"Buckshot" Load

[jim4065]

I'm thinking of using 9 each .311 RB's over 45 grains of 2F in a 69 caliber flintlock pistol. The weight of the boolits comes out to about 405 grains, while a .680 RB would weigh 473 grains. Seems to me like it would be effective against snakes, humans and rampaging armadillos. Do you think it would hurt to kick up the charge to 50 grains? The gun is in excellent condition.

[405]

Sounds like a pirate boarding assault weapon. :mrgreen:
Kinda overkill for charging snakes and the like. Sure would be a bilge rat defense deal at 10 feet! Doubt much would be gained by using 50 grs rather than 45.

Is 45 grs under the 69 roundball the normal load in the gun? Has it been proofed at a certain load? Hard to say how such a load of buckshot along with all the wads would affect pressure when compared to a patched roundball. Might look at similar shotgun published pressure data. I'd start low and see how the recoil and patterning on paper went. Me likes it!

[jim4065]

Not real sure about the recommended charge for a round ball. The guy at TOW thinks I ought to start around 30 grains of 3F and move up as needed to find a comfortable load. No sense in trying to make a deer-killer out of it, I suppose. Only have a couple of hundred .311's in stock - may end up wanting an alternate supply (casting one or two at a time when shooting 9 at a time might get pretty old). Fun anyway.......... :mrgreen:

[405]

I'd go with the thinking of the folks at TOW with the 30 grain load. They're involved with all manner of muzzleloaders. According to one published source, the recommended max load for the 69 cal Tower pistol is about 35 grains of Fg under the roundball. Of course it all depends on the gun.

[KCSO]

I carried a Charlyville when I went rabbit hunting and killed a lot of them with 1 oz of #4 buck and 50 grains of ffg. This was a deadly load to 20 yards and the recoil wasn't that bad. I had a 20 Ga sxs howda pistol and used about the same load with great sucess. I carried a cut down 12 bore ala Avenging Angel in re enactments for a long time and shot 60 grains and 1 oz from that and would break blue rocks tossed in the air.

[Jim]

.... Seems to me like it would be effective against snakes, humans and rampaging armadillos. ...


I b'lieve you could dang near turn an Abrahm's tank around with a load like that!!:D

[peter nap]

The ptessure isn't a concern but you'll find the lower powder charges give better patterns. Going up to 50 won't make it any more effective.

Try the 30 and work up if you don't get the penetration you need.
If your really looking for a does it all, walking around load, consider adding some #6 shot as a buffer. That helps with the snakes.

[northmn]

Interesting loads for that type of pistol. 95 grains in a pistol of that nature would kick and likely not produce much better results. I like the idea of #4 buck as I have seen people dream of getting one of those for a great cycle/car grouse gun. Saw a grouse fly off when hit with fine shot from a person that had one (also from the old Contender 10" 410's) Its really not a backup gun for Grizzlys.

Northmn

[jim4065]

Got in 500 .311 RB's from Masscaster and my flints and wads from TOW. Today was the first chance to fire the "Tower" pistol. Tried 20 grains of 3F as a starting load under 6 RB's. Not nearly enuff power. Jumped to the same charge under 9 balls but still sadly lacking. WTH - doubled the charge to 50 grains under 9 balls. Mucho better. Group at 10 yards is about 6 inches, strung vertically. At 20 yards most of the pellets were missing a 24 x 36" target. In all honesty - I can't say much about groups. The pistol itself is very iffy on firing. A new flint ensured the "Flash in the Pan" but the vent is located in the bottom of the pan and several times the main charge wouldn't ignite (until I started filling the pan with powder - a "whoosh bang" is better than no bang at all).

I'd like to move the vent hole to just at or above the rim of the pan - but how? Anybody aware of someone who can weld up the old hole and install a flash hole liner in the new position? (Or is that a bad idea?)

[peter nap]

Check the size of the flash hole first. You can always go a little larger. It's not a safety issue, you just don;t want powder dribbling out of the flash hole. You can also pull the plug and cone out the inside of the flash hole.

Welding the hole and drilling a new one isn't a big deal. I never used liners until the hole started to burn out. The big advantage to liners is that the inside is usually coned. That's something you can do with just a drilled hole and is very traditional.

I have a 12 ga pistol I built. I found 50 gr was about the max without blowing holes in my pattern. Pay a lot of attention to the wads. You want a tight fitting over powder wad, a tight and thick wad over that (I use cork) and a tight over shot wad. That will go a long way giving higher velocity and better patterns.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Small shot for snakes and the like, buckshot for zombies. Proof if neccessary. BvT

[jim4065]

Forgot to mention. I also tried some .662 balls I got from TOW over the same 50 gr/3F. They fly pretty good - skipped one across lower Brock Creek Lake. A little too tight to use with a patch, but fun..........:mrgreen:

[KCSO]

Here's how to move the flash hole. Get a 5/16th touch hole liner and center punch yur new flash hole where you want it, I prefer just below the lip of the frizzen. Then drill your new hole with a pilot drill and enlarge with your tap drill. This sould clean up the lod hole nicely, then tap and chamfer and fit in the new thl and dress smooth. If you want to have the cleanest hole to tap fill the old th with a rivet when drilling and let the drill clean it out, no chatter or slipage.

[northmn]

I have fixed a few of those bottom flash holes. KCSO's method is good and works. I used to install a home made stainless steel insert which was counter bored in the back like a normal vent liner you see on TC's and redrill off center if needed if my attempt to recenter the flash hole was a little off. # 4 Buckshot would likely hit about like a 22 cb cap from the pistol and would work better at a little longer range for small game as they really do not pattern all that much. The originals were said to be carried with buckshot for close up work although one individual mentioned tha that some were used with fineshot and were aimed at the face.

Northmn