Yep! stole it off SWMBO printer... :thumbsup:
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Why the "Skychief" load works?
- Thread starter coloradoclyde
- Start date
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Skychief said:
I think it's............lol
My gun does not shoot point of aim...
I've got to get larger paper again so I can tell exactly whats going on. :idunno:
Holding the base of the front sight on the top of the paper, it appears the mass of shot hits 8" low and a little left of center. :shocked2:
Skychief
69 Cal.
I noticed a lot of shot struck low. Get that lined out and the loads will be all the denser. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Good luck, Skychief
Good luck, Skychief
Thanks again :hatsoff:
Here's one pattern I shot with a 12 gauge cylinder bore at 25 yards, 70 gr. 2F, 1/8" hard card, 1 1/4 oz. #5 shot and a 1/2" cushion wad saturated with my beeswax-lard lube. I hadn't started putting a thin overshot card under the cushion wad at that time.
Spence
Spence
Thanks Spence, What size is that paper?
It appears em evenly distributed... :thumbsup:
It appears em evenly distributed... :thumbsup:
Smo,
What size shot were you using in your above photos?
Best testing is done at 40 yards, on paper or iron (whitewashed) target.
Target needs to be 4 feet square.
Pattern centre then found, and a 30" circle drawn around this centre. Pellets then counted and you can from there figure out what percentage pattern you are throwing. Best repeated 5 times, to get an average.
This also shows where the gun is printing, so adjustment can be made.
Long barrels Very often shoot low, and many old ones are bent up a little at the muzzle. Had to do that with mine! (44")
Spence,
Your gun seemed to throw a very good pattern in the above photo.
All best,
Richard.
What size shot were you using in your above photos?
Best testing is done at 40 yards, on paper or iron (whitewashed) target.
Target needs to be 4 feet square.
Pattern centre then found, and a 30" circle drawn around this centre. Pellets then counted and you can from there figure out what percentage pattern you are throwing. Best repeated 5 times, to get an average.
This also shows where the gun is printing, so adjustment can be made.
Long barrels Very often shoot low, and many old ones are bent up a little at the muzzle. Had to do that with mine! (44")
Spence,
Your gun seemed to throw a very good pattern in the above photo.
All best,
Richard.
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RJDH said:
With a cylinder bore muzzleloader?.... :shocked2:
I understand that's how more formal pattern testing is done, and that it's the proper way to find out how the gun is performing when compared to the standards and to other guns. I don't do it that way. All I need to know is whether the pattern is dense enough and even enough at the distances I usually shoot for the game I usually hunt. My hunting guns are all cylinder bore, and It would be a very unusual thing for me to shoot at game at 40 yards. The 25-yard pattern I posted above will do the job for me, and then some.
The only time I load with Skychief's load is if I'm carrying a double. That barrel is only used for those shots beyond my usual range, because I've found that if I use it at much less than 25 yards I wind up with minced squirrel. :grin:
Spence
The only time I load with Skychief's load is if I'm carrying a double. That barrel is only used for those shots beyond my usual range, because I've found that if I use it at much less than 25 yards I wind up with minced squirrel. :grin:
Spence
Spence and all,
A good cylinder pattern should be nearly 100 percent certain at 40 yards if held right.
As a kid, I used to study Eley's "Shooters Diary".
Put in hours looking at that thing!
All patterns are non-repeatable, as in, can come out different to the last one, so even with choke, there will be wild variables at times.
As a lad back home, I used old original percussion guns and found that with normal loads, they would invariably shoot 40 percent patterns at 40 yards at least, which equates to patterns dense enough for taking pheasants, partridges and ducks cleanly at that range, (most of the time and if held right!)
Have used these guns a lot, and never found any problems out to 40 yards on game.
Course, a good load has to be determined, and this is where the pattern plate comes in.
Briefly, as this is as dry as chips!
We need 1 ft/lb of energy per pellet, and maybe 3 or 4 hits to bring a bird the size of a pheasant to bag.
Ducks require 1.5 ft /lbs of energy.
Look at energy created by say #7 shot. It has sufficient for birds like pheasants and partridges to somewhere just past 40 yards.
A 40 percent pattern, (cylinder bore) at 40 yards with 1 1/4 Oz of #7, will contain about 170 pellets in the 30 " circle
a good even pattern containing 140 pellets is deemed necessary for clean kills, so we are well in for birds the size of grouse partridges and pheasants, but Not for tiny birds like snipe, etc.
We also need Energy to kill, and same "shooter's diary says, drawing on centuries of experience that for birds up to pheasants, we need 3 or 4 pellets striking the target, and each pellet having 1 ft/lb of energy.
If we look at #7 shot, we see that it has just over 1 ft/lb of energy at 40 yards.
If we use American #4 or so, we have an overload of energy, (2.99 Ft /Lbs of energy at 40yards), but with a true cylinder, our pattern has completely failed.
I don't know about you, but I need a drink!
A good cylinder pattern should be nearly 100 percent certain at 40 yards if held right.
As a kid, I used to study Eley's "Shooters Diary".
Put in hours looking at that thing!
All patterns are non-repeatable, as in, can come out different to the last one, so even with choke, there will be wild variables at times.
As a lad back home, I used old original percussion guns and found that with normal loads, they would invariably shoot 40 percent patterns at 40 yards at least, which equates to patterns dense enough for taking pheasants, partridges and ducks cleanly at that range, (most of the time and if held right!)
