AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Black Powder Shooting => Topic started by: Skychief on April 25, 2020, 02:32:51 AM
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(https://i.ibb.co/02SYxpn/D8-B885-E5-4-BBD-4-F78-930-E-161-EA34-E298-A.jpg) (https://ibb.co/LRW93D0)
(https://i.ibb.co/F3DZ7gF/3856210-B-4-C7-C-412-B-B505-D435-FA096015.jpg) (https://ibb.co/Jts6k59)
Had a great turkey hunt on Wednesday.
Good luck to all hunting and stay safe and healthy!!
Best regards, Skychief.
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Super bird. ...That’s so much fun...
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Boss no more!
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Good deal. Congrats to ya. ;D
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Congrats on a nice bird !
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Thank you guys. Not much more fun that turkey hunting with smokepoles.
This guy read the script, but, he was a slow reader.
Coaxed him in to 10 yards, then let an ounce of sixes do their work.
Good luck to all hunting. Stay safe!
Best regards, Skychief.
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Fantastic pics and a great bird Skychief!
Congrats! Bet he didn’t know what hit him....
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Sky chief that is one fine bird. Great accomplishment. Congratulations.
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Well done Skychief! You `da man.
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Excellent sir.
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Beautiful bird, congrats! What is your load set-up for your TC New Englander?Improved cyl.barrel? Thanks.
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Well done Skychief! Nice bird and a really good photo too.
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Thanks for the attaboys guys.
Prarieofthedog, I used a very different load this year and was going to limit any shot to 15 yards or less. While I generally use what's been labeled the "Skychief Special" or "Skychief Load" using a saturated full cushion wad on top of the shot charge, I needed a lighter recoiling load due to a retina problem.
After patterning the gun prior to the opener, I found that a square load of 70 grains of 1f, 4 overshot cards, an ounce of 6 shot, and another thin card would be fine to 20 yards. This gobbler uncomplicated matters as he romanced my dummies at 10 yards. Took the wind out of his sails right quick.
My New Englander is cylinder bored.
Not fancy by any stretch, it's a lively shotgun with everything it needs and nothing it doesn't.
Good luck, Skychief.
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Congrats on that handsome tom. He sure has some huge spikes on him too! Maybe I missed it but what gauge is your shotgun? I'm trying to get everything together for hunting with my 20 gauge trade gun and have had #6 shot recommended, among other things. Is there any reason you choose #6 shot? Do you use 1F a lot?
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Bull, it's a 12.
I've used 4, 5, and 6 shot for killing turkeys. Mostly 6 shot as I've found that it's heavy enough for acceptable penetration at its workable pattern limits.
I usually use 2f in my smoothbores. Got the 1f out this year for a gentler kick. Had plenty of snap with the light shot load. Many get better patterns by using the coarser powder. Wattlebuster is a proponent of its use in smoothys. That's good enough for me. He's killed a lot of birds too.
Good luck hunting, Skychief.
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Well done, very nice bird! Like the picture too.
Percy
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Thanks for the info,Skychief.I have New Englanders with screw ins and cyl.barrels.I think I will try your Skychief load first,I got to have a little more range than 15 yards LOL!Unless you have Dekes,them Tom's get real nervous coming in super close.Makes me nervous too LOL. Thanks again.
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Nice limb hanger!
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Bull, it's a 12.
I've used 4, 5, and 6 shot for killing turkeys. Mostly 6 shot as I've found that it's heavy enough for acceptable penetration at its workable pattern limits.
I usually use 2f in my smoothbores. Got the 1f out this year for a gentler kick. Had plenty of snap with the light shot load. Many get better patterns by using the coarser powder. Wattlebuster is a proponent of its use in smoothys. That's good enough for me. He's killed a lot of birds too.
Good luck hunting, Skychief.
Thanks Skychief, I appreciate the information very much. I may have to pick up some 1F once I start working up a load. That's if any of the local shooting ranges open up before it gets over 100 degrees here in South Texas.
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Good luck Bull.
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Congrats on your bird! Nice looking pics too.
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Thank you acorn!
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Good luck Bull.
Thank you, I need all I can get.
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Congrats on a good looking bird.
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Nice bird, indeed, Skychief.
I won a trap shoot with an original H Wahl caplock 11 bore, using 4 drams of powder, 3 thin "B" overshot cards, 1 1/4oz. 7 1/2's, then a thin "B" wad on top.
Most of the birds were HAMMERED. Cylinder bore.
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Beautiful bird. Nothing like waiting for the smoke to clear to see if you got him. He has some nice hooks.
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What is your experience with killing turkeys at 30 yards with a 20 ga. muzzle loader with no choke? For a load I am thinking 80 grains of FFg one over the shot card plus one lube soaked cushion wad and another over the shot card then 1-1/2 ounces of #6 shot and one over the shot card on top. My thinking here is that the over the shot cards used in this way will prevent shot from penetrating the cushion wad and carrying the wad further down range and messing up the pattern. I really am looking for a good starting point for patterning work having watched Mike Beliveau's videos. Your comments please and thanks.
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It's usually the cushion wad & especially a heavy, lubed one, being pushed into the shot charge as it clears the muzzle, that spreads the pattern into donuts.
That is why guys separate the shot from the powder by using 2 or 3 thin overshot cards, not a fiber wad.
In this shadow-graph, you can see the difference between the choked barrel (lower) and the cylinder bore (upper) patterns.
The wad is being pushed into the shot cloud, which has already started to spread out. The bottom picture shows a concentration of shot
in the middle of the shot cloud. These pictures were taken 18" from the muzzles.
(https://i.ibb.co/5195qnS/Shot-Pictures.jpg) (https://ibb.co/XW4zm3K)
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Your load has revolutionized what many have thought the smoothbore muzzleloader capable of. Even famous men like Hickok45 have mentioned you, and you have earned the spot among the ranks of greatest sportsman.
THANK YOU SIR!
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Thanks for the kind words Panzerschwein. I saw the Hickok45 video in which he mentions the load. Our own Bob McBride did the same on his great channel "Black Powder TV", also.
Best regards, Skychief.
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There must be something wrong with me. I've never had the urge to go turkey hunting.
I can do it here in spring and fall too.
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Probably nothing wrong with you old mountain man. I'm a rifleman first and I have little interest in hunting something I can't take with a rifle. You might be the same.
I'm blessed to live in a state where muzzleloading rifles are legal for turkeys. About 15 years ago I built a rifle just to hunt turkeys with and it's harvested a lot of wild turkey meat over the years.
Here is this years gobbler. Even sweeter, it was taken with a .40 caliber flintlock.
(https://i.ibb.co/nC4DXKK/SS850183.jpg)