Can you put a ball on top of shot??

[pharmvet]

Just a question about hunting with a smoothbore. If for instance you were squirrel hunting with "shot" and saw a deer in the distance and had time to put a ball down the barrel, would it be safe to do so in order to shoot the deer. Provided of course that everything was "tight" (aka ball seated firmly against wad over shot.)

 

[Leonredbeard]

pharmvet,
With two payloads, you will find your shot placement really low. Or you may not find your shot placement at all. If you have the time, perhaps you could quickly pull the overshot wad and drop a ball down the bore and wad it in place.
God bless.
volatpluvia

 

[tg]

That may be a pretty heavy projectile load as well and you may be in violation of game laws with the small shot for deer.

 

[musketman]

Lets not forget the killer recoil generated from the heavier load in the bore...

Best suggestion I can think of, pop out the over shot card, dump out the pellets and drop a ball down the bore on top of the fiber wad, followed by a fresh over shot card...

This way, no cloth patch would be required...

 

Ahhhh- the beauty of a double, one loaded with ball, the other with shot- normal practise in India in the mid 1800's. An East Indian Proverb states "When ou go out to shoot a hare, be prepared to meet a tiger". Forsyth states (quote) "in the dense forest tracts which I am constantly traversing, even when shooting small game with a shot gun, I never load more than one barrel with shot, ...; for my spaniels have roused a panther when I expected to see them flush a partridge. I have found myself face to face with wild elephants when looking for jungle-fowl; and I have almost trodden on the tail of a tiger, when stalking a spotted buck." The 14 bore was a favourite for India.
: EXTRA ball on top of the shot charge will more than double the recoil and possibly have disastrous effect upon the wrist/tang area, depending on the fit. I wouldn't do it, even if I thought the higher pressure was well within bounds- there are some doubles I wouldn't do this in.
: Now, in a 12 bore, shooting a normal 1 ounce charge, doubling that to 2 ounces with a 1 ounce ball wouldn't do more than kick more, but the velocity would be in the 700fps range & you must practise to see what the results would be, how to sight, etc. 2 ounces overall isn't bad, but if you normally overload the shot like most folk do, you may end up with 2 1/2 to 3 ounces for the payload- I wouldn't do that. 1 ouce of shot is a very good shot load, by the way.