Have used these guns a lot, and never found any problems out to 40 yards on game.
Course, a good load has to be determined, and this is where the pattern plate comes in.
Briefly, as this is as dry as chips!
We need 1 ft/lb of energy per pellet, and maybe 3 or 4 hits to bring a bird the size of a pheasant to bag.
Ducks require 1.5 ft /lbs of energy.
Look at energy created by say #7 shot. It has sufficient for birds like pheasants and partridges to somewhere just past 40 yards.
A 40 percent pattern, (cylinder bore) at 40 yards with 1 1/4 Oz of #7, will contain about 170 pellets in the 30 " circle
a good even pattern containing 140 pellets is deemed necessary for clean kills, so we are well in for birds the size of grouse partridges and pheasants, but Not for tiny birds like snipe, etc.
We also need Energy to kill, and same "shooter's diary says, drawing on centuries of experience that for birds up to pheasants, we need 3 or 4 pellets striking the target, and each pellet having 1 ft/lb of energy.
If we look at #7 shot, we see that it has just over 1 ft/lb of energy at 40 yards.
If we use American #4 or so, we have an overload of energy, (2.99 Ft /Lbs of energy at 40yards), but with a true cylinder, our pattern has completely failed.
I don't know about you, but I need a drink!
I'll join you.
It has been a very long time since I did any shooting flying. Our flying game is the bobwhite quail, and they are scarce on the ground, these days, haven't flushed one in ten years. Mourning doves in September used to be an annual event, but that requires a proper ground, and I no longer have access to one. Small game for me, these days, is tree squirrels and cottontail rabbits, and both are close-in work.
My interest in Skychief's load is solely for squirrels in our taller trees, and they are probably 35-40 yards tall. I have little luck bringing them down with regular loads in my cylinder bores.
I have shot patterns at 25 yards with more conventional loads which approach Skychief's, but on average his will reach out further. I would rate it as a very good load for longer distances, but it's no miracle.
Spence
It has been a very long time since I did any shooting flying. Our flying game is the bobwhite quail, and they are scarce on the ground, these days, haven't flushed one in ten years. Mourning doves in September used to be an annual event, but that requires a proper ground, and I no longer have access to one. Small game for me, these days, is tree squirrels and cottontail rabbits, and both are close-in work.
My interest in Skychief's load is solely for squirrels in our taller trees, and they are probably 35-40 yards tall. I have little luck bringing them down with regular loads in my cylinder bores.
I have shot patterns at 25 yards with more conventional loads which approach Skychief's, but on average his will reach out further. I would rate it as a very good load for longer distances, but it's no miracle.
Spence
George said:
:hatsoff: Thank You Sir
Richard, those were shot with #6 lead shot
Thanks Smo.
Had a real good pal in Hickman County, Duck river...
You have some Big trees down there!
Had a real good pal in Hickman County, Duck river...
You have some Big trees down there!
We sure do, and add in a steep hillside and your pushing the range on a cylinder bore smoothbore.
Happy Birthday :thumbsup:
Happy Birthday :thumbsup:
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I've seen people increasing their shot charges from 1 ounce to as much as 2 ounces in an effort to extend range. I don't think this is an acceptable measure or indicator of pattern efficiency.
We need to maintain a standard.
We need to maintain a standard.
Clyde,
What we have to take into account, is that in the late 18th /early 19th Century, they used heavier charges usually, we do today.
Col. Hawker recommended loading a singe or double of 6 -9 lbs weight, with 1 1 /2 oz of shot and same measure for powder, But, with a percussion less powder could be used.
This was for bores 22 up to 12 I think. Recoil was what limited the charge.
We now have a different idea, very often copied and repeated, that certain charges were proper for a certain bore. This was actually for cartridge guns.
Many old gunners used the bowl of a clay pipe as a shot dispenser, and we hear time and again that this held "Just the right amount"
I used to find pipe bowls in the fields back home, and measured a few;
One held an ounce, but the majority held 1 3/4 ounces. (One also from the 1600's only held about half an ounce!
Long winded way of saying they loaded heavier than we often do today.
My old double 19 -bore flint shoots well I know with 1 1/2 ounces, but I often used a straight ounce with small shot. (made 1811 or 1812 )
What we have to take into account, is that in the late 18th /early 19th Century, they used heavier charges usually, we do today.
Col. Hawker recommended loading a singe or double of 6 -9 lbs weight, with 1 1 /2 oz of shot and same measure for powder, But, with a percussion less powder could be used.
This was for bores 22 up to 12 I think. Recoil was what limited the charge.
We now have a different idea, very often copied and repeated, that certain charges were proper for a certain bore. This was actually for cartridge guns.
Many old gunners used the bowl of a clay pipe as a shot dispenser, and we hear time and again that this held "Just the right amount"
I used to find pipe bowls in the fields back home, and measured a few;
One held an ounce, but the majority held 1 3/4 ounces. (One also from the 1600's only held about half an ounce!
Long winded way of saying they loaded heavier than we often do today.
My old double 19 -bore flint shoots well I know with 1 1/2 ounces, but I often used a straight ounce with small shot. (made 1811 or 1812 )
I too find my guns become far more useful with heavy charges, heavy by today's recommendations that is.RJDH said:
Bessy likes 2oz up'er.
My 12g 1&1/4+.
The .63 the same and the little .45 5/8-3/4oz.
B.
Heavier charges, yes, but wouldn't the powder be 1fg?
