crow load
 

what load and gauge of shotgun do you fellas like the best for crows.... charlie

I like the 10 ga. 1 1/4 load or if I'm lazy and don't want to add the shot cards 1 3/8 #6s or #5s and don't let one try to get by without letting fly.

my favorite gun is the 10 ga and i also like the 1 1/4 ounce load but i like to load up 7 1/2 this seems to be my favorite load for crows and simuler birds....charlie

Overall favorite is the 2 7/8" 10ga, Federal Hull, 32gr IMR 7625, SP10 wad 1/4 filler card, 1 1/4 magnum #6, star crimp. Hit's them like Thor's hammer out to 60 yards if I do my part. Shot 316 crows for 606 shots with the mighty 10.

Favorite 12ga crow load is AA hull, 20 grains GD, AA white wad, 1 1/8 #6.

pete that was a mighty fine shooting....im gonna havta try that load in my old parker ph 10....those old 10s do hit with a big punch some people would not believe you could kill a crow at 60 yards but i know these old 10s willdo the job at this range....hope my killing ratio on crows get as good as yours.... charlie

I don't have a 10 ga. (yet)- so
 

IMO- as you asked Charlie-I will use any 12 side-by of the moment, if I use one of my 12 M12's- after all the waterfowling is over- I take out the 3 shot plug--Crows are all feather and NO body mass- if you can get them inside of 35-40 yards, whether to decoys or a caller, I like a mod choke or imp. mod 12, and 12 AA 1 &1/8 skeet loads- No 8 or No. 9 shot.

Last year a good gunning friend sold me at his cost- a case of those loads never fired (he gave up skeet due to failing vision- ) he bought them from his gun club some eyars ago at $4.75/box- all were No. 9 shot- and boy howdy- did my average on incoming crows and barn pigeons to up--deadly swarm- But whereas No.9 will drop a crow or pigeon, I would never use them for game birds-don't dare carry any lead loads for crippled head shots on mallards due to the steel shot laws-

If I am after some "archangels" pass shooting near silos where soaring crows are also airborne, I love my cannon 2E Smith 32" Full&Full VR-DT- then I use either an AA 8 or 9 or sometimes a No. 8 spreader in the first barrel, and a Handicap AA 7 & 1/2 shot size in the left tube-

Someday I'll have a nice 32" tight choked 10 double- then the crows won't know what hit 'em- like my sharpshooter buddy who hunts squirrels and rabbits (standing shots only, if the critter is running he gets a "pass") with a M70 Westerner in .264 Win Mag- was with him after coyotes a few Winters ago- a solo crow landed in the midst of a snow covered picked corn field we had staked out- He used a FIR and centered the crow with a handload at Mach-4 velocity- about a 125 yard shot with 5 mph crosswind (est'd) as i was his spotter with my binocs-that crow blew up like he had sat on a C-4 cupcake- Wow!!!:bigbye::bigbye: PS- Charlie- I still have those 12 once fired empties for you!!

Charlie, I have noticed there are two different styles of federal 10ga hull. The one's marked "steel" on the head stamp use a hull with thicker ribs. They have slightly less room inside. I like the 1/2" fiber filler wad sold by BPI as it can be split easily to the desired height with a thumbnail. Additionally it is softer and compresses whereas the harder Alcan filler wads don't. If your wad column is a smidge too high the BPI filler is more fogiving in that regard and still gives perfect crimps.

I was reluctant to say the load is effective to 65 yards but it is. I was among the ranks who thought a 1 1/4 ounce load was a 12ga load so what is the big deal. The big deal is the 10ga shoots better patterns heads and tails over most 12's and just flat kills birds better, many many more birds left a plume of feathers in the air indicative of a hard hit. I would not have believed the effectiveness of a 10 bore until I used one for a season.

i too am a true believer that the 10 ga is a better over all gun than a 12 ga...just as im a true believer that the 8 ga is better overall than the 10 ga....but i like the 10 as my favorite all around gun...as you said the 10 will out shoot the 12 to most extent...i know weight comes into a big factor on guns but when it comes to crows it dont seem to matter for me...i will try your recipe for them federal hulls...boy am i getting a lot of info.... charlie

Crow Load
 

Charlie, I vote for every thing that Pete has said. My best crow load is a also in a ten ga. I like The alcan brass case with 1 1/2Oz. of of #3 and #5 shot for a "duplex load", ball powder and a shot cup that has been cut off from a PBD or Sami one wad. Like Pete, I will shoot a few 65 Yd. birds and some even futher on a clear day. I also load the same duplex load using #5 and "hard # 7 Remington shot (not 7 1/2s) with spreaders in place of the shot cup. Many times I will put the spreaders in the right barrel, and the shot cup loads in the left barrel. "Best of many worlds". A #4 NID Ithaca ten is now my dedicated crow gun.

I like what Pete said about the filler wads. I like to use cork wads for filler wads when I can get them. The Federal cases seem to work better for me as the Remington cases have a thinner head rim, and they must have a dozen different varaitions. (Look at the base wad). I do not know if the different base wads make a difference, but the book claims that it does. Different base wads equates to different preasure. The Remington cases are also differ in lengths Good luck
David .