Shooting shot from a rifled barrel..?

[the Black Spot]

Did a search and did not see what i was looking for.
My question: is it possible to get a decent enough pattern at 30 yds for squirrels by shooting shot out of a 50 cal rifled barrel?

Thanks in advance.

[huntinguy]

some years back I tried it with a pistol. Seemed okay within about 6 to 10 feet. After that it looked like a doughnut.

If I were a squirrel though, I would highly recommend it.  

[snake eyes]

BS,
     Sure would not take long to pattern it on paper.....That way you would
know for sure how your rifle would perform.
snake-eyes  

[the Black Spot]

I will soon. Just lookin for pointers.
Should i put the shot in paper?

[huntinguy]

that might help. I used loose shot with Charmine for over and under.

We tried using premade shot cartridges but they didn't open up and just made a funny looking hole.

You might experiment with different types of paper and different types of sealing. I think if you search around you might find something about using bees wax to make the shot a column. (shot is poured into a paper tube and then bees wax is poured in... then I think the paper is removed... But don't take my word for it.)

[Snydly]

Years ago I had a CVA mountain rifle in .50 cal. I used 75 grains of FFg and one of the plastic patches that  had the cup on both ends. I think they came from a company called Butler They were for shooting rb without the traditional cloth patch. I used 7/8 oz of #5 shot and used it for hunting close up pheasants. It worked fair out to about 15 yards but after that it was worthless. I hunted in giant sunflower fields and had extremely close shots on pheasants. The generally flushed at about 10 feet and if you could get over the initial surprise and get off a quick shot it worked pretty good.

[Fletcher]

For the most part...  rifling = spiral = a tornado shaped shot pattern    :rt th

[Snydly]

Don't know too much about spiral shot pattern but that probably makes sense. Hunting anything with a muzzleloader of any kind under any circumstances is still great fun. Shooting shot with the .50 might not have garnered me many birds but it's the hunt that makes it fun.

[Joel/Calgary]

I got even, not doughgnut, but FAST opening patterns out of a Pedersoli .50 with shallow 1:48" rifling, with an effective range for individual animals/birds of maybe 10-15yds, depending on game size.  I used a paper cartridge just tied off between powder & shot, wax/grease lubed over the shot portion, with ~3/4oz of #7.5 shot over a smaller volume (can't recall how much) of FFFg.  Standard bite-tear-pour/insert-ram loading technique, and the rifling slit the paper longitudinally on the edges of the lands on firing, so they opened cleanly & reliably.  I don't recall seeing any sign of leading in the bore afterwards.  I strongly suspect a slower rifling pitch would add somewhat to the effective range,  but I'd be surprised if you could get more than 15yds effective range on a squirrel with reasonable shot charges.

Regards,
Joel

p.s. Can one get spell-checking on posts/replies?  My typing's atrocious and I often see what I meant, not what I typed, when checking.

[sse]

p.s. Can one get spell-checking on posts/replies? My typing's atrocious and I often see what I meant, not what I typed, when checking.

Not sure that is possible...but, I'll check...

[Riley/MN]

p.s. Can one get spell-checking on posts/replies?  My typing's atrocious and I often see what I meant, not what I typed, when checking.

then no one would be able to read it! Your browser spell-checker should work as you post....

[Geezer in NH]

Doughnut hole at that yardage aim to the right or left and it may work.