Shotgun, Rapid reload

[Edsplace]

Hi Everyone,

With squirrel season rapidly approaching I've dusted off the Moore 14 gauge and prepared my kit.  In the past, I've loaded with the traditional methods - powdre/shot measure, separate wads, etc.

I've looked at some of the plastic contraptions to hold individual loads, but have found nothing that would do the trick.  I came across an article about rolling individual loads from paper.  Powder on one side, shot/buffer on the other, wads in the middle?

The paper was torn off with the teeth and the components loaded in the usual fashion, or in some cases, the paper was loaded with.

I can almost, but not quite, figure out how I want to do this.

Can anyone enlighten me as to what works for them?

[northmn]

I am kind of interested too.  I had problems with paper cartridges in the field coming apart and getting things to click.  Another problem was was keeping the powder and the shot from migrating together.  Roundball do not do this.  It might be possible to glue a 16 or 20 ga wad in the wrapping between powder and shot and load the powder, seat the wads and shot to the end of the muzzle, cut off the wrapping and either have a over shot wad within the wrapping or add one then seat the whole unit.  Might give the advantages of a shot wrapper.  You might want to make a cartridge box like for muskets to keep them separate.  Drill a piece of wood the diameter of the units and use that to hold them.  As to biting them off, good luck.  These are just ramblings.  Someone may have an idea that works.

DP   

[Dave K]

I may not be real traditional with my attire, but it works well for me  hunting and reloading. I hunt with a turkey vest, that has pockets. I also use a t-handle shaped ramrod that is in a golf club plastic sleeve, tied to me vest. In my right vest pockets are the powder, over powder cards and cushions. In the left vest pockets is the shot flask and over shot cards. Around my neck is the capper or primer. After the shot, go to you right pocket and grab two vials of premeasured powder and pour them down the bores. As you return the vials to another right pocket, grab two over powder cards and send them down, then grab the cushions and do the same. Now go to the left pocket for the shot flask and load both barrels. As you return the shot flask, grab two over shot cards and send those down. All you have to do is cap or prime now. It sounds complicated, but once you have done it, it is fast. Of course the ramrod is in the plastic tube tied to the vest and quick and easy to grab and return. I do carry a powder flask to refill the powder vials, during the "down" time in the hunt.

[northmn]

How many times do we need to rapid reload?  There are times, but the need is limited.  When I used to duck hunt with a ML most of the time I could not reload fast enough no matter what I used or had plenty of time.  Saying that one only needs a couple of reloads for that use.  In the pheasant field I would say the same thing.  One thing we do with ML's is to get commercial wad oriented. It would work to wrap the shot in paper, shove that down the bore, shove more paper, like tissue or toilet paper down the bore, wrap shot in paper, load the shot, then use the paper container for overshot.   I won a ML trap shootoff using napkins from the concession stand when I needed more wads than I brought.  Some claimed that wasps nests work well for wads and pack pretty tight.  Just a thought.

DP

[T*O*F]

I carry my pre-measured shot, cards, and wad in plastic 35mm film cans.  Usually have 20 made up to equal a box of shells when going afield for upland game, rabbits or squirrels.  I carry my horn and measure separate.

Measure powder and drop.
Reach into game pouch for can, flip off lid into pouch.
Thumb out cards.
Start overpowder and cushion wad
Squeeze can and drop shot
Start overshot card
Shove it all down together.
Reseat unfired barrel

If using a double, get in the habit of orienting the gun in the same direction every time.  It's real easy to get confused and double charge a barrel.

Sometimes when hunting on state land, the rangers would get squirrely because they had experienced BP shooters using newspaper and such as wadding and setting the woods on fire.  I set an oak tree on fire once during a woodswalk using tow as wadding.

[northmn]

I never set anything on fire but some friends claimed they used toilet paper for wadding and set a stubble field on fire sharp tail hunting.

DP

[BrownBear]

Even with a double I was always prepared to reload as quickly as possible in days of yore.  The need wasn't there for shooting at the next flight to arrive, but I had to do so several times with cripples on the water and no dog.  I just needed to get off a followup shot quickly before the bird recovered enough to move out of range or into deeper water.   Sooooo, I ALWAYS tried rapid reloads just for the practice.

In my case back in the days of lead, there really weren't any specialized products around, so I had to improvise with plastic film canisters and technique.  One of the quickest methods I found when using plastic wads was to mount the wad over the nozzle of my shot snake, which then served for a seater.  I seated the wad into the muzzle, filled it, then rammed the loaded wad home rather than seating the wad, then pouring.  Truth be known, I usually placed the overshot wad before ramming the works home.  It was suprisingly fast to do it that way-  just pour the powder, assemble the payload at the muzzle, and ram it home with one stroke.

The devise you describe sounds like a way to accomplish much the same thing without the shot snake getting mixed into the fray, if I understand it correctly.  I'm sure inclined to try it.

[Edsplace]

Well, I've assembled something out of paper and Elmer's glue.  It's way too much work, I think, but here's the idea.  I put shot and buffer in a paper tube with trimmed overshot wads on each end.  It's essentially a bore size plug that fits the barrel exactly.  This part I might keep if it gives good patterns.  Now I rolled another tube with the plug at one end, lubed felt and overpowder wads in the middle, and powder charge at the other end.  Twist or tie each end.

