Using shot with T/C .56

[kendrolet]

First of all I want to apologize for asking such a basic question that I'm sure all you regular shooters already know. I'm trying to learn. :wink: I just got a 10 lb bag of #5 shot. My T/C book says to load 7/8 oz of #6 Of course.They said put that over 80 grains of powder. I can do the powder thing....but how the heck do I get any kind of oz.'s? :idunno: I read something about re-setting the powder measure to 60gr????? Can someone recommend a shot and powder ratio with #5 shot? AND tell me how the heck to measure it? You folks are really awesome and I love reading all your info!
Thanks!!!!!!

 

[dcalef3]

I have the same, people have told me just use equal measure of shot and powder by volume. I would start at 80 gr powder and go up by 5 gr and see what kind of pattern you get. No more than 100 gr but i think youll have better results between 80-90 gr powder.

 

[Carl Fowler III]

60gr. = 7/8oz., 70gr. = 1oz., and 80gr. =1 1/8oz. of shot measured by volume, same as powder...regardless of shot size! :v

 

[kendrolet]

I am also thinking about wrapping the shot in some tissue paper (semi- loosely) to help hold it for a little more distance. I'm planning on using this on turkey....any idea of a reasonable range to shoot at?

 

[dcalef3]

To be honest, this will be the first year shooting shot out of mine. Ive only used prb but people are telling me not to expect anything more than 25 yds for shot. I will also be using it for turkey. The paper cartrige might help like you said, maybe get 10 more yds or so. Let me know how it does. It will be a while before i get out and try it. Too cold in NH right now and theres 3 feet of snow still on the ground.

 

[nit wit]

56 renegade:
I don't know about Georgia but it's illegal to hunt turkey in NH with anything smaller than a 20 guage. :nono:
For more range make brown grocery bag tubes. :thumbsup:
Nit Wit

 

[silly goose]

I'm thinking your gonna have a fairly sparse pattern at 25 yards for turkeys with 7/8oz of #5's. The only shot I use in my smoothies is #6, and in the .56 I had, it patterned well enough for small game out to 25 yards, but a turkey spine and skull is pretty small. With my .62 and an oz of shot in cylinder bore, I like turkeys inside 20. I've only killed one, so not an expert by any means, but do like to stack the odds in my favor. Get her on paper and see what it tells you.

 

[dcalef3]

56 renegade:
I don't know about Georgia but it's illegal to hunt turkey in NH with anything smaller than a 20 guage. :nono:

Oops, youre right. I just had to look that up. I only looked at shot size before and didnt notice the guage limits.

 

[VEARL]

I use 1 1/8 oz of #6 shot. 70 Gr. of 2F BP with two OP cards. Shot wrapped in heavy paper (home made cup). Followed up with 1 OS card. I don't use a Fiber wad. It blows a hole in my pattern.
My best yardage is still 25 yds max.
:thumbsup:

 

[Patocazador]

I weigh out my shot and use 1 1/8 oz. which equals 493 grains. I have the other conversions for 1 oz., 1 1/4, and 1 3/8 written down above my scale which is out in the garage.

I put the weighed shot in plastic vials and just dump them in when I reload.

The shot measure in my Irish spout pours much more shot than the dispenser registers.

 

[Billnpatti]

Long experience has shown that an equal volume of powder and shot will usually give you the best pattern. Here is an idea for a method for adding a bit of "choke" to your cylinder bore:
http://www.muzzleloadingshotguns.com/articles/candlecartridges

It tightens up your pattern just a bit but not as much as you might think. Read all of the article and then decide for yourself if it is worth trying in your gun. You can probably control how much "choke" it will give you by varying how thick the binder is that you use. You can use anything from a mix of grease and bees wax to straight bees wax or possibly pure paraffin. Much will depend on the outdoor temperature as to how thick of a mixture you will need. I think it is worth giving it a try and doing some experimentation. If your .56 is not legal for turkey, you can still use it for squirrels and bunnies.

BTW, if you need info on how to use a paper bag to make shot cups, just send me a PM and I will tell you how to do it.

 

[tenngun]

I started with equal powder/shot volumes shooting 70grains/1 onuce. It worked well. But I get denser patterens by going to 1and 1/8 and 70 grains or 65 and 1. more shot less powder. Corse the difference may all be in my head....Ask a dozen front stuffers get 13 answears.

 

[kendrolet]

I just checked the Georgia DNR site just to be sure.....Turkey hunting..."Any type of muzzleloader"

YES!!!! :thumbsup:

 

[kendrolet]

Well, with only a few cuss words and some clumsey fingers, I was able to make some paper shot cups. I marked off 20 yards and set up a piece of cardboard about 3 feet square. First...I was VERY disappointed in the pattern. If you can call it that. It looked like a scatter gun!!! The pattern was wider that my piece of cardboard and my 2 inch circle in the center only had ONE pellet! Second....my heart tells me that #5 shot is WAY too small for turkey! BTW....I used 80 gr of powder and set my measure to 70gr for the shot.
SO.....here's my next plan. I'm going to stick with 80gr of powder but this time I'm going to use BB's from my grandson's BB gun. They are Zinc coated. (.177) Then I'm going to put them in my shot cup and try to make a candle cartridge. I'm going to try straight parrafin on a couple, then I'm going to try to dilute the parrafin a little and try that. I don't want it to hit like a slug but there has to be a happy middle ground somewhere. OH....the shot cup was made from regular copy paper with a small piece of scotch tape to hold it. I cut my own OP and OS cards from a cereal box. I am still open to suggestions!!! :wink: :wink: :thumbsup:

Ken

 

[Alden]

Ummm, get a smoothbore!?

 

[azmntman]

If yer .56 is smoothbore try 60 grains powder and by volume 70 grains shot. If its rifled see Aldens post above!

 

[kendrolet]

Sorry....yes it is a T/C Renegade....56 smoothie.

 

[Joel/Calgary]

Second....my heart tells me that #5 shot is WAY too small for turkey! BTW....I used 80 gr of powder and set my measure to 70gr for the shot.
SO.....here's my next plan. I'm going to stick with 80gr of powder but this time I'm going to use BB's from my grandson's BB gun. They are Zinc coated. (.177)

Are you talking about head/neck shots or body shots? Most folks hunting turkeys are shooting for the head and neck, and many state/provincial game regulations explicitly limit hunters to shot too small for body hits - usually #4 and smaller. My understanding is that this is from a history of too many birds hit in the body but not recovered early in the period of "modern" hunting regulations/seasons. For what it's worth, some goose hunters did/do the same, using #6 or #7.5 lead shot back in the day or #4 or #5 steel shot nowadays and shooting for the head at moderate ranges rather than for the body.

Regardless of the plating, STEEL BBs WILL DAMAGE YOUR BARREL unless they are used with ADEQUATE shot protection. Those air-rifle shot are actually harder than regular "steel" (actually pure iron) birdshot.

And without a choke, more powder than shot by volume tends to open the pattern unless you are using some form of shotcup or cartridge that that tightens the pattern and opens reliably.

Regards from the (again) frigid North,
Joel

 

[kendrolet]

Thanks Joel! I am actually using a shot cup AND I poured in a diluted parrafin wax. They LOOK very nice. They fit into the barrel nicely and the paper of the cup soaked up some of the wax so it's like an extra coating. All the BB's have a light coating of wax as well.

What do you think?

 

[azmntman]

How do they shoot and is there any mess in the barrel?