Got the 8 and 10 to the range today
 

And I didnt really get any useable patterns well with the T and F shot, I was shooting at 50-55 yards next time I need to bring it back some. I did shoot the 000000 buckshot load out the 8 gauge at 10 and 50 yards, looks like 7 out of 8 pellets landed in about a 16" area at 50 yards. Interestingly I found 1 pellet stuck in the 100 yard rifle target, I thought after passing through a couple 2x4s it would have deformed severely? They are .410 roundballs I bought from trackofthewolf but they surprised me. I noticed my 10 gauge NH seems to prefer #2 bismuth over anything else even lead 4s, the RST bismuth load pretty much covered the poster board at 50 yards evenly.

I started shooting the 8 gauge like I was at a CAS match and thats actually alot of fun too bad 8 gauge isnt legal for CAS.

Forgot to add when I was walking back the the truck there was a old fellow sitting in the parking lot, he seen me walk by with the 8 gauge and I heard "Good God almighty what a shotgun". He quickly walked over to me and asked me what the h*** kind of shotgun I had was. When I said 8 gauge the look on his face was priceless and he told me he was a cartridge collector and offered to buy one of my fired cases, which I just gave him one for free. I plan on giving them to someone when I get enough shot up anyhow.

them are some good patterns....a deer would be in trouble shot with those loads...them would make good beaver dispatchers....the look on someone s face wnen they see a 8 ga is priceless...I would like to hear the old mans storey as he tell s others about what he had seen today...made me smile I know that look....charlie

Boy those are some big guns! Looks like you're having fun.

Maybe I'll run into him again and let him shoot it, I had shot all 23rds I took with me though when he showed up. Im surprised 7/8 pellets stayed on the paper at 50 yards as my 8 gauge has no choke left it in. I tried to pattern some 000 out of the 10 gauge but they had no pattern at 50 yards. I noticed last night 000 stacks in even layers of 4 in the 8 gauge but seeing how hard the 41 cal round balls hit I now want to try tweaking the load. I wonder if developing a buffered load would help there is a ton of empty space around the .41 rbs. I tested my homemade 8 gauge shot cups also they work but could use some adjustments.

I kind of wish I had a 4 bore to do some testing with as .490 round balls should stack in a layer of 2 in a 4 bore case Im thinking that would make for a nasty buckshot load.

So the recovered buckshot weighs 98.9grs and a non fired one weighs 99.1grs so pretty good weight retention. I also found a SP-8 wad at about 55yds you can see the pellet shape pressed into the fiber wad from setback.

I believe you have a good buckshot load...I too wish I had a 4 gauge to shoot I ve got a fey loaded shells and several new primed hulls in yhe 4 ga but no gun...charlie

I just loaded a few 10 and 8 gauge loads with some #2 shot I had salvaged from other shells. The 10 gauge seems to prefer it well see how it does in the 8 gauge. My 10 gauge actually seems to pattern bismuth 2s better than lead 4s for whatever reason. I found a place that has some #2 hard shot in stock, #2 is pretty versatile in GA since its about the largest shot size you can use for most things.

no 2 is the biggest shot we can use too..not many years back we could use a rifle or even buckshot...my favorite shot size was bb and no 2...used a rifle some but never got to kill one with a rifle...my scope got knocked outa specks once missed turkey at about 40 steps turkey flew into a tree about 100 steps wind was blowing hard I shot up nearly abox of shells...was shooting a 222 Remington....my dad came up and wanted to know what I was shooting so much about that time turkey flew outa off the tree...got home shot the rifle it was shooting about 4 feet off....charlie

Charlie you sound like my uncle haha he has to re-zero his rifle every few weeks, I use a Wheeler fat wrench for mounting mine and it comes in handy. I cant say I ever had any scope problems but I only use Leupolds as well. If I got a Florida hunting license I could drive 10 minutes over into Florida and shoot turkeys with a rifle. I would think something like a 22 WMR would work for turkey shoot them in the base of the neck is what I have heard not sure if a rimfire is allowed though.

I think our local turkey population may be done for though, had a few farmers say they believe the hurricane back in 2018 destroyed most the nests and habitat as they havnt seen many if any since then.

I made some decappers for the 8 and 10 gauge this morning, I am beginning to think dowels are your most important tool for reloading shotshells :rotf: .

I ve got to make some decappers for some of my brass shells some of them have real small primers in them...yep I ve had bad luck with scopes all my life...charlie

I had found a guy in England who makes a decapper/capper kit for the 8 gauge but I figured why not make them myself plus his were designed to be used in a press. Charlie if you can find one the Leupold made Redfield Revolutions were good cheap scopes they made about 10yrs ago. I put one on a 9lb 338 Lapua and it managed to survive, also I torque all my rings and bases to I believe 25 inch pounds which is about what every rifle/scope maker recommends.

Im actually planning to go to a simpler scope perhaps a Leupold 6x42 fixed power, I read 6xs were the preferred hunting scope before the 3-9x40 came around. Another way to take some guess work out of your scope mounting is to get one of those single piece mounts like the DNZ game reaper. They are machined from one piece so the front and rear are always concentric no lapping required they are a bit ugly but they work.

bout the only good scope I got is own my german drilling its one of those you just spap off and snap back on and its ready to go...what beats me its a tasco scope....charlie