Denser patterns
 

I would like to pose a question to the group. My question pertains to Parker hammer guns made with 2 7/8" chambers made in and around 1870s. This concerns pattern density at 40 to 50 yards. Will shells loaded with over powder and cushion wads shoot denser patterns than shells loaded with shot cups. I seem to be having problems with holes in the center of the pattern using Rem SP shot cups. Has anybody done any experimenting to see if one works better than the other.

Try slowing the loads down a bit. Less powder.

Wayne,

No, they won't shoot denser patterns. What choke and shot size and how much shot?

Forty to fifty yards is stretching any amount of shot in a short ten. Even if you are shooting 1.5 ounces, forty is the ethical maximum range of this gun. If you are using the low pressure data for the ten, the speeds are no where near a modern high power shell (1300 fps). Shoot at a very large sheet of paper and you may see the shot has dropped from point of aim at these distances.

If you are shooting full chokes, use plated shot (copper), unsplit shot cups, and buffer. There are several loads on the short ten data that use wraps instead of SP10. These may work better also. Just my two cents. Others may disagree.

what Dave said. i can't believe i just said :whistle:

I was using one of Charlie's favorite loads. 1/8oz no fours 19grs Red Dot in a Remington hull cut down to 2 7/8" with a Rem SP 10 wad and a Win 209 primer. I am not sure about the chokes on the gun. I don't have anything to measure them with properly. Still pretty limited on what you can get your hands on to load with in this area. Would 7625 be a better choice for hunting loads than Red Dot.

are you putting the filler wad in the bottom of your SP 10 wad? if not that will open up your pattern.

No 4 is pretty big shot. If you are getting holes in the pattern might try 6 or if committed to 4 move up to 1 1/4.

William

Your joking right?????

I use a over powder card in the bottom of the shot cup to bring the shot level even with the top of the shot cup and then a over shot card and roll crimp. I have also tryed a 6 point crimp.

try a shot at 40 yds at a 30 circle. count the hits and divide that by the number of pellets in the load. my be you have a gun shooting cylinder choke (45 %). if so that would tell you why you have holes in your pattern. at forty yds you should get 70 % to 90 % on a .030 to .040 of choke out of the short 10 ga.