28 gauge shotgun

[richhodg66]

Went to the gun show in Wichita this morning. Always wanted a muzzle loading shotgun and walked out with a very dainty, nice little 28 gauge side lock percussion single barrel. This looks like it is gonna be a LOT of fun in the squirrel woods next Fall.

I have ZERO experience loading black powder shotguns and am open to any and all information from you guy's experiences, please.

[Mk42gunner]

Have you read the sticky?

I don't have much experience with a smoothbore, I only got to play with a 20 gauge trade gun one afternoon mainly with patched rb. I'd like to find one of the TC .56 cal smooth bore barrels for my New Englander, maybe one day.

Robert

[richhodg66]

OK, read it. Seems straight forward enough. Will these wads work for what he's talking about? https://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/174/1/OX-WAD-54-W

I think I'd rather just buy them than try to punch them out, but if I did punch them out, would a 5/8" punch from Harbor Freight work to do it?

[charlie b]

Look at this page

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/170/1

[charlie b]

Look at this page

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/170/1

Sorry they don't have 28ga info. I run 20ga components in my 24ga smokeless double.

[elk hunter]

I've been loading 2 drams of 2 FG and 3/4 ounce of shot, a 20 gauge load, in my 28 bore fowler. Good tight fitting card wads and cushion wads will help with the pattern. Circle Fly makes wads for just about every bore size there is. Many of the muzzle loading shops carry their wads.

[Mk42gunner]

Those wads you show would probably be okay.

5/8" = .625" so I think it would be too large, but a 9/16" might be close enough.

I was in the Harbor fright store in Belton a couple of weeks ago and saw a set of hollow punches meant to be used in a drill press, for not much money. I didn't get them, and am not sure they went larger than ½". It would be a whole lot easier than using a hammer and arch punch though.

This got me thinking, but I know I have way too many projects in the someday fie already.

Robert

[richhodg66]

Those wads you show would probably be okay.

5/8" = .625" so I think it would be too large, but a 9/16" might be close enough.

I was in the Harbor fright store in Belton a couple of weeks ago and saw a set of hollow punches meant to be used in a drill press, for not much money. I didn't get them, and am not sure they went larger than ½". It would be a whole lot easier than using a hammer and arch punch though.

This got me thinking, but I know I have way too many projects in the someday fie already.

Robert

Never thought about a hole saw. Do they make one in 9/16"? I sure wish I had gotten this little gun before the squirrel season closed.

[bedbugbilly]

You might give Circle Fly a call. Years ago, I had picked up a nice little .28 gauge (about 28) single barrel blnnk. I forgot to take it with me when I went to Friendship - I checked with Circle Fly at their booth there and they had small sample packs of their wads that you could get to try in your barrel so that you could try them to know what size you needed for your particular barrel. I don't know if they still offer that or not though.

While it is nice to have wads and cards . . . when I was a kid, we had a couple of muzzleloading shotguns that my brother and I would shoot clay pigeons with and I often rabbit hunted with. People would give us old shotgun shells and we would cut them down for the shot and toss the remains. All we ever used in those old shotguns was newspaper for wads - for the over the powder wad, we wold roll a piece of newspaper into a ball and securely seat it agains the powder, pour in the measured shot and seat enough newspaper over it to act as an over the shot card. The clay pigeons and the rabbits, squirrels never knew the difference. For a couple of kids who didn't have the money to buy store-bought wads, it worked fine. But . . it is much nicer to have correct fitting wads/cards to use!

Enjoy that 28 gauge . . . it ought to be a LOT of fun!

[Texas by God]

My brother in law has a .410 bore Spanish muzzleloading shotgun. He bought it at a flea market, thinking it was a wall hanger. When I first saw it, I noticed proof marks on it so I knew it was really a gun. It took some smithing for the hammer to strike the nipple square to pop the caps reliably. Following guidelines from DGW I settled on shot and powder weight and like bedbugbilly; newspaper was used for wads. The comb is too high for my face for wingshooting, but when I got it dialed in on a Coke can at 20 yards, I took it hunting. It took me 3 shots (leaves) to get 2 squirrels.
BIL lived in SoCal at the time. Sending him pics of the successful hunt made his week!

