I found that the plastic shot cup inside a standard 2 3/4 shotgun shell fits the bore of my brown bess perfectly, not snug but wont drop down without the ramrod. MASSIVELY increased my pattern density.
Wow! That paper shot cup made a world of difference! I'm going to try and make some up for my Brown Bess musket and so how it does! I love the channel! Very best regards, JA
@@RamshackleHomesteadKeithandJen Absolutely.....what part of the state are you in? In in NE Kentucky. I'll definitely bring the cameras if we can get together sometime!
Beautiful smooth bore! Enjoyed your video. Recently finished my first smooth bore double barrel 10 guage kit gun from Dixie gun works. It's my first black powder shotgun. This is exactly what I need to be watching. Looking forward to learning to use it. Thanks for sharing your loading methods! Again, beautiful smooth bore!
Great video good looking smoothbore. I've got three I put together two 20ga and one 16ga. It can be a bugger working up a load sometimes everyone likes different things Good job thanks for taking us along.
I like using ball and shot load and my 73 caliber coyote hunting it does a number on them I like your videos are very interesting thanks for sharing them with us
Another good video Keith. Looks like you get the same results with straight wasp nest wadding that I've always gotten with any smoothbore. Also looks like you got a pile of work to do on those "leggings" draped in the background! Must've been a productive deer season there.
@@RamshackleHomesteadKeithandJen Yes good protein. Also look for lilley pads in ponds lakes etc. The pads that has hole bitten in them has a worm in the stems. Looks like a big grub. Also bait and food source. 👍
Old trick to find a decent nest, catch a wasp under a glass using a thin thread with a small white down feather one end and a nose on the other, lasso the wasp around it's waste and let it go, chase him home following the feather.
I just use a heavy over the charge wad. And ALWAYS a paper shot cup with an over shot card. The paper shot cup makes for good tight patterns. Without it the shot wears against the barrel quite badly and blows the pattern pretty wide. I learned this while cleaning my shotgun and the bore was speckled with little melted pieces of lead. So I tried making a shot cup. Thereafter easy cleaning and tight patterns.
I subscribed after i saw you on Townsons and Sons. If your Cur is anything like mine when they hear the gun lighting off they figure something just died and they need to get in on the action.
What a great video! I am in need of advice! I have a .410 and intend to buy a converter to blackpowder. I have no idea what powder charge of fff to start off with! I'll be using #4 or #5 shot. Would you please give me suggestions for charge??? Thanks!
I been shooting these charcoal burners for over 45 years. I might be so bold as to say try about 50 grain charge of FFFG Goex, Old Einsford type burn rate powder or 40grains of FFG OR FFFG Swiss, it's a hotter powder but cleaner burning with softer fouling. Use an over powder wad, use a thick nitro hard card over the powder, use a fiber wad or shot cup, then start with the same measure of shot from the powder measure for balanced load, follow up with a thin card wad or a folded over 1"x2" thick printer paper folded over twice, line it up over the bore carefully then run her down making sure there is no gap in the load column. Lightly prime the pan for a faster lock time. You don't want a fuse type ignition. I generally use only 5-7 grains in tbe pan just under half full and level. Close the frizen and I always bump the opposite side of the lock settling the priming powder slightly away from the vent. You want a violent flash going through the vent hole in the barrel. That vent hole should be located just above the level of the pan and should be vent picked after loading the barrel and before you prime the pan. Some old timers used to quill the vent when loading to ensure a clear vent insuring no powder in the vent to act axct as a fuse slowing ignition. After each shot a generslly blow a good breath of aur down the muzzle....it keeps the fouling moist and you can see smoke coming out of the vent....then you know its clear. Yeah I now never cover the muzzle.... it us a single shot and you just shot. The old timers did it abd it also has the tendency to blow out anh possibility of an errant ember remaining in the barrel. I know this sounds like a long rant but it doesn't take that long to do with a little practise. You can make up a some paper powder charges and also paper shot cups andcteist up up or fold over the premad shot cups then its really alot faster. Like this video stated he is right when you experiment you will find the lighter powder to shot weight will give a slightlyvslower muzzle velocity but a denser more uniform pattern. Hell you xan ever use a large green leaf or a wad of Tow flax as an over the shot like the old timers did. Best of luck my friend. I use a 20 gauge ( have two custom fowlers) a carbibe lenth Bross Bess 75 cal and a Navy Arms double barrel 12 gauge in percussion.
