Loading Buck and Ball?

Black powder smooth bore muzzle loaders have been used to shoot anything that could fit down the bore including steel and nails for centuries. I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything but I shoot both 1/4" steel shot and steel BBs from my Pedersoli Howdah with no ill effects. A potential problem with steel shot occurs when using high pressure smokeless powder and a choked barrel. My experience with my Howdah shooting any type and size shot has been disappointing. The short chokeless barrel gives such a wide pattern that the effective range is limited to less than ten yards. However, load it with a .61 caliber PRB over 60 grains of real black powder and you wind up with a devastating hand-cannon with decent accuracy.
 
Pedersoli barrels are chrome lined and no the old guns were not designed to shoot iron or steel anything.
 
Thanks for the replies all!

I assume that to load a buckshot load, I would just use a wad over the powder, layer the shot in 3-4 layers of 3 pellets each, and put another wad on top to keep the shot in? Thanks!!! :D
 
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