Thought I had done enough research and had all the bits/gear I need. As you can see from my post count, I'm new to muzzleloading--got a Kibler this past year and had great success with it. This forum was super helpful and has been my bible.
Since I happened to be getting a pup as my first bird dog, I figured I'd dive into muzzle shotguns as well and purchased a SXS Pedersoli .20 ga. Figured since I had a year of flintlock under my belt, I could handle a shotgun well enough as well. You plan, God laughs right?
So I went out after discussing possible loads on this forum.
Lesson 1
1st thing I discovered, yes, loading two barrels makes it disturbingly easy to forget where you are in the process. By the end of the day, I had settled on a process--loading both barrels at the same time--keeping a thumb over last barrel down in what particular step you are in (Pour powder in one, thumb over, pour powder in other, now cards, etc.). But since I'm spelling that out, you can tell mistakes were made and barrels were pulled a time or two for safety.
Lesson 2
I suck with this thing
. I've shot pigeons enough that I figured I'd just adjust from a swing through to a lead with no issue. Wrong. I had a hell of time getting on the birds (3 of 15!). Now part of this is the load I believe. The Pedersoli calls for 75 gr/1 oz. The forum suggested I start at 60-65, fair enough--but it really didn't pattern well. Later today I'm going to go back at it with a 75 gr load and see where I set. It's going to take a lot of practice.
Lesson 3
Don't load the second pan, even if you close it. The Pedersoli 20 has smaller flints but even then--they don't allow the frizzen to seat all the way on the pan. There is a (very small) crack near the bottom even when closed. I discovered this when one barrel firing kicked off both barrels
. So either I will need to knap that second flint to make sure the frizzen seats all the way or just not prime that pan.
Lesson 4
This gun is a bit more temperamental than my Kibler. The Kibler just fires, every time, without fail--the lock just ticks along. Not so much here. The touch hole plugged a few times and after a few flashes, I realized I would need to pick my vent hole more often. Using Goex FFF powder too, no substitute powder. I would also need to swab the gun more often between shots, as the choked barrel can become a bugger quick. This concerns me if I hunt with it. I'm not sure if temperature played a part here. I google beforehand on cold weather effects on muzzleloading and mostly what I found was condensation concerns when bringing back inside. Since I planned on cleaning immediately after, I wasn't concerned--but it was pretty damn cold (10 degrees) when I was shooting...so I wonder.
Lesson 5
About that choked barrel! This was a mistake that made me feel like an utter fool. So I didn't have a 20 ga cleaning jag at the range (not in my normal kit) and was making due with a double patch on a .50 jag. This worked just fine for the non-choke barrel....and seemed to work ok on the choke modified until one pull snapped my ramrod (I didn't think I was even pulling that hard but suppose so!). The barrel must have been fouled pretty good that time around. So I had to pull that sucker out, luckily it was right near the end so I did manage to slip it out.....but man I felt like a stupid a$$ (still do). What a dumb mistake. I'm still ****** at myself for doing it.
Lesson 6
Not so much a lesson but a concern! I would love to upland hunt with this gun but hoo boy, I'm not sure I'll be able to manage all of the special needs + my dog in the field. I have some speed loaders from Dixie, with shot/powder on each side and those were pretty damn nifty--definitely going to get some more. But the cards are fickle and difficult to manage, I can't imagine with gloves in the field on a windy day. I tried putting them in ziploc bags (I pre-drilled a tiny hole in the overshot cards as well to make seating easier)---but those ziploc bags didn't work so well. How do you guys carry your cards/wads in the field?
Lesson 7 (Hey a good one!)
The gun cleans nicely! Boy those chrome barrels come clean quick! It only took a few swabs on each barrel, changing the water out and then the water ran clean. I had read that brass wire brushes were ok in a chrome barrel for cleaning--but I'm not sure why would ever need it--they are slick and swab so easily. I didn't remove the touch hole liners, although given the flashes that day I considered it. For one, I'm sure that requires a special tool I don't have and 2--it seems like when I searched this forum it's a debate if you should or not--with most saying not. Regardless, I really enjoyed this part of it
.
Overall, I'm a bit disheartened but I'm old enough to realize this is the nature of learning a new thing---however
I'm still particularly nervous about hunting with this. Between my accuracy, how touchy the gun seems to be regarding fouling and how difficult it will be to manage the dog/ammo needs....dunno. Not feeling warm and fuzzy
. I'm going back at it later today with lessons in mind to see how it goes this time. Feel free to talk me off the cliff!
...arguably the most vile substance known to man. There's a reason cats are born knowing exactly what to do with the stuff and what do dogs do? They go well out of their way to dig it up and chow down. 
Mark