Who would you suggest getting a 62 caliber smoothbore from? I'm looking for something that won't break the bank (I'll save that for a custom rifle) but that will get me started for modern hunting and historical trekking and historical hunting. Love all the videos you put out.
I would recommend joining 18th century trading on FB and inquire maybe someone has a used one or another one that comes to mind is Kashtuk Bowcraft on FB always posting smooth bores hope this helps!
Good one brother! You got a mountain cur that wants to go and do something. I have a terrier/fiest cross that says I'm taking too long watching this video and we should go kill something!
Tom Ritter I’ve had some luck with swan shot, but I think it has such odd size and dynamics that no two shots will be the same. I’m really thinking about doing some experiments with just it. Maybe a swan shot video?
Not bad experiment. However, if you were to add a hard card to act like a piston, fiber wad or 2-3 more hard cards and no fiber wad, and one hard card split into 2-3 for the over shot card and no cup, you will find your pattern is better. Then, if you reduce the powder charge, it gets better. Like he says, less in more with shot. Your pattern will be extended out to 35-40 yds and give you a 30" pattern. I do it all the time with lead and steel shot only I use steel shot cups or Sadie bar the door. I use 68 gr of 1f Goex for every oz of shot.( go low and slow, not hot to trot.) Might even help the swan shot.
James Genovese I wish we were geographically closer you seem to be a wealth of bp Shotgunning knowledge. Thanks for watching and thanks for adding solid information.
@@RamshackleHomesteadKeithandJen Me 3. Happy to share what I learned the hard way. Contact me on FB if you want. Share this kind of info on several pages there. Like, use 1f in a 20 ga like that. That helps the pattern too. "Go low and slow, not hot to trot. Less is more with shot."
Maybe someone could help me out here. I have an old Navy Arms Zouave I picked up in a pawn shop in the 80's for cheap but the barrel is dead. I have tried every projectile, round balls from 35 grns to 100 grns of powder and it's the same thing. Can't hit a mountain range. The barrel is dark and heavily pitted inside. It's a beautiful rifle with a figured ash stock it stained with iron nitrate and heat. Not much rifling left could I use it as a Fowler?
You could. It would be best to find someone who could polish the inside of the bore smooth so the charge has a smooth run down and out the bore. Would probably finish to around .59 to .60 caliber. Or you could just use it as is and see how it does but getting the bore polished smooth would be best.
@@flintymcduff5417 Thanks for the advice Friend. I posted a video of the rifle on my UA-cam channel, "Jack Blackpowder Prepper " you could check it out if you have the time. I think it's a Zollie but I'm not sure.
Plain brown or white paper with Sodium Silicate used as a glue for the bottom is accurate for making a historically correct shot cup. Nitrated paper works as a cartridge for black powder muzzle loaders because it insures the powder is ignited and also burns to nothing.
"Historically accurate" wasp nest. Um, maybe in some backwoods areas. Won't argue against that aspect, but "Historically accurate" smoothbore wadding was "tow" (unprocessed linen/flax fibers). Personally, off grid living doesn't have to be 100% Historically accurate. We've learned a thing or two over the years - such as shot cups being a major help for good patterns. Don't have to use commercial plastic cups, but a shot cup of one form or another is going to be very useful.
Comment 2, it seems to me, watching on a small screen, that the highest density of your pattern was a little off the red "turkey head". Maybe you should make a bigger target and see exactly where it’s "centre" is for density. Maybe it’s a little off from a ball? Great thumbnail btw. Hard to not check out the video with that. 🙂
Is that what Leonardo DiCaprio did at the beginning of the The Reverent movie? He pours the load in his mouth then spits them into the rifle. Is that shotgun load he put in his rifle? Cant find no information about that scene. Did he do this to have a self defense load because he heard trouble back at his camp? Because i dont think that shot would kill that elk
paschallhouston great observation! He was shooting what appears to be a .62 smoothbore. That would have been a very common gun for the time. He may have been shooting a “ buck n ball “ load . .62 round ball with shot dropped over the ball.
I don’t need to watch another, I like your channel, but I mean I hardly know anything about muzzle loading (I’m just starting to get really interested) but why did you say it’s weird to have more shot than powder? Modern guns have way more shot than powder, and as I understand it, you need the weight to build up any pressure.
