Diablo 12Bore Range & Field Days

[freedom475]

Got out with the new Diablo 12bore Howdah today... I took some pictures to share with you guys.

Made a nice cross-draw holster for it first thing, and noticed right-off how well this little package rides on your hip.


On 8 1/2"x 11" typing paper I printed a couple buffalo targets. I want to shoot a few rabbits and doves with the little 12bore, so this target fits the bill nicely.

The target position coincides with L/R barrel. I tried 3 different loads on each target.


First load:
@10 yards
30Gr. 3fffg Goex OE
9 balls of (0Buck) in each barrel. (just shy of a 1oz.load)
Standard 12ga plastic shot cup
Cardboard overshot card.

Left barrel put 2 hits on paper w/1 hit in the Buffalo.
Right barrel, 0 hits on paper.
I was able to count 14 total (0)Buck hits on the pallet out of the 18 total balls shot... the shot column of this load stacks so nicely into the shot-cup, that I believe it could be made to shoot with a little effort.

Second Load:
@10 yards
30Gr. 3fffg Goex OE
1oz. of No.6 shot (Dipper made from 45-70 case)
Plastic shot cup
Cardboard overshot card.

Left barrel landed 64 hits on paper w/16 of the No.6 hitting inside the Buffalo...
Right barrel, 67 hits on paper w/ 26 hits taken by the buffalo
The wooden pallet was pretty well littered with No.6.
Judging by the concentration of hits on the the two buffalo...these are both dead rabbits for sure!

Third load:
@ 5yards (15feet)
60Gr. 3fffg Goex OE
.715 Round Ball bare ball
Thick 3/4"Dia saddle skirting leather wad over powder
Cardboard overshot card.

Left barrel shot the face off the buffalo and the right barrel took the buff in the belly. This was a pretty close shot @15feet, but it's still challenging without a rear sight. I will say that big round ball over 60gr of BP has quite a little authority at the target, but the recoil was easy enough to manage.

Left Target: 16 pieces of No.6 in Buffalo


Right Target: 26 pieces of No.6 in Buffalo


I tried a few of the No.6 shot loads with much(!) larger power charges. It didn't work for me. Heavy powder charges seemed to completely blow the patterns out... I suppose, do to the really short barrels. I even tried it with 1 1/2fg Swiss.

If you guys get into the Range or Field with your new Diablo, please tell us about it here! And remember to post pictures, or it didn't happen .

Stay armed and safe!

[rodwha]

Might want to consider jug choking, though I’m not sure how that would work with a patched or bare ball.

[megasupermagnum]

Well it's better than a Taurus judge by quite a bit, but I expected better. It looks like it would work for a rabbit at 10 yards, but by 15 no go. On the buckshot, try cutting the petals off, and the 0 buckshot should stack in 5's. That may help over a random fill. Dump 5 in, tamp with the ramrod, and repeat. Definitely use a patch on that round ball. I'm not sure what you can do for the #6 shot.

[Texas by God]

Just for giggles try using newspaper for wadding. But not over dry grass......

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[Earlwb]

Well it's better than a Taurus judge by quite a bit, but I expected better. It looks like it would work for a rabbit at 10 yards, but by 15 no go. On the buckshot, try cutting the petals off, and the 0 buckshot should stack in 5's. That may help over a random fill. Dump 5 in, tamp with the ramrod, and repeat. Definitely use a patch on that round ball. I'm not sure what you can do for the #6 shot.

You load the shot the same as if it is a regular muzzleloading shotgun or musket. You would use a heavy over powder nitro card, paper fiber cushion wad(s), the shot, then with a thin overshot card on top to hold it all in. If you use a plastic power piston type of sleeve, then you would use the thin overshot card to hold the shot in. i can be a bit tricky to get the overshot card to go in straight so it keeps the shot in, you have to practice that part some to get the hang of it.

I like to make up paper cartridges with one end waxed to keep it closed and the other end as twisted end to hold it all in. With the powder, cards wads or power piston sleeve and use the paper from the cartridge as the overshot wad. it made it a lot faster to reload when I was out dove hunting or quail hunting. I would just untwist the end, pour in the charge, then just jam the whole thing down the barrel. No detailed fancy stuff there.

