Buck and ball load for 24 gauge

[Tennessee.45]

What buck and ball load would you recommend for a 24gauge, looking for a good load incase of a charging boar.

 

[Silky921]

So what gun did you decide on?

 

[nhmoose]

When a .570 ball cannot work learn to climb FAST!

 

[Tennessee.45]

Decided on a smooth early Virginia.

 

[Silky921]

Sweet man. Good thing is, that was a decision that's impossible to make the wrong choice.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I'd seriously consider simply 70 grains of 2Fg pushing an ounce of #4 buckshot to stop a charging boar. Much better pellet to target ratio than buck and ball, and it's going to be closing the distance fast plus it will not be broadside but head on coming at you.

OR are you looking to have a hunting load for boar, AND want something to stop a charge if the boar spots you before the first shot, and charges?

I'd suggest for the latter, that you use again 70 grains of 2Fg, and see which is better, a ball on top of a 1/2" fiber wad, followed by a second fiber wad and then 1/2 oz. of #4 buck and then a overshot card, or the reverse, the wad, the buckshot, second wad, the ball, and the overshot card.

This is suggested because the classing buck-n-ball load where the ball and buckshot rest upon one another, with either the ball exiting first or the buckshot exiting first, are notoriously mediocre on accuracy. I'm thinking the thick wads would improve the pattern as well as the accuracy of the ball. I should think the best would be the ball loaded last, but you will still need to experiment.

LD

 

[Lonegun1894]

Loyalist Dave,
For what it's worth, when I was playing with these kind of loads with my 28ga/.54, I got better patterns when loading the PRB on TOP of the #4 buck than when I tried loading the buckshot on top of the PRB. Either way, the accuracy of the PRB was unaffected.

Tennessee.45,
Based on my experiments, and YMMV, but IF you insist on multiple projectiles for something that may want to take a chunk out of you, I would just load two PRBs and call it good, but I have never had a problem using my .54 on a wild hog, or my .50, (or even a .22LR). I'm actually planning on taking my .32 with a PRB out for them this year sometime, and will report if I get one. It's just a matter of placement, which I know can be challenging when a boar (we are talking Boars, as in wild pigs, and not BEARS, right?) is heading your way, but I'm not bright enough to get out of the way so never worried about it. Besides, in about 20-25 years of hog hunting, I have been charged twice, so not a very common occurrence if you're smart enough to NOT get between a sow and her young. I'd honestly just work up an accurate load aI trust and just use it for everything without worrying about anything except placement.

 

[robinsroost]

Hogs are not particularly difficult to kill, but they can scare the hell out of you. If they are coming straight at you, don't shoot at their head, its very hard and the bullet might bounce off. Instead, aim over the head into the shoulders, where there is a good chance you will sever the spine. An encounter like this will let you know how much hair you have on your chest. Keep yer powder dry..........robin :hmm:

 

[Tennessee.45]

I've had two charge me in the 15 years I've been hunting and both times i was lucky enough to drop them before they got to me, one was about 10' away when it fell, and that was with two shots from a 150gr 30-30 to the heart/lungs, other one was with a 180gr 30-06 between the eyes...

if I was to use buck shot, how big of a diameter buckshot can I safely use, and is a double PRB load safe?

Sorry for the questions I'm still fairly new to muzzleloading

 

[Tinker2]

I'm actually planning on taking my .32 with a PRB out for them this year sometime, and will report if I get one.

So”¦.if you don’t report”¦.? Ask the pig?





William Alexander

 

[azmntman]

:slap:

:rotf: :rotf:

 

[segner05]

I've had one close encounter with with a hog, though I believe it was just running in my direction, not really charging me, up out of a creek bottom after I fired at it across the creek with a 3" 20 gauge turkey load. As it came out on my side of the creek bottom, I put three more rounds into it as it closed the last ten or fifteen feet and it finally dropped about five feet away off to my side. This particular hog only weighed maybe 80 or 90 pounds. With your gun and proposed load shot placement means everything, especially at a charging hog. And should this situation come to fruition, you'll want an extra pair of underwear. I don't think I've ever had as much adrenaline going through my veins as I did then.

 

[robinsroost]

I killed a truck load of hogs, when I lived in Florida. Modern, high velocity, CF rounds can penetrate the skull, but black powder rifle rounds, as well as CF handgun rounds, at around 1500 fps, may not. Keep yer powder dry..........robin :hmm:

 

[Tennessee.45]

That's kinda what I'm worried about, I guess a good shot to the heart and/or lungs as well as a spine shot would probably be best

 

[Lonegun1894]

I'm actually planning on taking my .32 with a PRB out for them this year sometime, and will report if I get one.

So”¦.if you don’t report”¦.? Ask the pig?





William Alexander

Yep! It'll be the one with indigestion! :rotf:

 

[Lonegun1894]

Well, I spent all weekend looking for a hog, carrying my .32, but no luck. The next attempt will probably be in two weeks, but I'm not giving up.