A lot of Blackpowder shotgunners shoot what they call a square load. That is equal shot equal powder by volume. Example 80gr FFFG under 80gr #7 . A lot of chamber pressure isn’t wanted in bp guns as it can distort the pattern which is why slower courser powders are often used. If you burn to fast you can donut the pattern. It’s a bit of a science experiment with each gun and load too. I’m experimenting with tungsten shot and bp currently and will have a video up on some turkey loads I’ve fine tuned. Check out my latest turkey video.
@@RamshackleHomesteadKeithandJen That’s really interesting. There seems to be a lot more to this that I thought……which is a bad thing, cuz it means another long rabbit hole I’ll be going down. I can’t resist a new challenge! 😀 I believe I saw the turkey one. You had to hold your phone or something while shooting it, right?
@@RamshackleHomesteadKeithandJen I heard that back in the colonial war times, they handed out balls, and shot, so they could hunt small game while on campaign
Keith, I will have to try the paper shot cup. I have a question about the length. Do you size it for your shot charge, make it a bit generous and let the overshot was ramp it down, or size it a little scant and let some of the shot overflow the cup?
So you pay $800.00 and up for those old styled gun's,...... and 20 yards is it? I'd opt for the blunderbuss. I have nothing like it,... mine is an inline it looks like the Tradion's Tracker,..... but its a 12 gauge and it says navy arm's. I should have bought the whole rack at $50.00 a piece. You can't shoot a bad load of shot out of it even with shitty powder,... it will eat anything. I have had it since 1980 I tried the Lee deer slugs you might hit a deer at 60 yards. I'm sure the gun out performs any centerfire shotgun that I have ever had. Just aim and shoot. I am curious about shooting a round ball. I would only buy a flintlock now though,.....then lead and powder is the problem. I am thinking about or looking into them but not considering the old kind cause I don't want to be a poor boy.
I found that the plastic shot cup inside a standard 2 3/4 shotgun shell fits the bore of my brown bess perfectly, not snug but wont drop down without the ramrod. MASSIVELY increased my pattern density.
The shot cup takes the place of a choke, which muzzle loaders usually lack. Good job! Love flintlocks!
Wow! That paper shot cup made a world of difference! I'm going to try and make some up for my Brown Bess musket and so how it does! I love the channel! Very best regards, JA
I Love that paper CUP idea!!! Thank you for that!!im going to really work on that . That might be the KEy to a dense delivery of shot.
Pretty neat shooting my friend and cool background! I love seeing that smoothie in action. Thanks for sharing.
Black Powder Maniac Shooter we are in Ky too. Need to get up sometime!
@@RamshackleHomesteadKeithandJen Absolutely.....what part of the state are you in? In in NE Kentucky. I'll definitely bring the cameras if we can get together sometime!
Black Powder Maniac Shooter NW
Awesome, love the channel, from adair county but that was years ago
Beautiful smooth bore! Enjoyed your video. Recently finished my first smooth bore double barrel 10 guage kit gun from Dixie gun works. It's my first black powder shotgun. This is exactly what I need to be watching. Looking forward to learning to use it. Thanks for sharing your loading methods! Again, beautiful smooth bore!
Historically accurate or not love that paper shotcup. Damn good video buddy.
Paper definitely seems to help
Entertaining as hell and informative. If you ever want to come up to the U.P. of Michigan for a hunt let me know.
Chiefs500 THANKS !!!
Great video good looking smoothbore. I've got three I put together two 20ga and one 16ga. It can be a bugger working up a load sometimes everyone likes different things Good job thanks for taking us along.
Well done! Thanks for taking the time to do that. Take care keep your powder dry!
Frontiersman Forge thank you and you do the same!
I like using ball and shot load and my 73 caliber coyote hunting it does a number on them I like your videos are very interesting thanks for sharing them with us
Enjoyed that immensely. Thanx for sharing.
Great channel. Just subscribed. Please keep ‘em coming. Thank you.
Tony Camaro thank you so much,and we certainly will
Great video, and just subscribed. looking to get a smoothbore myself.
Thanks , and good luck!