[Rick B]

Nice looking holster. Crossdraw is a good choice.
Rick

[R.FO]

Top Shot Dustin Ellermann Diablo Shooting Review

[freedom475]

Ran into this porky on my trapline the other day. The landowner has problems with them putting quills into his horses and dogs so I knocked him out of the tree.

The little 12bore Diablo Howdah sure did a number on him. Had it loaded with 21 pieces of No.4 buck and 40gr 2fg OE Black powder.

[freedom475]

Been tinkering with the Diablo some more. Trying to get it to hold a pattern well enough for hunting. Sure beats watching tv at night! lol

After you subtract the very robust breech plug, powder, nitro card, cushion wad, shot, and over-shot card from the 6 inch barrel... you only have about 2 3/4" of barrel left to play with, and no choke!

To keep expectations "realistic" I have to make note that my Flintlock smoothbore musket is only really capable of holding a "hunting" pattern out to 30(ish) yards when loaded traditionally...and it has a 42inch barrel!

Here is Mike Beliveau demonstrating how 40 yards is beyond the reaches of most smoothbore rifles.
https://youtu.be/PxTXFxGyTp4

I tried a traditional loading with loose shot. This would be gnarly for snakes, maybe even a little over-kill...but not good for much else.

I tried plastic AA Shot cups without much improvement. So I taped the petals shut with electricians tape and this worked pretty well. But they would often tumble off course and cast odd shaped patterns.

Then I made up some brown paper bag shot cups. These were not much help. The paper was very unreliable. Too light, they'd disintegrate, a little tougher and they would tear and cast crazy shaped patterns as the side blew out at the seam. Make them heavy duty and they would tumble and slug.

Taped AA cup 15yrds


Paper cup slugging into 3/4"plywood screwed to the barn wall at 10yrds


Getting the shot cups to carry the shot for part of the ride, without tumbling, and then release the shot cleanly seems to be the challenge. So I came up with this.. Don't laugh it does work..lol

Drag-Stabilized Parachute shot cups!



The pictures show that the pattern should be able to take a rabbit out to 30 yards.

Now the challenge lies with being able to shoot well enough to preform the task, with a "Hunting-Capable Derringer"(?) is that a real thing...

That's all for now, thanks for reading.

[megasupermagnum]

One interesting trick I've been reading about is called the skycheif load. Add powder, then load only a hard nitro card under the shot, nothing else. Then the shot, followed by an overshot card. Now here is the trick. Follow all this with a 1/2" fiber wad soaked as heavily as possible in olive oil. Theory's range on why this works, one of which is that it provides a draft area for the shot, similar to a shot cup that doesn't release right away. Give it a try.

[freedom475]

Yes the heavy wad up front is the way to go! to hold patterns together. Been doing it long before it was called a "Skychief Load" But I'm sure glad we now have a name for it so we can learn more about it.
The wad has to be heavy enough to stay ahead or it will mushroom out the pattern. Kinda like a bicycle behind a semi..lol It can't end well with the semi in back!
A heavy cushion wad used behind will blow your pattern all over the place as it overtakes the shot column. In a supersonic load the heavy wad in front will actually form a vacuum behind it and drag the shot. Not what's going on with BP, but still interesting.

The traditional load using wadding like flax tow, wool, leaves, or wasp nest...I think the blackpowder blows through this with such a shot barrel and will really scatter shot.

I use heavy leather saddle skirting, oiled with neatsfoot for most of my wads.

[35remington]

Just a guess but muzzle velocity has to be at or below 600 fps for those loads. 777 may do better at the expense of an annoying crud ring that forms.

Would be interested in any chronographing you could manage.

[26Charlie]

The holsters are nice! I watched the “chipmunk on crack” video. Fun toys, but I wouldn’t trade my Redhawk 5” bbl. blued .41 Magnum for one. If the African locust swarms get here, two shots of #8s should bring down a skillet full. I understand they eat them, fried up in hot oil. Crispy crunchy. The only thing I can do with the Redhawk this time of year is dry fire practice at the blue jays raiding the bird feeder in the back yard in the snow.