.62 caliber smoothbore

[curdog]

I recently was gifted a .50 cal renegade barrel from a fine Gentleman on this forum. The bore is very rusty and i sent it to Bob Hoyt in Pa to have it bored to a 62 cal smoothbore, I intend to use it for a squirrel gun shooting shot. State parks around here are full of squirrels but you can only use a shotgun. I plan on trying 65 grains of goex 2f and 65 grains by volume of 5 shot. Any suggestions are appreciated,i havent got the barrel back yet, thanks.....................Curdog

[Thundermaker]

I use 75gr volume of powder and the same volume of shot in mine, with paper wads in between and on top. That's 1f powder btw

[LAGS]

I haven't worked up a birdshot load for my .75 Blunderbuss / Musketoon that I intend to try again for Dove and Quail.
The load I used two years ago was 80 gr Homemade 2f
A fiber overpower was that is 1/2" thick.
And one ounce of #6 lead shot.
And a thin cardboard over shot wad.
I used the same load with 9 balls of buckshot.
That load I will work on maybe for Javilina hunting.
I had Hoyt rebore a .56 SB TC to .61 with slow twist rifling

[JRD]

Look up a technique called the "Sky Chief load". It's counterintuitive, but a bunch of shooters claim great results. I used a variation of it in brass case loads with black powder and got better results that with a thin top card.

[LAGS]

The .62 SB should be a .20 ga.
On my .56 SB barrel,
I use to use .28 ga plastic wads and they worked well with a thin overshot wad.
The shooting of slugs and patched round balls that were not too accurate was the reason I had the barrel rifled.

[stubshaft]

Sounds like a good "square" load. It's pretty much the same that I shoot in my 12 Gauge.

[Nobade]

Play with the powder charge and wad stack to get the best patterns. I think I ended up using about 55gr 2F and an ounce of shot in my 20 gauge trade fusil for best results. The V.M. Starr article here is helpful to learn the management of a shotgun. Using the two cardboard wads between the powder and shot and one on top of the shot works really well and makes loading way more simple.

[bedbugbilly]

I bzve a .62 (20 ga.) Flint Fusil de Chasse trade gun. I used the same load you are proposing when I used it for shot. I used 65 gr. of 2F Goes with #6 (IIRC) with a Circle Fly fiber wad over the powder and a thin card over the shot. Mine has a 42" barrel and it easily took some pheasants, bunnies and squirrels. I lubed the fiber wads lightly with vegetable oil and carried them in a baggie in my pouch.

You can buy wads from Circle Fly, Track of the Wolf and others.

Experiment with your loads and see how your barrel patterns with them - I was lucky - I started out with 65 Gr. of 2 F and equal volume of shot and it worked well enough out of my smoothbore for what I was doing that I never changed my load. I did run a patch down the bore between shots.

For round ball shooting, I use a .610 RB with a pillow ticking patch - running a patch down the barrel between shots. My brother has a .620 Flint Northwest gun and he discovered by experiment that by putting a thicker cardboard card over the powder under the patched .610 ball it helped improve the accuracy out of his 36" barrel in his particular gun. I tried at the time in my gun, but didn't see enough chang to really make a difference - BUT - I am sure that my "accuracy, or lack of it is due to my eyesight and not my trade gun.

Good luck - you are in for a whole lot of fun and smiles!

[LAGS]

I too found that when shooting patched round balls out of a smoothbore.
They shoot better with an over powder wad.
I take the 1/2" thick fiber wads and slice them down to 1/4" thick for using under a patched round ball.
It saves buying another batch of wads.
And I still use the 1/2" thick ones for the bird shot loads.