Thank you for all the tips! I enjoyed the videos 😃👍👍🇺🇸
Another good video Keith. Looks like you get the same results with straight wasp nest wadding that I've always gotten with any smoothbore. Also looks like you got a pile of work to do on those "leggings" draped in the background! Must've been a productive deer season there.
Thanks! Indeed sir it was and still at it for another week
Great shooting. I have been away from muzzle loading for a bit. I would like to try a smoothbore. Immediately subscribed.
I use wasp nest also. The other thing about it is I use the larva inside nest for fishing bait.👍
Train Bennett they also make a tasty snack !!
@@RamshackleHomesteadKeithandJen Yes good protein. Also look for lilley pads in ponds lakes etc. The pads that has hole bitten in them has a worm in the stems. Looks like a big grub. Also bait and food source. 👍
Old trick to find a decent nest, catch a wasp under a glass using a thin thread with a small white down feather one end and a nose on the other, lasso the wasp around it's waste and let it go, chase him home following the feather.
I just use a heavy over the charge wad. And ALWAYS a paper shot cup with an over shot card.
The paper shot cup makes for good tight patterns. Without it the shot wears against the barrel quite badly and blows the pattern pretty wide.
I learned this while cleaning my shotgun and the bore was speckled with little melted pieces of lead. So I tried making a shot cup.
Thereafter easy cleaning and tight patterns.
I enjoyed watching you shoot what I guess was a Brown Bess, which I am sure was also used for hunting.
English Fowler very similar to a Bess
@@RamshackleHomesteadKeithandJen where did you get it?
Friend built it .62
"Take that historically inaccurate sucker, and run it down the tube" - Good stuff :)
Great video Keith!
Jason Smith thanks ole buddy !!
Great video
That was awesome.
Nice one! Your good and steady with that flintlock. No could accuse you of flinching, no sir brother not one bit. Take care
banjowoodsman 76 I do shoot a lot .
Love it brother
I subscribed after i saw you on Townsons and Sons. If your Cur is anything like mine when they hear the gun lighting off they figure something just died and they need to get in on the action.
John Doe oh yeah !! They are always in go !
Ramshackle Homestead KeithandJen ours too. 😁 Especially our female, she's either sleeping or ready to kill something. 😂
Where can I get a bag like that to put my muzzle loader equipment in?
Love the video.....Gotta ask.. Why you put the ramrod away 3 times. Just sayin'
Yep shot cup works , take nose off any snowman.
What a great video! I am in need of advice! I have a .410 and intend to buy a converter to blackpowder. I have no idea what powder charge of fff to start off with! I'll be using #4 or #5 shot. Would you please give me suggestions for charge??? Thanks!
I been shooting these charcoal burners for over 45 years.
I might be so bold as to say try about 50 grain charge of FFFG Goex, Old Einsford type burn rate powder or 40grains of FFG OR FFFG Swiss, it's a hotter powder but cleaner burning with softer fouling. Use an over powder wad, use a thick nitro hard card over the powder, use a fiber wad or shot cup, then start with the same measure of shot from the powder measure for balanced load, follow up with a thin card wad or a folded over 1"x2" thick printer paper folded over twice, line it up over the bore carefully then run her down making sure there is no gap in the load column. Lightly prime the pan for a faster lock time. You don't want a fuse type ignition. I generally use only 5-7 grains in tbe pan just under half full and level. Close the frizen and I always bump the opposite side of the lock settling the priming powder slightly away from the vent. You want a violent flash going through the vent hole in the barrel. That vent hole should be located just above the level of the pan and should be vent picked after loading the barrel and before you prime the pan. Some old timers used to quill the vent when loading to ensure a clear vent insuring no powder in the vent to act axct as a fuse slowing ignition.
After each shot a generslly blow a good breath of aur down the muzzle....it keeps the fouling moist and you can see smoke coming out of the vent....then you know its clear.
Yeah I now never cover the muzzle.... it us a single shot and you just shot. The old timers did it abd it also has the tendency to blow out anh possibility of an errant ember remaining in the barrel.
I know this sounds like a long rant but it doesn't take that long to do with a little practise.
You can make up a some paper powder charges and also paper shot cups andcteist up up or fold over the premad shot cups then its really alot faster.
Like this video stated he is right when you experiment you will find the lighter powder to shot weight will give a slightlyvslower muzzle velocity but a denser more uniform pattern.
