shotgun shot out of smooth bore muzzle loader

arrowdem · Apr 5, 2016

well i have decided that if it is possible i want to try to kill my turkey with the muzzle loader, but i want to use shotgun shot instead of blowing him to bits with a .50cal bullet.

i would like to stay as tradition as i can while doing this also, read some articles last night that the old timers would take put in their powder then use newspaper as a wad then put in their shot and then newpaper again as a wad and they were set.. any truth to this? anyone got any tips or pointers to put me in the right direction?
Thanks!

Kickemup · Apr 5, 2016

Go buy a muzzle loading shotgun.

PrairieGhost · Apr 5, 2016

A friend that I hunted squirrels with often had a 62 caliber (20 gauge) smooth bore fowler. He hunted squirrel sometimes with round ball, and sometimes with shot. Accuracy was good to about 70 yards with roundball, and shot pattern was very good, but he had it jug choked. I had a 12 gauge muzzle loader that was terrible. It was full choke and you could not get a was in the barrel. I took it to a diesel shop and used a king pin reamer to take out the choke. Then I used a brake hone attached to my drill and many many hours jug choking it.

You can't shoot shot from a rifled barrel and expect to hit anything beyond ten yards. Your also going to have a terrible time cleaning your rifle after. I did notice though that you said smooth bore. You should be good to go with a smooth bore. I have shot a 56 caliber that way. What works better than news paper is find a steel pipe that has the same inside diameter. Sharpen it and use a hammer to punch out heavy cardboard wads. Melt some candles into a small can and dip the cardboard wads. When you have about 100 all dipped stack three our four and warm them with a hair dryer so they stick together. There is your wad between powder and shot. One layer of waxed cardboard works for the overshot wad. The wax not only lubes them, toughens them, waterproofs them, and holds them together, but it keeps them from catching fire and setting the prairie on fire.

Keep the old muzzleloader proverb in mind. "little powder, much lead shoots far, kills dead"

arrowdem · Apr 5, 2016

any ideas on what kinda load to put in there? should i use the same amount of powder i would as if i were shooting a bullet out of it or less than that? and how much shot does a guy put in there?

arrowdem · Apr 5, 2016

also keep in mine this is a .50 cal muzzleloader

johnr · Apr 5, 2016

are we going to be seeing you on utube like that tannerite guy?

PrairieGhost · Apr 5, 2016

arrowdem said:
any ideas on what kinda load to put in there? should i use the same amount of powder i would as if i were shooting a bullet out of it or less than that? and how much shot does a guy put in there?

That's a tough question. My friend built his own rifle, so he also had to do his own proof testing. That's normally double lead and double powder. Check your owners manual and call the manufacturer. My 50 cal in the past I shot a 370 gr Maxiball, and a 440 gr from another manufacturer, and even a 480 gr conical, and with up to 120 gr. of powder. In my 12 gauge I shot 2 1/2 ounches of shot with 80 gr powder. It should be perfectly safe to shoot equal to that 480 gr with 70 gr powder. That is more than an ounce of shot. I think I would try 400 gr of shot with 70 gr powder. Start with 200 gr lead and 70 gr powder and work up to a heavier shot load but not powder. 400 gr lead and 70 gr powder should put you in the 1100 fps range. Pattern it as you work up your load. You should be able to make it affective to 25 yards.

Edit: There is 7000 gr in a pound. There is 437.5 gr in an ounce.

arrowdem · Apr 5, 2016

awesome info prairie that helps quite a bit and juan.. i really hope not, but it will be filmed just in case....

svnmag · Apr 5, 2016

That's a bold intention. Don't fret a lot about using too much BLACK powder. You'll be hard pressed to notice any pressure signs. I know this isn't actually in your wheelhouse but may give you some thoughts. Also, FWIW I would stuff that thing with shot no larger than 7 1/2 and start the tinkering/patterning work yesterday. PG is damn right with his wad concept IMHO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F85LMFWKwTo

- - - Updated - - -

Also, you're essentially using a .410...

- - - Updated - - -

He gets his burn rates backwards. Anyways, here's some charge tips:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES59LtA7XE8

Sub_Elect · Apr 6, 2016

This is neat. Best of luck, and send pics of the kill.

arrowdem · Apr 7, 2016

alrighty well i got the muzzle loader to go off once yesterday and i had 4-5 holes in the target that would have been hits and probably 8 holes in the target in total and this was at 20 yards which i have put as my max distance.. now my problem is it took like 10 times before i could get that damn muzzle loader to shoot, im shooting the old hawken and its a percussion cap ML and i was using pellet style powder.. is this a no no when it comes to shooting something that is not an inline? or is it possible my powder is junk as its kinda old pellets and i tried to set fire to one with a lighter and got no results.. im kinda thinking its the powder but not positive.. i do know that the nipple that holds the percussion cap is super super stuck in the gun and i have a load in there still that i cannot for the life of me get to fire outta there.. so i have to deal with that today before i do anything, but what do you guys suggest i do? go to a powder instead of a pellet maybe or just buy new pellet stuff?

shotgun shot out of smooth bore muzzle loader

arrowdem

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