And Rich..... without pics- it didn't happen[emoji16]
Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[waksupi]

Just use the card wads. The cushion wads can blow a hole in the middle of your pattern.

[charlie b]

I did cut my own wads for the 24ga many years ago.

Hole saws tear the material. Regular hole punch is ok. I finally made my own. Used some pipe of proper inside dia. Fitted a reducer so I could chuck it in the drill press. Ground a cutting edge on the outer dia, but, I made it a 'wavy' edge like a serrated knife. Cut wads easily. Unless you harden the edge it will need to be sharpened frequently.

Not really worth the trouble when you can buy the wads.

[bedbugbilly]

charlie - if you use a hole saw, you might try grinding the teeth off of it and bevel sharpen it from the OD in to the ID. I do that and then remove the center drill from the mandrel - I usually get them from Lowes, etc. I use a drill press and use them to cut my cleaning and round ball patches on the drill press using multiple layers of material and a scrap wood backer underneath. A hole saw sharpened that way should easily cut fiber wads from scrap ceiling tile or insulated sheathing as well as cards from cardboard - if you can find a hole saw with the ID the correct dimension for the OD of the wads/cards.

[DaveM]

I am coming a little late to the thread but as a suggestion, it might be a good idea to measure the bore diameter as best you can with a set of calipers or a shotgun bore diameter gauge. If your gun is what I think it is, they were made to a low price point so it's possible quality control as to bore diameter might not have been very precise. Once you know the bore diameter for sure, you can order a suitably sized arch punch. You can use the punch with a hammer or if the shank isn't too large, in a drill to make your own wads and cards.

FWIW, I'm not trashing the gun at all, and AAMOF would like to find one in good shape myself. I find these older, inexpensive guns interesting.

[charlie b]

charlie - if you use a hole saw, you might try grinding the teeth off of it and bevel sharpen it from the OD in to the ID. I do that and then remove the center drill from the mandrel - I usually get them from Lowes, etc. I use a drill press and use them to cut my cleaning and round ball patches on the drill press using multiple layers of material and a scrap wood backer underneath. A hole saw sharpened that way should easily cut fiber wads from scrap ceiling tile or insulated sheathing as well as cards from cardboard - if you can find a hole saw with the ID the correct dimension for the OD of the wads/cards.That is basically what I ended up with when I made my own.

After I found I could buy them cheap I have not made any since.

Sent from my SM-P580 using Tapatalk

[freakonaleash]

Correct wads are cheap. Go to ' Mike's shotgun wads" or Circle fly. I shot a 28ga for many years. It shot very tight patterns, it had a 48" barrel. I used anywhere from 55gr to 70gr 3fff powder and equal volumes of shot. I put a 1/8" nitro card and a cushion wad between powder and shot and used a over shot card. I used #4's for squirrel.

[richhodg66]

I have some wads on the way. Thanks for all the input, guys. I think I'll like this gun.

[T-Bird]

I use the over powder (thicker one) card wad over the powder, and the over shot card wad (thinner one) over the shot column in my 12 ga. To me, a single barrel is fine. Follow up shots are hard due to the smoke. You'll see what I mean:smile:

[richhodg66]

Well, my Track of the Wolf order came in today. I doubt I'll have time tomorrow, maybe next weekend.

[GregLaROCHE]

Where’s that sticky? I searched Shotgun muzzle loading and muzzle loading shotgun and nothing came up. I’ve heard sometimes the search engine is not working. Anyone have a link to that sticky?
Thanks

[T-Bird]

I thought he was talking about the sticky at the beginning of this forum " The muzzle loading shotgun" by VM Starr

[Mk42gunner]

You're absolutely right T-Bird, that is the one I was meaning.

Robert