[curdog]

Thank you for all the replies. I am ordering some cards and wads from Track...........................Curdog

[Good Cheer]

Shooting a .69 caliber rifled musket* I found the same thing with round ball, that an over-powder soaked wad gave better accuracy. The cloth patch seemed to be doing nothing much more than centering the ball in the bore. I suspect the wad was compressing axially and expanding laterally, gripping those <0.004" deep grooves and imparting spin to the ball which otherwise would skate over the broad lands which functionally were behaving as a poorly machined smooth bore.
Don't have any definitive results to report for the 20, 14 or 12 gauge smoothies as any changes in ball, patch, wads, lubes, fillers, cards or powder appear to be a whole new game. Besides, no rear sight makes me such a lead slinger that load improvement is a humorous topic at best.

Once upon a time I tried out one of those Navy Arms SxS 12 gauge cavalry shotguns with the 14" and 28" barrels with round ball to see how useful it mite be for hogs at close range. The shorty barrels would do the job and were easy to put a patched ball through anything close.

*The three groove shallow rifling with lands and grooves of equal width.

[Charlie Horse]

Yea. Not many people hunt squirrels around here. I like your idea. It only takes a few #5's to kill a squirrel. My favorite "state park" load is #4's out of a 410. I load those with a Lee Loader.

If I ever run across a cheap muzzle loader I'm going to give it a try. I've got some BP and loose shot.

[curdog]

I got my barrel back today from Bob Hoyt and it looks awesome. I am going to pattern it tommorow and its supposed to maybe cool down next week. i plan on shooting some squirrels with it. I am excited,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Curdog

[LAGS]

With your barrel being 20 ga.
I wonder if you could have the muzzle bored and threaded for a Screw In 20 ga.Choke tube.
It might be a little harder to load.
But probably can be done with flat wads rather than Wad Cups.
It is just a thought , but could improve your pattern and extend your range.
Plus you can select the choke that patterns best to your needs.

[curdog]

I am going to shoot as is. Your idea is a good one. Im going to use a over powder, a fiber wad and a overshot card. Im going to try the powder, cornmeal, shot and card that Waksupi mentioned in another post. Thanks for the suggestion..................Curdog

[waksupi]

Up your shot load to around 80 gr.

I think you will find the thick wads blow holes in the center of your pattern.

[curdog]

Waksupi, thank you I will do that.............Curdog

[curdog]

Range report on my new barrel. First thing is thanks to Waksupi. I tried 65 gr of powder then 65 gr of cornmeal and 80 gr of number 6 shot ( I thought I had some 5 shot). I backed the powder and cornmeal down to 60 gr and 80 grains of shot and oh boy the squirrels will be in trouble. It will be great to 25 yards. I had bought nitro cards and fiber wads and overshot cards and I only need the over shot cards. I thought well I bought all this stuff I might as well try it. The pattern was twice as big and might kill a quail at 25 yards but not a squirrel. The powder, cornmeal and shot and only a thin card over the shot is a very simple to load and very effective. Im set. Weatherman says down to the 50s wed morning and I know a couple of hickory trees the squirrels are starting to cut. Barrel cleaned up nice and easy and was easy to load..............Curdog

[waksupi]

Range report on my new barrel. First thing is thanks to Waksupi. I tried 65 gr of powder then 65 gr of cornmeal and 80 gr of number 6 shot ( I thought I had some 5 shot). I backed the powder and cornmeal down to 60 gr and 80 grains of shot and oh boy the squirrels will be in trouble. It will be great to 25 yards. I had bought nitro cards and fiber wads and overshot cards and I only need the over shot cards. I thought well I bought all this stuff I might as well try it. The pattern was twice as big and might kill a quail at 25 yards but not a squirrel. The powder, cornmeal and shot and only a thin card over the shot is a very simple to load and very effective. Im set. Weatherman says down to the 50s wed morning and I know a couple of hickory trees the squirrels are starting to cut. Barrel cleaned up nice and easy and was easy to load..............Curdog

I'm glad it worked out for you!

[curdog]

Hunting report, I killed 3 squirrels this morning with my new barrel. It was 57 degrees and a beautiful morning to be in the woods. It worked great..................Curdog