Birdshot loads

L

longshot1960

Inactive
I am looking to work on birdshot loads for my ROA BP. Anyone have any advise on a shot cover that would hold under recoil?Material,....thickness..etc...
 
Birdshot out of a rifled barrel isn't going to work well. A thin piece of cardboard glued in with Elmers glue would work tho. Elmers will dry faster than caulk. An over powder wad would probably work but I have no idea what it will do to your pattern, not that you're going to have much of a pattern anyway.
 
Birdshot

I have used the CCI 357 shot loads on barn birds {pigon} up to 30 ft in a 6" bbl 686 S&W and had alot of fun doing it. I figured there ought to be a way to load shot loads in BP revolvers. The elmers sounds like it would be less likely to leave anything in the bore.
 
Yeah but those loads have the shot encased in a plastic bullet that helps negate the effect of rifling. What you're going to get is a big donut shaped pattern with a big hole in the middle.
 
This was previously posted on another site:

Overshot Card
Per the instructions on the Ox-Yoke Wonder Wads Packaging Card:
1. Powder Charge
2. Wonder Wad
3. Shot Charge (I filled the chamber to just shy of the top)
4. Another Wonder Wad as an over-shot card
Click to expand...
 
So you would have to do a little KY windage to compensate for the center void. Sounds like a challange to come up with something to shrink this. I have read about guys loading shotshells for there centerfire revolvers using heavy cardboard crimped over #9 shot with good results at close range for snakes. Never have tried it though.
 
Thanks arcticap........Do you know if they are sold in different diameters and thicknesses? I use a veg fiber wad .462 in dia. .030 thick. The diameter seems to hold well by pushing up on the cylinder wall. I would think this would work well as an over powder wad, but would be lacking in holding the shot chg under recoil......
 
Just leave enough room to seat a lead ball over the shot (and lube over the ball). Will hold in the shot and keep the rifling from spinning it too much. Just don't hit the bird with the lead ball if you can help it. This load would also be good for other critters in a pinch, but will not give you much distance with the shot.
 
You can use a 45 cal punch or an empty hull if it`s all you have ..I punch 45 cal wads out of foam picknic plates ..place 2 over the powder charge then one over the shot charge and glue in with white school glue .works good for snakes and small critters at 5 yards or so .
 
Do you know if they are sold in different diameters and thicknesses? I use a veg fiber wad .462 in dia. .030 thick.
Click to expand...

Well, they're sold in different caliber sizes, but I don't know about different thicknesses.

Here's an outfit that a lot of BP shooters buy sheets of felt from to make their own wool wads. You'll just need the right size punch.
Note that at the top of the page, there's an item number for the dense felt material that BP shooter's usually prefer which is 1/8 inch thick "hard" felt.

http://www.durofelt.com/image_26.html
 
Some times I'll load my Pietta 1858 with a shot load that consist:

15gr. FFFG
over powder wad
using the 15gr. measure, measure out #7 or #9 shot
over shot wad
a little wax over that to keep it all in place.

With this load in a .44 caliber revolver you can use regular store bought wads or make your own & it is effective on snakes & rodents out to 7 yards maybe 10 but that'd be pushing it.. :rolleyes:
 
Like others said, a wax wad over the shot will hold tit all in. Squish the wax in so it sticks to the cylinders walls good.
I had an idea for shot quick loads once but never tried it. I though of melting beeswax and mixing in lead shot then forming the proper sized cylindrical loads of it. Once cooled, you could put them in by hand and it'd be a self contained shot/wax load.
 
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