You might be a redneck....

[kemart17]

I needed to go to the farm today and wanted to shoot my new to me 14 bore.

I left my shotgun bag at a friend's, and had no 14 bore wads... but necessity is the Mother of invention.

Ok..I need powder, shot, wads, caps, and measurer.

Lucky I shoot 45-70. I grabbed an empty, 70 grains max loads please! Measurer, Check.

Lucky my first CVA horn was hanging by the door, with 3fffg. Powder, Check.

I was gifted 75 rounds of 16 gauge. Ready to load 1 1/16oz loads? Shot, Check.

Wads? Hmm. How about some paper napkins from Sonic? Check.

Get to the farm, I keep caps EVERYWHERE! Grab a tin from the Dad's old gun rack. Check!

Ok, first pop a few caps, done.

Now powder, I do fill the 45-70 case about 1/2" short of full. About 60-ish grains.

View attachment 206283

Now for over powder wads.
View attachment 206284
Tamp it down good.
Now for shot, I grab a paper JC Higgins 16 gauge shell, size unknown.
Cut the top off, looks like #6. Perfect.

View attachment 206285View attachment 206286View attachment 206287
Ok, shot down the tube. Another Sonic napkin down the chute, Tamp for good measure.

Now for a target. On the side of the house an old Samsonite suitcase sat, way beyond use. Perfect.
Hang it from a tree. Step off 20 paces, aim, fire.

A really tight group, although close range. No holes, about a foot square.
View attachment 206289

Is this how I usually operate? No way, did it work perfectly well? Absolutely.

I reloaded, slung my horn, dropped the tin in my back pocket, 4 shells in my front pocket, the 45-70 and a bunch of napkins in the other. Walked towards my stand and a crow crossed my path, full from eating my corn. The gun went to my shoulder as on hydraulics. The bird fell at the shot.

I recall a while back someone here listed all the new equipment needed to shoot a black powder gun. It ran into the hundreds of dollars.

Maybe this will show you don't NEED an expensive capper, which I use when shooting trap. You don't NEED an adjustable measure, an old cartridge or horn will do.

I NEVER shoot trap without wads, but I would have broke a bird, cause I broke one for real, with some free napkins.

I am always on the hustle for old shotgun shells; I cut them and cannibalize the shot. Today I used cartridges for ease of carrying the shot in the field.

But NEVER THINK you can use ANY SMOKELESS POWDER IN BLACK POWDER ARMS!! I ONLY use the shot, the powder gets dumped in the yard, hulls in a bucket of water, then the trash.

Ok, bring on the criticism.

great story, muzzleloaders are great, 1 of the beauties of the sport is improvising and making things i need

 

[Brazos John]

That's a 1976 Datsun pickup

I recognized the bed, since I had a '78 King Kab.
I first bought an old Toyota Hi-Lux, and wore it out. On trails, I would hit my head on the back window, which was right behind the seat. The King Kab had extra room behind the seat, and it was great!
I added dark plexi bubble windows in the rear and sides, and a skylight in the roof.
That was the last time I styled!.....

 

[Eterry]

I recognized the bed, since I had a '78 King Kab.
I first bought an old Toyota Hi-Lux, and wore it out. On trails, I would hit my head on the back window, which was right behind the seat. The King Kab had extra room behind the seat, and it was great!
I added dark plexi bubble windows in the rear and sides, and a skylight in the roof.
That was the last time I styled!.....

Dad bought his first Datsun in 1969. He said the size and motor reminded him of the Model A Ford. He drove it for 5 years, and traded it in for another Datsun He got $500 More in trade in than he paid for it!

He hunted every year in the Kiamichi Mountains in Oklahoma. Datsun had 6 hole pattern same as Chevy 3/4 ton. He put a set on and drove up the dry creek bed jeeps, bikes, horses used to get to the top.

Their main flaw was their wiring. It started going bad at 100K.

My first car was a B-210.

 

[J.D]

My first ml was a cva like yours.Went squirrel hunting the day before i left for boot camp, Got shot at by some *****. Good training for vietnam 1968.

 

[Notchy Bob]

No criticism for you, @Eterry !

That sounded like a good day afield... back to basics.

It also reminded me of something my dad told me. He was born on a family farm in southeast Alabama in 1907. Muzzleloaders were in general use until after World War I, at least. Dad's first gun was a cheap little Belgian percussion smoothbore in 34 gauge, or around .52 caliber. He told me he and one of his brothers would walk up to a little store a couple of miles from their farm and buy New Club blackpowder 12 gauge shotgun shells. These were sold individually, and I think he said they could get three shells for a nickel. He and his brother would cut them open and get two charges of powder and I believe three charges of shot from each shell. I suppose they saved their money and bought a tin of caps at the store when needed, and they used hornet nest for wadding. Anyway, those three New Club shells would fix them up for a day's hunt.

You made good use of those old shotgun shells. I think the only thing I might have done different might be to save the empty primed hulls and maybe load some blackpowder blanks for 4th of July, but that's not a criticism.

Good thread!

Notchy Bob

 

[Eterry]

No criticism for you, @Eterry !

That sounded like a good day afield... back to basics.

It also reminded me of something my dad told me. He was born on a family farm in southeast Alabama in 1907. Muzzleloaders were in general use until after World War I, at least. Dad's first gun was a cheap little Belgian percussion smoothbore in 34 gauge, or around .52 caliber. He told me he and one of his brothers would walk up to a little store a couple of miles from their farm and buy New Club blackpowder 12 gauge shotgun shells. These were sold individually, and I think he said they could get three shells for a nickel. He and his brother would cut them open and get two charges of powder and I believe three charges of shot from each shell. I suppose they saved their money and bought a tin of caps at the store when needed, and they used hornet nest for wadding. Anyway, those three New Club shells would fix them up for a day's hunt.

You made good use of those old shotgun shells. I think the only thing I might have done different might be to save the empty primed hulls and maybe load some blackpowder blanks for 4th of July, but that's not a criticism.

Good thread!

Notchy Bob

You have to be careful using emptied shotgun shells.
I responded to an accidental shooting where kids had cut tops off shells, dumped the lead and poured sand in for blanks. What they didn't know was a few pellets stuck to the wad and a kid got hurt. Yes, they shouldn't have pointed a firearm at another.

I noticed a few pellets in the shells after I hit it several times trying to get them out.
Be safe.

 

[Notchy Bob]

You have to be careful using emptied shotgun shells.
I responded to an accidental shooting where kids had cut tops off shells, dumped the lead and poured sand in for blanks. What they didn't know was a few pellets stuck to the wad and a kid got hurt. Yes, they shouldn't have pointed a firearm at another.

I noticed a few pellets in the shells after I hit it several times trying to get them out.
Be safe.

Good point! Thanks for that!

Notchy Bob

 

[Britsmoothy]

You have to be careful using emptied shotgun shells.
I responded to an accidental shooting where kids had cut tops off shells, dumped the lead and poured sand in for blanks. What they didn't know was a few pellets stuck to the wad and a kid got hurt. Yes, they shouldn't have pointed a firearm at another.

I noticed a few pellets in the shells after I hit it several times trying to get them out.
Be safe.

No kids of mine had toy guns. Playing shooting at each other at such a young age and then trying to tell them never to point a gun at anyone later on is just messing with their heads! IMO of course.

 

[Eterry]

No kids of mine had toy guns. Playing shooting at each other at such a young age and then trying to tell them never to point a gun at anyone later on is just messing with their heads! IMO of course.

I agree things change. Dad would take me to see a friend, he had a son my age. He'd pull out an M1-A and a box of blanks. It was his toy. We did stuff that makes me cringe now.

Until we moved to the country us and the neighboring kids had a Saturday afternoon "war" on the irrigation channel. Bring your BB or Pellet gun and see how many kids you could shoot. Thankfully not one got seriously hurt.

 

[Brazos John]

No kids of mine had toy guns.

We tried that with our first born.
He picked up sticks and shot with those.
It's ingrained in the American psyche, it seems.
So, I took him to the farm and taught him marksmanship.
I set up woods walks for him, using skeet set in the bushes and trees. Good times!
In Scouts, I ran a shooting class at Summer Camp, and he helped the other Scouts aim and shoot.
Later, he was on the Aggie Fish Drill Team, where they twirled and threw their rifles to each other.
Then, in the Army, he learned more about weapons, and became a Medic.
He's also gone Cowboy Shooting with me in Columbus, TX, and he does quite well.
Now, he has his own son to teach, in a few years. At one, he's still a little too small to hold a .22.
I'll let his Dad teach him about rimfires, then Grandpap will show him how flintlocks work.

 

[Britsmoothy]

We tried that with our first born.
He picked up sticks and shot with those.
It's ingrained in the American psyche, it seems.
So, I took him to the farm and taught him marksmanship.
I set up woods walks for him, using skeet set in the bushes and trees. Good times!
In Scouts, I ran a shooting class at Summer Camp, and he helped the other Scouts aim and shoot.
Later, he was on the Aggie Fish Drill Team, where they twirled and threw their rifles to each other.
Then, in the Army, he learned more about weapons, and became a Medic.
He's also gone Cowboy Shooting with me in Columbus, TX, and he does quite well.
Now, he has his own son to teach, in a few years. At one, he's still a little too small to hold a .22.
I'll let his Dad teach him about rimfires, then Grandpap will show him how flintlocks work.

That is the correct way sir

 

[Abarnes]

I needed to go to the farm today and wanted to shoot my new to me 14 bore.

I left my shotgun bag at a friend's, and had no 14 bore wads... but necessity is the Mother of invention.

Ok..I need powder, shot, wads, caps, and measurer.

Lucky I shoot 45-70. I grabbed an empty, 70 grains max loads please! Measurer, Check.

Lucky my first CVA horn was hanging by the door, with 3fffg. Powder, Check.

I was gifted 75 rounds of 16 gauge. Ready to load 1 1/16oz loads? Shot, Check.

Wads? Hmm. How about some paper napkins from Sonic? Check.

Get to the farm, I keep caps EVERYWHERE! Grab a tin from the Dad's old gun rack. Check!

Ok, first pop a few caps, done.

Now powder, I do fill the 45-70 case about 1/2" short of full. About 60-ish grains.

View attachment 206283

Now for over powder wads.
View attachment 206284
Tamp it down good.
Now for shot, I grab a paper JC Higgins 16 gauge shell, size unknown.
Cut the top off, looks like #6. Perfect.

View attachment 206285View attachment 206286View attachment 206287
Ok, shot down the tube. Another Sonic napkin down the chute, Tamp for good measure.

Now for a target. On the side of the house an old Samsonite suitcase sat, way beyond use. Perfect.
Hang it from a tree. Step off 20 paces, aim, fire.

A really tight group, although close range. No holes, about a foot square.
View attachment 206289

Is this how I usually operate? No way, did it work perfectly well? Absolutely.

I reloaded, slung my horn, dropped the tin in my back pocket, 4 shells in my front pocket, the 45-70 and a bunch of napkins in the other. Walked towards my stand and a crow crossed my path, full from eating my corn. The gun went to my shoulder as on hydraulics. The bird fell at the shot.

I recall a while back someone here listed all the new equipment needed to shoot a black powder gun. It ran into the hundreds of dollars.

Maybe this will show you don't NEED an expensive capper, which I use when shooting trap. You don't NEED an adjustable measure, an old cartridge or horn will do.

I NEVER shoot trap without wads, but I would have broke a bird, cause I broke one for real, with some free napkins.

I am always on the hustle for old shotgun shells; I cut them and cannibalize the shot. Today I used cartridges for ease of carrying the shot in the field.

But NEVER THINK you can use ANY SMOKELESS POWDER IN BLACK POWDER ARMS!! I ONLY use the shot, the powder gets dumped in the yard, hulls in a bucket of water, then the trash.

Ok, bring on the criticism.

I thought you were going to use your shirt tail as wadding

 

[Eterry]

I thought you were going to use your shirt tail as wadding

No. Every country boy knows there's only ONE thing to use your shirt tail for!! A different use for a patch knife, and you'd better bury it!

 

[SOLANCO]

1 round.

Well.....maybe two or three. Been known to miss a shot.

 

[andy52]

Well.....maybe two or three. Been known to miss a shot.

One does not get many second shots when you're hunting Turkey.

 

[SOLANCO]

No criticism for you, @Eterry !

That sounded like a good day afield... back to basics.

It also reminded me of something my dad told me. He was born on a family farm in southeast Alabama in 1907. Muzzleloaders were in general use until after World War I, at least. Dad's first gun was a cheap little Belgian percussion smoothbore in 34 gauge, or around .52 caliber. He told me he and one of his brothers would walk up to a little store a couple of miles from their farm and buy New Club blackpowder 12 gauge shotgun shells. These were sold individually, and I think he said they could get three shells for a nickel. He and his brother would cut them open and get two charges of powder and I believe three charges of shot from each shell. I suppose they saved their money and bought a tin of caps at the store when needed, and they used hornet nest for wadding. Anyway, those three New Club shells would fix them up for a day's hunt.

You made good use of those old shotgun shells. I think the only thing I might have done different might be to save the empty primed hulls and maybe load some blackpowder blanks for 4th of July, but that's not a criticism.

Good thread!

Notchy Bob

Lamy's store and gas pump at the foot of my grandmother's hollow sold .22 LR cartridges by the each. SW Virginia hill people did not often afford a box purchase!
I started buying those cartridges around 6 or 7 years old. Many a hot summer day agonized between a few shells and a chocolate soda. Least the aunts and uncles let me choose.

 

[SOLANCO]

One does not get many second shots when you're hunting Turkey.

Nope. But I'm on a deer stand. Besides, squirrel is tasty. Neither do I feature looking for a wounded deer with a sheath knife.

 

[SOLANCO]

My first ml was a cva like yours.Went squirrel hunting the day before i left for boot camp, Got shot at by some *****. Good training for vietnam 1968.

First deer hunt, and last, after I ETS'd someone shot in my direction. Laughed when I screamed at him and did it again. He literally screamed when I touched the back of his neck after stalking him.

 

[SOLANCO]

No kids of mine had toy guns. Playing shooting at each other at such a young age and then trying to tell them never to point a gun at anyone later on is just messing with their heads! IMO of course.

Born 1947. Mother's family were rural with guns as common as skillets. WWII was still huge in peoples memories. Korea was ongoing. We did not have toy guns. Although I got my first .22 rifle for Christmas when I was 6 years old. I understood VERY VERY well that it was not a toy.
We did play army. Sticks for rifles. Twigs for pistols. Lumps of mud for grenades. No one understands PLAY better than kids. Far as I know, none of us ever shot anyone outside of Southeast Asia.

 

[Eterry]

Lamy's store and gas pump at the foot of my grandmother's hollow sold .22 LR cartridges by the each. SW Virginia hill people did not often afford a box purchase!
I started buying those cartridges around 6 or 7 years old. Many a hot summer day agonized between a few shells and a chocolate soda. Least the aunts and uncles let me choose.

My dad talked about being a kid during the depression and war. My great grandfather had a trucking outfit so gas was no problem, but tires were. They'd cut the sidewall from a tire too far gone and cap a usable tire with it. Dad said it was a good thing the national speed limit was 35mph, any faster the cap flew off. Even then you had to slow down on curves for same reason.

He said ammo was non existent until 43 or 44. Even then you bought the shells by the singles, so everyone could go hunting. He bought 22 shorts a penny each. My great grandpa handloaded his 30 WCF, cast bullets from Babbitt from his auto shop and used black powder, it was all you could get. He hunted the river bottoms, plenty of game cause all the boys were off fighting.