Using a piece of panty hose around your lead shot!

[white_tail]

It was suggested to me in order to get a tighter pattern with my 12 ga. shotgun to load my shot into a piece of panty hose and tie the end with a piece of leather. Has anybody heard of this or have used this trick?

 

[Mike Brooks]

Ought to make a nice 12 bore slug.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

new one on me. give it a try and post results. :hmm:

 

[tamara]

A piece of leather seems like a pretty beefy tie. I wonder if it would foul your barrel. I always heard horror stories of getting too close to the woodstove wearing nylons, and having them melt to your skin. I imagine they'd melt in your barrel. But maybe that's an old wives' tale.

If you try it, please do post results. That'd give me something to do with my old nylons that have holes.

 

[Capt. Jas.]

Panty hose are made of nylon. Would it not melt into a hunk of gunk prior to exiting the barrel?

 

[Black Hand]

I use newspaper tied with thread. The pantyhose sounds like it could be messy when it melts.......

 

[paulvallandigham]

Don't use nylon. The same reason that you use pure cotton patches is the reason NOT to use nylon. It melts, and gums up your barrel. :thumbsup:

I don't understand the hesitation to use a cloth Patched Round Ball? I know there are people here who insist on firing bare lead balls out of their smoothbores, but all that does is rub flats on the sides of the ball, and leave lead streaks on the inside of the barrel. IF I had some need for a fast, follow up shot in the field, ( Boy, are those situations more rare than the proverbial Hens Teeth!) :hmm: I would not hesitate to put a bare ball down the bore of my fowler or shotgun. However, To do so on a regular basis to shoot just doesn't make any sense.

The folks here who seem to always talk about such loadings are the same folks who refuse to clean between shots, or will only clean about ever 3-5 shots. If you don't like cleaning your barrel, BOY-OH-BOY! Are you NOT going to like cleaning those lead streaks out with a bore brush and lead solvents!!! :cursing: :youcrazy: Talk about making the cleaning of a barrel at the end of the day a long hard task! :nono: :shocked2: :redface:

Everyone here who reports getting good round ball accuracy in their smoothie is using a thick patched RB. I think a message is trying to be sent, but your mail box has to be open to receive it. :hatsoff:

 

[Black Hand]

Paul,
With all due respect to your experience and knowledge, he is asking about shot, not roundballs...

But your comment applies, don't use stuff that will melt in your barrel.
Albert

 

[paulvallandigham]

Black Hand: Oops! I read it twice before answering, even passed it by and came back to it, and missed the reference to shot! Boy, I need to slow down!


Thanks for catching my mistake. I need friends like you.

I have to agree with Mike Brooks' comment: It should make a good Slug! I learned that lesson using 3M Post-it note paper and making a cylinder that had 3 full wraps of the paper around, then crimped top and bottom over a 1 1/8 oz. load of shot. put a huge hole in the target at 25 yards, and then broke the leg of the target stand behind it at 50 yards. Never did open up!

I then learned that a cylinder with just one wrap was a great way to make confetti, and that a cylinder made with 2 full wraps worked, but only works consistently in opening up of you don't crimp any of the tube over the front of the shot( cut it off even with the top of the shot load), AND, only if you cut slits in the front of the tube, to create the same kind of petals you see on the modern equivalent plastic shotcups.

 

[white_tail]

The reason for my question: I would like to turkey hunt with my double barrel 12 ga. with no choke to speak of and wanting to have a tight pattern at 25 yards. I am just starting to determine the powder / shot combinations for this gun and looking and listening to all suggestions.

 

[Black Hand]

You could just try the shot naked. Experiment with different amounts of shot compared to powder (by volume). Some people have good luck with more shot than powder, as well as different numbers/types of cards, wads etc . As I mentioned above, I've taken to making pre-measured shot loads using newspaper that is tied with linen thread (think tootsie rool) and lubed. While this does seem to tighten my pattern a bit, it makes a huge difference in the loading time as well as cuts down on the fouling considerably. My suggestion would be to try several options and find out what your smoothbore likes.....

 

[white_tail]

When the weather breaks that's what I am going to do. Just wanting to have options to try. Thanks for your comments.

 

[slowpokebr549]

I think that most styles of shot cups are a waste of time with BP shotguns. Try using 2 to four, thin overshot wads over about 75 to 80 grains of real black. Then 1 1/4 oz. of your favorite shot size followed by a single thin overshot wad. That load is about as tight shooting as my single barrel will manage. I frequently use a single ox yoke lubed felt wad as both an overpowder and an overshot wad. I have to use 3 f to get good penetration, but my gun patterns well with it and it is really convenient. An open choke gun is always going to be a 25 to 30 yard gun, no matter what you do. If turkey is your objective take a page from Paul( earlier poster) and lube the barrel after you load. It seems to tighten my groups a little. Its a pain in the field but you usually only pull the trigger once turkey hunting. I also eke out a little more distance by using copper plated shot.

 

[white_tail]

I have looked for copper plated shot locally but no one seems to carry it. I am getting a itchy finger to do some shooting.

Thanks for the information

 

[slowpokebr549]

I got copper shot by emptying some 12 gauge shells. Not economical by any means.

 

[roundball]

I have looked for copper plated shot locally but no one seems to carry it. I am getting a itchy finger to do some shooting.

Thanks for the information

I ordered my 10# bag of copper plated #6s from Midway.

A single Oxyoke prelubed wonderwad works well, as does 1/2 of a Circle Fly prelubed cushion wad.

 

[shortbow]

I use a cylinder formed around a wooden dowel, made from the light parchment sold in grocery stores for cooking, filled with the weight of load I want, tied fore and aft with light cotton thread. This stuff is tough enough to take rattling around in my shooting pouch, but light enough to come apart nicely upon exiting the bore. I get real nice patterns.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Shortbow: How many times do you wrap the butcher paper around that dowel to form the cylinders? What is the actual thickness of the paper you are using, in thousandths of an inch? Thank you in advance.

 

and grain weight when empty?

 

[Runner]

Try 90 grains of 2f under 120 grains measure of number 6's or 5's. At 25 yards out of my gun, that load will almost remove his head. At 40 it is getting a little sparse!