Shot falls out; help please?

[mark davidson]

My over shot cards must be too small. The shot pours out the end if I tilt the barrel of my fowler down. Ya'll know I am pretty new to this so please be patient and help a feller out a bit. Do I measure my barrel inside diameter and order a different size card? I read another thread where one of you said to bite the card somehow I assume to spread it out a bit?  Can I lay the cards on a table and hammer them a little to spread them like flattening a lead round ball for flint wrap? I have a killer load combo that patterns well; I just can't keep the shot down the bore if the barrel is ever tilted. Thanks in advance cause I know this is probably a dumb question. :-)

[Fletcher]

I your barrell is straight bore, your cards should fit just a bit tight at the muzzle.  If the barrel has a choke (my s x s is both modifed), then you need a card that is very tight at the muzzle so it will seat over the shot charge down in the tube.

However, I use standard 12 ga powder, felt and shot cards for my s x s and for my .62 smoothie I use standard 20 ga parts and all seem to stay put as desired.

What is your bore size???

[Bigsmoke]

the thing about biting the card is to nip a little piece out of it to release air when you push it down the bore.  Else you are just compressing air and it pops up when you pull the rod out.

What Fletcher said about fit sounds right.  yeah, you could measure your muzzle and tell a wad supplier what size you have and he will know what size you need.

[mark davidson]

My fowler is a 12 guage (12bore?). I have not put the calipers in the end to see what it measures at the muzzle but I will maybe this evening. I ordered 12 guage cards from TOW but they are a little loose and let the shot pour out. I may try mashing them with a hammer to increase diameter and make a tighter fit.

[Riley/MN]

I s'pose you got a bunch of 'em too, huh? I know several guys that use 11 ga cards in their 12 ga just because they like the tighter fit. I haven't had any problem with 12 ga cards in my 12 ga. It would be interesting to see what your bbl mikes...and the cards, too (could be a batch came out "scant")

[mark davidson]

Riley,  Yeah, I got a whole batch of um! :-) They were fairly cheap though and work fine over powder just not so fine over shot. I don't mind ordering some more bigger ones if that is what I need to do. Guess I better mic the barrel now like I should have done to begin with. I ordered my stuff before the gun was finished so I would be ready to shoot when it was completed. Guess I got the cart before the horse a little. :-)

[Gambia]

Use a 11 bore  1/16 card wad if after a few shots and a coked barrel  you may find it difficult to ram home the wad ,to overcome this use some spittle on the wad this will end the problem.
Feltwad
A Flint Lock will not secure a chicken house door

[Spot]

Hey there Mark Davidson,

Nothing wrong with getting a little excited, I wouldn't say that means you got the cart before the horse.  

You have plenty of options, and some good ones have already been presented here.  One that hasn't, but is certainly traditional, would be nesting and green leaves.

You've probably heard about hornet's nesting, but regular old wasp's nests that you see hanging off the side of your house works just as well.

Or you can pull a handfull of green leaves off a nearby bush; as long as you make a tight wad, it'll keep the shot from rolling out. You might just add a little of this on top of what you're already using as a stop-gap measure.

Now, I do recommend miking your bore and finding out what you really need. Bore sizes vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, and very often vary within the manufacturer too, so you really do have to find out what you have. But you definitely don't have to stop shooting until you get it all figured out and receive the correct stuff.

Congratulations on your new gun. I hope you have lots of fun with it like I do mine.

Spot

[mark davidson]

Spot,  Thanks for the tip. I had heard about wasps nest before and grass and leaves too. I was pretty hesitant to put anything else in front of the shot for fear it would somehow blow the pattern. The little card falls away and does not interfere with the pattern much if at all. I will have to do some pattern tests and see how the extra material affects the density of the pattern if at all. It is fun and addictive: I can already see that. :-)

[WhiteBlanket]

I use 1"x2" bits of brown shopping bag, folded once.  Works great for me in my 20 gauge Fusil de Chasse.  Seem to work fine...

[chuckbob]

I just use Wasp nest. Never had a problem with shot falling out.

[rwiliff]

Have you got a shotgun tip on the ramrod or a ball tip, I learned that one the hard way.

Warmest Regards,
Robert Iliff
New Mexico

[mark davidson]

Robert,  I use a standard 20 guage cleaning jag on the end of my ramrod on all my guns. I like to spit patch between shots so I just keep the jag on the end of the ramrod and the ramrod is cut off to allow the jag to seat close to flush under the muzzle. The jag is very close to bore diameter so I do not think the overshot card is seating crooked or at an angle allowing the shot to escape. I just think the card is too loose or too small in diameter.

[hawkeye]

I use 11g overshot cards for my Bess and 24g cards in my 28 Bore canoe gun. Actual bore sized cards never held tight for me either.

You could make paper tubes to hold pre-measured shot and after pouring the shot down the bore, use the paper to hold it in place. Kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.

[rwiliff]

OK Mark,  sounds like you need a tighter wad.

I bulged a barrel using a rod diameter tip to seat a wad over a ball on my first smoothy.  That won't happen again!  

Warmest Regards.
Robert