12g black powder loads

[B. Dudley]

I decided to fiddle around with some 12g black powder loads.

I have cheditte paper hulls, cci 209 primers and some Powder inc. Skirmish powder in 2f size.

I have some hulls that I trimmed down to 2.5" and loaded up with 2.5 drams and 1oz of shot. I found that two .5" fiber wads between the powder and shot put things up to get a tight pack and good roll crimp with a standard over shot card.
I haven't had the chance to go out and shoot them yet.

What are some others using for 12g light BP loads?

[wayne goerres]

Hi Brian. You have the right idea. If your pattern spreads out you may wont to switch to 1f powder. You should get a better burn. Watch out for the recoil.

[StubTwist]

Brian,

Have you seen this site? A good reference for black powder shotshells.

http://www.tbullock.com/bpsg.html

[B. Dudley]

Yes, that is where I pulled the 2.5 drams and 1oz of shot from as a starting point. There was a lot of good information there.

[Paul Harm]

To save money you could use 3F. It burns quicker so it produces more pressure and the cost of BP today every penny counts. About 60grs of 3F would equal 70grs of 2F. I must have left my Lyman BP handbook over at the club - it showed the differences. I'll try and get it and get back with you. I personal use 70grs of 3F for a 1 oz load. If going to 2F I normally use 80grs but for fun I've used up to 94grs and a 1 1/8oz of shot. All my skeet loads are the light one. For trap I like 1 1/8oz and 84grs of 2F. At one time I had made a 8ga O/U muzzleloader and used 400grs of 1F and 4oz of shot for goose hunting. The 1F burns quite dirty and you'll need a lot more for equal velocity. I'd stay with the 2 or 3F.

[Paul Harm]

Frank, nice link BUT I disagree completely when it said to measure by weight, not volume. Black powder always has been measured by volume. I've shot on the National Muzzle Loading range for over 20 years - pistol, rifle, and shotgun, and have never seen anyone weigh a charge, they all measure. When shooting my 12ga trade gun [ flintlock smooth bore ] my normal load is 65grs of 3F and RB or 1oz of shot. If I go to 2F, for best accuracy it's 90grs. You'll fine for the same velocity you'll need about a 1/3 less powder if going from 2F to 3F, but it will raise pressure up to 2000CUP.

[Cold Spring]

I've had black powder in my blood since age 10 when I started making homemade muzzleloaders and my own powder not only for them but also for amateur rocketry. I bought pound after pound of saltpeter at a store in town where it was sold for curing meat. 75 cents a pound back in the day. Nowadays I'll load black powder in 3 to 4X fired Federal paper cases with a regular 6 point folded crimp, and discard the cases afterwards. Load is 2-1/2 drams 2F du Pont. I still have few cans of the old stuff. Any primer will do and I load on an old Texan single stage press. I remove the cases between the 2nd and 3rd station, dump the powder with a dipper, then replace on station 3 and load one .135" nitro card and two 3/8" Alcan Bluestreak wads. Texan has a metal wad guide (unlike modern MEC's) and the press shows about 60 pounds pressure. Shot load is 1-ounce. I always have a few loaded BP shells with me when on a sporting course and will shoot them at targets where the scorer can see the clay beyond the smoke cloud. That's with a Fox, Parker, Ithaca or a Perazzi. Anything but a gas gun. The loud reports usually bring onlookers who often caution that I'm loading way too heavy, gun will blow up, etc. I also use them once in a while for small game hunting, rabbits ahead of the beagles - a blast from the past and the smoke and brimstone smell always reminds me of sadly missed friends and the much different times when we were kids.

[B. Dudley]

I had the chance to shoot some of the loads I made up in paper hulls with 2.5 drams and 1oz of 6 shot. They went off well and I was surprised at how light the recoil was as compared to low pressure smokeless loads.

I was loading all by hand using an old shot/powder dipper and a wood press to pack the wads. I used a drill press mounted roll crimped since it yielded a much better crimp than the hand crank tool.

[Paul Harm]

I have all the old tools for reloading by hand - they're nice to have and use once in a while but it's normally my Mec 600. I know a lot of guys won't do it but I use the Mec for everything if fold crimping and if roll crimping pull the shell out after the OS wad is put in place in put it in the drill press. My Mecs have the steel drop tubes - I don't see where there would be a problem with sparks. Been doing it for over 10 years. A #46 bushing will drop about 74 grs - one cut in half will drop 84grs - and no bushing will drop 94grs. I have one old Mec set up just for BP in 12ga. Another for 10ga gets either nitro or smoke. If roll crimping those stamps from BP's are nice. I bought a ink pad from Wal-Mart that has both red and black pads. If loading smoke the black pad is used, and if it's nitro the red pad. This way I always know what's in the shell. Frank, you could also use a hump-back. Mr. Browning designed them to use BP or nitro. Was shooting at the club yesterday and had my 1882 Remington SxS 10ga. Had 10 extra 10s loaded with smoke, so I shot them first, then switched to Gaugemates and nitro 12s. Damn near had a clean barrel after 40 more shots. Friday I'll use my Parker lifter 10ga. The other guys always get a kick out of letting them try a shot or two with smoke - especially when trying to hit the second target through smoke. I'm real lucky living only 4 miles from the club, running the shotgun venue, and shooting 3 times a week. I can set any kind of targets I want, as long as there's not too much complaining. My wife shoots also so there's never any whining about guns or the cost of shooting. Life don't get no better.

[charlie cleveland]

you truly have lived a charmed life my friend... charlie