Percussion shotgun loads

[Marvin S]

I bought this 11ga English shotgun and besides the circle fly wads and cards it came with a few hundred heavy non split 10ga shot cups meant for steel shot. Is there something new about using these shot cups that I am out of touch with?

[northmn]

You need to split the wads or they will act like a slug. Also you might want to use a card wad under the shot cups as BP can melt plastic to the bore. I would slit them about 5 slits. The gun appears to be in good shape. Damascus barrels? If so you might want to test it a bit, but if the bores look good it is likely in excellent shape.
I sometimes cut the cup off the steel wads and then slit them to make a sleeve instead of a cup. Again i use a card wad under the sleeve. Make a short starter so that you can short load the wad and sleeve just below the muzzle. you can then add steel shot to fill the wad sleeve combination and place a card over it and seat the whole shebang. If you are doing a lot of shooting you either may take some good cleaning wipes soaked in solvent with you or add a thin fiber wad lubed with solvent to clean while you load. As many ML's are not choked, steel casues little problem. As ML's have less velocity, the shots have to be closer anyway, but steel still works better than some think. For ducks I would use #2 steel which is similar to lead 4's, for geese, BBB is popular.
I kind of envy your aquisition.

DP

[Marvin S]

Thanks, This is the best original shotgun I have run across, the bores are almost new. Barrels are Damascus with English proof marks, not Belgium. The price was right also at about what a Italian repo is.

[Shooter]

I cut folder or card stock into "X's" for shot cups.
As northmn said, BP melts plastic and makes a mess.

[Hellgate]

I shoot a lot of BP 12 ga but in cartridge guns. I'd be concerned that the plastic residue I get in my barrels would get packed down toward the breech during cleaning and cause a clog of the flash channel or be the source of an ember that could cause a cook off during loading. With a breech loader you can look down the barrels and punch out the plastic "snot" that forms with a cleaning rod but with a muzzle loader you would need to flush from the breech out the muzzle to prevent fouling build up at the breech from ramming swabs down the bore. You would need plastic tubing or small hose to flush from the breech to the muzzle. I guess I would say don't use the plastic wads even though when slit twice they give modified choke patterns in my cylinder bored SXSs.

[405]

I love the originals and it appears you have a very nice one- so I too am a little jealous :)
Have shot lead and steel (small and large shot) out of my SxS cylinder bore and can't disagree with anything northmn posted. Never found plastics cups to leave melted plastic in the bore in my ML. Found that plastic smear in high velocity, smokeless modern shotguns to be much more of a nuisance. Cylinder bore ML shotguns are not long range guns- no matter how loaded or with what metal they are loaded. Some of the steel loads are every bit as effective as the average lead loads. Over-powder wads and cushion wads and the idea of the "shot sleeve" are all part of the trial and error process in finding the best patterning loads.

[gnoahhh]

I've used my ML double on ducks and geese with telling effect. Since I don't like putting plastic down the bores I use a traditional wad column consisting of cardboard over-powder wad, 3/8" cushion wad on top of that, and Nice Shot or Bismuth #2's or #4's depending on what's flying.

[northmn]

One thing I will add to my recipe depending on the wad type. Sam wads and BP's LBC wads have groves in them that can hold Crisco or some other lube. If you have the rippled Sam wads they can hold a bit of lube that helps prevent fouling. Some of the other wads are pretty slick and do not have those ripples. For modern I use a motor mica lube for steel loads but plain old graphite also works. Cuts down on the friction which might casue some fouling.

DP

[Marvin S]

Mine are the Sam cups, I had never heard of them before. I used to shoot lots of plastic shot cups out of my fusil with no problems but did not want to make waves.

[Newtire]

I have just taken an exacto knife and cut the shot cups off 1-1/8 oz clay busters and placed them on top of the card overpowder wad. To make things go a little quicker, I used some Shoe Goo to hold the cards onto the cut off shot cup and then rip them off and put one on top of the powder and one on top of the shot. I use those tubes with a cap on each end and separate the shot from the powder with a pice of paper towel wadding. It still takes awhile to load but always attract attention at the range.

Here's my son shooting the 11 gauge percussion I have.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTrjUM11FX8