new to forum need advice on shotgun

[nebo]

hello everyone &happy new year. im new to this forum and looking for some advice on muzzel loading shotguns. im looking at a pedersoli 12gauge double barrel that has choke tubes in it,it is carried by cabelas. i need some thing in full or x full, being that im going to use it for turkey. what is your input on this gun,is it still a well made gun being it is sold thru cabelas? i understand that pedersoli makes good repos, but is the cabelas shotgun made by pedersoli still made well? maybe some of you know about this model or of another gun that is good to buy? thanksmuch, gary

 

[Leon/Iowa]

I have had one of these shot guns for eight years now. Great gun as far as I am concerned. Turkeys hide when they see me with it in the spring time. Pheasants and rabbits live in fear in the fall.
You can get more choke tubes from Brownells if you need them. Just call them, or send me a email. I still have the invoice with the part number. My gun came with Super Full, Modified and Improved Cylender choke tubes. I picked up a Full tube as well.
I found that my gun worked best with 80 gr. of 2F, two over powder cards, 1&1/4 oz. shot and an over powder card. Good luck Leon

 

[paulvallandigham]

You are going to need help learning to load that gun. Stay in touch.

 

[Sparks Stone]

Hi,
I have a new 12-gauge fowler. Flintlock with cylinder choke. Yesterday I tried the 'factory recommended' load of 80gr 2f, eighth-inch over powder card, half-inch cushion wad, one ounce #5 shot, overshot card. Primed with 4f.

Pattern seemed a little light in some quadrants, but very nice mostly (20-25 yards).

Any suggestions on different loads?

 

[paulvallandigham]

Reduce the powder charge to 70 grains, and 75 grains, to see how it pattern with them.

Also, try Jim Rackham's suggestion of using ONLY OS cards. 4 cards instead of the OP wad, and cushion wad, then shot, then 2 OS cards. Use and awl to poke an off center hole in each card, and don't line the holes up with each other.

Jim puts a dab, or ball of lube between his 3rd and 4th cards under the shot, to lube the barrel. I prefer to run a Lubed cleaning patch down the barrel when I am seating the 2 OS card on top of the shot. This lubes the barrel in front of the shot, allowing the shot to slide Over the barrel, rather than rub flats in the lead pellets against the steel barrel. I don't want the lead deposits to remove, and I don't want flats on the pellets which drop those pellets out of my pattern. Of course, my technique will also lube the barrel to keep residue soft. Oh, those lead streaks reek havoc with your subsequent patterns, which is the other reason I want my shot to get out of the barrel in as round a shape as possible.

I use FFg powder rather than FFFg because I want the lower chamber pressure behind those pellets, so they are not misshapen by a sharp ignition and faster velocity. The weight of the pellet is what is going to kill the bird, not the small difference in velocity.

 

[roundball]

Hi,
I have a new 12-gauge fowler. Flintlock with cylinder choke. Yesterday I tried the 'factory recommended' load of 80gr 2f, eighth-inch over powder card, half-inch cushion wad, one ounce #5 shot, overshot card. Primed with 4f.

Pattern seemed a little light in some quadrants, but very nice mostly (20-25 yards).

Any suggestions on different loads?

A 1oz charge of shot is essentially a .20ga Field Load or a light .12ga 16yd Trap load.

I start with 1+1/8oz in a .12ga and easily use 1+1/4oz for hunting loads. If it was me, I'd eliminate that OP wad, keep the cushion wad, keep the 80grns powder, and use 1+1/4oz of shot...your pattern should be well filled in...almost too full.

Then I'd try 90grns and should pick up a few more yards distance...90grns and 1+1/4oz is like a box of .12ga shells that are stamped: 3+1/4 drams + 1&1/4oz shot.
That's the time honored "three and a quarter / one and a quarter" .12ga load that is pretty standard for serious hunting in the field.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Adding more shot is one way to reduce the velocity of the load, so you get better patterns. I prefer to try to get the better patterns by reducing the powder charge.

If you are shooting clay targets, the 1 ounce load is good enough. If you are shooting small game, the 1 ounce load is good enough. However, if you are hunting pheasants, or chukkar partridge, or turkey, then I think a 1 1/4 oz. load of #5 shot, and 2 3/4 drams or 76 grains of FFg is the perfect load to use. I use this and kill pheasant cleanly with my cylinder bore shotgun at range out to 35 yards. I would not hesitate to use this load for turkey out to 30 yards.

The 2 3/4 Dram, 1 1/4 oz. of #5 was the favorite load for the commercial duck hunters on the Illinois river back in the 1880s for shooting ducks out to 50 yards. I can only assume that their guns were either jug choked, or they were using some of the new cartridge shotguns that came with choked barrels. I got the load information in a reprint of an article from the NRA's predeceasor magazine about the commercial duck hunters of the day, that appeared in the 1980s. When I tried the load out- first in my modern 12 gauge shotgun, and later in my black powder ML shotgun, I was delighted to learn just how good a pattern it throws. I have broken clay targets like a starburst at near 50 yards with this load shot out of a full choke shotgun. The birds I have killed all looked like they had been slammed with a tennis racket. All shots save one were taken between 25 and 35 yards. The closer one was an accident, and I swiss-cheesed the bird's breast. I took a lot of ribbing over that bird, but took it home and made pheasant stir fry with it.

 

[Runner]

My gun likes a 3-4 loading or about that. 60 80 for goofing around and close range hunting. 75-100 for longer range like squirrels in the tree tops. 90-120 for turkey. The heavier loads are slower, but the pattern is much better out of my gun loaded that way. The 90-120 load is not pleasant to shoot unless a big bird is out there at 35 or 40 yards. Then it doesn't kick at all!