or so in the raftors of my shed. I surely didnt want to be under him. Took 2 shots though.

I too would like to try shot in my Lyman plains pistol. Guess its time to pick up a few sizes.

 

[John Taylor]

I remember the time my brother tried to take out a rat with a charter arms 38, he had 4 shot loads and one hardball. He hit the rat with each shot he fired and it spun around and went in another direction. The third shot got the rat running right at my brother and as it ran between his feet he let go with the 4th shot. The plastic wad killed the rat at a distance of 1&1/2 feet.
Test your shot on tin cans, if it will go through the tin it will kill snakes and birds, rats are a little tougher.

 

[jimeckersley]

I have an old CVA 50 cal pistol.What do you guys think about loading it with shot?I think it would be a good grouse gun.Or should I just practice with roundballs?The gun has no great sentimental value.

There's a lot of information available regarding making paper shot cups by wrapping and gluing paper around a piece of dowel. You will end up with something that looks similar to coin wrappers. Load a fiber wad, your shot cup and a split piece of fiber wad over the shot cup and the shot will hold together for several more feet than it otherwise would. Dixie is one source for fiber wads.

 

[bibletotingunslinger]

I can vouch for this, short barrels and shot got no balls, I mean you need a launch tube of some footage to get em movin. My witchcrafted Sisterinlaw did that once, the load bounced off a milk jug at 5 feet, I was more scared of her magic potion than that gun. :hmm: