SXS field safety?

[paulvallandigham]

Rsty: It depends on the choice of Over Shot ( OS) cards you use. I suggest that you use two OS cards, and poke a hole in each of them off-center so that you can stack them so the holes don't line up. When in doubt, over OS cards that are one gauge bigger than your gun. With two cards you are not likely to seem them come loose, or lose shot rolling out the barrel. It can happen when only one card is used.

Use a awl to poke a hole ( pin-sized is all you need to let air out) in the OS cards at home, so you can do a whole bag of them while watching TV. The hole lets air out of the barrel as you are seating the cards. This keeps the edges solid, and in contact with the barrel, rather than turn up edges, break the seal, and let gases escape out the sides of the cards, screwing up patterns. The air will escape through the holes, and when the load leaves the muzzle, the air outside the barrel will rush through the hole in the first card to separate it from the second card, so that both cards will quickly fall away from the shot, to the ground. YOu can also use 4 OS cards over the powder, and skip using the 1/8" OP wad, the 1/2" cushion wad, lube or not, so you only carry OS cards with you on a hunt. Simple. You can help your patterns by lubing the barrel after seating the OS cards on top of the shot. That greases the barrels so that the shot slides over the surface, rather than scrape off lead on the barrel as it goes out the gun. Lead streaks ruin subsequent groups, and require lead solvent, and bore brushes to remove. The lube you put on the full barrel protects it from rusting while in the field, lubes the shot to slide by, and then softens the carbon residue as the powder gases pass over the lubed bores. If you quickly run a slightly damped patch down the barrel after the shot, then a dry patch, you will be ready to load a once fired barrel all day long.

 

[asabai]

I'll give the extra OS card a try and punching a hole in them too. I'm currently only using steel shot with the appropriate shot cup, so I don't think that I need the lube.

Thanks

 

[paulvallandigham]

Rusty: Considering the damp conditions you hunt waterfowl in, I would think you need the lube even more. It will also protect the barrel from the plastic that rubs off those shotcups, saving you hours of cleaning with solvents to remove the plastic residue from the sides of your barrel, and bore brushes. You will get about 20 or more FPS velocity lubing the bore than without the lube, and considering the slow velocities of BP charges, any extra velocity has to help. There are three valid "Pluses " to lubing your barrel even when using Plastic Shotcups, and steel shot. That should be sufficient reason to lube the barrel, in addition to the softening of BP fouling, in the barrel as the gases expand up the barrel behind the shot cup, and charge. ( That makes 4 good " pluses, if you are counting".)

 

[mmahlock]

As I read the book, the problem is not with shooting one barrel and then the other it is shooting one barrel and reloading it several times before shooting the second barrel.

The rule I suppose it that if you have only one barrel to reload, reset the other load at the same time. That way you should not have any problems. Unless you're like me and can't hit the broad side of barn from the inside. :hatsoff: