Your SkyChief load in pictures

[Brokennock]

I promised quite some time ago that I would post pictures of the details of loading the Skychief load next time I went to the patterning board. Well, then Covid hit, I got sick, when I returned to work it was with an uncooperative schedule and the weather went bizarre (snow in May?).
I just got to load my gun to, hopefully, go turkey hunting tomorrow. I took pics as I went along.

But 1st a quote from Skychief himself taken from his "sticky" post in the hunting section,

Having been asked about the load and its makeup enough times, I will list the recipe here for reference sake.

Powder charge
Nitro (hard) card
Shotload
Thin overshot card
Full fiber cushion wad*

*The cushion wad needs to be SATURATED (the wetter and heavier, the better) with oil. I like to use olive oil.

Here are our components,

Powder, I'm using 70 grains of 3f (your load may vary), nitro (or "over powder") card, shot load (in my case I am using one of my paper shot cartridges containing 1 1/8 oz of #5 shot), one thin "overshot" card (we are only using one but I picture 2 so people can see how thin they are), then the key "Skychief" component, a "cushion wad," that is completely saturated in lube. The cushion wad dry is about 10.5 grains, soaked in lube for a long time it is about 35 grains, and the ones I dip in melted beeswax (a very thin coating) after soaking are about 40 grains.

Let's put it together,
Powder is poured, then,

our over powder "nitro" card is introduced and pushed in enough to introduce my cartridge,

If you are using loose shot, and put a tiny cut in the edge of your over shot cards so air can escape, seat the over powder card fully and pour in your shot.
I now push the shot cartridge in until the top of the load is even with the muzzle and,

trim to open the cup. Then push it in just enough to place,

my thin overshot card. Push this in just enough to start the last component,,,,

our lube soaked cushion wad. Then,
time to make a little mess, have rag or paper towel handy,,,,,

I used one of my wax coated wads so the mess is more visible. Even without the wax there will be a mess, if your wad fits your bore correctly a good bit of lube will squeeze out as you start it into the bore.
Now seat the whole deal and find something to shoot.

 

[Carbon 6]

Thanks Brokennock, a picture is worth a thousand words.

 

[TGJaeger]

Brokennock,
Thank you for taking time to do this! It is well narrated and photographed.

 

[Carbon 6]

Ya know, I think shotgun patterning would make a great contest.

Cylinder bores only (no chokes of any kind.)
Everyone gets the same amount of shot, and shot size (dispensed by an official.)
Most pellets in a 12 inch circle at 25 yards wins.

Otherwise anything else goes. (shot Cannot be waxed to form a slug, group must pattern)

Might be more fun than just shooting clay birds.

 

[Feltwad]

Similar to the original load of the percussion and late flintlock period to give a extra distance in true cylinder before choke boring then it was a wire shot cartridge .
Feltwad

 

[Skychief]

Excellent tutorial Brokkennock! It must have taken you awhile as it's top notch.

To all, don't forget to resist ramming the overshot card and wad onto the shot column. Deformed pieces of shot are sure to stray. Make sure they are seated bit avoid heavy pressure while seating.

Looking forward to some gobbler pictures Brokkennock. Best of luck. Really happy that you're feeling well enough to go! Good for you.

Best regards, Skychief.

 

[NorthFork]

Excellent pictorial!

 

[bigted]

Very fine sir. That surely takes the mystery out of the equation. Have wondered for awhile ( been too busy to try myself ) at the simplistic sounding load sequence ... thought I missed something along the way.

Thank you for this.

 

[Gun Tramp]

Ya know, I think shotgun patterning would make a great contest.

Did this get started? Sounds like a good time. Trying some stuff here for .69 cal. (14 ga.):

.310 Hornady balls (sorry) are 45 grains each, wads except card were saturated with lube before loading. From 50', white is 8 1/2" X 11".

Powder was 50 grains FG and this was a nice "soft" load. That's not a bad group; I'll try some different wad combinations to see if there's improvement. This is great fun.

 

[Carbon 6]

Did this get started?

No

 

[Gun Tramp]

No

I think it's a grand idea. A few rules were proposed in May in this thread (post #4 above); would you be interested in adding "no fillers?" Do I draw the 12" circle before, or after I shoot? Will you be an official?
Same wads and powder as above, here with eight 00 buck reclaimed from old shot shells. A big greasy wad strike is at right edge of white:

The 00 buck are .330 dia., 55 grains. Also trying five .380" dia. balls, 83 grains each:


What do I win?

 

[Britsmoothy]

Man the doves are big you way!

 

[Carbon 6]

I think it's a grand idea. A few rules were proposed in May in this thread (post #4 above); would you be interested in adding "no fillers? "
Do I draw the 12" circle before, or after I shoot?
Will you be an official?
What do I win?

Ya know, I think shotgun patterning would make a great contest.

Cylinder bores only (no chokes of any kind.)
Everyone gets the same amount of shot, and shot size (dispensed by an official.)
Most pellets in a 12 inch circle at 25 yards wins.

Otherwise anything else goes. (shot Cannot be waxed to form a slug, group must pattern)

Might be more fun than just shooting clay birds.

I meant this for an "in person" shoot not a postal match. No offense to anyone but it's too easy to cheat in a postal match, and dispensing the shot would be near impossible.
No fillers could be added, but it might be interesting to see how they perform.
The circle should be pre-drawn on the paper as it's still a "shoot" and accuracy counts just like in hunting.
I'd only be an official if I was hosting the shoot, and the prize would probably be monetary based on an entry fee, (less the shot and target cost) but it's really up to the host.

There are still some things to work out.

 

[Brokennock]

Hmmm,
I thought I started this thread about a method to load one's smoothbore.
I understand a little thread drift, but this water has gotten pretty muddy for what should be a tutorial.

 

[Carbon 6]

Hmmm,
I thought I started this thread about a method to load one's smoothbore.
I understand a little thread drift, but this water has gotten pretty muddy for what should be a tutorial.

My apologies, I guess the rabbit hole was bigger than I thought. I'll say no more on it.

 

[Brokennock]

This interweb rabbit hole is vast.

 

[Gun Tramp]

Man the doves are big you way!

Yes, they are morning doves, so named because it takes all morning to clean one. I also tried three .457" balls @ 144 grains each, same powder and wads:

Two new holes in the cardboard but nothing on the paper. This load needs fine-tuning.

 

[Brokennock]

If anyone has questions on the my o.p. please send me a p.m.

 

[NorthFork]

@Brokennock

Sorry that your thread went awry. I thought your pictorial was superb.

 

[YJake]

Here’s a group from my Brown Bess.

15 00BK pellets at 25 yards.
Shot column- 80gr FFG/shot card/00BK/lubed cushion wad

11 hits on a steel silhouette isn’t terrible free hand at 25 yards.

-Jake