Hell you xan ever use a large green leaf or a wad of Tow flax as an over the shot like the old timers did.
Best of luck my friend. I use a 20 gauge ( have two custom fowlers) a carbibe lenth Bross Bess 75 cal and a Navy Arms double barrel 12 gauge in percussion.
What is your best recipie mix for the load for turkeys??
That is a good video!
Steven Jouette Thank you for watching
What is the gauge of that gun? The biggest problem is the overshot card interferes with the shot pattern inches from the muzzle.
Who would you suggest getting a 62 caliber smoothbore from? I'm looking for something that won't break the bank (I'll save that for a custom rifle) but that will get me started for modern hunting and historical trekking and historical hunting. Love all the videos you put out.
I would recommend joining 18th century trading on FB and inquire maybe someone has a used one or another one that comes to mind is Kashtuk Bowcraft on FB always posting smooth bores hope this helps!
It does! Thank you very much
Good one brother! You got a mountain cur that wants to go and do something. I have a terrier/fiest cross that says I'm taking too long watching this video and we should go kill something!
Nick Spittler 😂
Well that was interesting ! Swan shot didn't do it at all ! How does that pole do with ball or buck ? Great showing thanks take care brother
Tom Ritter I’ve had some luck with swan shot, but I think it has such odd size and dynamics that no two shots will be the same. I’m really thinking about doing some experiments with just it. Maybe a swan shot video?
Not bad experiment. However, if you were to add a hard card to act like a piston, fiber wad or 2-3 more hard cards and no fiber wad, and one hard card split into 2-3 for the over shot card and no cup, you will find your pattern is better. Then, if you reduce the powder charge, it gets better. Like he says, less in more with shot. Your pattern will be extended out to 35-40 yds and give you a 30" pattern. I do it all the time with lead and steel shot only I use steel shot cups or Sadie bar the door. I use 68 gr of 1f Goex for every oz of shot.( go low and slow, not hot to trot.) Might even help the swan shot.
James Genovese I wish we were geographically closer you seem to be a wealth of bp Shotgunning knowledge. Thanks for watching and thanks for adding solid information.
@@RamshackleHomesteadKeithandJen Me 3. Happy to share what I learned the hard way. Contact me on FB if you want. Share this kind of info on several pages there. Like, use 1f in a 20 ga like that. That helps the pattern too. "Go low and slow, not hot to trot. Less is more with shot."
Instead of wasps nest I use a punch and cut over shot cards out of a dish sponge works great and reusable
Was that a black Australorp and and an Easter Egger over your shoulder at about 11:38-11:55ish? Cool video! Thanks a lot, I subscribed
Dan Painter oh , I’m sure it was . They are everywhere around here 😂 thanks for watching and subscribing!
You look just like a guy I worked with in Seattle
Maybe someone could help me out here. I have an old Navy Arms Zouave I picked up in a pawn shop in the 80's for cheap but the barrel is dead. I have tried every projectile, round balls from 35 grns to 100 grns of powder and it's the same thing. Can't hit a mountain range. The barrel is dark and heavily pitted inside. It's a beautiful rifle with a figured ash stock it stained with iron nitrate and heat. Not much rifling left could I use it as a Fowler?
You could. It would be best to find someone who could polish the inside of the bore smooth so the charge has a smooth run down and out the bore. Would probably finish to around .59 to .60 caliber. Or you could just use it as is and see how it does but getting the bore polished smooth would be best.
@@flintymcduff5417 Thanks for the advice Friend. I posted a video of the rifle on my UA-cam channel, "Jack Blackpowder Prepper " you could check it out if you have the time. I think it's a Zollie but I'm not sure.
They shoot well,...I have one made in china with a variable choke,... it shoots excellent pattern's,.... better than most centerfires.
Plain brown or white paper with Sodium Silicate used as a glue for the bottom is accurate for making a historically correct shot cup.
Nitrated paper works as a cartridge for black powder muzzle loaders because it insures the powder is ignited and also burns to nothing.
what is the shot card made of?
Felt cards you can get them at Yrack of the Wolf
"Historically accurate" wasp nest. Um, maybe in some backwoods areas. Won't argue against that aspect, but "Historically accurate" smoothbore wadding was "tow" (unprocessed linen/flax fibers).
