Shotshell cups?

[bigbore442001]

I have a 16" 20 guage smoothbore that has a rather wide pattern. I did some shooting the other day with waxed cushion wads and an over the shot card wad.

I figure that I can get better patterns with that particular gun if I use some plastic shot cups. Can you use regular 20 guage plastic shot cups for shotshell reloading or do they have to be made just for muzzleloading shotguns? Thanks.

 

[Deadeye]

Yep, use regular plastic wads.

 

[ssettle]

Do you think maybe 16 gage would fit tighter? I have a 10 gage that I tired plastic wads in along time ago, didn't have any luck with that. I made up paper cups from index cards which seem to work (jury is still out on that one). I did find that doing away with the cushion wad helped alot even without a paper shot cup. Good Luck ..SSettle

 

[Mike Brooks]

Chances are with a 16" barrel you'll never get a satisfactory pattern no matter how you load it. I've never gotten consistant results with any kind of shot cups.

 

[ffffg]

ill tell you what is happening so you can work on a solution.. first the hard waxed wads are pushing thru the pattern as it exits the muzzel. always use fiber wads in smoothbore shotgun(with shot).. second your having too much power stroke that is exiting the muzzel. so you will need to try smaller loads(powder) and faster powder.. a modern shotgun burns all its powder in 8-12 inches, you may have problems getting black powder giving a short enough power stroke with that gun.. i always wanted a shot pistol, but now your post is haveing me rethink that idea.. you can reduce pattern sizes with plastic buffer and paper shot cups.. the paper shot cup must be open on the muzzel end so it freely tears away and does not make a slug.. buffer increases pressures so make sure you work up all loads when something is changed.. dave

 

[J.D.]

ffffg is right about the felt wad blasting through the shot column. Less powder, or more shot might improve patterns.

My friends and I have settled on 1 and 1/2 more shot to powder, by volume, with only an over powder card wad, and an 1/8 inch thick slice of felt wad, over shot. The felt wad appears to break up on firing, giving more consistent patterns.

I have tried the paper shot cups with inconsistent results. Some folks report VERY good patterns using heavy paper shot cups.

I suspect that good patterns can be achieved with, or without shot cups, with enough experimentation.
J.D.

 

[CrackStock]

I have tried the paper shot cups with inconsistent results

When you tried paper shot cups/cartridges, did you tear the paper away from the front or leave it twisted over the shot?

I suspect that this give unpredictable results. For this reason, I have been tearing the paper twist off and securing the shot with only an over shot wad. This seems to give more repeatable results.

CS

 

[paulvallandigham]

Crackshot; This has been my experience to date with paper shotcups, too. Don't fold over extra materials on top of the load. Tear it off at the muzzle, and then seal with an overshot card. It does help the paper to open up quickly if you cut slits in the paper about 1/3 of the length of the shot column.

 

[Rebel]

Yea, i missed a tom this spring and i'm pretty sure it was because i folded the ends over on the paper cup and it went by him as a slug. After that i have been careful to make sure there is none folded over the end.

 

[roundball]

Yea, i missed a tom this spring and i'm pretty sure it was because i folded the ends over on the paper cup and it went by him as a slug. After that i have been careful to make sure there is none folded over the end.

Try as I might to ensure that my paper shot cups were literally open topped cups, I would still have one out of 10 go through the target like a slug...so I finally bit the bullet and had mine jug choked...just did not want to risk going to all the trouble and expense of getting a .62cal Flint smoothbore ready for turkey using paper shot cups, and have that happen when I dropped the flint on a Tom

 

[Rebel]

Yep, i wasn't a happy camper when it happened i tell ya. If i didn't want to use the gun for everything , deer and birds, i would have it choked, but don't want to give up the rd ball accuracy. So i will just have to get the turkeys within 25 yds.

 

[CrackStock]

Rebel,

We are on the same page here. I was tempted to get my Jackie Brown built Tulle de Chasse jug choked, but held off because I wanted to hunt other game with it..

CS

 

[Rebel]

Know how you feel. If i knew for Certain that jug choking it wouldn't affect the rd ball accuracy i would have it done. But i would rather get closer to the turkeys than loose the accuracy for deer.

 

[faw3]

Rebel I dont know ho it would work with yours or anyone, on my underhammer 20/62 jug choking hasnt done much to shooting balls at all, To Big Bore a long while back a friend that was on in years showed me his trick for getting turkey out at 35-45 yd mark down in old Mex he would cut the shotshell of the next size up then cut 3 or 4 slashes down the side and load upside down, say cut the next larger shotgun shell then cut the top of it with shot off at the fiber line, trim the new top, put the slits down side and fold over the over cut > well hope you get the idea and if ya have a few shells see what fits in the 20 smooth, cause it did work like gangbusters back then, but aq box was only 4.95 at most back then. Fred :hatsoff: