12 bore shooting

Well, I finally got out to shot the old girl tonight for the first time. We had a brief calm between rain showers. Heat index of 100 F. Humidity was terrible. But what the heck?

I started with 70 grains of 1.5 swiss, with a round ball, that checks in at over 800 grains. The ball and patch combo is fairly tight, about .005 more than I would of started with I think.


Started at 36 yards, I shoot at a buddy's place and just stopped the pickup.

The first few shots you can see, I needed to drift the sights to the right, and was slowly getting towards center.

I backed up to 75 yards and shot two rounds that are low and to the left. I upped the charge to 85 grains and shot the 3 center shots, and did not touch the sights.

I think it will shoot.....I love it when you dont have to work to hard to get a rifle to shoot.

I think I might just keep this old girl even though she slapped me around a little.

Fleener

Hello Fleener,
Awesome looking rifle!
Please show us more?
Mighty fine looking rifle, "BUT" too far away.
I really like that design of rifle.
Thank you!
Fred

I have I think shown this rifle a couple of months ago when I got it.

I also misspoke regarding the ball size. They weight is around 580 grains.

Fleener

That's a keeper fer sure! It would be a proud Alaska rifle. Is it just my eye (and ignorance), or is that a relatively fast twist bore?

best I can tell the twist in one in forty-five

Fleener

I was gonna guess in the 1:48 realm, so my eyes may be a little smarter than I thought.

Nice to see it doing so well with RB's "in spite of" the faster twist. Lotta guys would swear on their dusty stack of bibles that 1:45 is a compromise twist and too fast for round balls in such a large bore.

That begs the next question though, even if round balls with only 85 grains already "slapped me around a little." I have to wonder if in its early life if it was loaded with conicals. Those would certainly slap you around some!

My shoulder has not been good lately and sore for a while. I was supposed to go to Arkansas for a bear hunt with a bow and shooting a bow hurts my shoulder. Just found out yesterday that the bear hunt was canceled. A week and a half ago I shot at 1,000 yards for 3 days at the Harris MM match. First two shoots on Friday I was not ready and setup wrong on the rifle and it hurt my shoulder. Yesterday it was so hot that I tried the first shot with out my shooting jacket. That was a mistake. So I am a little beaten up right now. I have some conicals cast and I think they are around 830 grains I did not want to use them unless I needed to.

I think I have found this rifles load. I don’t think hunting tigers or lions or rhinos are in my near future

Fleener

Good idea to give the conicals a pass for now, and probably even rest your shoulder a bit.

A departure from muzzleloading for which I apologize, but I spent a month developing loads and finally sighting in a friend's gorgeous old custom Griffin and Howe in 404 Jeffery, light weight and horn butt plate and all. Popping just shy of 600 of those 400 grain slugs at 2300fps from the bench left me sore for a year.

Of course, the good part was that in the interim I discovered just how effective a 12 gauge muzzleloader can be when loaded with 7/8 ounce of shot on top of 60 grains of 1f! :grin: Still use that load a lot today, and neither the snowshoe hare nor the ptarmigan know the difference from big belchers.

That's a beautiful rifle. I've shot 3 drams under a .69" from my 12 bore smoothie and its about as much fun as I can stand. Its since been relegated to shot only. Those big balls might not be fast, but they will be hard to stop.

Hi Fleener!
Thank you for the pictures.
Once again a great looking rifle it is.
I am surprised that the companies like Pedersoli, Uberti, Chiappa have not produced a similar rifle?
There would be a good demand.
Chiappa is producing amazing repros.
Fred

Art, that is just one beautiful big bore. British?
Glad you are getting it dialed in.
Sorry to hear about the shoulder. I gave up on archery several years ago because of mine, but recently picked up a bow again, and so far so good.

Yes it is British.

Fleener

I have some conicals cast and I think they are around 830 grains I did not want to use them unless I needed to.

Click to expand...

What type conical do you plan to use. Please post a pic and some details, as I am looking for a good conical for a .72.

Great looking rifle, and good shooter as well.
Thanks,
Ron

The below bullet was what I was thinking about using, but I will not now. The bullet is next to a .40 cal for size reference.

I borrowed the mold from a buddy that I think might of cut the mold. It is too small dia. for my rifle and I would of had to paper patch the bullets to make them fit properly.

Since the round balls shoot well I have no need for shooting a conical out of her.

My buddy lurks around here on occasion, and might provide some more info on the bullet.

Fleener



poems by Archie Randolph Ammons

Thanks for the info and the pic.
Ron