Personally, off grid living doesn't have to be 100% Historically accurate. We've learned a thing or two over the years - such as shot cups being a major help for good patterns. Don't have to use commercial plastic cups, but a shot cup of one form or another is going to be very useful.
Nice!!..
Comment 2, it seems to me, watching on a small screen, that the highest density of your pattern was a little off the red "turkey head". Maybe you should make a bigger target and see exactly where it’s "centre" is for density. Maybe it’s a little off from a ball? Great thumbnail btw. Hard to not check out the video with that. 🙂
Who made that fowler
Jackie Brown
Keith, have you ever experimented with shot cup material?
Several heavy paper cups like the one in the video
Ha ha ballistic research! ‘Mercia :)
All in the name of science and democracy 😂😂
Ramshackle Homestead KeithandJen ha ha you mean, “science and efn Freedom!”
Is that what Leonardo DiCaprio did at the beginning of the The Reverent movie? He pours the load in his mouth then spits them into the rifle. Is that shotgun load he put in his rifle? Cant find no information about that scene. Did he do this to have a self defense load because he heard trouble back at his camp? Because i dont think that shot would kill that elk
paschallhouston great observation! He was shooting what appears to be a .62 smoothbore. That would have been a very common gun for the time. He may have been shooting a “ buck n ball “ load . .62 round ball with shot dropped over the ball.
@@RamshackleHomesteadKeithandJen ok thanks. Yeah love that movie and the firearms used.
Rowdy Soul!
Not much difference at all between cap v/s flint and the ignition of powder in barrel. Loved the video.
I like my flintlocks, yes sir tuned right they are as fast. Thanks for watching!
I've read references to "old hat" being used and an over powder wad. Given the time I assume they ment a felt hat.
I don’t need to watch another, I like your channel, but I mean I hardly know anything about muzzle loading (I’m just starting to get really interested) but why did you say it’s weird to have more shot than powder? Modern guns have way more shot than powder, and as I understand it, you need the weight to build up any pressure.
A lot of Blackpowder shotgunners shoot what they call a square load. That is equal shot equal powder by volume. Example 80gr FFFG under 80gr #7 . A lot of chamber pressure isn’t wanted in bp guns as it can distort the pattern which is why slower courser powders are often used. If you burn to fast you can donut the pattern. It’s a bit of a science experiment with each gun and load too. I’m experimenting with tungsten shot and bp currently and will have a video up on some turkey loads I’ve fine tuned. Check out my latest turkey video.
@@RamshackleHomesteadKeithandJen That’s really interesting. There seems to be a lot more to this that I thought……which is a bad thing, cuz it means another long rabbit hole I’ll be going down. I can’t resist a new challenge! 😀
I believe I saw the turkey one. You had to hold your phone or something while shooting it, right?
@@jimf1964 that was it. A complete train wreck of camera gear failure. Black powder shotgunning is a huge experiment.
@@RamshackleHomesteadKeithandJen I heard that back in the colonial war times, they handed out balls, and shot, so they could hunt small game while on campaign
Keith, I will have to try the paper shot cup. I have a question about the length. Do you size it for your shot charge, make it a bit generous and let the overshot was ramp it down, or size it a little scant and let some of the shot overflow the cup?
Douglas MacCullagh I leave it a little larger. I plan on another video shortly before our spring turkey season
Looks like the pattern’s center is a bit off to the left on the second shot.
90 grains of shot isn’t much of a payload...
Actually have backed it down to 70gr Fg with 80gr #6 patterns well takes game very well.
Merica Hell Yeah !
So you pay $800.00 and up for those old styled gun's,...... and 20 yards is it?
I'd opt for the blunderbuss.
I have nothing like it,... mine is an inline it looks like the Tradion's Tracker,..... but its a 12 gauge and it says navy arm's.
I should have bought the whole rack at $50.00 a piece.
You can't shoot a bad load of shot out of it even with shitty powder,... it will eat anything.
I have had it since 1980 I tried the Lee deer slugs you might hit a deer at 60 yards.
I'm sure the gun out performs any centerfire shotgun that I have ever had.
Just aim and shoot.
I am curious about shooting a round ball.
I would only buy a flintlock now though,.....then lead and powder is the problem.
I am thinking about or looking into them but not considering the old kind cause I don't want to be a poor boy.
I'm old and you're not, so, a word of advice....wear eye protection.
Good advice !