Traditional Muzzleloading Association
Shooting Traditional Firearms and Weapons => General Interest => Topic started by: mark davidson on September 04, 2009, 10:01:08 AM
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I do not have a commercial shot snake or whatever you call those things that dispense shot. What makes a good quick substitute for carrying shot to pour into my measure tube in the field? Would a coke bottle do? I'm going dove hunting tommorrow morning and I do not want to take loose shot in a coffee can and dip it. I figure you guys have all kinds of innovative shot dispensers I can come up with till I can order a proper shot snake or whatever those things are called. Thanks in advance. :-)
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Well, sometimes I use a hard leather ball bag (got several of them from Beaverman)...sometimes a small leather bag with a wood spout tied in the mouth of it...and other times I just make up a bunch of roll yer owns with post it notes or coin wrappers...
Al
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I just use a one pound planters peanut can dip my measure in it
Not period but in a dove field the action can get hectic in a hurry
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Get yourself an English shot flask that will hold one or 2 pound of shot and throw a load of 1oz ,1.1/4 oz, or a flask that throws 1.1/4 to 1.1/2 oz of shot. Use an English or Irish type of charger I prefere the English.I do not like pre measured charges in plastic they take up too much room and make to much noise.
Feltwad
A Flint Lock will not secure a chicken house door
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Thanks for the tips. I will order me a shot flask of some kind next order for sure but for now I will make do with something or other and have a good time.
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Coke bottle is fine.
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I made my own "shot pouch" years ago, and although it looks good and does what it's supposed to do, I actually think I might like a hard leather shot bag better and wouldn't be so "floppy" when filling my measure.
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When you consider what type of charger head to get, consider the Irish. It is adjustable for 1, 1-1/4 and 1-1/2 oz of shot. It can be fine tuned by putting cards or other filler in the bottom of the scoop, so you could reduce it to say 3/4 or 1/2 or in between. Can't do that with the English. It dumps one of two volumes, period. But the Irish has a scoop you can lose if you don't put a leash on it. That's why ToW sells replacement scoops. Experience talking. Mine's now tethered, and a spare is at home--guaranteeing that I'll never lose another.
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Empty shotshells with pre measured shot in each one with wax paper taped over end. To use , poke finger through wax paper and dump the shot .
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Agree with Kermit. I also think the Irish is the best. If for no other reason than you can see that the measure is full. The English is kind of a by gosh and by golly situation.
Also, not a bad idea to tether the scoop.
For an impromptu shot carrier you could use an open top leather pouch full of shot and a scoop. It can't get much more basic than that. And it works.
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Everyman too his own but I find that the English is best more so in a hectic situation when shooting driven game or decoying from a hide .In these circumstances I find the Irish is too slow.
Feltwad
A Flint Lock will not secure a chicken house door
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For what it's worth, I've never used a shot flask . When squirrel or rabbit hunting I always carried pre-measured shot and powder.
I use the heavy paper coin tubes (envelopes) to hold the shot and powder. They come in a bag of assorted colors and sizes. I fold one end, staple, pour in measured shot, and staple closed. Shot envelopes in one pocket and powder in the other.
To load simply tear off one end and pour down the barrel. They may not be traditional, but I am sure a similar method was used in the past
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I forgot to mention that with an Irish type you can keep more than one spout. I have a second that's plugged with some cards to throw about 3/4 to 7/8 oz of shot, depending on size. I use it when I load my .50 smoothrifle with shot. The other unmodified one gets used with my 20ga fowler.
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Sounds like I might try the Irish. Our hunt was terrible with no shooting this weekend so the coke bottle worked just fine. I only shot about three times, only one time at anything that I really expected to hit and I missed. Now I got time to get properly geared up. I like the idea of coin wrappers or old shotgun shells to hold pre measured loads if shooting is likely to be fast and furious. For squirrels or rabbits and such I suppose speed reloading is not as big a deal. Thanks again for the suggestions. As always, good information can be gotten here. :-)
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For you guys doing a mid 18th century impression, what kind of shot dispenser do you use?
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hoping to keep this thread alive as I am in the process of deciding which way to go with my own shotgunning. A friend of mine also rolls paper shot cartridges for hunting, which sounds pretty good but then what do you carry the cartidges in? I guess I could use a cartridge box? it works pretty well for reenactment, don't see why it wouldn't work for this application as well? hmm? thoughts?
Was just thinkin bout what Fistmil wrote: wouldn't it be cool if you could take a paper shot cartidge, pour your measure of powder, drop in the over powder card, yer shot, n then just bend the paper over top of it all? you could just shove the whole dang thing down the barrel at one time and be ready to rock???
Seems like there must be a huge problem with that or someone woulda said somethin about it already?? I'm guessing the bottom of the paper cartidge would bust out as you were ramming it down the barrel?? dunno? any thougths?
Somehow I just know I'm gonna hate it when someone gives a perfectly obvious answer and I'm gonna prove once again I really am a true blond...
zan
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Lady--methinks I've heard of such things done with one-piece paper thingies. Seem to recall that you need to prick the paper through the touch hole to expose the powder. What I wonder about is whether it leaves paper behind in the breech that you'd have to remove with a worm. Does this sound familiar to those who use powder bags in cannons? Can the paper be treated with some sort of nitrate to make it combustible? Are you then creating a whole different hazard/problem?
I used to carry shot in a leather pouch (w/ antler nozzle and wood stopper) and use the same measure I used to measure powder (same volume powder as shot). I also only carry over-shot cards. Two over the powder, one over the shot. I still wonder if it wasn't the best way to carry shot, rather than my current Irish-headed snake.