Bite off the tie on the powder end and pour down the barrel.  Tear off remainder of the wrapper and ram the wads and plug.  That's the theory anyway.  We'll see how it goes in practice. 

If I could find some plastic containers of the right size, I think I would go with that.  Film Cans seem a little large and bulky for this.

[JBlk]

I made some quick reloads from paper grocery bags.Take a dowel rod slightly smaller than the bore size.Roll the paper around the rod and seal the edges with water glass.Seal one end of the paper tube with the water glass, add the powder, a couple of over powder cards cut from poster board, and the load of shot and a over the shotcard.Seal that end with water glass.When using this load, tear the paper seal on the powder end, pour into the barrel, push the remainder into the barrel and seat with the ram rod.Cap her up and shes ready to go.

[BrownBear]

I'm liking the sound of that!  Living in the hicks though, I need to know what water glass is.

[Edsplace]

Water Glass!  Also known as Sodium Silicate.  Where in the heck can you find that anymore?  I've heard that it was the original sealer for roll crimp shotgun shells.  I wish I had me some.  The Elmer's is a pain.

I did the same thing...made a mandrel to roll the paper for the shot slugs.  I need to make another for the wads, etc.   The lube has a tendency to bleed through the paper, but probably doesn't hurt anything.

Ed

[northmn]

Some use a smaller wad when rolled in the paper, like a 16 gauge for a 12 and use the roll to make up the difference so you do not have to remove the wad.  Heard that somewhere, just can't remember.  If you dump out the powder this would make a good system as the extra paper could be smashed down over the wad and the shot loaded over it.

DP

[Edsplace]

That's a good idea - using a smaller gauge wad.  My Moore is a 14 gauge so I'm thinking of getting some 16 gauge wads.  As it is, I'm using toenail scissors to trim my wads.  I have to be dilligent and put them away before the "Better Half" finds them out of place.

Keep the Faith!

[jim m]

don't laugh, but when hunting I only use over shot cards. 4 over the powder,then the shot, spit down the barrel[keeps the fowling down] then 1 overshot card. with a jug choked barrel I get excellent shot pattern. after 2 or 3 shots, wet a cleaning patch and run it down the barrel and then reload. it keeps things simple with a minimum of kit.

[ottawa]

now I've never shot a shotgun ml  but wen i was just getting in to reenacting in scouts we use to put on demo for ppl at the fairs and such we used old syringe cases to hold the powder don't know if they're big enough for that but just a thought (one of our scout leaders was a diabetic that's where we got them from)

[AJ]

I have tried numerous ways to solve this problem.  My final solution, I take a 32 gauge hull, pour in my measured shot, then insert this into a 28 gauge hull.  My powder is carried in small containers (http://www.testtubesonline.com/Cryogenic_Vials_s/203.htm). For wadding I only use overshot wads, 4 over the powder and 1 over the shot, dump those into a pocket in your pouch.

This is easy to use, open powder container, pour in powder, add 4 overshot cards, carefully separate the the shot container, pour the shot then add an overshot card.  Save your containers.

I use this method when skeet shooting and I can load from the pocket/pouch and keep up with 3 shooters of the modern era.  Make sure you wipe the barrel after each round because there is no lube being used.

For waterfowl hunting I use 12 gauge and 16 gauge hulls for the shot.  This way I can color code the shot sizes.  Many color combinations are available.

If you are wanting to use some form of wadding, start collecting "old" hornets nests.  Works great and the chance of burning the wadding are minimal.

[northmn]

I have heard others state hornets nesting is good, but does it disentegrate in your bag when carrying?  I ahve also used overshot cards only out in the field.  Tying a powder measure to the flask and one to the shot bag also helps, especially if you do not load even up.  Flask in one pocket, wads and shot in another.

DP

[ChipK]

I used to make paper shot cartridges for my trade gun.  I sanded down a dowel a bit smaller than my barrel.  Next roll the paper from a 3x5 index card around the dowel so that it overlapped by one half (once around and half again) to make a tube that could be  folded over like a coin wrapper.  After a bit of experimenting and trimming I had a pattern that was tall enough to hold my shot column tightly.

I would make the roll and fold one end in with the dowel so I could press down hard to make sharp creases.  Remove the dowel, fill with shot, and fold over the other end.  The roll would stay tight enough to be carried loose in the bottom of my hunting pouch.   To make sure it would come apart once fired I would take my knife and make a slit from the top to bottom on the side of the roll where the single thickness of the roll was.

To load you poured in the powder, inserted a cushion wad and then the shot roll.  The card was tight enough not to need an over the shot wad.  These worked wonderful in my trade gun and significantly tightened the groups up.

[roundball]

If I could find some plastic containers of the right size, I think I would go with that.  Film Cans seem a little large and bulky for this.

http://www.testtubesonline.com/Cryogenic_Vials_s/203.htm

[Daryl]

Jiim - spitting down the loaded tube might not be a good idea. This is very much like blowing down a loaded tube to see if the vent's clear.  Point the gun only at that which you want to perferate.