IdahoMatt
36 Cl.
Oh, you don't want to buy one of those. You need to buy one.
I took the shotgun out today to see if I could hit anything with it. To begin with; I stink at shooting clay pigeons. So today wasn't much better but I felt good at being able to hit a few out of dozen shots.
I had some miss-fires on the left barrel at first. So I rummaged around my black powder tool box and found a Hot-Shot nipple in 1/4-28. It fit perfectly. After that, no more miss-fires on the left barrel. More Hot-Shot nipples are on order from TOW.
Toward the end of our shooting session, I started experiencing miss-fires on the right barrel. So after the left barrel was shot, I removed the Hot-Shot nipple and put it on the right barrel. Problem solved.
I had also experienced the same miss-fires on the Howdah pistol. The breech is the same as the shot gun. I got 1/4-28 Hot shot nipples for the pistol and haven't had anymore problems.
Please keep in mind that I am reluctant to put the blame for the miss-fired rounds on the nipples. This same nipple is used on the Charles Moore percussion pistols that I have. There are not any problems with miss-fired rounds on those pistols.
So I suspect that there might be a too much of a constriction in the flash channel in the Howdah and the shotgun.
I would have got the Hot-Shot nipples for the Charlie Moore pistols but the cone would be too short and the result would be no ignition at all. The hammer doesn't make contact with the Hot-Shot nipple when it is set on it.
Back to the shotgun. I didn't try to pattern it but just started shooting hand thrown pigeons. So I won't attempt to say which method of loading powder, shot and wads worked best.
When I cleaned the barrels I noticed the same thing that I did with the Howdah. If you have one of these shotguns or pistols please take a look at this.
Look at the photo below. Notice how there are gaps above and below the joint between the barrels. This is a good place for water to collect and stay there if you clean by immersing the breech in a bucket then use the patched jag and ramrod to "pump" the solution through the barrel.
I dry everything on the exterior with a towel. Then blast every part of the gun I'm cleaning with an air compressor. That's not historically correct but who cares?
So these gaps get the air compressor treatment. Brake cleaner also does a good job of drying those gaps.
After the air compressor or brake cleaner treatment I push extra long pipe cleaners in the gaps to pick any left over moisture. That works for the Howdah with the extra long pipe cleaners but they don't go deep enough for the shotgun.
I put the muzzle down then drop either oil, or if you wish, WD-40 down those gaps. Then I let it sit in the corner on the muzzle for a few minutes.
After that, I put the breech down on a rag on the floor and let the oil run out.
View attachment 17545
The other problem that I ran into during the shooting session was that the wedge kept wanting to slide out during recoil.
When I reassembled the shotgun, I put a couple of pieces of Gorilla tape in the channel for the wedge staple on the barrel assembly. It was actually two pieces of tape doubled over.
When I pushed the wedge back in there was definitely more effort required to push. Once in position, I didn't feel any play. Let's hope it stays there. If it works, I may upgrade to either wood or metal shim stock.
View attachment 17546
Overall, I think I would give the shotgun 4 out of 5 stars. I didn't like the blemishes that came with a brand new shotgun. The miss-fires on both the Howdah and this firearm are too unacceptable but easy to fix with the Hot-Shot nipples from TOW. However, it could just as easily been fixed with magnum caps.
The aforementioned problems are easy to fix or otherwise live with.
For the fun factor, I give this shotgun 5 stars even if I could only hit 2 out of 12 clay birds. Give me a couple of decades and I might be able to double my record.
I think I will be taking a look at an automatic trap by Champion. These might be the thing I need cause my friends with their new-fangled shotguns may grow impatient with me loading my shotgun. This way, I can go shoot by myself.
40 years plus years old and no rust on the one I own. Doubt there is anything to worry about, unless worrying is one of your hobbies, then in that case, worry away.Even if it were to rust. We will be long gone before it becomes an issue!
My money is on oil sweating out of the threads of the plugs.
Clean with boiling water. Don't use wd40.
Yes.I'm not sure what you are saying. Are you saying that there would still be oil left in the threads where the breech plug mates with the barrel and that is still making its way out into the chamber? When it does so, it contaminates the powder and prevents it from igniting.
Yes.
It takes the minutest amount to put the flame out some how.
Been there and have the t shirt, it's why I keep banging a drum on the subject!
If decide to go deep (and by that I mean buy what you want) contact Pedersoli directly. If they don't have exactly what you want in their catalog, they do have a custom shop that can build you pretty much anything you can think of.Pedersoli's website says it's cylinder bore and modified. No interchangeable choke tubes.
I have a flintlock rifle in .45 caliber on order. This one has to be percussion because that is what my Howdah pistol uses for the ignition system.
I have to admit the fowling pieces are really classy!
Friend, just keep hold of the barrels with a towel and pour boiling water through them. Use damp patches then a drying one or two. The heat will lift oils and lead too. No need to get all fancy honest.Understood. I will try that.
I've used my favorite MAP solution on other guns before but not this shotgun. The hooked breech makes cleaning easy.
I used the hot tap water in the bath tub but will get a pot of boiling hot water to clean the barrel.
I have a plastic box that gunsmiths use to blue barrels with. The shotgun barrel fits in there nicely and has been used to clean it previously.
Tell me what you think. I gave the gun a thorough cleaning last night. However, I can put the shotgun barrel in the box and fill it up with boiling hot water then let it sit for about half hour. Then dry and oil. Would that be enough to force all the oil out?
Many thanks.
Just a couple of thoughts. By "misfire" do you mean the hammer fell and nothing happened, or the cap popped but no main charge ignition?
If the former, after capping gently set the hammer on the cap then push on the back of the hammer spur to seat the cap completely down on the nipple.
If the latter, were the misfires random throughout the session, or did they only start after a number of shots out of the offending barrel? Might give some thought to changing up your caps and powder. I like the CCI magnum caps and I am told genuine black powder ignites easier than the substitutes.
When I load I ram down the overpowder wad with enthusiasm, I like to hear the whoosh of air passing out the nipple, confirms a clear channel.
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