Triball Shotgun?

[joecool911]

Most of the Triball discussion is in the past. So I thought I'd ask a couple questions with a new thread.

What is the optimum barrel length and choke for triball loads? I am interested in a predator shotgun for up to and including cougar. Id like it to be a light shotgun, but not expensive either. Are there any short barreled guns with choke tubes?

[savage308]

your shoulder will not want to shoot many 3 ball loads out of a light gun. I shoot them out of a 20" imp cyl 870magnum that's fairly light
and it does great but not more than I an hour LOL.

[Bullshop Junior]

First off. What gauge shotgun. I used to shoot em out of my 4lb 18" single shot NEF all the time.

[jmort]

I would find out what RMc says.

[jmort]

I would find out what RMc says. The Dixie Tri Ball will smoke anything, up to and including anything. As I remember it, testing was done at the Linebaugh Seminar with RMc's 870 and a full choke.

[BABore]

12 Ga, 3" platform, up to the user. Choke, up to the load & gun. Extended tubes seem to work better due to the longer length of the choked area. I start at full to extra full and work my way down til it groups at 40 yards where I'm happy. My Mossberg 500 likes an Imp Mod extended steel shot tube. 2 1/2 to 3" group at 40 yards. My buddy's kid's 870, IC deer bbl grouped the same load into less than an inch. Go figger!

[AlaskanGuy]

I am wanting to do this.... I wish somebody would break it down as far as components, and such.... Kind of a how to with pics for us dumm folks... i bet longbow could do it....

[357maximum]

I simply am not man enough to shoot very many of them 3" tri-ball loads out of my Mossberg 500, whatever you hit with them is gonna be very much dead though...I do not care how big the critter is. I would be more apt to use a good patterning 00 or 000buchsot load for cougar, but that is me. The tri-ball load would be better served for mastadon and t-rex in my opinion.

[jmort]

There is a thread here from the man himself, James Gates with very specific info/data. I'll find it and bump it. We really need to get some stickies here I will work on that by lobbying goodsteel.

[jmort]

I bumped the thread for you AlaskanGuy. Like I said, that is from the man himself. Anything from RMc you can take to the bank as well.

[AlaskanGuy]

Thanks morty...

[joecool911]

Since we hunt western country I am looking for a shotgun round that will give me some range. My assumption is that the triball will carry a lethal punch further away than will buckshot.

[dverna]

First off. What gauge shotgun. I used to shoot em out of my 4lb 18" single shot NEF all the time.

BJ

You must the most insensitive person in the world. Tri-balls out of a 4 lb gun - and no regrets.

WOW!

Don Verna

[Bullshop Junior]

BJ

You must the most insensitive person in the world. Tri-balls out of a 4 lb gun - and no regrets.

WOW!

Don Verna

I used to shoot the 900gn slugs out of it too. Mostly just shot 1.5oz federal magnum 3" out of it.

[swheeler]

Triball Shotgun? The one that usually goes to the res with me is the 18" Moss 500, so that is my tribal shotgun.

[jmort]

What about Ed shooting a 9,000 plus foot pound load from a pistol grip shotgun. He did say it was weighted to around 9 pounds as I remember it.

[dverna]

What about Ed shooting a 9,000 plus foot pound load from a pistol grip shotgun. He did say it was weighted to around 9 pounds as I remember it.

You guys are NUTS!! Heck, I had to put a muzzle brake on my .300 Win. Mag. Just how hard do you think you need to hit something to kill it? LOL

I admire your tenacity, but I will stick with "girlie" loads that I can handle.

Don Verna

[cpileri]

Here is some old info i posted about how much a gun "should" weigh. Matter of opinion of course...


was musing about whether or not this gun is heavy enough or “too heavy”, strictly from a perceived recoil perspective, and being somewhat a matter of taste, sure; so I found this in the Nitro Express forums:
table from John Taylor's book "African Rifles and Cartridges" from the late 1940's which shows the weights of Double Rifles from the various brit makers. The "New Weight" shows that they lightened their guns as new and better barrel steels became available.

RIFLE ..Normal Weight ..New Weight
Caliber ..Double bbl ..Double bbl
600NE ..16 to 18 lbs ..14 1/2 to 15 1/2 lbs
577NE ..12 1/2 to 14 lbs ..11 1/2 lbs
500NE ..11 1/2 to 12 lbs ..10 1/2 lbs
470NE ..11 to 11 1/2 lbs ..10 1/2 lbs
465NE ..10 3/4 to 11 1/4 lbs ..10 1/4 lbs
425WR ..11 lbs ..10 1/2 lbs
450/400NE ..10 to 10 1/2 lbs ..9 1/2 lbs
375 Mag ..9 1/2 lbs ..8 3/4 lbs

So I decided to compare the weights to the kinetic energy of the round (I could convert to momentum (KgxM/s) but it all is relative anyway.

Pre-WW1 era: KE (I) vs Gun weight (kg)
RIFLE ..Normal Weight ..ft-lb (standardized load)
Caliber ..Double bbl
600NE ..16 to 18 lbs ..8221 (900gr@2050fps)
577NE ..12 1/2 to 14 lbs ..7010 (750gr@2050fps)
500NE ..11 1/2 to 12 lbs ..5850 (570@2150)
470NE ..11 to 11 1/2 lbs ..5140 (500@2150)
465NE ..10 3/4 to 11 1/4 lbs
425WR ..11 lbs ..5115 (410@2350)
450/400NE ..10 to 10 1/2 lbs ..3732 (400@2050)
375 Mag ..9 1/2 lbs ..4337 (270@2690-I assume 375H&H magnum)

The 11lb weighted USG pushing a 1043gr slug at ~1000fps generates 2317fpe ,or the 615gr slug at 1600fps= 3497.
Now if I push out one of those Hubel-Level loads, say, 600gr@1850fps= 4561ftlbs,or 715gr@ =9925fps.

I would guess what we are looking at is a chart that British gunmakers, over the decades they produced fine guns, found a balance between weight and recoil/shootability, and weight and marketability (as in “By Jove! That’s too heavy to lug on safari, my good man!”). Sorry for the bad humor.

C-

[Bullshop Junior]

You guys are NUTS!! Heck, I had to put a muzzle brake on my .300 Win. Mag. Just how hard do you think you need to hit something to kill it? LOL

I admire your tenacity, but I will stick with "girlie" loads that I can handle.

Don Verna

That 4lb single shot was supposed to get reamed to 3.5" but I never got around to it. Even with that much lead, it felt small when I was facing a angry bear.

[joecool911]

I have decided on a mossberg 500, 20" barrel with the threaded barrel for choke tubes, camo color, fiber optic sights. $400 for 3" or $455 for 3.5" 12 gauge. Cost not that different. Is there a good reason to go with the 3.5 or is 3" adequate?