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Wrapped shot

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mazo kid

70 Cal.
Joined
Apr 8, 2003
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In the latest issue of the Muzzleloader magazine there is an article about making and using wrapped shot for quicker reloads while in the field/trail walks, etc. Seems one problem is that they do not reliably open up and sometimes make one large hole in the target/patterning board. I was just thinking....what if you made a tapered cylinder instead of a straight walled one to place the shot in? In loading, place the narrower end up so when the load is fired, the pressure would rupture the forward end and thus the wrap would be shed upon exiting the muzzle. Has anyone ever done this? Any comments? Maybe my thinking is skewed?
 
In the past I made some narrow cartridges that would drop down the bore but first I would tare the top off and then overshot card them. IIRMC the results were unsatisfactory so I just preload vials or carry a shot flask now.

Britsmoothy.
 
I have, on several occasions wrapped 6-9 buckshot in a small piece of paper and just dropped in down the barrel. The paper has always burned sufficiently that I was able to get a decent pattern(for me, anyway) and was often able to hit a target with at least 2 of the shot. I never used an overshot wad, and one just need make sure the circumference of the buckshot and paper load is smaller than the diameter of the barrel.
 
Regardless of what Mr. Nesbitt says, I have never had one not open. I used to make them out of newspaper but now use light brown paper. Cut your pieces so they make just over 2 thicknesses (1/8-1/4" of overlap at the seam). Twist the end and tie with heavy thread. Fill with your load of shot and twist and tie the other end. Trim the twisted ends to ~1/8 inches and coat in your favorite lube (I used melted deer tallow). As a mandrel I use a piece of brass tubing (just under bore size) that is removed only after I have filled the tube with shot.

I have used these loads with great success over the years. Load with your charge of powder, overpowder card, shot load, followed by an thin overshot card. If you are worried about the shot load not opening, just push the load down the barrel until it is fully supported by the barrel and snip/cut off the little tail before adding the overshot card and seating the load.

These loads are quick to make, fast to load and after switching to the light brown paper, travel well (with newspaper I would get 3-4 trips out of the load in my belt pouch before the load would split at the seam).
 
I make them from the thin onion skin of cigatette papers, maybe two or three stuck together. I also grease them before ramming them down on the powder. The greasing helps soften the paper. If they are not opening, you might be using too thick of paper. See if you can find onion skin paper. It was every where in the 70's and was used with carbon paper between the sheets.
(Did I just date myself as being older than dirt?)
Ohio Rusty >
 
I make the whole ctg. out of paper. It is long enough to put in shot (or ball) then I stuff in a piece of paper to act as a seperation then I add powder. I tear off the tail of the powder end pour it down then reverse it and insert shot(dipped in melted lube) down and let the rest of the paper act as wadding to keep shot in. Works great.

P.
 
I've used paper cartridges for shot in my shotguns since the 60's And prefer them to loose shot and over shot cards. I make them by wraping newspaper strips over a wooden doll rod (about 4to 5 wraps) and tying the end with kite string after giving it a small fold. I then fill the tube fold the end over and rety the end. For my twelve gauge I use a 650 tapered to 600 doll rod. The news paper strips are about five inches wide and slanted from twelve inches to 9 inches long.I use them with one over powder felt wad and no over cartridge card.If you are interested in making some there are web articles about making paper cartridges for civil war renacting. The prinicple is the same. Except I have found that for shot guns it is best to use two seperate cartridges. One for powder made of wax paper. one for shot made of newspaper.
 
I experimented with paper coin wrappers holding shot and had good patterns using a dime wrapper filled with 1 ounce of shot.
 
I tried many different forms of paper wrapping. I personally never got a consistant opening up of the paper slug. Then it dawned on my. I was trying to find a solution to a problem I never really had. It took me less time to send shot down with a flask and over shot card then to mess with a paper wrapped cartridge.
 
I have had mixed results with paper wraped shot. In a 12 ga gun I had, I tried using Dime wrappers for shot cups. As long as the front of the cup was not folded over on the shot they would open up ok. If the wrapper was folded over then I would allways have a slug going through my patterning board. :shocked2: Now I normally use Postit papers wrapped around a properly sized dowel to hold my pre measured shot charges. Just fold the bottom end over like a coin tube and add a drop of your wife's Hot glue from her crafts box. Pour in the load of shot, fold the top over, another drop of glue, and they are ready to use. Just pour your powder down the barrel, add a over powder wad/card, start the shot cup in the muzzle, tear the top fold of paper off even with the top of the shot. Either use the torn off top fold as your over shot card or use a over shot card. Push it down onto the powder charge. All set to go. BJH
 
I tried them using post it notes...my interest was to try and get a tighter pattern by using them as a shot cup in a GM .62cal Flint smoothbore...not for something to carry shot in.

I enjoyed the learning exercise and 9 times out of 10 they worked and produced a tighter pattern...but every now and then I would have one go to & through the target like a slug...never could figure out the delicate balance. I finally decided, as hard as it is to get a turkey in the sights I would not take the risk...had the barrel Jug Choked 'Full' instead.

The turkey load in the bare bore Jug Choked barrel tears up a turkey head/neck target at 40yds...bagged a couple with it since I had it jugged...(one at 40, the other at 30yds)...and in hindsight, with the cost of gasoline, powder, and lead shot, I spent far less getting it Jug Choked than all the trips to the range doing pattern testing...wished I had just done it in the first place.
 
Ohio Rusty said:
See if you can find onion skin paper. It was every where in the 70's and was used with carbon paper between the sheets.
(Did I just date myself as being older than dirt?)
Ohio Rusty >
:rotf: Yeah, I'm afraid you may have disclosed the fact that you are not exactly a youngster anymore. I did get a ream or 2 of the onion skin paper back in the 70s as the building where I worked as an electrician was going to computers instead of typewriters and they were just tossing out supplies like that. I initially got the paper for paper patching bullets for my BPCR loading, but still have some left. Glad to see that I am not the only "older" guy here.
 
Oh.....and thank you to all of you who posted their methods and experiences with the wrapped shot. I guess I will just have to make some up myself and see what works. I now have a few options and ideas.
 
i have tries this with buck shot eight .30 shot tied in a bag and shot out of a .62 will make a real ugly looking oblong hole hot far from POA at 30-40 yds. I could not find a way to get them to open consistantly so went on to somethimg else that day.
 
As mentioned above, I also use post it notes to wrap my shot charges. I carry 6 or 7 in a tin in my bag. When loading I always tear the top off the wrapper as I also saw some loads fail to open. I think having the shot premeasured and wrapped is just an easier way to carry them when in the field.
 
I have had similar results as roundball has described. I now just make premeasured rolls of shot and powder. I wrap the powder in zig-zags, and the shot in thin brown paper. It is quicker to loader than measuring in the field, but takes some preparation.
Taylor in Texas
 
Ohio Rusty said:
I make them from the thin onion skin of cigatette papers, maybe two or three stuck together. I also grease them before ramming them down on the powder. The greasing helps soften the paper. If they are not opening, you might be using too thick of paper. See if you can find onion skin paper. It was every where in the 70's and was used with carbon paper between the sheets.
(Did I just date myself as being older than dirt?)
Ohio Rusty >

I have a whole sheet of Big Bamboo paper from my Cheech and Chong album, wonder how many shot charges that will make?

bigbamboo.jpg
 
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