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Jaeger

40 Cal.
Joined
Jan 27, 2008
Messages
977
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1,084
Location
Michigan
I bought a good Tulle fusil de chasse last year and have shot it a few times with a patched round ball.....still learning how to aim it and shoot it with some semblance of accuracy. I would like to try firing buckshot or smaller shot with it, and maybe even "buck and ball". What's the best way to load this gun with shot? I know some people use pre-cut wads, but is that the way it was loaded in 1750? How about buck and ball? I'd like to have the benefit of others' experience.
 
Jaeger,

You can use ivy leaves as wadding. Just roll up a couple into a ball and ram down on the powder, then a bit of grass or the same on the shot.
Old gunsmith told me about this in maybe 1970, and it always worked providing you didn't want to leave the gun loaded all week.
Paper was often used as well, crumpled up and made into a ball. Can set stuff afire with paper though in dry weather.
Felt wads, punched from an old felt hat work well. All these are very old loadings. Tow as B-H says, but it needs ramming tight. Old stuffing from a saddle works well. Wool is no good.
Punched out Cork wads are good but your gun will get harder to load pretty quick.
Any tough green leaves can be used, not just ivy. I used leaves when shooting ducks over laid grain, so I didn't set fields alight.

Hope this helps.
Richard.
 
Wool as in wool straight off a sheep, B-Hand?

Wool Felt works well, but not straight wool.

Plant material like green leaves will not start a fire. That's why we used it when shooting ducks or wood pigeons over laid barley at harvest time.
Been done for the last 200 and odd years, and now we need to go buy store bought stuff? However did me manage this long? LOL!

Cheers,
Richard.
 
Wool does work. I played around with the roving (washed and carded and pulled into a loose cylinder before spinning into yarn) from my Shetland sheep that my wife had cleaned up prior to spinning (most of the lanolin gone) and the results were good. But I normally use a wad edge-rolled in beeswax and overpowder & over shot cards.

For 15 years I used tow (for wadding and for cleaning) with my Bess. Works but the patterns were less uniform.
 
Thanks for your thoughts on wool, Stumpkiller.
May have been the lanolin in the fresh (unwashed) wool that stopped it compressing in my case. Worked in a most rubbish manner.

I think for easy, and regular conditions, paper works as well as anything, (if we don't have felt wads)
The old gunners really liked felt wads anointed with mercury ointment. (!) as it removed all leading.
(Do you blokes remember when we were given Mercury to play with in school?!?... We all got a go with it. LOL!)
 
RJDH said:
Thanks for your thoughts on wool, Stumpkiller...


(Do you blokes remember when we were given Mercury to play with in school?!?... We all got a go with it. LOL!)
Yup.
A few thermometers at home also lost their lives because we kids in the neighborhood would break them (without our mothers knowledge) just to get some mercury for important things like making shiny coins.

Of course, just dipping a coin into the mercury wouldn't work so we diligently rubbed it onto them with our fingers. :grin:

Now, I hear California is going to require any place selling coffee to post a warning sign saying it might, on a cold day in hell, cause cancer. :doh:

My, what progress we've made. :shake:
 
Saliva kills, but only if swallowed in small amounts over long periods of time.
I’ve eaten a bit of seafood over the years, held ball in my mouth while I was fishing in the bag and such like exposers to heavy metal poisoning. So fa I have suffered no ill effects like memory loss.
Saliva kills but.... what do you mean I just told that joke. Well anyway I like sword fish... what I thought we were talking about seafood.... no I don’t have any memory loss, yeah I think as a kid we played with mercury we got from thermometers but I don’t know what that’s got to do with California coffee.
 
Tenngun,

LOL!

I always wonder why they don't put "harmful of fatal if swallowed" on shovels and pick -axes. They Would be , don'cha know?

Mercury was used in hat -making, hence "Mad as a hatter" was quite applicable.
 
Zonie said:
RJDH said:
Thanks for your thoughts on wool, Stumpkiller...


(Do you blokes remember when we were given Mercury to play with in school?!?... We all got a go with it. LOL!)
Yup.
A few thermometers at home also lost their lives because we kids in the neighborhood would break them (without our mothers knowledge) just to get some mercury for important things like making shiny coins.

Of course, just dipping a coin into the mercury wouldn't work so we diligently rubbed it onto them with our fingers. :grin:

Now, I hear California is going to require any place selling coffee to post a warning sign saying it might, on a cold day in hell, cause cancer. :doh:

My, what progress we've made. :shake:
:hatsoff:
 
RJDH said:
Tenngun,

LOL!

I always wonder why they don't put "harmful of fatal if swallowed" on shovels and pick -axes. They Would be , don'cha know?

Mercury was used in hat -making, hence "Mad as a hatter" was quite applicable.
I always thought that was lead! But I am not sure. :rotf:
 
still :eek:ff

I once got the family thermomoter out and stuck it on moms pan of vegi soup to see how hot it was. She had it on the grate of the floor furnace to simmer all day. INSTANT break. I really did try to get the mercury out from between the lid and pot...really. Couldn't do it BUT I did manage to make the lil balls wayyy smaller :grin: So i opened the lid and "plop". Later at dinner sure enough ma found some shiny bright balls on her spoon. Trip to ER (we...er they... had no idea what it was :hmm: ).

Back then they just laughed and said enjoy the soup. No scares back then. She threw it out. I of course was blamed but NOBODY SAW ME DO IT and I beat the rap (or at least the beatin :rotf: ). Thankfully I did get all the glass off the lid :shake:
 
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