do any of you shoot blackpowder shells?
 

just wondering if anybody on here shoots BP shells with their twist/damascus barrels. Ive read the finding out for myself articles in DGJ, and feel confident to take my Damascus guns out from time to time with light nitro loads, casual pheasant or grouse shooting, but on the other hand I also have a Parker hammer gun on layaway at my favorite gun shop that is a 12ga 30" 2 3/4 choked full and full with twist barrels that i would like to drop a turkey with next year, now i would think in that application it would make more sense to use a proper BP load, please anybody interject with their opinion.im looking forward to your responses thank you

Hello Joe ; I shoot a 20 Ga. PH grade with Twist Steel barrels and also a couple of Hammer 10 Ga. Parkers with Damascus steel barrels ,and I use the Vintager Shells made by, RST, excellent low pressure shells with plenty of hitting power ! Remember though your barrels should always be checked first by a competent smith .I do have some BP shells but the cleaning is a very dirty job ! Good Shooting ! Russ

Russ ... You're in error ... "Vintager" Shells are a Poly-Wad product not RST ... But that's not taking anything away from the great low pressure shells made by RST.

Respectfully, Jim Kucaba

AriZOOna Cactus Patch ... Email: JimKucaba@aol.com

James; You of course are correct, I stand corrected ! And apologize ,I even looked at my boxes before making the post :shock: My Vintager ammo I have is for my 16 Ga. and I do in fact have the RST ,in the 10 Ga. and the 20 Ga. loads ! Thank you for straightening this up ! Both work quite well .I have to say ,I really don't care for the cleaning of the BP ,but it really is fun to shoot ,you have to rely on your buddy to see if you hit any thing ! When I purchased the 16 Ga. it is a DH grade ,O Frame gun w/ Damascus barrels the gentleman I bought the gun from ,sent me five boxes of " Classic Black Powder Cartridges " loaded by Game Bore Cartridge Co. Great Union St.,Hull England ,That was a nice suprise and the gun was even nicer than it looked in the Pics. Sometimes things just work out really well ! Russ

Unless you like the smoke, why shoot Black Powder loads that have MORE pressure
than moderate handloads or low pressure smokeless. Sherman Bell's articles indicate as much as 2000 psi increase with "Normal BP loads"

thank you
 

I shoot black in the MagTech brass shells. My favorite bobwhite load is 2-1/2 drams of ffg and 1 oz of 7-1/2s. The vegetable oil lubed fiber wads from circle fly make clean up easy. I use the Duco cement from the local Ace Hardward franchisee to glue in the over-the-shot card.

I have a sixteen VH O frame that I shot almost all of last season with this recipe.

The only drawback is that the smoke cloud obscures the target. I have to rely on my dogs and hunting buddy to mark the downed bird or to let me know I missed.

Mike

Loading BP shells is easy using primed Cheddite paper hulls and Circle Fly wads. The only equipment necessary other than a dipper is the roll crimper for your hand drill. Follow this link: http://www.tbullock.com/bpsg.html

I load blackpowder 10 gauge shells using 4 drams of FFG Pyrodex and 1 1/4 oz of #4 bismuth in a Federal brown hull cut to 3" for use in a #3 frame T1 30" 10 ga toplever hammergun known as "The Sinkbox Society" gun and engraved on the rib as such. Destry and I both shot this gun out of a battery in the St. Lawrence to good effect. I also used a #1 frame D3 30" 12ga toplever this year in the marais at our Quebec camp loaded with 3 1/2 drams of FFG Pyrodex and 1 1/4 oz of bismuth #5 in UMC cases. When used on the open water wildfowling the smoke is rarely an issue even for a second shot due to the usual presence of a breeze and the Pyrodex isn't quite as smokey as Hazard's Ducking Powder...Destry just gave me some RMC turned brass cases in 10 ga. I have some 10 ga UMCs I've never tried so I guess we'll have to get 'em loaded. I also have about 800 Federal paper cases in 12 ga I am going to try out as more authentic waterfowling loads for the old guns. I sure wish they still made Dupont Bulk Smokeless...

Joe:

I used to shoot BP exclusively out of my Parkers. Bear in mind that those shells will not pattern as tightly as the RST shells...
Hoever, if you want to shoot them on certain occasions, or when the shots will be close & fast - the open patterns will help your scores !

( I like to shoot BP shells when I hunt preserve pheasants with friends. They expect me to be out there with some crazy old artillery, and all the smoke gives them something to b*tch about. ...and since BP shells shoot big patterns, I can get on the birds quicker then they can !!!!!)

Get a few boxes of BP, but also get a few cases of RST shells !
RST also offers fiber-wad shells (will pattern more like the BP loads) and have recently cataloged a spreader load that'll offer fuller & wider patterns.

It's SO NICE to not have to do more than a Hoppes # 9 cleaning & an oily rag after a long day's hunt...