Anybody hunt birds with one? Shoot some clays with one yesterday. One load I was consistantly breaking them. Not into dust though. have not shot paper yet. I shot 1 1/8 ounce of #8 and used the same measure by volume of pyrodex. Tried triple 7 but no hits. Read that it has 15% more energy by volume than BP or pyrodex so maybe that was the problem. Stuffed a W12 plastic wad in and that was a bust also. Worked best with an over powder card, a cushion wad, shot, then an over shot card. I am open to suggestions. I want to bird hunt with it this fall.

That load is definitely in the ballpark. I am no fan of pyrodex though. Real blackpowder has much more consistent performance than pyrodex. Cushion wad lubricant can make some difference. A sopping wet wad is fine for shooting clays, but you need something with grease for hunting. Just like my rifle patches, I've been soaking my cushion wads in coon grease the last couple years. Seems to do the job well for me.

When hunting, if you can carry pre measured powder and shot loads, it sure speeds up reloading.

Is yours a flint ?

i just use newspaper for wadding, both overshot and overpowder. my gun is a t/c new englander, no choke. only time i tried wads i used steel shot wads, didn't like them!

Get some Goex FF or Swiss FF powder..that other stuff is junk

I have a little goex. will get a couple pounds of swiss. percussion caps are hard to come by. been shooting 11's cause i have a few. think i will use 10's when hunting so i dont have to pinch them

How much do muzzleloader shotguns go for? More pricey then shotgun ? I thought about get one for long time

I bought this one from a guy that got it in a trade. Didnt look it had ever been fired. Guy i bought it from said he couldnt say. Its a cva. I guess they quit making double barrels in the 80's. I paid 350

I use 70 grain equivelent of triple 7, 2 half inch fiber wads 1 1/4 oz shot and overpowder card in my 12 ga.new englander only issue i had was the overpowder wad bought an 3/4 in. arch punch and cut them out of orange juice containers yes the cardboard ones maybe the ones for sale now are thinner The ones i bought in the 80's were thick and my patterns looked like donuts thinner card wads eliminated that

I bet the other four guys on your squad were mad when they had to wait for you to reload every time it came around to your turn to shoot again.

Reload does take awhile. I think it will be fun though to hunt with. Not sure about my dog . He might get impatient. Grandkids were shooting fireworks last night. He was turning inside out. . Ran laps around them trying to find out what they were shooting at. Will have to tell him sit while I reload

I need a good shot flask that costs less than 200 bucks. A powder flask has to small of a hole.

I just preload shot into old 35mm film cannisters.
If anyone remembers them,

Danny, under hunting conditions sometimes one barrel gets used several times before the other is fired.
If this happens, make sure to reseat the other load with your ramrod as recoil inertia can create problems.
Also, do some test patterns as these things can be persnickity. Good luck with the birds.

thanks coonlove. i will do that

I have a 20 guage/ 62 cal fowler and it has no choke. I use 2F black powder, you will find that you will get a better pattern if you load less powder to shot where as with a equal amount of shot to powder will tend to cause a " donut " effect in your shot pattern. For a tighter pattern you can use the " sky chief " load which puts the pre lubed wad on top of the shot instead of underneath, this is what a lot of guys use for turkey hunting in a BP shotgun with no choke.

Makes sense victor#0. When I used triple 7 I couldnt bust the clay pigeons. I am putting in an order for some swiss black powder. Then play around with some cardboard squares.

Just put in an order for 5 pounds of 2F swiss. That was the minimun order allowed. Ought to last me awhile. Still looking at shot dispensers. Are those english style easy to use?

Cream of wheat works. Real good. Tried all kinds of stuff. All kinds of cards and cushion wads and over shot cards.

77 grains of 2F Swiss in a home made measure. I weighed it on my reloading scale. Started out by weighing out an ounce and a eighth of #8 shot then making a measure, used the same measure for the powder. Thats the powder charge I used today and dumped the cream of wheat right ontop the powder. No cards just the cereal. Bought a shot bag and set it for an ounce and a half. Dumped the shot ontop the cereal. No cards or wads right on the cream of wheat. I used an over shot card made from cork. Bought a roll at an auto parts store that my calipers show as .085 thick. Was cheap. Seven bucks. Can punch a lot of cards out of it.

That combo shoots patterns like a smokeless gun and the cream of wheat, unlike corn meal, pours right out of a flask so will be convenient for hunting.

I will keep trying new stuff but I doubt I can improve on it. Did I Mention cheap?

Danny, how much CREAM of WHEAT?

The same measure I used for the powder Dale.

Gotcha, Danny. I think it would be a lot of fun to squirrel hunt with your rig.

Got a picture of the gun Danny? I thought you posted one before but I can't recall what it looked like. What are going to hunt with #8 shot? Dove, quail, ???

if i remember right, i used a 45/70 case for both powder and shot.

Doves ADC. Got some 6 and 4 also. Plan to use 6 during quail season as pheasants are in the same areas. Dale its squirrel season but just to hot. I dont want to fool with an ice chest. Minklessinpa, I cut down a 300 win mag case. I have an adjustable calibrated measure too. Going to make my final version from a deer antler tip.

Not a bad looking gun. I may have missed it but what gauge is it? How bad is the recoil?

12 gauge. Recoil is manageable. My 12 year old grandson shoots it.

Danny...does it smell like breakfast time..when you touch it off...lol

I've heard of some folks using cornmeal but never tried it. Got some grits though, one box would sure last a long time. Going to do some patterning before small game starts and I think I'll try it out.

Where do you get grits in AK? All I can get here are the instant kind.

Nessy, not really. Cools off a bit I may try it on a squirrel or three. Have squirrel gravy and biscuits for breakfast. That ought to smell good.

There's a load I wanted to try but haven't yet... You mix (no joke) Jiffy corn muffin mix with your shot. Something about the added sugar kind of gums the shot and helps it stay together a bit longer to give a tighter pattern.

Its been a minute since I read it. But it seems like the instructions were pretty specific about how to achieve the desired results. Google it. If it actually works let me know.

Squirrels are actually pretty fun to hunt with a muzzleloading shotgun... I'd have to drag down my bag to see what my shot dipper is set at... I wanna say 1-1/8 oz of #6's on top of my powder charge. I have a 5/8 arc punch and cut my overpowder/overshot wads from scrap veg tan leather. Probably better ways to go about it but it works and I can do it with stuff I have on hand.

Mike

i ran#5 shot in mine! pheasent and rabbit mostly, grouse sometime.

When i was a kid, in the early 70's i had a single shot 28 gauge muzzle loader that i bought from Dixie Gun Works for $29 if I remember correctly. I had lots of fun with that gun. It helped teach me how to hunt: a favorite pastime was putting the stalk on starlings out in the cow pasture. If you're thinking of a good gift for an eleven or twelve year old, get then a single shot muzzle loading shotgun

Sounds like one of the monkey guns, still see those pop up for sale sometimes

I get Albers grits at Fred Myers in Fairbanks, gotta have my grits!