WTK- 4 bore wads increasing the recoil of my Blunderbuss???

[AZ Longrifle]

Hello,
New Guy here from AZ. I bought my 1st black powder shotgun, a Liege Belgian
Blunderbuss from Centaure about 30-40 yrs old. I've worked on my loads and noticed that when I went to 1/2" shotwads and 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 oz loads of #6 shot that the "felt recoil" of it increased a lot and didn't seem to help in shrinking the shot pattern. I previously used card board, corrugated type, that I cut out with a die punch. Both of these type of wads I soak in melted Crisco to keep the bore clean.
Am I missing something? Either of these wads seem to produce about a 35-38" pattern at 30 feet. I was hoping to get a smaller pattern for Rabbit hunting this Winter.
Thank you for any advice on the subject...Otherwise, I'll have to buy another Smooth Bore gun for my hunt.

[T*O*F]

Didn't happen to buy it from a guy in KC, did you?

Anything that adds to the weight/mass of the charge will result in increased felt recoil.

I had one for many years, but was afraid to actually shoot a 4 bore load in it, which is considerably heavier than you are shooting.  Your shot column is very short and will spread rapidly.  Examine the breech plug thickness and then decide.  It scared me.

[AZ Longrifle]

Thanks for the reply.
No, got it from gunbroker.com from a custom builder in IL. Turns out his Father in law built it from an old kit he bought second hand. Works fine and fires well. I didn't want to try the heavy load in it either. 1 1/2 oz was plenty for me. And safe. I'm shooting 2 1/2 - 3 Drams of FFG BP.

[Don Getz]

Unfortunately, what you bought there is not a "hunting" gun......it is basically an eighteenth century "sawed-off shotgun"
It was made for close in protection, such as a guard on a coach would use, and would have probably been loaded with
larger size shot, or buck shot...............Don

[AZ Longrifle]

Thanks, Don. I know you as being a PREMIER builder and your advice just gave me a good reason to buy another Muzzle loader!

[Daryl]

Both Don and TOF make excellent points.  The very short barrel of the blunderbus will probably prevent you from using shot and wad along with requisite necessary powder charges to make it work.  You'd have to suck up the recoil meant for an 20lb.+ gun, in one probably less than 12 pounds.  A 35" pattern with heavy shot at 30' is just about perfect for defending a coach!

[AZ Longrifle]

I'm using 3-3 1/4 Drams of FFG in a 6lbs gun. with 1-1 1/2 OZ loads. I'm going back to corrugated cardboard wads for a while on a trial basis for fun shoot. Spread is awesome with this thing. Killing circle is about 30-36" at 10 yards!

I think the next to add to the collection is an early FL Smooth bore like the ones used in Early Colonial America. .75 cal and a LOOONG barrel.

[Daryl]

Good choice on the fowler - I didn't know the 4 bore was that light- lots of punch to the shoudler, but I expect the butt plate is quite wide - still!!  You might find a 16 bore more pleasant to shoot - that's the bore I'd go with, however Taylor's Bess is fun to shoot at 10 bore, with ball or shot.

[AZ Longrifle]

Yes, the recoil is kind of STOUT.
The bbl is short 14" and the stock is small for the bore size.
Here's a couple of pics of it:

[Daryl]

Now THAT's pretty cool!  What a BLAST!