Swan Shot

[Many Klatch]

I have had a gang mold for making swan shot for a long time. I finally had a chance to make a couple hundred of them and then shoot them a lot last weekend. Swan shot looks like a buckshot with a tail, sort of like a water drop.

I shot these swan shot in my Brown Bess loaded with an overpowder wad, a cushion wad and an over shot wad. I used 90 grains of 2F and 12 swan shot per load.

We had some mansize targets left over from another shoot so we tried them at 12 yards and 25 yards. At 12 yards all 12 were in the target. At 25 yards three were in the target and 3 were just outside. Then we shot at gongs hanging fairly close together at 40 yards, we actually managed to hit three gongs at once.

I have to say that the swan shot was quite a surprise. Almost all the shot went into the targets sideways. I did not expect them to hold a pattern together that well at 25 yards. It seems to me that swan shot might make a dandy turkey load if it is legal.

Many Klatch

 

[Bon Sauvage]

What is the approximate weight of twelve swan shot?


Ogre

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Wait a moment, you only got three hits on a mansize target at 25 yards? And you'd hunt turkey with that? :hmm:

 

[Russianblood]

I have some drip made drip shot and at 20 paces out of a blunderbuss, it made a nice rabbit load.

You can see where most of the shot hit sideways.

 

[bnail]

I have had a gang mold for making swan shot for a long time. I finally had a chance to make a couple hundred of them and then shoot them a lot last weekend. Swan shot looks like a buckshot with a tail, sort of like a water drop.

Swan shot is thusly named for the long "neck" resembling a swan's. I have heard from historians who've discovered "Giraffe Shot" on the Traansval, now that's some shot! :wink:

 

[J.D.]

Swan shot is thusly named for the long "neck" resembling a swan's.

Nope. This is another buckskinnerism, made up "common knowledge" perpetrated by those who don't want to do their research.

Swan shot was cast round, small buckshot of about .27 caliber.

The drip shot illustrated in Hawkeye's post, often resembling swan droppings may be a modern attempt at making primitive shot. I have heard of documentation for this type of shot, but never seen it and can't seem to find it myself.

The swan droppings I have made produced much better patterns than mentioned in the first post. They are a serious small game load, once load developement is complete.
J.D.

 

[tg]

"Swan shot looks like a buckshot with a tail,'

Wrong, swan shot should be round just like buck shot as JD stated, this is as it has always been according to several archeological findings.The stuff with a tail is more of as home made type or even one of those re enactorisums, I suspect the latter.

 

[Many Klatch]

I've read that swan shot was used during the Rev War in New Jersey and other Eastern states where Guerilla war was rampant. I guarantee that a load of swan shot would take out a couple of people at once.

Many Klatch

 

[Many Klatch]

Hey Joe. Yeah I figured with the Swan shot all I need is one hit to drop a bird. The pattern at 25 yards looks to be a 3 foot circle. There always seemed to be two or three right where I was aiming and the rest of the shot was off being adventurous.

Many Klatch

 

[J.D.]

I don't remember any specific mention of swan shot being used in a military scenario. Lots of buck was used, so it's not too far of a stretch that swan sized shot might have been used.

Remember that the distinction between swan shot and buckshot was merely the size of the shot. A load of .25-.27 caliber shot, at close ranges of 20-25 yards, would certainly be devastating, but larger shot would be more effective at longer range.

I would be very cautious about using any load with such a wide distribution of shot for turkey. You may get lucky, but the most likely result of such a large diameter pattern is a wounded bird.

I am not aware of a mould for teardrop shaped shot. Would you post a photo of the cavities of that mould
J.D.

 

[nchawkeye]

In Robert Bass' book "The Swamp Fox" swan shot is mentioned being used for several night time attacks by The Swamp Fox and his men...

 

My understanding is that shot size back then was catagorized by the game it was used to take, where as now we have a numerical system. The teardrop stuff was just poorly or homemade stuff.

Bill

What disease did cured ham actually have?

 

[Wes/Tex]

Some years ago, Lyman did some serious research about "swan" shot compared to shot found at historic sites and settled on .020" as constituting the correct size. The problem is that even research doesn't give any exact sizes. Notations have been found for "bird shot", "duck shot", "swan shot", "bustard shot" and the French also list "royal" and "demi royal" (semi-royal) for shot sizes provided to their traders. Unfortunately, nobody bthered to identify what constituted what! :shake:

 

[tg]

For some reason this swan with a tail shot thing just will not die...I guess if there was a Beaver shot it would have a flat tail and buck teeth?

 

And what about porcipine, or skunk shot with a stripe down the middle of it! :rotf: :rotf: :surrender:

Bill

Why is it that people say they "slept like a baby", when babies wake up every two hours?

 

[Dave K]

My understanding is that shot size back then was catagorized by the game it was used to take, where as now we have a numerical system. The teardrop stuff was just poorly or homemade stuff.

Bill

What disease did cured ham actually have?

Bill. cured ham was "cured" of trichinosis. :wink:

 

[wallgunner]

Is this suppose to be drop shot? I guess it was droped from a certain height into water that cooled it. It was sorta oval looking. I don't think it had such a pronounce tail as the casted stuff in the picture, but it certainly wasn't round. If you look in the back of Hamilton's Frontier Guns he talk about excavated shot form the 18th century. Cast and Drop shot are both common.

 

[bnail]

Nope, you'r wrong Pard. otherwise, how to you explain the Giraffe shot? :wink:

 

[bnail]

And what about porcipine, or skunk shot with a stripe down the middle of it! :rotf: :rotf: :surrender:

Bill

Bill, you've got it! :applause:

 

[Russianblood]

Is this suppose to be drop shot? I guess it was droped from a certain height into water that cooled it. It was sorta oval looking. I don't think it had such a pronounce tail as the casted stuff in the picture, but it certainly wasn't round. If you look in the back of Hamilton's Frontier Guns he talk about excavated shot form the 18th century. Cast and Drop shot are both common.

The stuff in the picture is drop shot. It was not cast.